Epaper 05 july 2013

FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013 HYDERABAD

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

PG 16 & 17

32 PAGES

WEATHER: A MIX OF CLOUDY AND CLEAR SKIES; 28°C

`3

IF CUTE BE TOLD

The minions are back to entertain you in Despicable Me 2 today. Though they don’t play the main part in Illumination Entertainment’s frantic, Looney Tunesstyle animation, they can’t be missed either. Postnoon takes a look at a few other animated characters that are so cute you want to pet them.

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

CORRUPTION AND STORM IN THE T-CUP KEEP YOUTH AWAY FROM

POLICE FORCE

Youth in the City are battling regional differences to pursue a career in the police force. Most, however, prefer to stay away.

REPORT ON P3

REPORTERS’ DIARY

THE NUDE ARTIST WHO STALKS THE POLICE HQ LOO PG 11 ‘DIGVIJAY KNOWS YSRCP’S CLOSE TO POWER’

Digvijay Singh’s recent remarks eulogising the late YSR and denouncing his son and heir Jagan Mohan Reddy was a clear sign of the YSRCP racing ahead, say party leaders

PG 5

FROM THE FIELD OF DREAMS TO LAXMAN’S CITY PG 9

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FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

city events

BLUE HOUR

Canadian singer and pianist Melanie LeBlanc will be performing and Blue Hour will be launched. Where: Tre-forni Bar, Park Hyatt When: Monday to Saturday, 7pm to 9pm Contact: +91 40 4949 1222

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

28°C

23°C

27°C

32°C

Slight chance of thunderstorm

A mix of cloudy and clear skies.

A mix of cloud and sun

Cloudy with showers likely

New Delhi Mumbai Max 38 Max 30 Min 27 Min 25 Mostly cloudy

Cloudy with thunderstorms likely

Chennai Max 38 Min 28

Bangalore Max 28 Min 20

Cloudy with chances of thunderstorms

Cloudy with showers likely

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES www.photriya.com

the City.

Where: The Muse Art Gallery, Hyderabad Marriott and Convention Centre When: Till July 7, 6pm Contact: +91-40-27522999

EXHIBITION

My freedom story Freedom Refined Sunflower Oil in association with Red FM is organising a contest called 'My Freedom Story’. Participants can register by sending an SMS to Red FM in the format RED <space>HY<space>FREEDOM to 58585. They will get a call from Red FM for their story.

Contact: Sunil Kumar M / Sarodhya Yadav - 040- 40140753/ 9866520337/ 8686080577.

Weekend workshop Oakridge International Schools to host weekend experiential learning workshops — ‘Weekend Voyager’.

Where: Oakridge Gachibowli and Bachupally campuses.

When: Every Saturday, 9am to 12pm Contact: 1800-200-8171 Website: www.oakridge.in

WORKSHOPS Up for grabs Turquoise & Gold is presenting an exclusive collection of contemporary resort wear and party gowns.

Where: Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Banjara Hills When: July 6 and 7 Contact: 6733 1133

Art attack Aakar Art academy is conducting a painting workshop for kids above the age of 4.

Where: Just Books, Jubilee Hills When: Every Friday and Saturday, Friday - 4 to 5.30pm Contact: (040) 66662323

DINING Culinary Journey Exotic biriyanis of India on offer.

Where: Firdaus, Taj Krishna, Banjara Hills When: Till July 15 Contact: +91-040-6629 3306

Sale begins AND is back with its much awaited end of season sale for its spring — summer collection. Discounts range from 20-50 per cent.

Where: All exclusive AND outlets and multi-brand outlets.

SHOWS Play pursuits Silence Please, a comedy play by Samahaara Workshop Production will be staged.

Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills When: July 7, 7.30pm When: 83411-20303 On display Waterscapes, a photography and painting exhibition is conducted in

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

Word club A fun workshop for kids above the age of 8 will be organised.

Where: Just books, Jubilee Hills.

When: Every Sunday, 10am to 12pm Contact: 9849748117 Freezing a moment One-day photography workshop.

Where: Photriya Professional Studios, Madhapur When: July 7, 3-7pm Contact: 6524-3029, Commissioner & Spl Officer

Helpline

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

Street food fest A street food festival will be organised.

Where: MoMo Café at Courtyard by Marriott When: July 5 to 14

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

CAGED: "Birds are born to fly free, and no one should steal their freedom from them,” says actress Priya Anand who posed for the latest advertisement for PETA (People For Ethical Treatment Of Animals).

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

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

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

FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

news

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

DO YOU THINK CHINA IS PLAYING POLITICS WITH INDIA, PAK? 92% 8%

YES (A) NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

DO YOU THINK CITY YOUTH ARE UNWILLING TO JOIN THE POLICE? A)

YES

B)

NO

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

CRIME

T fire keeps youth from police force?

The Telangana issue, corruption and politics are keeping the City’s youngsters away from joining the police force.

MOHD SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Here is a curious situation. The City police chief Anurag Sharma regrets that Hyderabad’s educated and young men seem unwilling to join the police force as constables, but a random survey conducted by Postnoon with scores of young and literate men show that they are more than willing to sign up, but are not getting in.

Sharma said every month some 60 policemen from the lower ranks retire and there are now some 4,000 vacancies in the City police.

Hyderabad has an over8,000-strong force but it falls short of the requirements the city has to meet for besides law and order duty, bandobast, and VVIP security, manning troubled spots and patrolling.

“The young seem to be misguided by the impression that a

policeman’s life is miserable as there is no duty timing or freedom,” says the Commissioner.

He says to an extent it is not untrue, but it is false to say that they have no private life or comfort. Their needs are taken care of. They are given weekly offs and many facilities a young man would not get in the private sector.

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tried but could not get in for various reasons.

“There is regional and linguistic partiality,” says Sanjay. “Some say you have to pay money to get in. We don’t know.”

Regional feeling reigns in the police department, alleged Mohammed Hakeem, a resident of Goushamahal.

He said that in the police department a majority are from Kadappa, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda. Few are from the Old City and rural Hyderabad.

Bolivia’s leader threatens to close US embassy

COCHABAMBA: Bolivia’s president threatened Thursday to close the US embassy as leftist Latin American leaders joined him in blasting Europe and the United States after his plane was rerouted amid suspi-

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cions US fugitive Edward Snowden was aboard.

President Evo Morales, who has suggested the US pressured European nations to deny him their airspace, warned he would

Tragic end for lovers

T

wo youths, Krishnam Raju and Malleswari of Damaracharla, had been in love for some time. Raju’s family got him married to another woman. However, some days ago,Raju disappeared with Malleswari. On a complaint from Raju’s wife and relatives, police searched for the lovers.

The inseparable lovers reportedly jumped in front of a speeding train and ended their lives at Damaracharla railway station.

Seminar for law students

L

aw Prep Tutorial is organising a seminar on ‘Common Law Admission Test’ at Silver Oaks complex near Masab Tank on July 7 at 10 am.The seminar will be addressed by legal luminaries. Students, who are studying or completed Intermediate first year and second year or 10+1 and 10+2 and who are interested to in the field of law can attend this.

A

SNOWDEN EFFECT

GERARDO BUSTILLOS Agence France-Presse

CITY BRIEFS

CPI wants no alliances

REGIONAL IMBALANCE? What came through while talking with young men fresh out of college was that there is a reluctance among Telangana youth to join the police because they may be asked to suppress their own people. Until this issue is solved many conscious men from this region will keep away from the police force. But there are a number of young men like Sanjay Ghousal of Golconda, Mohd Haneef of Old city, and Rajesh Mouli of Uppal, who among others, say they have

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“study, if necessary, closing the US embassy in Bolivia.”

“We don’t need a US embassy in Bolivia,” he said.

“My hand would not shake to close the US embassy.

We have dignity, sovereignty.

Without the US, we are better politically, democratically.”

Morales arrived home late

Wednesday after a long layover in Vienna, saying his plane was diverted there because it was barred from flying over four European nations, sparking outrage. The Bolivian leader's air odyssey began hours after Morales declared in Moscow he would be willing to consider asylum for Snowden.

fter the BJP, the CPI has decided to go it alone in the gram panchayat elections in the State. CPI leader K Narayana made it clear that the CPI would not enter into any alliance with the Congress, the BJP and the YSRCP. He said the bad governance of the Kiran government would be the main poll plank of the party and it hopes to do well without an alliance.

G Prasadam dead

F

ormer Maoist leader and revolutionary G Prasadam succumbed to bullet injuries he sustained yesterday when unidentified assailants shot at him. He had three bullets in his body, a Nellore hospital sources said. He was on his way to attend a Martyrs Day function when he was attacked.

Balladeer Gaddar condoled his comrade’s death.

Oberoi voted as world’s best hotel brand

O

beroi Hotels & Resorts has been voted the World’s Best Hotel Brand by Travel + Leisure, World’s Best Awards, 2013.This ranking is the result of a readers’ poll conducted by the magazine. Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards are amongst the most prestigious in the international travel industry as it is the readers who define excellence in hospitality and travel.

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News FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013 LAST YEAR... HERE APTransco’s money woes

L

ast year we had reported how the government was neglecting its own protege — the AP Transmission corporation by failing to pay the dues. The power situation however in the City continues to be dicey with lengthy power cuts being the norm of the day.

Maybe a little money would help

JULY 5, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

4,000

pounds is what a lock of Mick Jagger's hair sold for at an auction in London.

He (Digvijay Singh) had made that statement only to create confusion among our party leaders and cadres. He wanted to gain the sympathy of the public by praising YSR and criticising his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Gattu Ramachandra Rao, YSRC spokesperson

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THINGS WE LEARNT TODAY

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

1

GHMC general body meeting targets shoddy workers Some 72 contractors have been blacklisted for their failure to meet the target and sub standard works.

2

City youth wary of joining the force due to T A Postnoon survey of young men from colleges has revealed that most Telangana youth though willing to join the force are fearing that they may be asked to fight against their own people.

3

India looking to use part of the Arctic route India is looking forward to using the Arctic route to cut travel time by as much as 40 per cent.

4

Staff at the DGP’s office have a weird artistic sense ‘Artistic’ sketches on the wall of the men's room in the DGP's office portrayed a nude young woman in various poses.One of them even had a woman constable's name written on it.

5

A rare example of good governance in the City One of the easiest ways to make government offices more efficient and productive is to put them all under one roof.

CIVIC BODY MEETING

Corporators demand more funds Corporators blamed the bureaucracy and contractors for failing to reach targets in works undertaken and claimed that officials needed to come out of their cocoons.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Corporators of the GHMC want the development fund of `1 crore raised to `2 crore. At the general body meeting on Thursday, members cutting across party lines demanded the rise saying the growing City demands more civic amenities and the rise is justified.

Corporators also railed at the bureaucracy and contractors who fail to reach targets in works undertaken. The members said they were facing public ire while officials remained safe in a cocoon.

Pacifying agitated corporators, the GHMC commissioner MT Krishna Babu agreed there was a delay in completing works due to lack of manpower. He said 48,687 projects at a cost of `2,600 crore were taken up since

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2009–10, of them 39,209 worth `1,900 crore were completed.

The civic body received proposals for `124 crore against `150 crore and works to the tune of `63 crore were completed, he said. Some 72 contractors have been blacklisted for failure to meet targets and sub-standard work.

PLASTIC BAN

Plastic ban and its ineffectual implementation also came in for criticism. Former mayor Banda Karthika Reddy raised the issue of plastic carry-bags below 40 microns and said the ban was not being implemented properly.

"When the ban was imposed

MARITIME NEWS

DONATIONS DROP

India looks forward to using Artic sea route India is looking forward to using the route that would cut travel time by as much as 40 per cent.

NEW DELHI: India, which earlier this year gained observer status at the Arctic Council, is looking forward to using the much shortened Northern Sea Route along the resource-rich Arctic in another six-seven years due to the fast-melting ice in the region.

By 2020, the Northern Sea Route — along the northern coast of Russia linking Europe, East Asia and Southeast Asia could be easily usable with the Arctic ice melting at a fast pace. India is looking forward to using the route that would cut travel time by as much as 40 per cent. India is engaging with the Arctic Council members and hopes it could begin using that route as early as 2020, a source said.

The 13,000-nautical mile passage could almost halve the current travel time between Asia and Europe. Some countries have begun using the route, deploying icebreakers to cut through the thin ice cap in the summer months.

The Northern Sea Route allows vessels to avoid the longer traditional route through

in July 2011 during my mayoralty, meetings with manufacturers and businessmen were held to implement the ban. Later, raids were conducted on manufacturing units and shops that were selling them. However, implementation of the ban has been lax," she said.

To this GHMC additional commissioner L Vandan Kumar said, raids on sellers and manufacturers of plastic carry bags of less than 40 microns had been continuing. "Cases have been booked against violators. Some shops and units in Shastripuram and other areas were sealed, while over `32 lakh was collected in penalties over the last year," Kumar said.

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the Indian Ocean, the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.

Last year, 46 ships, including a Chinese icebreaker called Xuelong or Snow Dragon, used the route in the summer months. The eight Arctic nations are: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the US. India, as also China, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Singapore were granted observer status May 15.

India also has a research station in the Arctic, Himadri, which is operated by the National Centre for Antarctic

The Artic nations

T

The eight Arctic nations are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the US. India, as also China, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Singapore were granted observer status May 15.

and Ocean Research. It was set up in 2008. The Arctic region is estimated to hold 13 per cent of the world's undiscovered oil reserves and 30 per cent of undiscovered gas deposits.

India is also interested in the rich reserves of oil and gas the region holds. Early in June, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid visited Norway and also the Svalbard research station. India has spent $3 million on research activities so far and plans to enhance the amount. India should send more researchers and capitalise on its goodwill in the region through its research activities, said the source.

Countries in the Arctic region also have great expertise in the oil sector, the source said. They are willing to share the expertise. Poland and Slovakia have huge coal deposits, and are among leaders in "clean coal technology" which refers to carbon capture and storage, a new technology that seeks to capture carbon dioxide from power plants and prevent it from entering the atmosphere by storing it. IANS

Vatican reports 2.2 mn euro profit AROUND THE

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VATICAN CITY: The Vatican posted a budget surplus of 2.2 million euros for the 2012 fiscal year, although its charitable offerings fell, the Holy See said.

A panel of cardinals who approved the balance sheet said the 2,185,622-euro profit was largely due to good financial management. But the Vatican noted a 12-per cent drop in donations from ordinary faithful and more than a five-percent drop in contributions from religious orders.

Over the past week, the Vatican's financial institutions have been convulsed by a 20 million euro smuggling plot that led to the arrest of a senior cleric and the resignations of the Vatican bank's two top managers, apparently over a lack of financial transparency.

IANS

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News FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013 NATION BRIEFS SC gives timeframe for vacating govt homes NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Friday issued guidelines giving timeframe for vacating government accommodation by judges and government employees upon their retirement or ceasing to occupy the office. This also applies to members of parliament.

Judges would vacate government accommodation within one month of their retirement and government employee would do so within 15 days.

Female elephant dies in fight with tusker ERODE: A 28-year-old female elephant was found dead in a suspected case of killing by a tusker in the Anaikarai forest area of the district today, forest officials said. Forest officials who rushed to examine the jumbo said there might have been a fight between the female elephant and a tusker. No foul play was suspected. The carcass of the elephant was buried in the same area, sources added.

Toll rises to six in Bhiwandi factory collapse THANE: The death toll in the Bhiwandi garment factory collapse has risen to six with the recovery of three more bodies, police said today.

While two bodies were recovered late last night from the debris of the twostorey building housing the garment factory, one more body was found during clearance work this morning, they said. At least 39 other workers were injured in the collapse.

J&K to build 1,000mw thermal power project SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has been allotted 130 million tonne of coal block in Odisha which would be used to build a 1,000mw thermal power project to end electricity woes of the state, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said Friday on Twitter. He, however, said that it has not yet been decided whether the thermal power project would be in Odisha or within Jammu and Kashmir.

Economic blockade begins in Manipur IMPHAL: The indefinite economic blockade called by two student bodies — Naga Students Union from Chandel district, and Kuki Students’ organisation — to demand that 7,000 students be allowed to appear in the Class-X Manipur board exam began from midnight along Imphal-Moreh National Highway 2, affecting movement of vehicles carrying goods. The demands have been forwarded to higher authorities.

WILDLIFE

Fat Malaysian orangutan put on diet She had to be relocated because visitors to the park kept giving her junk food.

KUALA LUMPUR: An obese orangutan has been put on a strict diet by Malaysian wildlife authorities after two decades of gorging on junk food handed out by tourists, a report said Friday.

Jackie reportedly weighs 100 kg, twice the normal weight of an adult female in the rich jungle habitats of Borneo island.

The 22-year-old ape was relocated more than three months ago by the wildlife

Jackie reportedly weighs 100kg, twice the normal weight of an adult female in the rich jungle habitats of Borneo island. Her familiarity with her human carers led her to seek out tourists at the visitors’ area.

department in the state of Sabah — which lies in the northeast of Borneo — because visitors to the Poring forestry park kept feeding her.

Department director Laurentius Ambu was cited in a newspaper report saying that Jackie’s familiarity with her human carers led her to seek out tourists at the park’s visitors’ area.

“I am glad that Jackie is a much happier orangutan now,” Ambu was quoted as

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saying in The Star.

Officials could not be immediately reached for comment but Ambu was reported as saying Jackie’s weight-loss programme would “take time”.

The primate’s new diet is said to include more leafy vegetables and fruit.

AFP

POLITICS

‘Digvijay knows YSRC’s close to power’

N SHIVA KUMAR

Md INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Did AICC incharge of AP affairs, Digvijay Singh’s seemingly inscrutable remarks about YSRC have a special purpose? Political circles are debating it and most of them came to the conclusion that Singh, known for his caustic remarks on rivals, is also reputed to make calculative statements to confuse the ranks.

Singh was an admirer of the AROUND THE

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late YS Rajasekhara Reddy and the two had been chummy all through. However, now YSR being anathema to the Congress, he can’t admire the late chief minister openly. What Singh did was to drop a series of statements eulogising YSR and his sagacity while running down his son and heir YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

“YSR was a tall figure. He had wisdom and patience but his son Jagan Mohan Reddy lacks both,” he said, which seemed to please the Congress

and confuse the YSRC ranks.

With a definite purpose in mind, Singh made repeated statements to this effect on various occasions during his recent visit to the State.

The message was also to attract the admirers of the late CM while discouraging his son.

“He [Digvijay Singh] made that statement only to create confusion among our party leaders and cadres. He wanted to gain the sympathy of the public by praising YSR and criticising his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. He did so to save the continuously declining image of the Congress in the State,” YSRC spokesperson and senior leader Gattu Ramachandra Rao told Postnoon.

Rao further said Singh was worried about the declining status of his party in AP. “All surveys in the State, irrespective of the agency and political party which conducts them, point towards change of guard in the State. They say that our party would come to power with a comfortable majority. This is worrying Digvjay Singh and Congress a lot and forcing them to resort to any level to retain power in the State,” Rao

quipped. He said that the attempts and tactics of ruling Congress would not have any effect on the rise of YSRC in the State and added that the party would work hard to prove its dominance in the ensuing local body polls.

Another senior leader of the party, Bajireddy Govardhan also expressed similar views and said that Digvijay’s attempts to create confusion among YSRC leaders would not yield any result. “The people of the State

10g GOLD `26,057 10g GOLD`31,300 `39,805 1kg SILVER `58,600

24C

forfor

for

DOLLAR `60.29 `54.99 POUND `88.14 POUND `90.69

have retained their faith in YSRC as they believe our party president YS Jagan is carrying the legacy and dreams of his father forward. They showed their faith by ensuring the thumping victory of the party candidates in all the by-elections,” he said.

Another leader of the party, KK Mahender Reddy, felt that the praise of YSR by Digvijay Singh would only help the YSRC instead of the ruling Congress.

19,805.54 BSE 19,577.78 5,888.60 6,022.45 NSE 166.94 21.46 51.65 6.55

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News FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

EDUCATION

DEADLY VIRUS

H1N1 flu outbreak in Chile kills 11

GATE opens its digital doors Students appearing for the GATE exam are in for some good news as talk of making the test completely online is doing the rounds.

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POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

SANTIAGO: At least 11 people have been killed in an outbreak of H1N1 flu virus in northern Chile, where the rate of infection is more than six times higher than the rest of the country, authorities said Thursday.

"The average across the country is 24 patients per 100,000 residents, but in Tarapaca, in the past week, the rate was 148 patients per 100,000 residents," Medical Association president Enrique Paris said.

Citing fears of aggravating the outbreak, Paris recommended postponing or cancelling the upcoming Fiesta de la Tirana, a religious celebration planned for July 15-17 where 200,000 people are expected. Meanwhile, Health Minister Jaime Manalich announced he will travel Friday to the region.

AFP

HYDERABAD: Here is some good news for all those who are preparing for the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2014. The exam may become a complete online exam from 2014. Recently, IIT Kharagpur released a tender notification calling for companies interested in conducting the examination in an online mode.

According to the tender, GATE 2014 might be conducted for 21 papers in 12 sessions with two buffer sessions. Out of the 21 papers, few papers will be conducted in multiple sessions, while for others there will only be one session. The dates for the examination barring unforeseen incidents will be February 1, 2, 15 and 16, March 1 and 2, 2014.

There will be two sessions (9am to noon and 2pm to 5pm) on

each day. A tentative list of 118 cities where exams will be conducted was also disclosed in the tender.

The online mode of examination will prove handy in terms of the lack of time lag say experts. “With the online mode of the exam, candidates will

HEALTH WATCH

Hard-workers put their hearts at risk!

NEW DELHI: Heart disease is no longer restricted to the middle-aged and the old. Long working hours at the desk, little physical exercise and unhealthy eating habits are also taking a toll on working professionals in their late 20s and early 30s, experts say.

According to the India Today-Saffolalife Study conducted on 46,000 urban Indians, 78 per cent of those aged between 30 and 34 run the risk of a heart attack, Kanchan Naikawadi, Director, Indus Health Plus (P) Ltd. said.

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In the last few months, 30-year-old TV actor Abir Goswami and 20-plus Kannada actor Hemanth died of a heart attack.

There is no specific profession that leads to a higher number of heart diseases, but professionals who tend to sit for most of the time are more likely to suffer from such diseases, informs Naikawadi.

"Those from the IT and BPO sector fall under

Smoking is the biggest risk factor.

Exacerbating matters are lack of exercise and high alcohol intake.

this category. With most of the work happening from the desk and minimal physical activity being involved, the chances of risk in such professions are higher," Naikawadi said.

Ravindra L Kulkarni, cardiologist and cofounder of Just For Hearts, too felt that although every profession contributes to stress, employees of IT companies are more stressed out owing to long working hours, graveyard shifts and unhealthy eating habits. "I have observed that smoking is the biggest risk factor for heart attacks among youngsters. No physical exercise and alcohol intake further increases the risk. High cholesterol levels, diabetes and hypertension are also some of the factors," Amar Singhal, head of department, interventional cardiologist, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute said.

IANS.

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have the option to review any question they are unsure about.

Unlike the offline mode where, if they marked any answer

changes could not be made, but now they will have more scope for revision. Also they will not have to waste time turning pages to go through questions, they can choose to answer any question they would like to attempt first with just a click,” said Prudhvi Reddy the Course Director for GATE at T.I.M.E (Hyderabad).

Coaching centres preparing candidates for GATE 2014 will be preparing the candidates for this mode of exam. “Mock tests will be provided to the students to get themselves acquainted with the new interface. Also, they will have access to the actual GATE exam interface with sample questions, months before the actual GATE,” said Reddy.

In the last five years, the number of GATE aspirants has more than quadrupled from 1.8 lakh applicants in 2008 to 12 lakh applicants in 2013.

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News FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

LEGAL

CINEMA

Parties shouldn’t promise freebies: SC However, the court said that the promises of giving freebies was not a corrupt practice.

Such guidelines, restricting promises of freebies, would be necessary for maintaining a level playing field during the elections.

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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday asked the Election Commission to frame guidelines to restrain political parties from promising freebies to voters in their election manifestos.

An apex court bench headed

by Justice P Satsasivam said

BORDERS 24 fishermen released by SL

that such guidelines would be necessary for maintaining a level playing field during the elections. The court said that the freebies can influence the people and disturb the level playing field.

The court said that the

promises of giving freebies, including televisions and laptops was not a corrupt practice under Section 123 of the Representation of Peoples Act. The verdict came while dismissing a petition which had sought the promise of free colour TVs by a political party in Tamil Nadu to be declared a corrupt practice.

IANS

FIRE IN THE MOUNTAIN

RAMESWARAM: Twenty-four fishermen, who were arrested by Sri Lankan naval personnel when they were fishing near Katchathivu islet, arrived here today after a court ordered their release.

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Coast Guard officials, who received them at the International Maritime Boundary line, later handed them over to Indian authorities, officials said. The fishermen arrived here along with their five boats.

PTI

Four US airlines cancelled dozens of flights to and from Mexico City’s international airport on Thursday after the Popocatepetl volcano blew ash and steam skyward, officials said.

AFP PHOTO/PABLO SPENCER

B’wood craze grips Ethiopia People sit through the 3-hour movies with just an unskilled translator as their guide.

ADDIS ABABA: Bollywood craze appears to have gripped Ethiopian youth. They are willing to sit through a usually threehour-long movie at a shantyhouse with only an unskilled translator as their guide to a language they do not understand.

Most of the translators in this East African nation of 85 million people, with old ties to India, are hardly fluent; so audiences make guestimates based on the very expressive faces of the actors.

Thus, it is quite common in this capital and in other cities across to see youngsters and the not-so-young mimicking scenes out of movies like Ram Jaane, Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, Jeena Sirf Mere Liye, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Mujhse Dosti Karoge!, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Mohabbatein, Dosti, Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Chori Chori Chupke Chupke while speaking in the native Amharic.

Getachew Diriba, 33, is one of the popular translators in the capital, born and brought up in the Addis Ketema neighbourhood where there were three cinemas and innumerable shantyhouses showing Bollywood films. He translated his first film, Laadla (1994) when he was just 19. It opened his eyes to Hindi cinema though back then, he was

As good as it gets

M

ost of the translators in this East African nation of 85 million people, with old ties to India, are hardly fluent; so audiences make guestimates based on the very expressive faces of the actors.

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paid only eight birr (less than 50 cents). What kept him going was the repeated clapping of the audiences. Now, he’s lost track of the number of movies he has translated. “It was fun,” Diriba told IANS. “It was like being in a football field where fans shout, jump and clap whenever their team performs well. I was in the middle of things, voicing the actions on the screen to those who had no idea of Hindi,” he added.

He believes that translation is not about knowing each and every word spoken so he does so contextually. Most of the time he happens to be right, for what he says and the action on screen are somehow similar.

IANS

WORLD BRIEFS Pregnant woman among 100 Syrians rescued

7 human heads found in trash bags in Mexico

Tropical storm Erick forms off Mexico

Over 70 killed in battle for Somali port: UN

Philippines to stay in Golan if security boosted

ROME: The Italian coastguard has intercepted a boat off the island of Sicily with 100 Syrian migrants on bord, including 10 women, one whom was pregnant. A police vessel accompanied the migrant boat into the port at Syracuse on Sicily’s coast, where medical checks were carried out on the migrants, who were all said to be in good health.

MEXICO CITY: Police officers in Jalisco, a state in western Mexico, found seven human heads and other body parts in trash bags by a road in the city of Zacoalco, media reports said.The body parts were discovered Tuesday night in a field and taken to the coroner’s office in Guadalajara, where state prosecutors are analysing them.

MEXICO CITY: Tropical storm Erick, the fifth named storm of the season, has formed off Mexico’s Pacific coast, the National Weather Service said. Mexico said the storm could cause heavy rain, fierce winds and rough seas off the coasts of the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero in the south of the country and Michoacan in the west.

MOGADISHU: Battles between rival warlords in Somalia’s key southern port city of Kismayo killed at least 71 people last month, UN officials said Friday. “Recent fierce fighting... continues to have a profound impact on civilians and humanitarian aid work in the Lower Juba region,” the UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

MANILA: The Philippines said Friday it would keep its 340 peacekeepers in the Golan Heights provided it gets requested additional heavier weapons and protection.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino would reject a proposal to pull the Filipinos out if the UN met his requests to boost security, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said.

8

News FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

EGYPT IN TURMOIL

Egypt army urges conciliation Morsi’s Musim Brotherhood has called for peaceful protests on Friday against the ‘coup’, as police continue to hunt its leaders.

SAMER AL-ATRUSH Agence France-Presse CAIRO: Egypt’s military appealed for conciliation and warned against revenge attacks, after it toppled president Mohamed Morsi, as police rounded up senior Islamists ahead of planned rallies by Morsi’s supporters on Friday.

The military published the statement on its spokesman’s Facebook page as scores were injured in clashes between the Islamist Morsi’s supporters and opponents in the Nile Delta ahead of the planned rallies.

In the restive Sinai peninsula, a soldier was killed in an attack

by Islamist militants early Friday, as gunmen ambushed several army and police positions with machine gun fire and rockets and attacked an airport.

The official MENA news agency said military Apache

protest, but warned that violence and civil disobedience acts such as blocking roads would “harm social peace.”

The clashes in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya broke out hours after chief justice Adly AROUND THE

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Egyptian people wave the national flag as army helicopters fly above Egypt’s landmark Tahrir square.

AFP PHOTO/GIANLUIGI GUERCIA

helicopters dispatched to pursue gunmen who attacked an airport in northern Sinai struck a militants’ vehicle.

Some militants in the penin-

E-POWER

‘Social media influential’

sula had threatened a violent response after Morsi’s ouster on Wednesday.

The military statement said it supported the right to peaceful

MANDELA HEALTH UPDATE

Mansour, 67, was sworn in as interim president until new elections, at a ceremony broadcast live from the Supreme Constitutional Court.

The Islamists accuse the military of conducting a brazen coup against Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected but controversial president, following massive protests calling for the Islamist’s ouster.

Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement has called for peaceful protests on Friday against the

AFP PHOTO / NARDUS ENGELBRECHT

KOCHI: Along with its other incarnations like print and broadcast, social media, too, has become influential in the country, Union minister of state for Human Resources Development, Shashi Tharoor, said today in Kochi.

Government: Mandela not in ‘vegetative state’ JOHANNESBURG: The South African government on Thursday denied that former president Nelson Mandela is in a permanent vegetative state, as outlined in court documents filed on June 26.

“We confirm our earlier statement released this afternoon after President Jacob Zuma visited Madiba in hospital that Madiba remains in a critical, but stable condition,” said the statement using Mandela’s clan name.

“The doctors deny that the former president is in a vegetative state,” the statement added.

Court documents obtained earlier by AFP showed

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Nobody can now ignore social media, given the influence it now exerts in politics, business and society, Tharoor said at the launch of ‘Insight Media City (India) Private Ltd’, billed as the country’s first private media city.

The minister is known for his social media skills and wide following on Twitter.

PTI

“coup,” as police continue to hunt its leaders.

The military statement said “exceptional and autocratic measures against any political group” should be avoided, even as security forces rounded up top Muslim Brotherhood officials.

Police arrested the Brotherhood’s supreme leader Mohammed Badie “for inciting the killing of protesters”, a security official told AFP. Former supreme guide Mahdi Akef was also arrested, state television reported.

Morsi was “preventively detained” by the military, a senior officer told AFP early Thursday, hours after his overthrow the night before, suggesting the ousted president might face trial.

US pressed Egyptian officials to avoid the “arbitrary arrests”of Morsi and his supporters.

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that doctors treating Mandela said he was in a “permanent vegetative state” and advised his family to turn off his life support a week ago.

“He is clearly a very ill man, but he was conscious and he tried to move his mouth and eyes when I talked to him,” Denis Goldberg, one of the men who was convicted with Mandela, told AFP after visiting him on Monday.

A spokesman for Mandela’s wife Graca Machel declined to comment.

AFP

NANOTECHNOLOGY

Nanofiber mesh developed to treat cancer TOKYO: Scientists have developed a nanofiber mesh that can efficiently induce natural death (apoptosis) of epithelial cancer cells, says a study.

Developed by the researchers at International Centre of Material Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), Japan, the nanofiber mesh is capa-

Its hybrid material combines a temperature-responsive polymer, magnetic nanoparticles, and anti-cancer drugs.

ble of simultaneously realising thermotherapy (hyperthermia) and chemotherapy (treatment with anti-cancer drugs) of tumours, which until now was difficult to achieve, reports online bulletin of journal Advanced Functional Materials.

Squamous cell carcinoma

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(SCC) is an epithelial malignant tumour which is found in many tissues. SCC is thought to account for more than 90 per cent of esophageal cancers, more than 80

per cent of the cervical cancers, and more than 30 per cent of lung cancers. The mesh developed by the MANA researchers is applied directly to the affected part. Its hybrid material combines a temperature-responsive polymer, magnetic nanoparticles, and anticancer drugs.

9

News FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

From the field of dreams to a city of splendour India’s ace batsman and Hyderabad’s lad, VVS Laxman talks about the game, sports and his love for the City in a chat with Postnoon.

G APARNA SAI aparna.s@postnoon.com It has been nearly a year since you retired, how have you kept yourself busy?

Things have been good since my retirement. I’ve been spending a lot of time with my family and I was also looking forward to playing for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy, unfortunately I played only two games. I had a commentary stint during the India-Australia series earlier this year. I also do a lot of corporate talks and was the mentor of the Sunrisers Hyderabad team. I’m glad with the way things have shaped, as they went on at my pace. For the last 16 years I’ve been literally on the road. It has been good overall, but now I want to realise my dream and want to set up a school and a sports academy in Hyderabad which will be of international standards.

M ANIL KUMAR

training at the gymkhana grounds or the Uppal stadium and then spend the rest of the time at home. There were a lot of places I used to go to and loved visiting as a kid though I don’t go to those places very often now. There are a few restaurants where I go to with my family because we get our privacy there. There are also a few cinema theatres where we go because ultimately you want to spend quality time with your family and do not want to be disturbed when you are out.

In the past two years what are the changes that you have seen in the City?

Well, I wouldn’t say in the last two years. Like I mentioned earlier, I think it has been over the past decade to 15 years that there has been numerous changes in the City. But one good thing about Hyderabad is that there was the infrastructure that supported the change unlike what we see in some other places like in Bangalore, where it was very difficult to accommodate the numerous people who are coming in from different parts of the country.

Another thing that I am really looking forward to is the Metro rail as this would ease congestion on the roads, like it did in Delhi.

Who are the sports players from the City who have impressed you?

From badminton, Sindhu has been doing well and also Kashyap, who lost his match in the Olympics, but I was impressed with the manner in which he played — his technique and talent — it was wonderful. I do not follow many other sports apart from cricket: Vihari, Akshat Reddy and Ashish Reddy have done really well for Hyderabad and also for the Sunrisers. Rahul Singh is another cricketer who has done well and CV Miland has been selected for the India U-19 team which will tour Australia.

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Having travelled across the world, how do you see and rate Hyderabad in comparison to these other cities?

Well, I think Hyderabad is one of the best places to live in without a doubt and I may be a little biased as I’ve grown up here.

But, having said that, there has been a lot of development here; right from infrastructure, it has What do you think become more cosmopolitan now about the food of as compared to the time I grew Hyderabad? up. People from all over the I think the food of Hyderabad is country come and stay here fabulous. There are wonderful mainly because of the job opporrestaurants which serve different tunities. The schools are excelcuisines, which is a little diffilent and so are the parks. cult to find in many There are so many places. Also, the typirestaurants to temIVERS cal Hyderabadi ples to hospitals; NN food, it is somethere is everyA thing everyone thing here. I loves. I know this think it is a for a fact as great place to many of my live but my only friends who complaint is come to play about the traffic matches here, love here. If that can be the Hyderabadi food regulated properly, especially the I think it is a dream Hyderabadi biryani. I am a place to be in. foodie myself and even though I’m a vegetarian, I love trying Which are the places out various cuisines. that you frequently visit in Hyderabad?

Moving on, what do you Because of my earlier travelling have to say about schedules, whenever I was in education in Hyderabad?

Hyderabad, I used to spend a lot I think the education here is of time at home and then go for

RVI

it has been a little unfortunate that the Hyderabad team has not been doing well in all age groups. I think the quality has to be revived and I’m happy that the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has taken the right steps by changing the league structure. Because I firmly believe that if the quality and standard is high, automatically the quality of the players coming out would be high. This is one aspect.

The second aspect is the selection at the U-14, U-16 level because if you don’t recognise the performance of the players, then it will see many good players leave the game and you don’t want to lose talented players in that manner.

good and I’m passionate about education and hence have done a lot of research. It is great to see that there are schools that are promoting education and teaching the future of our country.

There are schools available for various economic backgrounds and also with different methods of teaching. I believe that there are some wonderful schools in the City and education is the best gift you can give to a kid.

Coming to sports, what do you think of the sporting scene in Hyderabad?

The sporting scene has been really good and very encouraging in all sports. Gagan Narang has done very well in shooting, Saina [Nehwal] in badminton and Sania [Mirza] in tennis. I’m sure players in other sports are also doing well. But from cricket,

Any thoughts about our sports enthusiasts?

Our City supports sports and I think this is great and I can tell this from seeing the manner in which they supported the IPL Sunrisers team. It was a new team but we were really happy to see the kind of response we got. And it is not only cricket but also other sports that they support because look at the kind of reception that the medal winners [Saina and Gagan] at the Olympics got on their return to the City, it was amazing. We definitely have the sporting culture but one thing I would want the people to get involved in, is different sporting activities like from playing in the public parks to participating in marathons. If the public spaces are more developed then we can have many more people participating in sporting activities.

10

News FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

SPORTS

PIC: N SHIVA KUMAR

HOIST THE SAILS! Hussainsagar lake was dotted with white sails yesterday as the Deloitte Monsoon Regatta kicked off in style. After a fun day out on the water, the winners were felicitated by ace batsman VVS Laxman. Overall champion Vishnu was all smiles as he held up his trophy.

11

News FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

REPORTERS’ DIARY

THE NUDE ARTIST WHO STALKS THE POLICE HQ LOO

D

irector General of Police headquarters is the nervecentre of a State’s law and order machinery where the top cop of the State sits and commands his force.

Common sense tells us that this precinct should set a virtuous example for those in uniform; but our lensman and reporter, who paid a visit to the men’s room after attending the half-yearly press conference held by DGP Dinesh Reddy, were shocked when they saw a series of ‘artistic’ sketches on the wall. The sketches portrayed a nude young woman in various poses.

The photographer regrets his inability to share the ‘art’ with the reader because the sketches are unprintable by public standards of decency. Let us tell you it was no ordinary artist who did the sketches but a master whose deft fingers drew up the contours of the female form from different angles of her natural ‘beauty’. But the visual delight was marred by the name of a woman police officer scrawled across one of the sketches.

While one tends to appreciate the artistic skill, it came as a rude shock that men in uniform regard their female superiors as mere sexual objects. The question is which one of the satraps at the DGP headquarters must answer for this: If this is the attitude of men in uniform to their own colleagues, what can you expect from them when it comes to guarding the safety and security of women in the City? Could it be possible that no mid-level officers noted this vulgarity and tried to erase it and warn the ‘artist’?

In the military, there is a way of dealing with such cases — collective punishment for the whole corps so

that someone will throw light on it or all will ensure any individual misadventure will have to be borne collectively, so everybody is on their guard. It is worth trying this Mr DGP. MS & MA

HALEEM-BUILT BODIES

To have a professional bodybuilder spearhead the launch of this year’s haleem (top right pic) was surely a masterstroke by Cafe 555, situated in Masab Tank. The sight of Mir Mohtesham Ali Khan, silver medallist in the World Body Building Championship, devouring the Ramzan delicacy, was a perfect picture for those aspiring for the latest fad — six-pack abs and bulging muscles — and wondering what diet was the quickest route to their dream. Only, the onlooker-motivatAROUND THE

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ed gentleman better be informed that while a high-protein food like haleem sure is good to build an appealing body, all food and no exercise will only make Jack obese, and, on the contrary, repulsive.

Since there is no substitute for hard work, one way to a muscular body is plenty of haleem and lots of exercise.

SS

JOURNALIST FOR HIRE

Under the table transactions between some business organisations and a few journalists is a fact but what seems new now is how some organisations are openly luring journalists by advertising various offers to get a particular event covered.

Most of the press invites these

days have a separate column which says lunch and refreshments will follow. Some of them openly declare that gift vouchers and gifts would be given to the journalist along with the press note at the event.

Organisers feel that journalists could be lured into covering the event by offering them such attractive packages. However, one cannot blame them because sadly such offers work in the case of a few. AA

GOOD GOVERNANCE

One of the easiest ways to make government offices more efficient and productive is to put them all under one roof.

The Integrated Joint Collectorate in Sangareddy is a model example. Every department of the district administration — health and sanitation, education, tribal welfare, women’s welfare, roads, labour — is in the same building, under the watchful eye of the district collector and his jointchiefs. Without a ‘head office’ to relegate everything to, papers are signed more easily, officers are more approachable and accountable and co-ordination between departments is smoother. Maybe time Hyderabad took a cue from its district counterparts?

PC

WHERE’S THE ACTION?

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) was to operate and remove waste from Hussainsagar lake during the World Conference on Biodiversity (COP-11) held in October 2012. This was to save the City’s image before the world’s eyes. We are told that the Hussainsagar Catchment Improvement Project (HCIP), which is being taken up at a cost of `370

crore with financial assistance from the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), was in the offing. But (top left picture), where is the action?

Poor birds are falling victim to the callous dumping of plastic and bio waste.

It’s a shame.

SS

WAKE UP PLEASE

For a vast state, Andhra Pradesh should have been dominating Delhi politics.

It should be more so because of the crucial backing the State gives to the ruling UPA. But a review

of the State MPs’ work in Parliament conducted by a public-spirited citizen found proof that worthwhile pro bono work by AP MPs is missing. While there is no dearth of politicking in the State and they gladly mess around, MPs seem to be tonguetied in Delhi. Time to wake up, netas.

PK (Contributed by Srinivas Setty, Syed Shoaib, Mohd Subhan, M Anil Kumar, Aleena Alice, Padmini C & PK Surendran)

PICK YOUR

@

Across Stores

ities Twin C

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News FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

IN HER IMAGE?

Is the Duchess Diana lite?

Despite the popularity of the young royals, Catherine, 31, has at times been compared unfavourably to the late princess, who seduced the public with her outspokenness and glamour.

JUDITH EVANS Agence France-Presse LONDON: As Prince William’s wife Catherine prepares to give birth to a new heir to the throne, she faces renewed comparisons with her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, whom she never met. The former Kate Middleton only met her prince four years after Diana’s untimely death, but William gave her his mother’s sapphire ring on their engagement, saying “it was right to put the two together”.

Despite the popularity of the young royals, Catherine, 31, has at times been compared unfavourably to the late princess, who seduced the public with her outspokenness and glamour. One columnist even called her “Diana lite”.

Diana’s human touch made her a potent symbol; she was described as the “people’s princess” and said she wanted to be “queen of people’s hearts”.

Like her, Catherine, whose title is Duchess of Cambridge, pays informal visits to sick children and backs addiction charities; like Diana, she is a fashion trendsetter whose choices of dress often prompt a rush on stores.

But the duchess has so far opted for a far quieter public persona. When she issued a charity broadcast in April, celebrity magazine OK! — exaggerating just a little — urged readers to “hear Kate Middleton speak for the first time!”

Both women have endured one of the biggest challenges of being a modern royal: constant scrutiny from the press, includ-

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ing feverish speculation about possible pregnancies.

Kate’s circumspection in part reflects lessons the establishment learned from Diana’s life, and her death aged 36 in a high-speed Paris car crash, pursued by photographers.

The family are said to be determined to avoid any repeat of her very public struggles, which included a divorce from William’s father Prince Charles played out in the glare of the media.

But there is one part of Diana’s life the young couple are keen to emulate: her close relationship with her two children, defying royal tradition.

Diana’s former private secretary, Patrick Jephson, told AFP that she “certainly did break the mould in the sense that she took William on tour, she made sure that... she was able to get home

The family are said to be determined to avoid any repeat of Diana’s public struggles. But there is one part of Diana’s life the young couple are keen to emulate: her close relationship with her two children, defying the royal tradition.

in time to put (her children) to bed”. He recalled that “if we were overseas (she ensured) that she was able to get home in the right time zone to speak to them on the phone...

“They were always with her in her heart wherever she was.

And I daresay (with Catherine) it will be the same.”

Catherine will have her baby at St Mary’s hospital in London, where Diana had William in 1982, in what was then a radical choice not to give birth in a royal residence.

The family will live in a 21room apartment in Diana’s old home, Kensington Palace — which is undergoing a £1 million ($1.5 million, 1.2-millioneuro) refit — where Catherine will add to her challenges that of parenting the third-in-line to the throne. Given Catherine and William’s eight-year courtship, they seem unlikely to face the high-profile discord that plagued Diana’s marriage as her sons William and Harry grew up.

Catherine was 28 when Prince William proposed in 2010, and was a “commoner”, which would have ruled out their marriage a generation earlier. Diana was just 19 when she became engaged in 1981 to Charles, who was 13 years older and on the hunt for an aristocratic bride deemed suitable by his relatives. Diana’s parents were a viscount and viscountess who divorced bitterly when she was eight; Catherine’s met working for an airline, started a party accessories business together, and remain happily married.

CAMBODIA

An institute of ancient cures

ASSAD ABBOUD Agence France-Presse PHNOM PENH: A lizard dipped in wine may not seem like an obvious asthma remedy, but as Cambodian traditional healers strive to turn their ancient wisdom into a professional industry such treatments are finding their way into the classroom.

For generations, the secrets of "Kru Khmer" traditional remedies have been passed down by word of mouth -often from father to son -- with each expert tweaking the methods along the way.

But in an attempt to freshen up the ancient art and better regulate the industry, Cambodia's Ministry of Health has opened a traditional medicine school, with funds from a Japanese foundation.

Cambodia is home to thousands of Kru Khmer practitioners — medical plant

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Other remedies are potentially dangerous — in the worst case, powerful homemade rice wine is known to have been recommended to pregnant women. experts whose mysterious concoctions of roots, barks and leaves are used to heal common ailments. The school, which opened in 2009, has trained some 345 Kru Khmer so far, with a particular focus on hygiene and anatomy. "It's good to have training like this because it teaches us correct, safe methods," said Kraing Dhein, a student at the school.

TOWERING INDEPENDENCE

Fourth of July Independence Day fireworks are seen over the Washington AFP PHOTO/MLADEN ANTONOV Monument.

FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

Comment The word ‘politics’ is derived from ‘poly’, meaning ‘many’, and ‘ticks’, meaning ‘blood sucking parasites’.

Larry Hardiman American satirist

Scapegoat or coward? Cruise captain on trial FRANÇOISE KADRI Agence France-Presse

W

ith his slick hair and macho man image, the captain of the Costa Concordia has been portrayed as a villain who crashed and then abandoned his cruise ship in a tragedy that claimed 32 lives. But as Francesco Schettino’s trial opens in Italy on Tuesday, some lawyers are saying he should not be the sole defendant and Costa Crociere, Europe’s biggest cruise operator, should share the blame.

The 52-year-old Schettino is accused of crashing the giant liner on the night of January 13 last year, as he was trying to perform a risky “salute” manoeuvre just off the Tuscan island of Giglio.

With 4,229 people from 70 countries on board, the Costa Concordia hit a rock, veered sharply and then keeled over near the shore, sparking a panicky and heavily delayed nighttime evacuation. Schettino is accused of leaving the ship before all the passengers had been evacuated, earning him the nickname “Captain Coward” in the tabloid press. He has defended himself saying that the ship was already tilting at a 90-degree angle and that he was co-ordinating the rescue from the shore.

Schettino says he slipped and fell onto a lifeboat. The court will rule on charges he faces of multiple manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing environmental damage but the trial by media has already delivered its guilty verdict. A widely quoted piece of evidence against him is a phone call in which a coast guard official is heard upbraiding Schettino and ordering him to “get back on board, for fuck’s sake”.

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS

A devastating earthquake of magnitude 7.6 is foreseen in the Himalayan region, a scientific research has revealed. Should we wait for this to happen and then bring out the philanthropist in us, or should the State take at least this prediction seriously and avert a tragedy?

CHANGING TIMES

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MONARCHS CHOOSE NOT TO RULE UNTIL DEATH THE INSIDE STORY Nicolas Delaunay

J

ordanians Retirement is not traditionally on the cards for queens, kings or popes, but a string of abdications in recent months, some unprecedented, show many are choosing to step aside instead of labouring on until death.

Belgian King Albert, 79, became the latest to announce he will abdicate his throne, a little over a week after the emir of Qatar Hamad ben Khalifa Al Thani stepped down in favour of his son — a first for an Arab country.

“For certain duties, which we thought ended with death, we now see a modern logic: abdication is possible,” Belgian political analyst Pascal Delwit told private television station RTL-TVI. The abdication of queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in April was not a complete surprise, as both her mother and grandmother before her voluntarily gave up their crowns.

However a decision by Pope Benedict XVI to step down that same month stunned the world.

He was the first to resign the papacy — an elected monarchy — in some 600 years.

In a nod to modernity he said that “in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes

and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith” he no longer had the strength of mind and body to do the job.

Benedict’s predecessor John Paul II hung on, stricken by Parkinson’s disease, as the child sex scandal and corruption which would eventually dog his own rule mounted in the Vatican.

Many other monarchies have been rocked by scandals, including that of Belgium’s Albert who has faced a court case over his paternity of an illegitimate daughter and a financial scandal over taxes.

“These last 15-20 years the monarchy has evolved, it depends more and more on the

popularity of the sovereign in place,” said history professor Willem Otterspeer at the Leiden University in the Netherlands.

“In this context it is better to retire at the right moment, instead of wanting to hold on to the end and attract negative publicity.”

But not all seem open to stepping down, such as Spain’s 75-year-old King Juan Carlos, who has ruled it out despite numerous ailments and his family being mired in corruption scandals.

Analysts say he is unlikely in the short-term to hand over to his son Felipe, who has taken a bigger role lead in official royal functions over recent months, as it could be seen as abandoning

his duties while his country is in the grips of an economic crisis.

In the United Kingdom, Europe’s oldest monarch Queen Elizabeth, 87, shows no intention of handing over power to her son Charles, 64 and is seen as taking her vows to rule until death as irrevocable.

“Elizabeth’s attitude is clearly that from another time,” said Otterspeer of the queen who has been in the throne for 60 years.

Scandinavian monarchs show no sign of retiring in Sweden or Norway, while Denmark’s 73-year-old Queen Margrethe II has assured she will stay on her throne until her death.

EDITORIALS REALITY OF REALTY

A

recent research by Knight Frank reveals that about 51 per cent of the total under-construction apartment units in Hyderabad were priced below `50 lakh and 49 per cent were priced at more than that. While Bangalore had 77 per cent of all under-construction houses priced below `50 lakh, Chennai had about 75 per cent of such houses. Bangalore was the most affordable market in the country for house hunters and Mumbai, the most expensive among the top six cities in the country and prices in Hyderabad were labelled as fairly reasonable. Despite these findings, a reality check of the real estate in Hyderabad will show you how the city is not so affordable and new apartments cost over `50 lakh per unit. Realty owners will, however, justify how the core areas of Chennai are costlier than its counterpart in Hyderabad. While builders point to the rising costs of building materials, the shortage of apartments on sale compared to the demand in the market could be pushing the costs to a new level in Hyderabad.

READERS’ VIEWS

BUILDING FIRE PROOF

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ccording to the Fire Services Department, most multi-storey buildings ignore fire safety measures prescribed by the National Building Code. Some buildings lack even basic fire safety systems like extinguishers. The Lokayukta needs to act quick as the report is now in its hands. Open spaces abutting apartments being used as godowns can prove dangerous. In Manikonda, the crew of a television serial dumped shooting equipment near the Baba Nivas apartment, leading to an electrical short-circuit fire.

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.

Editor: Dean Williams

FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

Living spaces FACTS ABOUT CHANDANAGAR SCHOOLS

Sancta Maria International School, Serilingampally Sentia the Global School, Miyapur COLLEGES

North Indians make beeline for Chandanagar With as many as 50 per cent of buyers happening to be from North India, Chandanagar has built quite a reputation for itself as a place attracting people from all over the country. Higher rates in other metros is helping this cause.

PRUDHVI RAJU K prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

JNTU College of Engineering, JNTU, KPHB Padmasri Dr BV Raju Institute Of Technology, Nizampet, Bachupally

C

handanagar, located on the Mumbai Highway between Miyapur and Lingampally, has seen constant growth in property values for the last two years. This has become a valued residential destination to the middle and upper-middle

income IT employees, working in Gachibowli and Hitec City.

Well-developed infrastructure like roads, retail shops, schools and hospitals is the other reason for its sustained growth.

"It is well connected to Gachibowli and Hitec City and is at a distance of around 10km and 8km respectively. People who are looking for property at

decent price points, especially middle class and upper-middle class sections of the IT crowd are mainly driving the growth of this area," said Safi Ur Rehman, manager-sales, Aparna Constructions.

North Indians account for almost 50 per cent of the sales and the rest is shared between people from different parts of the

Infrastructure ROAD

Connected to Patancheru (15min) KPHB Colony (17min) Hitec City (20min) RAIL

Hafeezpet MMTS, (10min) Lingampally Railway Station (15min)

State. "Most of the IT crowd from coastal Andhra Pradesh prefer KPHB-Miyapur and Chandanagar stretches so as to stay near their relatives and close ones, already living in this area.

Adding to that, they prefer gated communities as they want to have better upbringing of their children by providing facilities like swimming and tennis.

However, North Indians are buying property in Hyderabad because it is the lowest in the country.

Property prices in other metros are touching the sky.

Reasonable prices here are encouraging them to invest and settle in the City," explained Rehman.

Most of the market is driven by the IT crowd (80 per cent) followed by pharma and business people. There are quite a few pharma units between the Miyapur and Bachupally stretch, like Reddys. Employees, who amount to about 15 per cent of the buyers, of these companies prefer to choose property in this locality. About five per cent are businessmen and people from other professions," he revealed.

Explaining the growth in property values he said, "Real estate industry has a slow and steady growth in this locality. For instance, we launched Aparna

AIR

APARNA HILLPARK GARDENIA Shamshabad Airport (40km) ENTERTAINMENT & SHOPPING

Talkie Town, Big Bazaar (under construction)

n 116 villas in 16.16 acres n Plot size: 330-500syd n Builtup Area: 3,409-3,475sft n Clubhouse with swimming pool, n Snooker/billiards, fully air-conditioned lounge and dining area, n Library and ATM n Health and fitness centre n The Spa â&#x20AC;&#x201D; massage, sauna, jacuzzi n 24-hour surveillance n 100% backup power to villas and common areas. n Water Treatment plant n A common sewage treatment plant n Base price: Starts from `2.09 crore (west facing) `2.19 crore (east facing)

JANAPRIYA NILE VALLEY n Located at Madinaguda n 2BHK and 3BHK flats ranging from 940sftâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;1490sft n Club house n Gymnasium n Swimming pool n Park n Indoor games n Amphitheatre n Diesel power backup for common areas n 6-passenger elevators n Close to ATMs, schools, shopping complex, healthcare centre, food courts n Base price: `2,500 per sft

YOUR WEEKLY GUIDE TO HYDERABAD REAL ESTATE S BALAKRISHNA

14&15

The dynamics of luxury housing n India's largest cities — namely Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Bangalore — luxury and ultraluxury residential projects have witnessed ten-fold appreciation over their launch prices over the last decade, implying more than 100% annual returns on investment. Most of these projects saw encouraging pre-sale activity and were sold out completely very quickly. In fact, demand for luxury and ultra-luxury housing in cities like Gurgaon has always outpaced supply, which has encouraged developers to increasingly shift their focus on this segment.

developer. In other words, even mid-income housing projects that they launch benefit, and will invariably see higher sales than comparable projects by developers who have not ventured into luxury housing.

That said, there is considerable responsibility on a developer of luxury housing. He must mandatorily be able to introduce features that compare with or surpass those in other luxury projects on the market. Buyers of such projects have very high expectations and want their homes to offer as well as reflect a high lifestyle quotient. There is very little tolerance for flaws in design, construction and amenities. Thus, a botched luxury project can have significant negative repercussions on the developer's credibility and future success.

WHY LUXURY WORKS

LUXURY AS INVESTMENT

SANTHOSH KUMAR

feedback@postnoon.com

I

Hill Park Avenues at `2,350 per sft around two years ago. Today, the price is touching `3,500. You can see the appreciation that it has brought to the buyers. Apart from market growth, various other factors like increasing input costs and purchasing power of buyers are also attributed for the growth in property values."

The locality has a lot of vacant land unlike KPHB and Miyapur. "It has a lot of potential for real estate development due to this vacant land in the very heart of Chandanagar. We also have plans to launch Silveroaks (600 flats) soon after finishing seventy per cent sales in Lake Breeze," he added.

This spur in residential growth is also attracting retail chains of the City. Big Bazaar is coming up with a shopping mall in the region, which may also

Attractions 8km from Hitec City and Madhapur 10km from the Financial District, Microsoft, Infosys and ICICI Close to JNTU and engineering colleges Close to industrial hubs of Miyapur, Bolaram, Kazipalle and Patancheru Close to shopping and entertainment centres

have a multiplex. And, in the proximity of 7-8km, there are also international schools.

Underground water levels are moderate in the region. But, the locality is not known for office or commercial growth.

"I was working in this locality for three years and never heard a major problem of shortage of water. For instance,

Gangaram Cheruvu is near our property, which helps maintain underground water levels. We hit water at 400 feet at our project. And the municipal water (Manjeera) is also available for this locality," he went on to add.

According to realtors, the only challenge for this locality is traffic. However, this will be solved with the upcoming Metro. As Chandanagar is located just off the Mumbai Highway, there is heavy traffic, especially during peak hours. However, it is low when compared to traffic in KPHB and JNTU areas.

Also, while a commuter may experience heavy traffic near BHEL in the peak hours, their journey to Gachibowli is traffic free after crossing BHEL. The second phase of Metro, which may take another five years for completion, seems the only permanent solution.

APARNA HILLPARK AVENUES n 647 flats in 6 towers spread over 7 acres of land n 2 BHK from 1,150–1,275 sft and BHK from 1400 and 1590 sft n One parking bay per apartment n Air-conditioned shuttle bus service from the site to main road n Exclusive supermarket n A 17,000 sq ft clubhouse (A/C) n Large swimming pool n Basketball court n Air-conditioned gym n Air-conditioned multi-function hall n Power back-up for common areas and 6–7 electric points for flats n Base price: `3,400 (west facing) and `3,500 (east facing)

Because of the tendency of ultraluxury projects to garner extremely good pre-sale volumes, their developers are gener-

The ultra-luxury housing segment is comparatively recession proof. As most of the buyers in this category are the C Suite of FIRONZA

ally able to secure significant fund flows to capitalise the completion of their projects. Luxury and ultra-luxury projects yield much higher returns to developers than projects geared towards the affordable and mid-income segments.

While it is equally true that the input costs for luxury housing are also much higher, the developer stands to benefit from the increased visibility of his brand among highly affluent, top-end clients. This means that the developer can uniquely position himself on the basis of quality luxury projects. This increased visibility and the credibility attached to a reputation for superior construction is automatically attributed to all projects by such a

the corporate world, successful entrepreneurs and business tycoons, their financial appetite is not limited to or governed by the economic considerations that give the middle class sleepless nights. A significant percentage of buyers for such projects are able to self-finance their investments through their saved earnings. Recession might take a toll on the response generated and time taken in project selling out completely at the targeted price points; however, the quantum of impact that luxury projects face in times of economic uncertainty is significantly lower when compared to residential projects aimed at other categories.

Santhosh Kumar is CEO – Operations, Jones Lang LaSalle India.

FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

spotlight SUCCESS MEET

TAKE CENTRE STAGE

Sing along with Loki and Ruben tonight at Aqua, The Park. The restaurant is hosting Karaoke Night tonight.

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S BALAKISHNA

Plenty to celebrate Cast and crew of Balupu converged at Radisson Blu to celebrate the success of their movie. Spotted at the do were Ravi Teja, Anjali and others.

1 Anjali

4 Dil Raju

2 Srinivas Reddy

5 Ravi Teja

3 Brahmaji

2

3

4

5

FRESH BLAST OF FASHION

Designer Sumita Reddy launched her new designer collection at Westin Hyderabad Mindspace on Thursday. Seen were Nikita Reddy, Sushma, Geeta among many others.

A DOSE OF GLAMOUR

Tollywood actress Samantha made her presence felt at the 60th Idea Film Fare Awards 2012 (South) press meet.

TICKLING YOUR FUNNY BONE

Curtain raiser of History of India â&#x20AC;&#x201D; VIRitten that will be performed by stand-up comedian Vir Das was held at Sparsh Hospice on Thursday. Vir Das will be performing in the City on July 27.

1

FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

health

IVF LINKED TO RISK OF MENTAL DISABILITY? Children born through any in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedure have a small increased risk of mental disability compared to spontaneous conception, say a new study.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR LIVER -PART V

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Let your liver go on

Alcoholism is said to be one of the major factors causing liver damage but it is not the only cause. Here are some myths about liver disease which we can keep in mind.

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Myth: Liver disease is only caused by alcohol.

Fact: Almost everybody assumes that a person with liver disease is a heavy drinker. While alcohol is a leading cause of liver damage, other conditions like obesity can cause fatty liver disease, leading to severe liver damage.

Viruses, hereditary factors and reactions to drugs can also cause liver disease.

2

Myth: Going on a liver-cleansing diet will detox your liver.

Fact: Liver-cleansing diets or detox pills do absolutely nothing for the liver, and in some cases, may even be harmful.

There is no quick fix for a healthy liver. Eating a balanced diet, exercising moderately, maintaining a healthy weight and limiting alcohol intake will ensure a clean liver.

3

Myth: A high-protein diet can harm the liver.

Fact: Healthy adults usually have no trouble processing a high-protein diet. However, people who lack the ability to eliminate waste products left over from protein metabolism might have problems.The liver seems to be affected because a high-protein diet limits the intake of essential nutrients from fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

4

Myth: If you already have liver disease, there is no point stopping alcohol intake.

Fact: Even in advanced liver disease, it helps to stop drinking alcohol altogether. Studies have shown that people with advanced liver disease who give up alcohol have a 65 per cent chance of surviving for five years as compared to 33 per cent chance for those who don’t.

Myth: Children cannot get liver disease Fact: Though most associate liver disease with adults, children can also suffer from liver disease. The common causes for the diseases in children are genetic disorders or viral infections. Another common reason is blockage in the passage through which the bile juice flows out of the liver.

Myth: A liver transplant provides a cure for liver disease Fact: A liver transplant is a lastcase scenario when it comes to liver failure. But receiving a liver transplant does not mean the patient is in the clear. In some cases, the transplanted liver is rejected by the antibodies, resulting in the need for repeat transplants. In other cases, the newly transplanted liver may become infected by a virus still circulating in the blood (like hepatitis C).

ANEWS PP-LYBRIEFS YOURSELF

HOUSECALL

DID YOU KNOW?

PIONEERS

MediBabble

Achalasia

Females have 500 more genes

Andreas Vesahus

As mentioned in the medical calculator category, we would think there would be more free medical translation apps, but that’s not the case. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter, as MediBabble is the best medical translation app available in the App Store, paid or free.

Achalasia is a rare disease of the muscle of the esophagus (swallowing tube). The term achalasia means “failure to relax” and refers to the inability of the lower esophageal sphincter (a ring of muscle situated between the lower esophagus and the stomach) to open and let food pass into the stomach. As a result, patients with achalasia have difficulty in swallowing food.

Females have 500 more genes than males, and because of this are protected from things like colour blindness and hemophilia.While both men and women are just as susceptible to mental illness, women are less vulnerable to developmental difficulties and chronic illnesses, with this possibly being due to having two X chromosomes

The Flemish physician Andreas Vesahus (also Andreas Vesal, André Vesalio or Andre Vesale) is widely considered to be the founder of the modern science of anatomy. He was a major figure of the Scientific Revolution. Vesahus’s book De Humani Commis Fabrica (On the Structure of the Human Body) is one of the most important works about human anatomy.

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FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

Technology SPY GAMES

The French connection French agency spies on phone calls, email, web use, says newspaper.

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rance's external intelligence agency spies on the French public's phone calls, emails and social media activity in France and abroad, the daily Le Monde said on Thursday.

It said the DGSE intercepted signals from computers and telephones in France, and between France and other countries, although not the content of phone calls, to create a map of "who is talking to whom". It said the activity was illegal.

"All of our communications are spied on," wrote Le Monde, which based its report on unnamed intelligence sources as well as remarks made publicly by intelligence officials.

"Emails, text messages, telephone records, access to Facebook and Twitter are then stored for years," it said.

The activities described are similar to those carried out by the US National Security Agency, as described in docu-

ments leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

The documents revealed that the NSA has access to vast amounts of Internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video from large companies such as Facebook and Google, under a programme known as Prism.

They also showed that the US government had gathered so-called metadata — such as the time, duration and numbers called — on all telephone calls carried by service providers such as Verizon.

France's DGSE was not immediately available for comment.

Le Monde said the French national security commission whose job it is to authorise targeted spying, and the parliamentary intelligence committee, had challenged the paper's report and said it worked in accordance with the law. It said the only body that collected communications information

Le Monde's report comes amid a storm over media allegations that Washington spies on European citizens and embassies.

The allegations irked governments just as major trade talks are about to start. was a government agency controlled by the prime minister's office that monitors for security breaches.

Le Monde's report comes amid a storm over media allegations that Washington regularly spies on European citizens and embassies. The allegations, made in the German magazine Der Spiegel, sparked concern from data protection watchdogs and irked European governments just as major transatlantic trade talks are about to start.

Le Monde said France's DGSE was more interested in finding out who was speaking to whom than in combing through the content of private communications. It said the DGSE stored a mass of such metadata in the basement of its Paris headquarters.

France's seven other intelligence services, including domestic secret services and customs and money-laundering watchdogs, have access to the data and can tap into it freely as a means to spot people whose communications seem suspicious, whom they can then track with more intrusive techniques such as phone-tapping, Le Monde wrote.

The Guardian newspaper reported last month that Britain had a similar spying program on international phone and Internet traffic and was sharing vast quantities of personal information with the American NSA. AGENCIES

MORE CONVENIENT NOW Twitter has enabled an automatic translation feature that allows English-speaking users to read the tweets of high-profile Egyptian Twitter users during the country’s time of political unrest.

While translation on the web through features like Google Translate are nothing new, the native translate button added to tweets makes it easier to read them right away (tweets from certain users will show a “translate now” button below the text). And by enabling the feature on highprofile accounts during an international news event, it shows that Twitter is committed to being the platform where breaking news happens.

TWITCH WITH STEAM

Although video streaming service Twitch has already secured some rather big deals in the past year, including broadcasting on Origin and Xbox 360, the company's latest deal may be its biggest. Twitch users can now link their Twitch account to their Steam account.

This is big news for Dota 2 fans, who can now watch tournament matches via Twitch, and receive item drops through Steam at the same time. Twitch is a video platform built to help people easily broadcast and watch gameplay.

How many downloads?

NPD is preparing to track digital sales of games this year. Nine publishers are on board so far, and the goal is to launch a global digital sales tracking service "quickly due to the pending console launches".

NPD has actually been tracking the total consumer spend on games in the US since 2010 by combining physical (new, used and rental) with digital categories including mobile, social, subscriptions, full-games downloads and downloadable content for consoles, PCs and portables. The problem for the industry has been that digital POS data isn't being clearly laid out. That's about to change.

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FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

Entertainment CINE BYTES

BKP’s audio launched

T

he audio of Navdeep, Swati starrer Bangaru Kodi Petta was launched recently in Hyderabad.

Directed by Raj Pippalla, the film also stars Ram-Laxman in important roles. The film has three different stories which all converge in the end, where the characters realise that what they desire is within them. Sunitha Tati has produced it and Mahesh Shankar has scored the music.

Disha to make her debut in Kannada

Adda gears up for release

S

ushanth, Shanvi starrer Adda is finally gearing up for release. Directed by newcomer Karthik, the film is reportedly a romantic entertainer, with a twist.

The film is in final stages of post production and the makers are quite confident of its success. Anup Rubens has scored the music.

D

isha Pandey, who was last seen in a Telugu film titled Race, has signed a new Kannada film titled Smt Jayalalithai. Disha is paired with Sharan in this film and P Kumar is directing it. The film is currently being shot near Mysore. Disha will also be seen in a bilingual film titled Manasa Maya Seyake.

BIG ‘CAT’CH HEMANTH KUMAR hemanth.k@postnoon.com

In what promises to be the most aggressive outing so far, Suriya gets talking about the making of Singham and how different is it from its predecessor Yamudu.

F

or someone who has spent several years building his profile as one of the most versatile actors in contemporary South Indian cinema, Suriya’s aggression in his upcoming film Singham is clearly an aberration. He screams so much that you wonder if he’s going to puncture his lungs and for a moment, you are tempted to ask him, ‘Why So Serious?’

But all that vanishes without a trace when he begins talking about his work in Singham and it’s unbelievable that someone who’s so humble and grounded in real life would somehow transform into an aggressive cop on screen. So what’s the trick behind this transformation? “I have been asked this question plenty of times,” he laughs and adds, “I take inspiration from actors like Nasser, Rajinikanth from the movie Alex Pandian and other actors who have played powerful cop roles and think what would they do if they are in my shoes. Besides, I take pride in a film like Yamudu which worked wonders for my career. It was my biggest hit back when it released and helped me to expand my market. In fact, the film was screened to police officers and the feedback I got from them was phenomenal.”

Singham takes off right from

where Yamudu ended and except for Hansika, the rest of the cast and crew is nearly the same.

Suriya is teaming up with director Hari for the fourth time and so far, all their films have done well.

“There's a lot more comfort when I work with a director like Hari who's so committed to his work. I have seen him work continuously for 20 hours and he knows exactly what he wants.

Singham was a lot more demanding than anything I have done so far because its emotional curve skyrockets soon after the opening scene. In fact, people will feel that the climax has begun just before the interval because of its incredible pace and screenplay,” Suriya reveals. The film was shot for nearly 140 days and action choreography Anal Arasu, who usually works for 20-25 days on any given film, ended up spending nearly 70 days on the film's sets because every scene had an action element.

The film even takes the protagonist to South Africa, where a huge chunk of the film was shot.

Anushka and Hansika have also played the lead roles opposite Suriya in this film. “There are four villains in the film and it's quite a coincidence because everything about the film is double Yamudu. We have two heroines, twice the aggression, action and emotion,” he quips. So how different is this film going to be from Yamudu?

“I played a reluctant cop in Yamudu. He plays football with his friends, doesn't want to leave the village and he would rather be a kirana shop owner than be a cop in that film and it's only later that he gets into action. Singham starts off on a different note. He's a lot more aggressive and a responsible Indian cop. I got so much into the character that I found it difficult to come out of that state of mind for a few days after we wrapped up the shoot.

It’s going to be a roller-coaster ride,” Suriya signs off.

FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

fashion PRICE: `3,999

TARUN TAHILIANI BACK WITH COUTURE EXPOSITION 2013

GOOD NEWS for Tarun Tahiliani fans! The ace designer is back with the fifth edition of Couture Exposition 2013, set to kickstart here July 18.The three-day fashion extravaganza will take place at the DLF Emporio in Vasant Kunj.

Apart from Delhil, the fashion event will also be held in Mumbai August 2-3 at The Gallery, Four Seasons Hotel.

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I've got some NEW SHOES! `4

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`4,499

If you are one of those who have about 100 pairs of shoes piled in their closet, or have wardrobes built specifically so that your so many shoes have shelf space, this page is for you. We headed off to Charles & Keith and found a treasure in their new arrivals. For those important conferences and those chilled out gatherings with your girls, or even for a date, there is one for every special moment. Here's a sneak-peek.

`4

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9

KANCHAN AGARWAL kanchan.a@postnoon.com

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JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ IS THE NEW FACE OF INDIA BRIDAL FASHION WEEK

SRI LANKAN actress Jacqueline Fernandez, who is active in the Hindi film industry, has been chosen as brand ambassador of the fourth edition of Aamby Valley India Bridal Fashion Week (AVIBFW), starting here July 23. Jacqueline will feature in an extensive print and digital campaign to portray an uberstylish bride.

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22&23 PRICE: `3,999 S BALAKRISHNA

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Entertainment FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

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Entertainment FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

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FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

I must take issue with the term 'a mere child,' for it has been my invariable experience that the company of a mere child is infinitely preferable to that of a mere adult.

Fran Lebowitz

KAKURO

QUICK CROSSWORD

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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 ‘Quo ___?’

6 Aussie hatchlings 10 Indian tourist site 14 Ropemaking fiber 15 Sausage unit 16 Banana danger 17 Kentucky school 19 Jumping stick 20 Corpulent 21 One who’s seen combat 23 Bobby- ___ (‘40s teen) 26 Majestic soarer 27 Ipso ___ 30 Philadelphia school 33 ‘___ was saying ...’

34 Military fleets 36 Caesar’s penultimate words 39 Drop in the mailbox 41 Grocery shoppers’ aids 42 Nerdy type 43 Crunchy munchie 44 British noble, for short 46 Itty-bitty 47 Hoosier State school 49 Baxter and Boleyn 51 Walking sticks 53 Part of a chain 55 Food given to a beggar 58 Wave (one’s arms) about 61 ‘Dies ___’ (Latin hymn) 62 Western US school 66 ‘... ___ creature was stirring ...’

67 One of ‘The Simpsons’ 68 Gave up, as land 69 Blue dye source 70 School Booster Club member 71 Dane’s monetary unit

DOWN

1 Hollywood’s Kilmer 2 Ending for ‘peek’ or ‘bug’ 3 Apply paint hastily 4 Most gelid 5 Stylist Vidal 6 Collegiate ‘Bulldog’ 7 1/1000 inch 8 Vegas school 9 ___-Ball (arcade game) 10 Challenged a verdict 11 DC school 12 Imperious 13 Solitary 18 Rankle 22 Phone bk listing 24 TV’s ‘Mistress of the Dark’ 25 Gingerbread man’s eyes, maybe 27 Abstain from food 28 On the ocean 29 Ohio school 31 Mounts an attack on 32 Mgr’s right-hand man 35 Jai ___ 37 Kite eater in ‘Peanuts’ 38 Picked-on instruments, for short 40 Successful negotiation 45 Gunwale attachment 48 Brit military award 50 ‘___ My God to Thee’ 51 World’s largest producer of rice 52 Hitter of 755 homeruns 54 ‘They’re ___!’ (racing term) 56 Golden State school 57 Barbary ape’s lack 59 ___-European (language family) 60 Bank loan security 63 Baton Rouge college 64 Sam ___ (Seuss character) 65 Lime drink

Chai Time FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 6-7-2013

27

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Avoid anger and emotional decisions. Expected money will come and help reduce debts.

You will not like to be dependent on anyone. Minor health problems are likely. Some chores are likely to get delayed or will need multiple efforts.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

New thoughts in mind will be given shape. Friendship with VIP friends likely, which will benefit you in future. You will express opinions with courage and unmindful of the consequences and you will face any sort of situation.

Tensions and travel will come down. Controversial decisions taken in haste need to be avoided. Friends and well-wishers will understand you better whereas others might misunderstand you, as time is not favourable for you.

Comforts are set to increase.

Money will come from the expected sources and make good the deficit situation. Your creativity will reach greater heights and earn you appreciation. Your charisma is all set to improve by leaps and bounds.

Support from spouse and inlaws cheers you. Delayed marriage talk will resume and progress well. You will never give up till you reach your goals. All commitments given by you will get fulfilled. Your stock is set to pile up.

Your boldness is set to increase, which will make you get all work done decisively.

Written-off dues come and you will become financially strong.

Foes are likely to become your friends to your surprise. Politicians will be in the limelight.

Difficult work will get completed successfully now. A change of approach is needed to achieve goals. You will never compromise at anything that is falling short of expectations.

You also expect instant results for good and wise decisions.

You will be able to complete all challenging assignments despite hurdles. A foreign trip that had not materialised since long will become reality soon.

Also, the very purpose of the trip will be successfully accomplished to your delight.

Avoid harsh talk. Minor misunderstanding between couples is likely. You will be able to attract all with sweet talk. Expenses might go beyond expectation, which might erode your savings too. Drive carefully as a minor accident is likely.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Five of Pentacles – Don’t scrounge on following the process. By trying to be over-smart, you run the risk of having to re-do your work from scratch.

LEO:

The Magician – Two minds are better than one. If you can manage, team up with another person to get a job done. Working in isolation may not bring out the best.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Nine of Pentacles – Someone’s thinking of you and attitude towards you is the exact opposite of what you thought it is. This upsets you a great deal.

SAGITTARIUS:

Nine of Wands – Determination will take you a long way. Just the sheer will to do something and making it happen will give you a high like no other.

TAURUS:

Four of Pentacles – You feel frustrated that plans are not working out. You’re in the mood to rant and complain and not do much else. Take a break.

CANCER:

King of Cups – You may find yourself at a strange crossroads where you will consider switching sides. You want to take the opposing view to the one you held.

VIRGO:

Eight of Wands – Good luck is yours today. All plans are going fantastic and you’ll find that your patience has paid off. You are in the right place at the right time.

SCORPIO:

Nine of Swords – Modify plans and work around a project that needs more attention from you. Reluctance to change will make it more difficult for you.

CAPRICORN:

Judgment – You have to restart – your thinking and your plans for the future. You’ll need to be more flexible in your attitude and be open to new ideas.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Nine of Cups – You feel special today. And someone close to you is making the effort to bring the very best and exclusive to you. Show appreciation in return.

NUMBER GAME

You need to get a clear picture of what’s happening around and what people are talking about you before you make a decision about anything.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Six of Cups –

POOCH CAFE

Couples need to avoid ego clashes. Anger and emotional outbursts need to be avoided.

You are not ready to believe anything without evidence.

You look matured and gain worldly knowledge that helps you handle problems wisely.

for 6-7-2013

Ten of Cups – In order to avoid a fight, it may be necessary to clear the air and make it certain that you were not looking to hurt anyone by your actions.

NON SEQUITUR

Those deprived of child for a long time will get favourable news. Good events will take place at home and cheer family members. Health looks alright.

All pending wishes will get fulfilled. You will be invited by VIPs to join in celebrations.

SUDUKO

Defeats do not deter you from marching ahead but make you stronger as you learn a lot from them. House construction plan will get approval. Success is sure but that will not go to your head, which is appreciated by everyone.

Boggle TRANSPORTATION Vol: 2, No 349 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

28

Entertainment FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

MOVIE REVIEW

CINE BYTES

Flawed gem filled

with love, passion A beautiful but deeply flawed film, the eagerly-awaited Lootera floors you with its audacious sensitivity and its tendency to use silences to punctuate emotions.

Mahie gets sensuous makeover for Zanjeer

F

ashion designer Pria Kataria Puri has styled Priyanka Chopra and Mahie Gill for the Zanjeer remake and reveals that the latter, who plays Mona Darling in the action-thriller, will be seen in a sensuous yet sophisticated diva. “We coloured her hair, she had never coloured her hair. She had never worn heels, but we got custom heels made for her that were 7-8 inches high to give her that diva look.” IANS

At 67, SP sounds like 20-year-old

V

SUBHASH K. JHA feedback@postnoon.com

I

ndeed, the sequences between Varun and Pakhi, played with compelling intensity by Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha, bristle and burst at the seams with unspoken feelings. There are long passages of muted lyricism in the narration where silences are used to accentuate the growing passion between a lonely, emotionally and sexually insulated daughter of a feudal family in Kolkata, and the attractive stranger who walks into her life with the promise of passion, only to break her heart.

The love story, apparently inspired by American writer O Henry’s short story The Last Leaf, moves in mysterious magical ways, but often tends to lose its way in its search for that elusive horizon where two socially, culturally and economically incompatible people in love, hanker to unite, but seldom do.

The film wears two distinctly ‘classic’ looks in sweaty bustling Kolkata and forlorn snowy Dalhousie, both shot with fetching discreetness by

cinematographer Mahendra Shetty. The Kolkatan periodicity of the 1950s relies excessively on extraneous props.

I expected Motwane to go further in his exploration of the theme of repressed love.

Motwane takes on the theme of sublime love, but seems to pull back at crucial turning points. When Pakhi’s lover deserts her on their engagement day, I wanted to see Pakhi mourning with her doting father. But no. We only hear her talking about it later.

Sonakshi’s choked but dignified recrimination recreates unseen moments visually. Yes, her performance is that vivid.

The films looks beautiful but comes dangerously close to skipping the soul, but for one clinching factor.

Sonakshi Sinha. So far we’ve seen her as a massappealing queen of blockbusters. Playing the ailing, dying Pakhi in Lootera, she comes to a formidable level of histrionic nirvana not obtainable to any of her contemporaries. Sonakshi penetrates her character’s bleeding loneliness with fearless integrity.

There are moments, sequences and scattered shots where

Sonakshi is captured in various postures of unbearable vulnerability.

“Will you come tomorrow?

Day after? Then the day after that,” she whispers in declining hope when he refuses her invitation to come home.

Playing girl who falls desperately in love with an unworthy man, Sonakshi Movie : Lootera Cast : Sonakshi Sinha, Ranveer Singh Writer-Director: Vikramaditya Motwane Rating :

takes her character through a journey that we see unfold with geographical precision before our eyes.

Ranveer Singh, though able and alert in his responses, seems to rely way too much on trying too look vulnerable, charming and rakish. “You are not Dev Anand,” Varun’s

friend (played effectively by Vikrant Massey), tells him sardonically to dissuade Varun from getting close to Pakhi.

That, in essence, is the tragedy underlining the cast factor. The role needed a Dev Anand for us to believe that a rich, beautiful girl like Pakhi could be completely and irrationally swept off her feet by the unworthy stranger.

The second movement of the plot moves into a moody snowcapped doom. Here, Motwane again makes use of long passages of intense silences to punctuate the feeling of desperate passion.

There is also a ‘thriller’ element in the Dalhousie segment of the story that doesn’t quite blend into the finely woven fabric of pain, passion and tragedy.

Lootera depicts a doomed passion that is at once invigorating and terrifying.

Vikramaditya Motwane’s storytelling is like a coiled twirling stairway to the heart of his irreconcilable protagonists. The film’s muted silences suggest a deep connectivity between pain and love.

IANS

eteran SP Balasubramaniam has sung the title track of forthcoming film Chennai Express and Shekhar Ravjiani of the Vishal-Shekhar duo, the track’s composers, says the singer is 67 but sounds like a 20-year-old.The decision to get SP was jointly taken by the composers, along with director Rohit Shetty and Shah Rukh Khan. IANS

Shah Rukh Khan was on the sets of Jhalak Dikhlaja Season 6 and his Chandramukhi and Maya was there too. The actor and Madhuri Dixit recreated some special moments for the audience.

sports

29

FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

TOUR DE FRANCE

IMPEY MAKES TOUR HISTORY

Daryl Impey (L) and overall leader’s yellow jersey, Simon Gerrans ride during thesixth stage of the Tour de France cycling race on Thursday.

AFP

LEAGUE CRICKET A-1 three days Day 3 Group A DC 260 and 174/5 in 45 overs (P Aksath Reddy 72, SK Basha 3/53) drew with SCRSA 358 allout in 104.3 overs (A Rakesh 171, B Sudhakar 83, Akash Bhandari 5/94, Shadaab Tumbi 2/93) Andhra Bank 382 and 4 for no loss lost to Falaknuma 95 and following on 289 in 95 overs (Rohit Rayudu 114, Suresh 41, Amol Shinde 6/113, Lalithmohan 4/120).

Evergreen 282 and 155 all out in 46.3 overs (Mihir Hirwani 41, Chandan Sahani 29,

Mehdi Hasan 9/24) lost to Ensconse 447/8 decl Group B India Cements 278 and 118/4 (Mohammed Asadduddin Abbas 37) drew with AOC 414 all out in 93.5 overs (Nakul Verma 142, Dhanaji Rao Shinde 79, PS Chaitanya Reddy 3/40).

Hyderabad Bottling 465 drew with EMCC 469/3 in 131 overs (Sharath Mudiraj 146, Vikram 97, Benjamin Thomas 106 n.o., Ravi Teja 106) MP Colts 382 drew with SBH 462/3 in 105 overs (T Suman 117, Anirudh Singh 128, S Anoop Pai 120 n.o., Ahmed Quadri 55).

MONTPELLIER: Daryl Impey made Tour de France history on Thursday by becoming the first African to take possession of the Tour de France yellow jersey.

Germany’s Andre Greipel, of Lotto, dominated the stage six bunch sprint after a wind-hit and chaotic 176.5 km ride between Aix-en-Provence and Montpellier, ahead of Slovakian Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and German Marcel Kittel (Argos).

Britain’s Mark Cavendish, who claimed his maiden win of the 100th edition and 24th of his career on Wednesday, finished fourth having crashed with 34 km to race and battled to rejoin the peloton.

As Cavendish vented his frustration in angry fashion inside his team bus after the finish, Greipel handed his Lotto

ATHLETICS ‘I want to dominate’

PARIS: Jamaican sprint sensation Usain Bolt has a gold medal haul like no other but the global superstar says he is far from finished yet. Three golds from the London Olympics in the 100, 200 and 4x100m relay mirrored his success in the Beijing Games of 2008. In between he nailed a gold treble at the 2009 Berlin world championships and also won two golds in Daegu in 2011, a false start in the 100m putting paid to another clean sweep. He holds the world records in the 100 and 200m (9.58 and 19.19sec, both set in Berlin), and was part of the recordbreaking Jamaican relay squad (36.84sec in London Olympics). But now the 26-yearold, who will race the 200m at the Paris leg of the Diamond League at the Stade de France on Saturday, has his sights set on further “dominating” the sport.

AFP

GREENBRIER CLASSIC

Gainey, Wagner shoot 62 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS: Tommy Gainey and Johnson Wagner celebrated the US Independence Day holiday in sizzling style Thursday, sharing the Greenbrier Classic first-round lead on eight-under 62.

The top two made the most of the rain-softened Old White TPC course — and lift, clean and place rules in effect — Gainey hitting 13 of 14 fairways in a round that included eight birdies.

“I missed one fairway today with this new driver and that says a lot because if I can hit fairways, I can score, I

Tommy Gainey (R) waits with his caddie to hit a shot at the Greenbrier Classic at the Old White TPC on Thursday. AFP/CHRIS TROTMAN

can really play this game,” Gainey said. “Today with the soft greens, you know, I made some putts.”

Wagner joined Gainey atop the leaderboard with a round that included six birdies and an eagle at the par-five 12th.

However Phil Mickelson, making his first start since yet another US Open near-miss at Merion, couldn’t take advantage.

Mickelson, who endured his sixth US Open runner-up finish, had a triple-bogey eight at the par-five 17th en route to a four-over 74.

AFP

team a huge morale-boost following the abandon of their podium contender Jurgen Van den Broeck.

The Belgian, who has twice finished fourth overall, did not start Thursday’s stage due to a knee injury sustained in a crash on stage five. “Sometimes happiness and sadness can be so close together,” said Greipel.

“But (team manager) Marc Sergeant did a really good job in the bus to make us forget that setback and get us focused on the stage. We had to set this goal today to win the stage, and I think that shows the character in this team.”

Greipel, who could only finish fourth on stage five as Cavendish roared to victory, added: “Yesterday we made just a small mistake and sometimes

you pay for that in the biggest bike race in the world.

“Today we wanted to make amends. The team supported me and carried out a textbook leadout.”

Impey, a South African who rides for Orica-GreenEdge, had been sitting in second position overall behind teammate Simon Gerrans after Orica-GreenEdge’s victory in the team time trial on stage four. And the 28-year-old made good on expectations that he could make history by carrying out his team’s stage six instructions to the letter.

Team manager Shayne Bannan later admitted it had been Orica-Edge’s plan all along to hand the race lead to Impey, after the South African had helped lead their main sprinter Matt Goss out for the finish line.

MONSOON REGATTA

HYDERABAD: What seemed to be an almost certain gold for Sujeesh was almost lost with Dheer Singhi (above) winning two out of three races in the Gold fleet leading to a tie of 12 points each for both the Chennai lads at the 5th edition of the Monsoon Regatta here on Thursday.

The tie remained unresolved with both winning four races after discarding their worst race.

The rules state that thereafter the position in the last race decides the winner and Vishnu finished just 3 seconds ahead in race number nine making him India’s first Topper National Champion by a whisker and a load of deck banging at the finishing line indicating the effort it took him to ensure his Gold.

All the races on Thursday morning in the Gold fleet were cat and mouse between Sujeesh and Singhi with local lad Rajnikanth throwing in a threat or two but quite resigned with a comfortable bronze.

Dheer won two starts but lost out when the wind turned heavy only to gain back lost leads in the

lighter weather.

Local lad Ragi Rajnikanth finishes with his first bronze at a national event with one gun and all third positions and 22 penalty points.

The girl from Bangalore, Avanti Menon finished a creditable 4th position with 40 penalty points and being declared the best girl in the Regatta.

The Deloitte Monsoon Regatta saw lighter conditions this morning but the wind picked up towards the end having the exhausted sailors put in that extra effort under shifty and trying conditions.

In the Match Racing event Top seed Ayaz Shaikh is thru to the finals to be held tomorrow with straight wins across the two round robins and the semis. Ace cricketer VVS Laxoman gave away the prizes.

Results for Thursday: Race No. 7 : Dheer Singhi 1, Vishnu Sujeesh 2, Rajnikanth 3 Race No. 8 : Dheer Singhi 1, Vishnu Sujeesh 2, Rajnikanth 3 Race No. 9 : Vishnu Sujeesh 1, Dheer Singhi 2, Rajnikanth 3.

sports

30

FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

WIMBLEDON

Djokovic aims to improve Novak Djokovic takes on Juan Martin del Potro for a place in the final and insisted that he can get even better. But Djokovic, having avoided the shock exits, believes he cannot get complacent.

DAVE JAMES Agence France-Presse LONDON: World number one Novak Djokovic takes on Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro for a place in the Wimbledon final on Friday insisting he can get even better.

But Djokovic, having avoided the shock exits suffered by the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at this year’s Wimbledon, believes he cannot become complacent.

“It’s the mindset I always try to have, because that’s something that keeps me going every single day on the practice courts, day in, day out, trying to give my best and trying to always inspire myself to play better tennis,” said the top seed.

“I know I have a quite complete game, but I still feel there is room for improvement.”

The Serb, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, will be playing in his 13th successive Grand Slam semi-final, 10 behind the record held by Federer.

court in the Indian Wells semifinals.

The 24-year-old, eighth seeded Argentine star is used to tackling physical problems.

In 2010, he played just three tournaments and saw his ranking slip to 257 in the world after undergoing wrist surgery.

“He struggled with injuries in last few years, but every time

The Serb, the 2011 champion, will be playing in his 13th successive Grand Slam semifinal, 10 behind the record held by Federer.

At Wimbledon this year, he is chasing a seventh major.

Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, just about survived his quarter-final against David Ferrer when he strained his already heavily-bandaged left knee in a sickening Centre Court tumble.

Djokovic has an 8-3 winning record over Del Potro but the Argentine won their only other previous meeting on grass in the 2012 Olympics bronze medal play-off which took place at Wimbledon.

Del Potro also won the pair’s last meeting in March, on hard

he comes back he comes back very strong because he just has this talent and qualities as a player,” said Djokovic.

Del Potro’s 2009 US Open win was the only time in the last 33 Grand Slams that the champion wasn’t called either Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray.

Lisicki eyes fairytale ending STEVEN GRIFFITHS Agence France-Presse LONDON: Germany’s Sabine Lisicki (right) admits winning the Wimbledon final against Marion Bartoli on Saturday would be the perfect way to cap her remarkable recovery from a devastating injury that threatened to ruin her career.

When Lisicki walks onto Centre Court for her first Grand Slam final this weekend it will be both the culmination of a childhood dream and also a fitting end to a tale of redemption that started three years ago.

The 23-year-old German’s joyful celebration at the conclusion of Thursday’s dramatic 6-4, 2-6, 9-7 win over Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska was a far cry from the dark days of 2010 when she was on crutches for months after sustaining a serious left ankle injury at Indian Wells.

Unable to walk and with her promising tennis career in the balance, Lisicki was at a crossroads.

But she refused to bow to suggestions that it might be better to leave tennis rather than risk further damage to her body.

And after five months of rehabilitation, she was finally able to return to action.

Even then the journey back to top had to be taken one step at a time.

By the end of 2010 her ranking had slipped from 23 to 179 and in March 2011, she was down at 218.

But later that year she reached the Wimbledon semi-finals as a wildcard and hasn’t looked back since.

Beating French 15th seed Bartoli in a battle of two players both looking for their first Grand Slam title would be the icing on the cake for Lisicki, who

has become the darling of the Centre Court with her beaming smile and allaction play.

“I always believed. Always. No matter what happened. I can still remember when the doctor told me that I have to be on crutches the next six weeks,” Lisicki said.

“That period made me such a much stronger person and player. I know anything is possible after learning how to walk again.

Like Djokovic, Del Potro has reached the last-four -- his first semi-final at Wimbledon -- without dropping a set.

“I will need to be 110 percent against Novak. He’s the number one. He’s a former champion. It’s going to be a more difficult match for me,” Del Potro said.

Second-seeded Andy Murray, the runner-up to Federer in 2012, will be playing in his fifth consecutive Wimbledon semi-final, but he had to come from two sets to love down to beat Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-finals.

It will be his 13th major semifinal, equalling the national record set by Fred Perry, the last British man to win the title in 1936.

He takes on 24th seed Jerzy Janowicz, the first Polish man to reach the semi-finals of a major.

“It will be a very tough match. Janowicz has a big serve.

He’s a big guy with a lot of power,” Murray said of his opponent who has fired a tournament-leading 94 aces at Wimbledon this year.

Quirky Bartoli makes unique Wimbledon finalist LONDON: As Marion Bartoli curled up to sleep on a sofa in the Wimbledon locker room, it was hard to believe the French star was just minutes away from one of the biggest matches of her life. Throughout her career, Bartoli’s game has been marked by bizarre routines, most notoriously her series of jumps, skips, shuffles and twirls of her racquet as she prepares to serve and return.

But taking a 30-minute nap just before her third Grand Slam semi-final was unique even by the 28-year-old’s standards.

Outside, Wimbledon’s hallowed Centre Court was buzzing in anticipation of her clash against Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens, but 15th seed Bartoli had decided now was the time for a snooze.

When she awoke, Bartoli proceeded to rout Flipkens 6-1, 6-2 in just 62 minutes to clinch her second Wimbledon final appearance, against Germany’s Sabine Lisicki on Saturday. “I just said to Vic the physio to wake me up just in case,” she laughed. “I actually woke up by myself and went to a warm-up. That’s just the way I am.”

Bartoli has never been one to do things the easy way. She grew up outside the tennis mainstream, coached by her father Walter, a doctor who had no background in the sport and yet gave up his job to teach his daughter how to become a professional. AFP

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FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

ASHES

Story behind the name Mention ‘Ashes’ to a cricket fan and they know you are talking about a Test contest between England and Oz. But how many are aware of the story behind the name?

JULIAN GUYER Agence France-Presse LONDON: Mention the word ‘Ashes’ to any cricket fan and they know you are talking about a Test contest between England and Australia.

But cricket’s oldest rivals had been playing each other for five years before the idea of the Ashes was born.

It happened in 1882 when, in a one-off Test at The Oval, Australia, inspired by figures of 14 for 90 from Fred Spofforth, ‘The Demon’, fought back to win a thrilling match by seven runs. The Sporting Times reacted to Australia’s first win on English soil with a mock obituary written by Reginald Shirley Brooks.

It read: “In affectionate remembrance of English cricket which died at The Oval, 29th August 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P. N.B. The body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia.”

Ivo Bligh, later Lord Darnley, captained England to a 2-1 victory in the subsequent series in Australia and, accord-

TIME TO BID GOODBYE

‘Sidelined but won’t call it quits’ WELLINGTON: Injuryplagued Daniel Vettori announced Friday he will be sidelined for at least six months but refused to call time on an international career stretching back 16 years. Vettori said he had informed New Zealand Cricket he could not accept a Black Caps’ contract for the upcoming season as he knew much of the year would be spent in rehabilitation after an ankle operation. “I feel that with my present injury situation it would be wrong for me to take a retainer contract,” he said. “Given the time I’ll need to spend out of the game with my recovery and the level of uncertainty about when I may play again, it doesn’t feel right that I take up a retainer contract this year.”

ing to many cricket histories, he was presented with an urn containing the Ashes of a bail used in the third Test by a group of Melbourne women.

However, it was subsequently suggested that the Ashes were those of a ball and in 1998

Lord Darnley’s daughter-in-law said they were the remains of her mother-in-law’s veil.

The urn itself was bequeathed to Lord’s owners Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on Darnley’s death in 1927 and became an exhibit in

the ground’s museum.

Regardless of the result of the Ashes, the urn — which stands just four inches high — has remained at Lord’s.

The justification has been that the ashes were a private gift to MCC and not a sporting trophy.

But in order to remedy this perceived unfairness, MCC commissioned an Ashes-shaped crystal trophy which was first presented to Australia captain Mark Taylor after the 1998/99 series.

England hold the Ashes following their 3-1 win on Australian soil in 2010/11, which came hot on the heels of their victorious 2009 home campaign.

The urn has only been to Australia on a couple of occasions, the first in 1988 for the country’s bicentennial celebrations.

MCC had hoped the urn could return to Australia in 2003 but an X-ray taken at the time revealed several serious cracks, notably in the stem.

But, following repair work, it was taken on a tour of Australia to coincide with the 2006/07 series.

Moody backs Lehmann to banish blues LONDON: Darren Lehmann may not be a Don Bradman or a Dennis Lillee but as far as Tom Moody is concerned there’s no one better placed to get the Australia side enjoying their cricket once again.

As far as Tom Moody is concerned there is no one better placed than Darren Lehmann to get the Australia side enjoying their cricket once again.

Lehmann, who played alongside Moody in the Australia World Cup-winning team of 1999, was named as the new coach of the national side just 16 days before the start of the Ashes after South African Mickey Arthur was sacked.

Arthur, the first foreign coach of the Australia team, was dismissed following a 4-0 series loss in India, where he controversially dropped four players from the Test side for failing to complete ‘homework’ requested by team management, and a disrupted start to the tour of England that saw David Warner suspended until next week’s first Ashes Test for punching England’s Joe Root.

TRI-NATION SERIES

‘Had to keep an attacking field’ KINGSTON: India’s stand-in skipper Virat Kohli has said he was forced to keep an attacking field against the West Indies as he needed wickets to defend a modest score of 230 at Sabina Park here.

Kohli was asked to lead the side after regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni suffered from cramps while batting and the 24-year-old said it was a good experience. “I have captained in the IPL but that’s a Twenty20 game,” Kohli said.

“This was totally unexpected. It was more thinking on the feet. It was a good experience for me.

“I had to keep attacking fields throughout the game because we needed wickets,” he added. Chasing 230, West Indies rode on Johnson Charles’ 97 to win the match with 14 balls to spare and Kohli heaped praise on the young batsman.

“He is someone who’s done well for (West Indies). It’s a good

Virat Kohli said he was forced to keep an attacking field against the West Indies as he needed wickets to defend a modest score of 230 at Sabina Park.

thing for them. It’s good to see a young player from West Indies coming through and play the

match-winning knock. We were putting pressure on him and he really stood up,” said the Delhi

batsman. Defending the modest total, Indian bowlers did well to trigger a mini collapse, which left the West Indies struggling at 212 for eight after 41 overs.

Kohli then made a surprise decision by bringing in parttimer, Suresh Raina and the offspinner didn’t disappoint as he snapped Sunil Narine’s wicket in his second over. “(Sunil) Narine was batting and I thought Raina is good to left-handers and when he bowls around the wicket, he sort of skids it on. I thought he might hit the pad or force them on to the front foot,” he said.

PTI

FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013

sports

DECISION ON AMIR USING PCB'S TRAINING FACILITIES

The five-member ICC sub-committee in all likelihood will review whether certain clauses incorporated in Mohammed Amir's five-year ban for indulging in spot-fixing can be relaxed in order to allow the talented paceman opportunity to use PCB's training facilities.

PREMIER LEAGUE

ANELKA JOINS WEST BROM

LONDON: Nicolas Anelka returned to English football on Thursday when the 34-year-old France striker signed for West Bromwich Albion on an initial one-year deal.

Moyes makes mark in first week at Utd TOM WILLIAMS Agence France-Presse LONDON: Less than a week into the job as Manchester United manager, David Moyes has already made his presence felt at the club’s newly rebranded Aon training complex in the Greater Manchester village of Carrington.

The task of succeeding the legendary Alex Ferguson has been widely described as an impossible one but Moyes, who officially started work on Monday, appears determined to tackle it head-on. He has made sweeping changes to the back-room staff, notably releasing Ferguson’s trusted coaches Mike Phelan, Rene Meulensteen and Eric Steele, and replacing them with his own men.

Assistant manager Phelan was a close Ferguson ally and while Meulensteen’s innovative training sessions were lauded by the players, goalkeeping coach Steele was credited with helping to improve

the form of David de Gea, having even learnt Spanish to assist communication.

Moyes might have been expected to preserve a coaching set-up that had helped United regain the Premier League title from Manchester City last season — co-chairman Joel Glazer spoke of him “taking up from where Alex is leaving off” — but instead, he tore it down. Steve Round, Chris Woods and Jimmy Lumsden followed the 50-year-old Scot from Everton and although all three earned Moyes’s trust during his time at Goodison Park, the huge level of expectation at United will be as unfamiliar to them as it is to him.

However, while Moyes and his closest advisors have only limited experience of amassing silverware, he has drafted trophy-winning expertise into the dug-out in the shape of veteran midfielder Ryan Giggs, United’s most decorated player, and former Old Trafford stalwart Phil Neville.

“Albion have tonight completed the signing of àanelkaofficiel on a one-year deal, with a further year’s option in the club’s favour,” said a statement on the Premier League club’s Twitter

feed. West Brom manager Steve Clarke, who briefly worked with Anelka at Chelsea, said in a club statement: “We are missing a bit of firepower from last year we’re trying to put that right -

32

and to kick off with the signing of Nicolas at the start of the summer is a great boost for everyone at the club. “The sole focus at the club is trying to build on what we did last season,” he added.