Epaper 06 september 2013

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 HYDERABAD

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WEATHER: SCATTERED CLOUDS; 30°C

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OUT OF SIGHT

Come Friday, One Direction: This is Us will hit the screens. In the wake of the band’s movie release, we take a trip down memory lane and check out other boybands that we lapped up wholeheartedly. We give you a sneak peek into the lives of these boybands who vanished from public eye.

P16&17

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

A move to curb illegal water connections flourishing in the City is frustrated by the police and politicians who protect the water thieves.

What’s preventing the State from empowering the Board with special powers like the Electricity Board has?

Here’s why...

FLASH

APNGO MEET IS ON

AP High Court today dismissed the petition seeking withdrawal of permission for the APNGO meet in the City tomorrow.

WEEKEND UNREST FOR CITY

Cumuli of unrest are gathering over the horizon of Hyderabad with two elements of clashing interests set to confront each other tomorrow. The APNGOs meet for a ‘strong untied Andhra’ and the TJAC call for 24-hour bandh of Telangana are likely to spoil the weekend of the revellers and the City in general.

P8

AJITH'S

REPORT ON P6

KHADDAR-KHAKI COVER FOR WATER THIEVES

ARRAMBAM

JOINS DIWALI RACE P21

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

city events

ROBO TALK

Robotics workshop will be held.

Where: Holy Mary Institute Of Technology & Science (Hits College Of Engineering), Secunderabad When: September 6 & 7, 10 am; Contact: 98850-45203

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

26°C

21°C

Cloudy with showers likely.

Cloudy

Morning

Afternoon

26°C

31°C

Windy at times

A mix of cloud and sun

New Delhi Mumbai Max 35 Max 31 Min 26 Min 25 Clear

Chennai Max 34 Min 26

Chances of storm

2

Bangalore Max 27 Min 20

Thunderstorms likely

Chances of showers

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES When: September 8, 10 am Contact: 2360-8015 / 2355-3017

SHOWS

Movie mania Film Inshallah, Kashmir: Living Terror will be screened.

Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills When: September 10, 7 pm Contact: 96427-31329

WORKSHOPS

Singing sensation Shreya Ghoshal will be performing live.

Where: Shilpa Kala Vedika, Madhapur When: September 7, 7 pm Contact: 93919-71600 / 9985625155

BRIDAL FINERY: Models displayed the newest collections at the curtain raiser of D'sire Exhibition that was held at Marigold Hotel on Thursday. The exhibition will be organised on September 10 and 11 at Taj Krishna.

Magic moments Photography exhibition by Dr Mukesh Batra is on.

Where: Kalakriti, Banjara Hills When: Till September 6, 11 am to 7 pm Contact: 6656-4466

When: Till September 6 Contact: +91-40-23113709; 40207171 Telugu play Telugu play Adventures Of Chinnari will be staged.

Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills When: September 7, 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm Contact: 83411-20303

Music concert Music concert by French singer Norig will be held.

Where: Taj Banjara, Banjara Hills When: September 7, 7 pm Contact: Alliance Francaise of Hyderabad, at 2355-4485 / 86 World in their stage Dramanon presents play Love Letters.

Where: Novotel Hyderabad Convention Center, Hitech City When: September 8, 7 pm to 10 pm Contact: 97010-52861

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

Art show A group show titled Krishnastuti is on.

Where: Aalankritha Art Gallery, Jubilee Hills

Commissioner & Spl Officer

Helpline

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

Where: DST Auditorium, Gachibowli When: September 6, 6.45 pm

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

Movies from Kashmir A Diary Of Aggression, a film by NVK Murthy will be screened.

Where: Prasad Labs Preview Theatre, Banjara Hills When: September 7, 1.15 pm Contact: 2360-8015 / 2355-3017 Dance performance Contemporary dance performance

by Deepak Kurki will be staged.

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

Story telling Creative story telling workshop by Deepa Kiran will be held.

Where: Shwaas - Centre For Inspired Learning, Jubilee Hills When: September 6, 10 am to 1 pm Contact: Salil, at 94405-00277 or Anita, at 99593-83947 Contact: 2313-2110 Film fest The Last Day — a film By Siddhartha Gigoo will be screened.

Where: Prasad Labs Preview Theatre, 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

Eco-friendly Workshop on making eco-friendly Ganesha idols.

Where: Treasure House, Jubilee Hills When: September 7, 4 pm to 6 pm Contact: 2355-0118, www.treasurehouse.in

Paint my Ganesh A workshop on how to make clay Ganeshas and using natural colours will be held.

Where: People’s Plaza, Tankbund When: September 8, 10 am Contact: 90000-25066

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 # Plot no.550-A1, 3rd floor, Road no-92, Jubilee hills, Hyderabad-500033 Landmark - Volkswagen showroom.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

news

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

SHOULD TJAC BE ALLOWED TO DISRUPT APNGO MEETING? 45% 55%

(FLO), Hyderabad Chapter on “Women, Consumerism and Social Change”, on Thursday.

Addressing an exclusive gathering of about hundred women, businesspersons and entrepreneurs of FLO, Mrs Rama Bijapurkar, shared some of the points of her research for her forthcoming book A Never before World. She said that the rural and urban divide has vanished.

Another session on “Women: Untapped Drivers of Green Economic Growth?” with Baroness Sandip Verma, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, UK, on September 7 at Hotel Taj Krishna.

Baroness Verma will share her insights on Sustainable Green Business’ & Women Entrepreneurs, issues concerning Energy, and Climate Change.

B)

NO

Physical handicap has not prevented this woman from cheating hundreds in the name of getting them plots allotted from the government. What’s surprising is that she has allegedly been running this racket for five years and only now was she nabbed.

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CITY

MOHD SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: The Tappachabutra police arrested a physically challenged woman, D Sailamma, 32, who is charged with duping scores of unwary poor people convincing them she represents government agencies and has influence to get plots allotted.

She has a couple of accomplices to help her whom she paid `5,000 on every victim.

The arrested is accused of collecting anything between `25,000 to `30,000 from each would-be beneficiary.

Interrogation revealed that she was allotted a plot in 2008 at Mahbub Nagar district under Gruhkalpa scheme.

Using the documents she made several replicas, writing the new names whom she had managed to rope in. She was found in her possession government stamps, fake documents of allocation, and officials name and signatures—all found to be fake, said Inspector Mohammed Riyazuddin.

Sailamma was assisted by one Syed Maqdum Baig, a resi-

3

REVENGE

Woman cheats hundreds, held

POSTNOON NEWS Agence France-Presse

CITY

YES

CRIME

‘Women are biggest gainers’

AROUND THE

A)

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

LIBERALISATION

HYDERABAD: Market strategist and consumer behaviour expert Rama Bijapurkar said that women are the biggest gainers of liberalisation. She said that the “power distance” between women and the society is decreasing. Count of women pursing higher studies is going up and the legal system has empowered the women’s cause. She was speaking at an interactive session organised

by FICCI Ladies Organisation

YES (A) NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

DO YOU THINK PRESIDENT’S RULE WILL BE IMPOSED IN AP?

Man hacked to death POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: “Khoon ka badle khoon,” declared Shaikh Abdul Kareem who was arrested for murdering a rowdy-sheeter Ahmed Golli. He said he the killing was revenge for the murder of his brother, Samad. The police have also picked up four of his accomplices.

The gory event that reads like a masala film script began a few months ago when Ahmed Golli, 21, a rowdy-sheeter with Kalapathar police station, confronted one Abdul Samad over a

AROUND THE

CITY

On September 2, as Golli was having dinner at a restaurant in Tadbun Hassan Nagar, a gang of five pounced on him and hacked him to death, said ACP M Ram Mohan Rao.

dent of Tappachabutra and a woman of Banjara Hills, by name, Vijayalakshim. The gang is alleged to have fleeced over 100 people of `16 lakh.

The question how she

remained in veil for all these years is something bothering the investigating officials. It is presumed that she may have some helps in the government departments too.

land dispute. The quarrel was settled but the enmity rankled.

Samad was later done away allegedly by Golli. Later, Golli was arrested and sent to prison.

After three months, he got bail. He is said to have started an illicit relationship with a girl whose relatives warned him against it, which he ignored. On September 2, as Golli was having dinner at a restaurant in Tadbun Hassan Nagar, a gang of five pounced on him and hacked him to death, said ACP Charminar, M Ram Mohan Rao.

CITY BRIEFS HC to police: Ensure Toofan face no hurdles

Sharmila sent back by integrationists

JAC leaders for united AP in preventive custody

Develop leadership qualities, says Naidu

State to embrace energy-saving plan

T

Y

S

T

T

he AP High Court has directed the Director General of Police to ensure that there would be no hurdles for the release and screening of Ramcharan Teja’s new bilingual movie Toofan in Telugu and Zanjeer in Hindi from agitations. producers Reliance Big Entertainment Pvt. Ltdhad moved the High Court for protection for the movie’s release.

SR Congress Party leader Sharmila was forced to retreat without addressing a meeting in Pamidi village of Ananthapur district by protesting integrationists.

As the bus yatra of Sharmila reached the village on Thursday meeting, integrationists shouted “Sharmila go back” slogans and stalled her meeting.

ome JAC leaders of different political parties were taken into preventive custody today by Chandragiri police in Chittoor district when they tried to organize “rail roko” as part of Samaikyandhra agitation in support of united State.

The JAC on Wednesday gave a call for a rail roko at Chandragiri railway station in support of united State.

DP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, who is on forth day of his “Atma Gouravam Yatra” in Guntur district, exhorted students to develop leadership qualities. Interacting with the students of Chalapati Institute of Technology at Motadaka in Guntur district, Naidu said he developed Hyderabad into one of the best cities in the country.

he State government has decided to adopt Department-wise Energy Efficiency Improvement Plans (EEIP) to achieve the huge scope of energy savings to the maximum extent possible in all Govt.

Departments apart from studying the best practices on Energy Conservation being implemented across the country.

4

News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 LAST YEAR... HERE Spoilt for choice

CIVIC

GHMC’s promise and practice don’t match

L

ast year we had reported how Nokia, Motorola and Amazon had announced their upcoming products, which went... Apple is expected to release iPhone5 next month and to counter this smartphone giant, other companies have launched a flurry of devices: Nokia, Lumia 920 and 820; Samsung, the leading smartphone manufacturer, its flagship Ativ S.

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

$100 bn

is the amount the Brics group of emerging economies will contribute to a fighting fund to steady destabilised currency markets.

All these years, the Centre has been asking the opinions of all political parties in the State on Telangana.

Each one has given their consent in writing.

Why then this sudden afterthought?

Bandaru Dattatreya BJP leader

THINGS WE 5LEARNT TODAY

ALEENA ALICE aleena.t@postnoon.com

I

f there is anything that the GHMC excels in, it is in making grand plans and false promises. A month ago the Mayor Mohammed Majid Hussain and Commissioner MT Krishna Babu announced a new programme of home delivery of digital birth certificates to parents through a free-of-cost courier service.

However, except for creating confusion among citizens this service does not seem to be helping.

Obtaining a birth certificate has become a daunting task for parents as they have no choice but to wait for several months to get one. Blame it on negligence of the authorities or their insensitivity, their master plan of delivering birth certificates is only causing annoyance to the public.

“I applied for my daughter’s birth certificate over a month ago. The officials told me that the certificate would be delivered within a week’s time.

However, so far I have not received the certificate. The officials when asked say that the certificate has already been despatched. It is extremely difficult to run around for a certificate with a six-month-old baby.

The GHMC introduced the system of delivering the birth cer-

Instant digital birth certificate, a promise of GHMC, is yet to translate into reality.

But GHMC claims it is partly because parents do not ensure proper address is given to hospital and many certificates return undelivered. tificates, but I don’t see how it is helping people,” said Madukumari a resident of Nacharam.

The official website of the GHMC also states that registered birth certificates with or without the child’s name can be obtained from any eSeva in the City, three days after the date of application.

However, parents who go

through this process of obtaining birth certificates for their children rubbish the promises and claims by the civic body.

“I have applied for my son’s birth certificate 48 days ago, at the eSeva in AS Rao Nagar, but the authorities at the eSeva say that they have still not received the certificate from the GHMC. The eSeva officials, asked me to come after 25 days after I applied. Since then I have been making rounds to their office as we need the certificate urgently, but my efforts have all been in vain,” said Rama Krishna, a resident of AS Rao Nagar.

The GHMC website also states that in case of any mistake in the birth certificate, the corrected certificate can be acquired from an eSeva centre ten days after the application. eSeva officials say that the process for correcting a certificate would take a month and a half. If any one of the two versions was even half as true, parents would not have had reason to complain.

“There was a minor correction in my son’s birth certificate.

So I applied for the correction at the eSeva in East Marredpally two months back. I have been making rounds to the centre for a month now, but the authorities are asking me to come back every time, stating that they did not receive the corrected certifi-

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

WOMEN’S CHAMPION

1

Anti-trafficking crusader wins global recognition

Cops, netas leave Water Board high and dry A well-meaning move to curb illegal water connections flourishing in the City is frustrated by the police and politicians who protect the water thieves.

2

Wail of the love-struck mate A women inspector was recently angry when her husband, who too is an inspector, was transferred to a distant place.

3

Woman who cheated hundreds held Physical handicap has not prevented this woman from cheating hundreds in the name of getting them plots allotted from the government.

4

Revenge killing accused in police net.

Shaikh Abdul Kareem, arrested for murdering a rowdy-sheeter Ahmed Golli, said he killed to avenge the murder of his brother Samad.

5

The ‘Mad Monk’ of Australia Tony Abbott, a former trainee Catholic priest, boxing enthusiast and monarchist, is the frontrunner to become the next PM of Australia.

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cate from the GHMC. GHMC officials should be ashamed of putting the public to such inconvenience,” said Srinivas N, another aggrieved. eSeva officials say that the failure of the GHMC to update details like birth and time is causing the confusion. “Technically the civic body should update all details within 21 days after the child’s birth, but they are failing to do so. This is the reason for the delay in issuing birth certificates,” said an official at an eSeva centre.

When contacted, GHMC officials denied allegations. “As many as 60 per cent of birth certificates (reported from 115 hospitals) have been sent by courier.

Hospitals that record over 25 births per day are 105 in number.

They have been sending their delivery and birth details online since June 1. GHMC has dispatched 19,409 birth certificates through courier, out of which about 20 per cent have returned due to improper address. In other cases, we are making sure that the details are updated and sent to all eSeva centres in the twin cities,” clarified an official from the Health and Sanitation wing of the GHMC.

Monika Sarkar’s efforts at educating families against traffickers soon took the shape of a movement.

ANNIE DEVITRI SUKARYA

ANURAG DEY feedback@postnoon.com KOLKATA: She was married off at 12 for fear of getting trafficked, narrowly escaped from getting ‘sold’ by her in-laws. Nothing could deter this indomitable woman’s fight against human trafficking. Finally, she has now won international recognition.

While the West Bengal Women’s Commission has feted her as an anti-trafficking crusader, Monika Sarkar, 32, will now rub shoulders with leadSarkar, who grew ers from various fields at the AROUND THE up amid constant fear International Visitor LeaderNATION of trafficking, began ship Programme (IVLP) in the her crusade almost a US next year. decade ago, joining “I’m happy my efforts have now got international recognition. I am hap- some NGOs in North 24 Parganas district.

The mother of two started her fight colpier still to see the smiling faces of parents who have got back their trafficked daugh- lecting data about missing girls from in and around her village, Sayestanagar, to discovters,” says Sarkar.

er a startling fact - more than 5,000 minor girls had been missing in the past few years and yet hardly any police complaint was filed.

“Police would refuse to register missing complaints saying the girls have willingly gone out for work. It was difficult, but we continued our fight. As more women joined the fight, police had to relent,” said Sarkar, whose efforts have now brought down trafficking cases.

NGO Prantakatha has guided her efforts to end trafficking in the district.

“She has been single-handedly fighting a social evil. She is a true leader,” said Bappaditya Mukherjee of Prantakatha.

It has not been an easy path for the woman who now lives with her two daughters and works as an artisan. She left her husband some years ago after he and her inlaws almost sold her off when she failed to bring dowry.

IANS

5

News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

NEWS ANALYSIS

POLITICS

AP moving to President’s Rule?

‘No Congressman should question high command’

No one is sure why the chief minister disagrees with the Centre on the division of the State. Two theories reign: one is that it is a deliberate move by himself to emerge champion of Seemandhra. The other is that the Congress has put him up as a front to mop up support of the two regions as the party is in danger of losing goodwill of two regions in the 2014 elections. opposes the division. Even if Kiran is made to look a rebel the party knows the goodwill he earns will come handy for the party in the 2014 polls or else it fears that the whole of Seemandhra may be claimed by default by the YSRC, as the YSRC was the first to take an aboutturn on the bifurcation, rejecting the division and arguing for a untied state.

The Congress leaders are keeping a studied silence on the issue. The PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana is not vocal in his appeal to keep calm.

His private agenda of upstaging Kiran is too well known.

Kiran has nevertheless repeated his conviction that a united Andhra can achieve anyAROUND THE

CITY

PK SURENDRAN surendran.pk@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Is the situation in the State leading to suspension of the government and putting the State under the President’s rule?

The question is alive among political circles which speculate that the way things are allowed to be adrift in the State, it looks a possibility. The theory that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s apparent hardened stance against the division of the State is a deliberate ploy of the Congress leaders

to gain political mileage is strengthening each day.

The Opposition parties, the BJP, the Leftists CPI and CPM believe that the current clashes of ideas on Telangana is orchestrated.

“All these years, the Centre has been asking the opinions of all political parties in the State.

Each one has given the consent in writing. Why then this sudden afterthought?” asks the BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya. He says the Congress wants to win back the agitating Seemandhra putting Kiran as the one who

thing and a divided Andhra would fall by the wayside. His alacrity in giving permission to the ‘peace march’ of the Samaikhyandra votaries on September 7 is pointed out as proof of his partisan role for united Andhra. TRS and TJAC however are helping Kiran to claim leadership for the united cause by asking his ouster, say observers. If the impending clash of supporters of pro-T and United Andhra tomorrow leads to a large law and order situation, the State’s journey to central rule is a distinct possibility.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Former PCC president Dharmapuri Srinivas said that no one should try to question the decision of the Congress high command and the Centre.

And those who don’t agree with the party leadership should leave.

Srinivas told media that the Congress high command had taken the decision on Telangana Statehood after consulting all political parties.

The issues supposed to arise due to bifurcation of the State should be brought to the notice of the Antony Committee, he added.

He also asked the APNGOs not to exacerbate the situation with provocative actions. They should bring their issues, if any, to the notice of the Antony Committee, which was constituted by the Congress high command to hear the apprehensions and objections of people over bifurcation of the State, he suggested. He opined that people of all regions had responsibility to protect the Telugu culture and

prestige. The Seemandhra Congress leaders should not defy the decision of the

Former PCC president Dharmapuri Srinivas said no amount of quarrelling can make the party roll back its decision on T. AROUND THE

CITY

Congress high command on Telangana Statehood, he added.

Srinivas suggested that the Secretary of Union Home Ministry hold discussions with APNGOs to allay their apprehensions. The decision on bifurcation of the State was already delivered, he said, and exuded confidence that the Centre should not go back from formation of separate Telangana State. He has alleged that some inimical forces were trying to sabotage formation of Telangana.

NATION BRIEFS MP polls: 60 seats expenditure sensitive

Five killed in road accident

Three youths killed in mishap

Newspapers in Manipur fail to hit stands

Indian-American named judge in California

BHOPAL: To keep a tab on cash movement and other inducements in Madhya Pradesh during polls slated later this year, the Election Commission has flagged 60 out of the total 230 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh as "expenditure sensitive". This slot includes seats represented by state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Budhni).

DINDIGUL (TN): Five members of a family were killed this morning when their car ran into a stationary bus at Singarakottai, about 25 kms from here. The occupants of the car were proceeding to Kottayam in Kerala from Chennai to celebrate Onam festival. The Batlagundubound bus from Palani had been parked on the road side.

AZAMGARH: Three youths were today killed in Palliabag village when their bike hit a culvert. Noor Ahmad (21), Tariq (19) and Rehan Khan (20) were returning home this morning after attending a programme in a nearby village when the accident took place, police said. All the three died on the spot. Police have sent their bodies for postmortem.

IMPHAL: Newspapers today failed to hit the stands for the second time this week in Manipur due to threats to distributors by some persons, who demanded that their press release be published in the dailies. All Manipur Newspaper Sales and Distributors Association sources said some functionaries were warned for going against their diktats.

WASHINGTON: A leading Indian American lawyer, Sunil R Kulkarni, has become the first South Asian American state judge in Northern California with his appointment to Santa Clara County Superior Court. Palo Alto, California, resident Kulkarni, 41, was named to the new post by California governor, Jerry Brown, last week.

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News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

NO WATER, NO CASH

Cops, netas leave WB high and dry A move to curb illegal water connections flourishing in the City is frustrated by the police and politicians who protect the water thieves. What’s preventing the State from empowering the Board with special powers like the Electricity Board has? Here’s why...

HYDERABAD: There has been no progress in the efforts of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water supply and sewerage Board’s (HMWSSB) maiden move to arraign water thieves thanks to the indifferent police and politicians who allegedly protect illegal water connection holders.

The situation exposes government claims that all departments would work in tandem to frustrate illegalities. The cashstrapped Water Board is suffering terrific losses. Due to cold response from the police department, the Water Board could file only 185 complaints in different police stations for the past one month while illegal connections run into lakhs of rupees.

The water board in August started lodging complaints against the people under Section 52; Section 49 (1), (b), (c) of the HMWSSB Act 1989; and Section

FOR THE BRIGHT...

NIIT announces scholarship

N

IIT announced ‘Bhavishya Jyoti Scholarship’ to help meritorious students desirous of building successful careers in diverse industries that require Information Technology skills. This is NIIT’s initiative to enhance employability of meritorious students and make them capable to meet industry needs.

AROUND THE

NATION

Based on the students’ performance in a competitive written test and Standard XIIth score, NIIT will be offering over 20,000 scholarships across the country this year for its popular IT and new age career programmes. The scholarship examination will be conducted simultaneously across hundreds of NIIT education centres, in the country on Sunday September 22, 2013.

Students can also log on to www.niit.com/bjs2013 to get more details.

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430 of the IPC; and Section 3 (2) (a) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act 1984, who have been found to have illegal water connections.

The dejected officials at the

Water Board say all their efforts to rein in illegal connections get frustrated at every move despite the Board giving a chance to the water pilferers to regularise their connections. “What more can we

FOR A CAUSE

Run for Nation on Sept 11 POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

C

ommemorating Swamy Vivekananda’s historic speech at Chicago in 1893, Swami Vivekananda 150th Jayanthi Utsav Samiti, G r e a t e r Hyderabad, is AROUND THE organising “Run CITY for Nation” on September 11.

There will be two routes for the run.

One starts from Nizam College, and the other starting from Swami Vi v e k a n a n d a ' s Statue on Tankbund. College students and other youth above the age of 15 years can participate in this run. They should get registered for this purpose.

Here’s how to register n n n

Youth can register either in their respective colleges or even online on the website -www.ap.sv150.org.

Registration is free. All those who register can get a T-shirt with Swamiji's picture printed on it by paying `50.

For details: Pradeep Nambiaar Hyderabad/Mobile 09440115560

do?” asked an official. Director Revenue, HMWSSB, Surya Narayana, said, “We have conducted special drives for some days and registered 185 cases in 16 divisions, but on pressure from many, we put on hold the drive and decided to provide a chance to the citizens for regularising connections by paying fines.”

“It is clear that political protection to illegal connection holders is the cause of worry,” he said.

The Board points out a dismal scenario.

“Nearly 1.5 to 2 lakh illegal connections are there in the city.

We found 300 illegal connections in every 4,000 legal connections,

which cause the Board losses to the tune of `11 crore every month.”

Another senior official said the police had been refusing to register criminal cases and asks the Board to settle the matter between it and the people, saying they “do not have time”.

“Until the Water Board gets special powers like other departments, it is not possible to stop the illegal connections,” he observed.

‘WE HAVE NO TIME’ Police officials in Madhapur, Shalibanda and Miyapur said they are busy with bandobast and other duties and have asked the Board to settle the matter.

They also argue that the Board should be given the powers to tackle this issue instead of bothering the over-burdened police for everything.

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News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

REPORTERS’ DIARY

Wail of the love-struck mate

SRINIVAS SETTY

A

women inspector was recently angry when her husband, who too is an inspector, was transferred to a distant place.

What miffed her was that her request to keep him here or transfer her also to the place her husband was to join duty was ignored by the higher-ups. The woman inspector was indiscreet in proclaiming before her colleagues that superior officers these days are not above board.

It turned out that theirs’ was a love marriage and the two enjoyed the posting in the same place. She is love-struck and can’t bear the parting. She was vocal in criticising the superiors who she alleged transferred junior officers at their will (or for extraneous considerations!). Service rules say in case a husband and the wife are government servants, they should be posted in the same place as far as possible. But in constabulary this is not always practicable, point out seniors. Don’t officials know airing their grievance in public is indiscipline?

MANTRI FLUMMOXED Funny are the ways of public relations people or event managers. In meetings where political personalities are present, a pre-requisite is a hall full of audience, whether they are there on their own volition or brought in does not matter. Recently, a minister who prides himself in his adeptness at public-relation skills was disappointed at an event held at a City star hotel when he saw there were hardly 15 people in the hall. The organisers, who were also embarrassed by the turnout, quickly ran around and located a group of MBA students who had an orientation class in the same building. The students were cajoled in and seated before the minister began his speech.

The organisations had been congratulating themselves for saving their skin when the jarring note was struck. Students had classes to attend. They had become unwilling fodder only in the interregnum period. This the

organisers did not know. Half way through, the students got up and left the hall. Poor minister, he was unsure if his speech had offended the audience or was it a protest. He asked aloud if they were boycotting the function in protest against him or his party!

CONGRESS BATS FOR WRONG CENTURY?

Soon, petrol will cost `100 per litre, the way rupee and petrol prices are travelling in the opposite directions. Talk among bike owners is intense on this topic.

They curse the Congress and say this party has no right to call itself the common man’s party.

As the rupee is enjoying its slide it seems that the petroleum products will create history by making a century before the end of the second tenure of the Congress party. The latest price rise of `2.35 was the sixth hike in petrol prices within a short span of two months.

Petrol price that was `58 in

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2009 when the UPA came a second time into power, registered a `23 hike in five years. Be warned, Congress, you are in for a shock when it comes to voting.

COPS WIN THIS ROUND Cops can take on anybody at anytime though politicians rule.

Our State Cabinet ministers had the taste of it the hard way recently. When the ruling Congress leaders from Seemandhra region decided to hold a three-hour-long sit-in protest on the Assembly premises recently, the State Cabinet ministers also readily agreed to participate. As part of the plan, the sit-in programme was planned to be held in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue located in the Assembly complex.

When the ministers turned up to sit-in for the protest, they were

denied permission by the police to hold it in-front of the statue.

The denial of the permission not only surprised the 18 Cabinet ministers from the Seemandhra region who turned up to participate in the protest, they were also angry and dismayed. They wondered at the gumption of the cops who otherwise bent over backwards to please ministers at every given opportunity at other times — be it for a favourable transfer or a promotion. Unable to convince the police, the ministers and other Seemandhra public representatives were forced to hold their protest in front of gate No 14 of the Assembly.

OH, PRIYA! Actress Priyanmini, who was in town recently to promote her upcoming film Chandee’ annoyed the media officials and people working with the film. The actress who was busy in the photo shoot left a lot of people unhappy with her tantrums. Miffed media and

people who were working with her whispered, ‘She is acting so pricey just because she has had an item number with Sah Rukh Khan, imagine what she would to should she be cast opposite him in a film?’

CHALTA HAI! After every tragedy, civic authorities come out of their stupor with a jerk and make a sparring motion against illegal buildings and decaying buildings meant to be pulled down (see picture). Soon after the City Light hotel collapse, the Town Planning staff came out with a list of 31 more buildings billed to be demolished. Two months have passed and nothing much is in sight. The chalta hai attitude is the stumbling block, it seems. Can we fault those who cry life is cheap in India? (contributed by Srinivas Setty, Mohd Subhan, Inkeshaf Ahmed, Aleena Alice and Arun Daniel)

WORLD BRIEFS Cambodian workers reinstated after protest

Violence flares at Thai rubber farmer protest

Spacecraft to study Moon’s atmosphere

Four killed in US drone strike in Pakistan

Japan PM urges reset in ties with China’s Xi

PHNOM PENH: Hundreds of Cambodian garment workers sacked from a factory supplying brands including Gap and H&M were reinstated on Friday, a union leader said, after a protest forced an apparent climbdown by their employer.

Around 4,000 workers had marched through Phnom Penh on Thursday in protest at the dismissal.

BANGKOK: Rubber farmers clashed with security forces in southern Thailand as protesters torched cars and police fired tear gas in the latest unrest to shake the politically turbulent kingdom, officials said on Friday. More than two dozen police officers were injured and 11 protest leaders were arrested in the demonstration.

WASHINGTON: NASA hopes to unravel more of the Moon’s mysteries Friday by launching an unmanned mission to study its atmosphere, the US space agency’s third such probe in five years. The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer is to launch on Saturday 0327GMT aboard a Minotaur V rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

ISLAMABAD: At least four people were killed late Thursday in a US drone attack in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region of North Waziristan, media reported. The US unmanned plane fired two missiles at a compound in the Ghulam Khan area of North Waziristan, a restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan, Xinhua reported.

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged a reset in frayed ties with China when he met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit, his spokesman said on Friday. The meeting was the first between leaders of the two countries since relations took a nosedive last year over the ownership of uninhabited islands.

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News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

BRACING FOR ‘BIG BASH’

Weekend unrest for City Cumuli of unrest are gathering over the horizon of Hyderabad with those who are for and against T set for a big clash tomorrow.

ALEENA ALICE and ARUN D YELLAMATY feedback@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: An early morning scare was created in Kukatpally when a bus parked under a transformer in Balajinagar caught fire in the wee hours of today.

As the situation in the City is tense in the backdrop of the impending clashes of interests involving the votaries of United Andhra and pro-Telangana forces tomorrow, people began to fear a sabotage.

The Kukatpally, Chandrashekar said the school bus caught fire accidentally. However, he said he would not rule out mischief too. Investigation is on.

Reports said another bus parked in Masab Tank area was damaged in a fire.

Again, it was not clear whether it was accidental.

Meanwhile, tension gripped High Court premises with the Telangana advo-

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cates, who are boycotting the court proceedings protesting police nod for the Samaikhya Andhra meet tomorrow, trying to take out a march, “Chalo high court” late this morning.

The Telangana Students JAC and the Telangana Private School Association has declared a bandh for all schools in the region on Saturday. The APSRTC officials are contemplating withdrawal of the bus services from Osmania University campus temporarily. The officials did not confirm the news, but said that they will be holding a meet with the City police commissioner and will take a decision by Friday evening.

All eyes are on the High Court where a petition challenging the permission given to APNGO would come up for hearing this afternoon.

MAESTRO STROKE

Cops on their toes for Zubin concert

The Zubin Mehta concert is being termed the mother of all cultural events ever held in Kashmir.

SRINAGAR: It is being termed the mother of all cultural events ever held in Kashmir and, given the official and public focus the concert here Saturday by the Bavarian State Orchestra under maestro Zubin Mehta is getting here, it could well be one.

Chartered aircraft, BMW cars brought in just to ferry VVIPs, `3.6 crore spent on renovating the Shalimar Garden venue of the concert, the German ambassador almost camping in Srinagar, hundreds of security personnel detailed for security and the state administration attending to every detail of the 90-minute concert are some of the elements that even common Kashmiris have not failed to notice.

Security check-points have been set up on the Boulevard Road and the Foreshore Road that lead to the concert venue.

Vehicles are being checked and occupants frisked as part of the security drill, which is likely to get more stringent.

The concert would be telecast live in 104 countries; never before has any cultural or sports event in Kashmir has attracted so much attention.

Corporate honchos, ambassadors of European countries in India, filmstars, bureaucrats and police and military officers are included in the list of invitees — 1,500 people, 700 of them from outside Jammu and Kashmir.

Private houses behind the Shalimar Garden were included in the elaborate security drill connected with the concert and commandos would be stationed in them to secure the venue, a security officer here said.

Scores of CCTV cameras have been installed in and around the concert venue.

Corporate honchos, ambassadors of European countries in India, filmstars, bureaucrats and police and military officers are included in the list of invitees.

The road from the Srinagar International Airport, where Zubin Mehta and invitees from outside the state started arriving Thursday, to Shalimar Garden on the banks of the Dal Lake would remain out of bounds for all private and public transport from Friday till the concert ends Saturday evening.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who visited the Shalimar Garden two days back to check the arrangements, said the concert would not change the reality of Kashmir and those opposing it were try-

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ing to derive political mileage out of a cultural event.

Separatist leaders have called the concert an exercise by India to give international legitimacy to its "rule" in Kashmir. Some lesser known guerrilla groups like the Al-Nasreen, the Farzandan-e-Milat and the Shuda Brigade have threatened to target foreigners in Kashmir if the concert went ahead.

A few civil society members have announced a parallel 'Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir' (The truth about Kashmir) concert in Srinagar at noon Saturday called to protest against Zubin Mehta's event being named 'Ehsas-eKashmir' (The feel of Kashmir).

German Ambassador Michael Steiner has said he would attend the parallel concert if invited.

IANS

HONOUR FOR EXCELLENCE

JWT Mindset strikes Gold at Adex Awards again POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com MUMBAI: JWT Mindset swept Adex Awards 2012 by bagging 15 awards for advertising excellence, which include nine golds and six silvers. Copywriter of the Year and Art Director of the Year trophies too were awarded to

JWT Mindset.

These awards recognise the outstanding work done by JWT Mindset for its clients Oakridge International School, for which it won a total of six awards, as well as for Airtel, Botanika and Orient Adex Awards is an event organised by the Advertising Club Hyderabad to celebrate the cre-

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ative excellence in advertising in Andhra Pradesh.

This year, Adex saw 24 agencies participating with a total of

250 entries, of which 17 agencies won awards across varied categories. The jury comprised Saurav Chakraborthy, head of digital Cleartrip.com, R Sridhar, CEO Brandcomm, Murali Krishnan (former creative director RKS BBDO) Creative consultant, Chennai, Suresh Babu (Ex O&M Creative Director)

Producer, MK Ramesh ex Lintas Creative Director. Commenting on the awards, Ram Gedela, CEO JWT Mindset said, "Our focus is on creating work that will help our clients meet their business goals. When that work is also recognised by our peers for its creative excellence we find it very heartening.”

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News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

SYRIA CRISIS-G20 SUMMIT

Consensus eludes world powers Russia leads the countries that are opposing a US-led military action against Assad’s regime.

SAINT PETERSBURG: World powers discussed the Syria crisis over dinner at the G20 summit but failed to bridge deeply entrenched divisions over a US push for military action against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

As tensions over the Syrian conflict threatened to torpedo the working schedule of the G20 summit outside Saint Petersburg, host Vladimir Putin made a lastminute announcement for participants to air their views over dinner. The leaders took turns over three hours to reiterate their positions on the issue in 10-minute speeches, a diplomatic source close to the talks told AFP. Russia has led opposition to US-led military action against Assad’s regime over a chemical attack on August 21 outside Damascus, which Washington says was perpetrated by Damascus. In New York, the US envoy to the United Nations accused Russia of holding the UN Security Council hostage.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said London had fresh evidence of chemical weapons use. In a new bid for a peaceful solution for Syria, the UN announced that its special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi would attend meetings at the two-day summit to push for peace talks.

BIZARRE SUGGESTION

Let convicts buy freedom: Oz billionaire SYDNEY: Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart has suggested that non-violent prisoners could pay their way out of jail and become tax-paying workers to boost the economy.

In a column for the Australian Resources and Investment magazine, the mining heiress said the country needed more workers as the population ages, and getting criminals back into the workforce would bolster tax revenues.

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prison or not enter prison (a new source of revenue), and let them be part of the tax-paying workforce,” she wrote.

Rinehart, who has mining and media interests, said a similar system was used in the US state of Texas.

AFP

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An official White House photograph from September 2 shows US President Barack Obama (C) meeting with US Senators John McCain (2nd-L) and Lindsey Graham (R) in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss Syria.

“Let us remember: every day that we lose is a day when scores of innocent civilians die,” the UN quoted Ban as telling the G20 leaders at the dinner.

“Providing more arms to either side is not the answer. There is no military solution.”

A French diplomatic source said the closed-door dinner, hosted by Putin at the luxurious imperial palace of Peterhof outside Saint Petersburg, was not meant

to secure a deal.

“The objective was an exchange between the top world leaders and not to come to an agreement” on the crisis, said the source. Following the meal, which ended at around 1am, Putin and US President Barack Obama put on a show of smiles for the cameras as they shook hands just before the summit got under way on the shores of the Gulf of Finland.

‘WAR CANNOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM’ Syria’s allies remain unmoved by Obama’s push.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called allegations of an August 21 chemical weapons attack by the regime a “pretext” to launch strikes against the country, and pledged to support Damascus “until the end”.

“We have just been looking at some samples taken from Damascus in the Porton Down laboratory in Britain which further shows the use of chemical weapons in that Damascus suburb,” Cameron said.

A British source told AFP that a soil and cloth sample taken from the site of the alleged chemical attack in the Syrian capital “has tested positive for sarin”.

A political solution is the only way to end the Syria crisis, a senior Chinese official said on Thursday, warning world powers to be “highly prudent”. “War cannot solve the problem in Syria,” Chinese delegation spokesman Qin Gang told reporters at the G20.

Pope Francis added his voice to the calls for a peaceful solution, warning against the “futile pursuit of a military solution”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly ruled out her country’s participation in any US-led military strike against Assad’s regime, while the British parliament has also rejected the idea.

AFP

SNOWDEN LEAK

Spy agencies broke Web encryption If the reports are accurate, the highly secretive program would defeat much of the protection that is used to keep data secure. insertion of “secret vulnerabilities — known as backdoors or trapdoors — into commercial encryption software.”

The reports did not indicate which companies cooperated with the spy agencies, but they

WASHINGTON: US and British intelligence agencies have cracked the encryption that secures a wide range of online communications — including emails, banking transactions and phone conversations, according to newly leaked documents.

The reports suggested that Britain’s intelligence agency was able to gain access to people’s Hotmail, Google, Yahoo and Facebook accounts.

The documents provided by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden to The New York Times, ProPublica and The Guardian suggest that the spy agencies are able to deci-

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pher data even with the supposedly secure encryption designed to make it private.

The US National Security Agency, working with its British counterpart, GCHQ, accomplished the feat by using supercomputers, court orders, and

some cooperation from technology companies, the documents indicate.

The Guardian report said the two spy agencies had “covert partnerships” with technology companies and Internet providers which allows the

suggested that Britain’s intelligence agency was able to gain access to people’s Hotmail, Google, Yahoo and Facebook accounts.

If the reports are accurate, the highly secretive program would defeat much of the protection that is used to keep data secure and private on the Internet, from emails to chats to communications using smartphones.

AFP

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News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

HAIR-RAISING WATCH YOUR HAIR...

‘PIRANAS’ ON THE PROWL MARIA ISABEL SANCHEZ

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Braids sold to salons for use as hair extensions can go for as much as $1,000, depending on how long, thick and healthy the hair is.

CARACAS: They already endure staggering levels of street crime. Now, Venezuelans have something new to fear -muggers who chop off their hair.

Members of the scissorwielding street gangs are called "piranas", after the flesh-eating fish. The gangs sell the stolen hair to salons which fashion it into braids in this oil-rich and beauty-obsessed country.

Some disconsolate women have given up and had their long hair cut off preemptively to donate it to children who lose theirs to cancer. Vanessa Castillo cried as her pretty, long jet-black hair was snipped for charity.

"It is better to give it to kids with cancer than have the piranas steal it," she said, sniffling.

She spoke at a donate-yourhair-to-kids day at a beauty salon. "Is this what we have come to? For there to be people who steal your hair is a form of chaos," said Castillo, a 26-yearold dental student.

The alarms went off last month in Maracaibo, Venezuela's second largest city,

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with the first complaints of hair-stealing groups made up of men and women.

Braids sold to salons for use as hair extensions can go for as much as $1,000, depending on how long, thick and healthy the hair is.

"It is one thing to give it away because you want to and another that people beat you to take it away," said hairdresser Milagros Genao, as she cut off Castillo's locks.

Along with Castillo, hundreds of women and some men

It’s a conspiracy!

P

resident Nicolas Maduro declared war on the pirana gangs and ordered an investigation into "mafias that cut off young women's hair."

showed up for the charity event held at a Caracas hair salon. The cutters were led by Ivo Contreras, a famed stylist who has coiffed Miss Venezuela's hair and makes wigs for cancerstricken children.

'YOUNG WOMEN ARE SCARED' Venezuelans are so upset that the government has got involved, but only after media reports of harrowing stories of women in Maracaibo being

beaten and robbed of their flowing manes.

President Nicolas Maduro declared war on the pirana gangs and ordered an investigation into "mafias that cut off young women's hair."

"What kind of way is that to mistreat young women? Young women are sacred," he said.

The conspiracy-minded leader blamed the hair thefts on a "psychological war in the whole country" orchestrated by Colombian and Venezuelan opposition figures based in Miami. Oddly, no one has gone to the police yet to file a formal complaint.

But police are on the lookout, watching plazas and streets in Maracaibo. Press reports say there have been hair theft cases in other cities like Caracas and Valencia.

"A lot of women have come to donate their hair out of fear of being roughed up in the street, as they are in danger. It is a new way of abusing women.

We ask the authorities to punish this," said hairdresser Contreras. He said recently a woman showed up at his salon with an injury on her back.

"They tried to cut it off, and she preferred to come and have it cut off herself," he said.

Some women in Maracaibo and Caracas are taking precautions — wearing their hair in a bun or covered under hats.

"Having your hair stolen is as if they were mutilating your body," said Galindo.

OCEAN SANCTUARY

Kiwis may shelve Antarctic plans

WELLINGTON: New Zealand said Thursday it may revise its plans to create the world's largest ocean sanctuary off Antarctica after they were blocked by Russia earlier this year, amid concerns the proposal may be scaled-back.

The plan for a 1.6 million square kilometre (640,000 square mile) fishing-free haven in the Ross Sea, supported by the US, was knocked back after Moscow raised objections at an international meeting in July.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said revising the plan was probably the only way to get it approved at the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the multi-national organisation which oversees conservation efforts in the Southern Ocean.

"If we are going to get change we're probably going to have to make some alterations, but it's a work in progress," Key told reporters at the Pacific Islands

Forum in the Marshall Islands.

"We always knew there was going to be resistance from other parties who either have fishing interests there or believe that they would have fishing interests."

Key said the amended proposal was yet to be finalised.

However Fairfax Media, citing "diplomatic insiders", said there were fears the protected area could be slashed by up to 40 percent and allow fishing in an area where endangered species breed.

The Antarctic Ocean Alliance (AOA), a coalition of environmental groups, urged New Zealand and the United States to "hold the line" and resist pressure to scale-back the proposal. "(We) would be deeply concerned that the US and New Zealand could be giving away too much, leaving us with a protected area that reduces protection for the Ross Sea," AOA spokesman Steve Campbell said.

AFP

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News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

THE AMERICA’S CUP

Frisco sails into a windfall Racing the ACT2

As Oracle Team USA is poised to take on challenger Emirates Team New Zealand for yachting’s prized trophy beginning Saturday, confidence remains that the ‘Summer of Racing’ is giving the city’s economy a multimillion-dollar boost.

GLENN CHAPMAN feedback@postnoon.com SAN FRANCISCO: the America’s Cup hasn’t lived up to glorious expectations, the premier yacht race is still on course to be a money-maker for San Francisco.

As Oracle Team USA is poised to take on challenger Emirates Team New Zealand for yachting’s prized trophy beginning Saturday, confidence remains that the “Summer of Racing” is giving the city’s economy a multi-million-dollar boost.

“The city’s finance committee acknowledged that income will outstrip direct costs.

Whether this is more or less than the $780 million projected by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, this is a big win for the city however you measure it,” Cup event authority chief executive Stephen Barclay told AFP The Institute in April trimmed heady forecasts of three years ago to predict that the Cup would give a $900 million boost to the city’s economy, bring in some 2 million visitors and generate 6,500 jobs.

Organizers of the event have said that they have placed more than 1,000 contracts with local businesses and that one of the

The teams competing for the America’s Cup off San Francisco from Saturday, Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand, will be racing in AC72s — 22-meter wing-sail catamarans that are demanding and potentially dangerous to sail. n On May 9, one of the three Louis Vuitton challengers to holders Oracle Team USA, Artemis, lost crew member Andrew Simpson during a training run. n The Swedish AC72 capsized and Simpson, a British double Olympic medallist, drowned after getting stuck under the overturned structure. n Eleven crew members are required to sail the speedsters, which are 22 meters long, 14 meters wide and weigh six tonnes.

competing teams has spent $1.5 million on hotel lodging alone.

Sullivan said that city costs for the Cup as of the end of June were $13.4 million, with $8.5 million of that having been reimbursed by a cup organizing committee devoted to raising money to cover San Francisco’s tab.

Efforts to raise donations to cover city costs for hosting the Cup lost the wind from their sails after only three teams were fielded to challenge champion

Organizers of the event have said that they have placed more than 1,000 contracts with local businesses and that one of the competing teams has spent $1.5 million on hotel lodging alone.

Oracle Team USA instead of the 15 originally expected.

Billionaire yachtsman Larry Ellison’s move to boost spectator appeal by fielding sophisticated high-speed AC72 catamarans caused the price of entry to soar at a time when the world

economy was sinking, effectively shutting out many aspiring competitors. But, with a scaledback event have come reduced costs and the city was expected to spend less than the $22 million estimated in April.

A Cup park and a Cup village with views of the race area bordered by the Golden Gate and Bay bridges have been visited by about a half-million people, according to event organizers.

That tally includes only people passing through gates to those Cup venues and doesn’t take into account folks who have watched races from other spots along the San Francisco waterfront.

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That number is expected to climb during the Cup finals, which will take place through September 23.

“Our visitors have really picked up throughout the summer of sailing and as we move towards the climax,” Barclay said. “With the September showdown for the America’s Cup itself, these numbers will only grow.”

Barclay maintains that the

Pick

races on the Bay showcase the beauty of the city, providing a ‘long tail’ in terms of luring visitors.

Waterfront upgrades that will remain after Cup races end will include a new cruise ship terminal that had languished in planning phases before being incorporated into preparations for the event.

Cup organizers adapted to the reduced number of challengers by adding Red Bull Youth matches taking place this week in which young sailors race in smaller AC45 catamarans.

They also took advantage of the first-ever “in-shore” venue for the Cup to create a 9,000-seat pavilion for concerts starring artists including Sting, Weezer, Train and the San Francisco Symphony.

The pavilion also serves as a venue where people can watch for free Cup races broadcast on giant screens.

Organizers augment free viewing spots with premier venues where space comes at a price.

Cup concerts and a pavilion area complete with Napa Valley wine tasting and an exhibit simulating racing on a catamaran have been hits.

at the

n The twin-hull vessels are distinctive with their towering 40-meter-high rigid wing-sails and 260 sq m main sails. n Likened to a cross between an aeroplane and sailing boat, they are capable of “flying” above the water at more than 40 knots on their L-shaped hydrofoils. n In doing so, the AC72s are free from virtually any hydrodynamic resistance and only touch the water with their keels and inverted T-shaped rudder blades. n The AC72s are designed by the best designers in the world and made of carbon fibre by renowned boat-builders and travel at three times wind speed. n In October 2012, the first AC72 of Cup Oracle also capsized in San Francisco during training. No one was injured but the boat was badly damaged.

airport,

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News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS

The ‘Mad Monk’ of Oz Tony Abbott, a former trainee Catholic priest, boxing enthusiast and monarchist, and frontrunner to become the next Prime Minister of Australia, has in the past been known as a political hard man of the Liberal Party, unafraid of speaking his mind and occasionally tripping up on a gaffe.

Key issues AROUND THE

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THE ECONOMY AND JOBS

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd declared the economy the focus for the election and has campaigned on his centre-left Labor administration’s success in keeping Australia out of a recession during the global financial crisis.

But as an unprecedented, decade-long mining boom slows, and Australia’s budget deficit forecast has blown out to Aus$30 billion (US$27 billion), the country is facing slower growth, higher unemployment and cautious household spending.

Both Rudd and the conservative Liberal/National opposition led by Tony Abbott claim to be the better economic managers, but Rudd has warned that Abbott will order billions in cuts that will risk throwing the economy into recession, while Abbott says Australia “cannot afford” another three years of Labor’s budget blowouts.

ASYLUM-SEEKERS

MADELEINE COOREY feedback@postnoon.com SYDNEY: The man tipped to become Australia’s next prime minister has ditched his “Mad Monk” tag and softened his macho image to turn around his conservative party’s fortunes ahead of Saturday’s election.

Tony Abbott, a former trainee Catholic priest, boxing enthusiast and monarchist, has in the past been known as a political hard man of the Liberal Party, unafraid of speaking his mind and occasionally tripping up on a gaffe.

His election campaign has not been immune to verbal stumbles — with his comments about one of his female candidate’s “sex appeal” causing concern, along with his description of the conflict in Syria as “baddies versus baddies”.

But the 55-year-old opposition leader, singled out by former Labor PM Julia Gillard as sexist in a fierce parliamentary tirade against misogyny, has rebuilt his image in the hope of attaining high office.

He has appeared regularly with his wife and three young adult daughters, spoken of his closeness to his gay sister and even admitted to being a fan of the British period drama “Downton Abbey”. “I’ve certainly said some things which I wouldn’t say now,” Abbott told the 60 Minutes television programme earlier this year of comments he made over the course of

A Rhodes scholar and Oxford boxing blue, Abbott volunteers as a firefighter during the hazardous bushfire season and a surf life saver. his time in public life, beginning in student politics.

“I’ve said some things which I believed then, which I don’t believe now. Because like everyone who has had a long time in public life, in particular, I’ve changed, and I’d like to think that I’ve grown.”

Abbott had an unlucky leadership run in 2010 when the election resulted in a hung parliament, his Liberal/National coalition losing only when three independents and a Greens MP backed his Labor rival Gillard to give her a majority.

Yet it represented a remarkable turnaround from the previous vote just three years earlier when conservative PM John Howard was trounced by the Labor Party’s Kevin Rudd.

Although he has wanted to be prime minister for much of his life, Abbott only won the Liberal Party leadership in December 2009 by a single vote, and reportedly to a “gobsmacked silence” in Canberra.

But he has stayed the course, first as Labor dumped sitting prime minister Rudd for Gillard in 2010, and then

pushing Gillard to such lows in opinion polls that Labor reinstalled Rudd in late June.

Anthony John Abbott was born to Australian parents in London in 1957.

He grew up in Australia, attending the University of Sydney before taking up an Oxford scholarship.

He briefly trained as a Catholic priest before becoming a journalist and then pursuing a career in politics, entering parliament in 1994 and rising to health minister in Howard ministry.

A Rhodes scholar and Oxford boxing blue, Abbott volunteers as a firefighter during the hazardous bushfire season and a surf life saver near his northern Sydney home. He is often seen in lycra bike shorts and brief swimming shorts known as “budgie smugglers”.

But his macho image and straighttalking has landed him in hot water in the past, particularly a comment that evidence blaming mankind for climate change was “absolute crap”.

He has been caught swearing in front of the cameras, once accusing Gillard, then deputy prime minister, of wearing a “shit-eating grin” and offering only a qualified apology afterwards.

ANU politics professor John Warhurst said Abbott had moved away from his “oppositionist, negative stance” ahead of the poll. “He has kept away from religion and politics deliberately and also issues like abortion,” he said.

AFP

Australia has struggled to stop asylum-seekers arriving by boat despite the prospect of lengthy detention in immigration camps, including in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, and the regular tragedy of refugees drowning en route.

The issue is considered a key one in congested metropolitan areas such as western Sydney, where voters fear migrants will take their jobs and receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits while they struggle to pay their bills.

The government hardened its policy in July to ensure boatpeople would be resettled in PNG or Nauru, even if found to be genuine refugees.

Abbott has pledged to “stop the boats”, saying he will turn them back when it is safe to do so and potentially buy boats from Indonesian fishermen to prevent them from ending up in the hands of people-smugglers.

CLIMATE CHANGE/CARBON TAX

Australia, a major coal exporter, has struggled with its response to climate change despite the arid continent being in the frontline for the extreme weather and other hazards forecast for a warming planet.

Rudd has promised to scrap the carbon tax brought in by Labor after the 2010 election and move to a carbon emissions trading scheme by July 2014.

Abbott has said his first priority, if elected, will be to scrap the carbon tax. His alternative “direct action” plan includes an emissions reduction fund to encourage business and industry efforts and a controversial scheme to attempt to sequester carbon dioxide in soil.

SOCIAL ISSUES

Abbott has made a paid parental leave scheme, under which women will receive 26 weeks at full pay up to a salary cap of Aus$150,000 after having a baby, his “signature” policy. Labor, which introduced a scheme that gives women 18 weeks’ pay at the minimum wage, has criticised the policy as unaffordable.

Rudd, a devout Christian, has promised to introduce a bill in parliament if re-elected to legalise gay marriage. Abbott, a one-time trainee Catholic priest, does not support samesex unions but has not ruled out a conscience vote on the issue.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

Business

SUNTORY IN TALKS TO BUY GSK DRINK BRANDS

Japanese drinks giant Suntory Holdings is in advanced talks to buy the Lucozade and Ribena soft drinks brands for a possible $1.56 billion from British drugs firm GlaxoSmithKline, a report said on Friday.

PHARMA INDUSTRY

AUTODESK JOINS CICSE

AP to get own drug board The Gujarat State Board, which shares a close relationship with the State pharma industry, will assist AP in its endeavour.

SYED SHOAIB shoaib.s@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: In an indication of the rapid growth of the State pharmaceutical industry, the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association has initiated an Andhra Pradesh State Board.

When conferred with this status, the State will join an elite group of states in the country to have its own Board.

Hyderabad is referred to as the Bulk Drugs Capital of India, in the pharmaceutical industry circles.

As of now, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal and Maharashtra are among seven states that have their own boards to look into various issues of the pharma industry.

“The pharma industry has to interact with not one but three government departments for approvals and certification, and having a State Board will make it easy for you to represent your problems to the government,” said Daara B Patel, secretary-

Pharma exhibition

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As of now, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal and Maharashtra are among seven states that have their own boards to look into pharma issues.

FUTURES TRADING China government bond futures higher on debut SHANGHAI: Chinese government bond futures rose on their debut Friday as authorities lifted an 18-year ban on the product as part of efforts to speed up economic reforms. Futures for settlement in December 2013, opened at 94.220 yuan ($15.4) from their benchmark price of 94.168 yuan, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

“Trading is more active than expected due to relatively cheap valuations of the contracts,” Cao Zili, a Beijing-based analyst said.

“Investors may also be bet-

ting on rising valuations of spot bonds,” he said. “But the contracts will likely remain rangebound today as spot price fluctuations are relatively limited.”

China halted trading of bond futures in 1995 after a firm then called Wanguo Securities placed 140 billion yuan worth, or $17 billion at the time, of sell orders for one contract in the last few minutes of trading, causing the price to plummet. The order was several times larger than the entire stock of the relevant bonds in issue at the time.

AFP

13

general of IDMA, addressing a gathering of prospective members of the to-be board on Thursday in the City.

In a unique case, the Gujarat State Board, which shares a close relationship with the State pharma industry, will assist AP in its endeavour to attain this independent status.

harmac India 2013, a three-day exhibition is on at the Hitex Exhibition Centre in the City till Saturday. The exhibition of pharma machinery, equipment, bulk drugs, API and material industry in India is being organised by the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association in order to facilitate meeting of buyers and sellers in the field.

The exhibition hosts the entire gamut of the pharma industry, right from pharmaceutical bulk drugs, veterinary drugs, pharmaceutical machinery, packaging, refrigeration, food additives and biotechnology to software for the industry and its management.

“Our main aim is to attract more customers and share with all latest technologies and innovations of the pharma field,” said Rupen Vikamsey, MD of Orbitz, the co-organisers, at the inauguration on Thursday.

MARKET WATCH Data points to Fed taper ahead of jobs report WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve looks increasingly poised to start tapering its massive bond-buying program after economic data pointing to an improving job market, the central bank’s top priority, economists said.

Analysts and markets are keenly awaiting Friday’s official jobs report for August, as it will provide a key indicator for consideration when Fed policy makers meet in two weeks.

The central bank has made

clear that tapering of the bondbuying program depends on continued broad improvement in the economy, especially in unemployment which remains stubbornly high despite US growth.

Any reduction in the Fed’s $85 billion a month bond-buying program will have repercussions on the global economy. Even talk of the Fed taper since the plan emerged in May has pushed US interest rates higher and sent capital fleeing from emerging markets.

AFP

GOLD`32,164 10g SILVER `54,467 1kg

24C

for

for

DOLLAR `66.06 POUND `103.09

Autodesk, Inc., a leader in 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software, has announced that it will partner with the Council of Indian School Certificate Examinations to promote Science, Technology, Engineering Arts and Mathematics education locally.

The partnership will benefit nearly two million students from the Class VI onwards across 2,000 schools under the board’s jurisdiction. The announcement was made by George Abraham, head of education for emerging markets at Autodesk, in the presence of Rev. CM Jose Aikara, chairman of CICSE, at a signing ceremony in Bangalore. Under the partnership agreement, Autodesk will provide: technology access, curriculum development, training model and immersive learning experiences. Autodesk is a world leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software and services, and the CICSE administers the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) examination.

NUMEROLOGY

$25

bn

is the worth of debt offering planned

by Verizon as it gathers financing to buy Vodafone’s stake in their Verizon Wireless joint venture, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.Verizon Communications is expected to launch the offering in the next week or two, the source said.The potential bond sale comes as Verizon begins to raise the $130 billion it needs to take full ownership of Verizon Wireless, the largest US wireless provider.

BOMBARDIER SELLS FLEXIJET Canada’s Bombardier announced Thursday it was selling its hire jet service Flexjet and that the new owners had agreed to buy as many as 245 new aircraft from it.

Bombardier is selling Flexjet to private investment house Directional Aviation Capital for $185 million. At the same time, Directional announced a firm order for 85 new business aircraft for Flexjet, worth $1.8 billion at list prices, and potentially 245 aircraft, worth $5.2 billion. The initial 85 aircraft will include Bombardier’s Challenger 350, Challenger 605 and Learjet 75 jets, as well as the coming Learjet 85.

BSE NSE

19,083.66 104.74

5,617.10 33.60

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

Comment

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS

HFT can’t help but wonder why ‘Mr Clean’ defence minister never comes clean on Chinese intrusions across LAC. With contradictory reports coming from different agencies and ministers, no one seems to be sure. Oh that won’t be correct... the Chinese are sure, and they are enforcing it.

INTERVENTION IN SYRIA

14

XENOPHOBIA RISES IN RUSSIA MARIA ANTONOVA

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

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athed in the rosy dusk of late Russian summer, Alexei Navalny paced the stage as thousands of hopeful young Muscovites waved balloons and clapped at his promises to make a stand against corruption and the Kremlin’s grip on political life.

But then came the most anticipated promise. “I will stop the illegal migration orgy!” Navalny, the charismatic opposition candidate in Sunday’s Moscow mayoral polls yelled, his image projected on a giant screen behind him (pictured).

The crowd attending the election campaign rally on a recent weekend erupted with whistles and screams, in what was the biggest and longest cheer of the evening.

The Russian capital will hold its first mayoral elections in a decade on Sunday. And while in 2003, the anti-immigration card was played by one candidate who received under four percent of votes, this year it is the main issue for all six candidates.

Asked in July to list their top five concerns, 55 percent of Muscovites said “too many migrants from former Soviet republics and the North Caucasus”, signalling that migration was their biggest worry, even bigger than rising prices and traffic jams.

Even banners with Sergei Mitrokhin, the candidate from the Yabloko liberal party, which

has for years shunned nationalist rhetoric, declare that he is against “turning Moscow into a province of Central Asia”.

Russia’s migration service said last month that one million foreign citizens had been registered in Moscow in the first seven months of the year.

“Unofficial” numbers are usually “several times more”, Moscow prosecutor Sergei Kudeneyev said in March.

‘PARENTS COME IN TEARS’

Migrant labourers from Central Asia’s impoverished majorityMuslim countries Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan take up most of the menial construction jobs, work at large agriculture markets, and perform cityfinanced tasks like street sweeping, road works, and landscaping.

In some districts of the capital, Russians feel like they are a

minority, said one municipal deputy from a neighbourhood in eastern Moscow.

“Parents come to me in tears” after finding out that there are only five Russian children in a school class of 26, the local lawmaker, who asked not to be named, told AFP. “Others are Vietnamese, Azerbaijani, Korean, Armenian, Uzbek, etc,” she said. “They don’t speak, read or write in Russian.” Russian parents are now petitioning to have a “Slavic” school in the neighbourhood, she said.

“People are really concerned about the number of migrants, about their behaviour,” said the deputy, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

“There are limits to everything, and people have reached the limit of tolerance and assimilation,” she said.

Moscow authorities have recently responded to the growing discontent by raiding garment factories employing illegal migrants and even setting up a special temporary camp for them.

Officials often focus on migrants when talking about crime or drugs in the capital.

Kremlin-backed Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who is seeking re-election, recently told Vedomosti daily that “half of all crimes in the city are committed by migrants”.

Moscow prosecutors have estimated the number of crimes by foreign nationals at around 10 percent of all solved crimes.

During a high-profile sweep, authorities closed several markets in Moscow after a watermelon seller from Russia’s North Caucasus region of Dagestan punched a policemen in July.

A flurry of proposed bills followed, including one that would completely ban migrants from working in sales.

‘THERE ARE NO VOICES OF REASON LEFT’

Several celebrated rights activists published an open letter last month, warning that the antimigrant rhetoric in Russian society risked sparking civil conflict.

“First they give us fake crime figures, then they manipulate them,” said Svetlana Gannushkina, head of the migrant rights group The Civic Assistance Committee, referring to the authorities.

Gannushkina, who was among the letter’s signatories, blamed the growing tensions largely on “propaganda” by the

government in an effort to shift the blame for corruption and its own mistakes on to disenfranchised groups.

“I am deeply saddened, because there are no voices of reason left among the candidates,” she told AFP. Navalny, whose perceived nationalism and past participation in ultra-nationalist rallies have been vehemently criticised by some in the Russian opposition, last month invited several people of non-Slavic origin to a “round table”.

“Muscovites see that there are a lot of people in the city who live according to different rules and cultural codes,” Navalny said at the event.

He listed the main stereotypes about Muslim migrants: dancing native dances, making barbecues on the streets of Moscow and covering a neighbourhood near the capital’s main mosque with a “sea of backs” during prayer on major holidays.

Zaira Abdullayeva, who belongs to the Lak ethnic group in Dagestan, said that Moscow had always been xenophobic, and never liked migrant labourers, even ethnic Russians from the provinces.

“I was denied jobs a few times, I suspect because of my ethnic origin,” Abdullayeva, a Moscow-based journalist and one of the guests invited by Navalny, told AFP. “People regularly tell me and my daughters offensive things, and I still get asked whether I can write in Russian and need a translator,” she added.

“In densely populated cities, people always look for an enemy.”

EDITORIALS Thus far, no further

I

t is the height of irresponsibility on the part of the ruling politicians that a State that has all the hallmark of becoming the strongest in the country is put in a turmoil. The current scenario of Andhra Pradesh where violence and bandhs are becoming the order of the day is entirely the creation of the Centre and the State.

First, the Union Government did not follow a procedure before announcing such a crucial decision as dividing the State. While it claims to have the consent of all the political parties in the State for a division, the YSRC differs. It says the Centre did not look into all the aspects of a division and its consequences with the result that two regions — coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema — feel cheated. Second, the Centre has failed to follow up the promise of a division with the appropriate bill in the current session of the Parliament. A division of a state is not an accident. It has to be done after going through a process and proper homework. In both, the Centre failed.

READERS’ VIEWS

Third, the most contentious issue, the status of Hyderabad, was allowed to be footballed among various parties with the result that the development of Hyderabad is kept hanging upside down. This is the single-most important issue agitating the minds of all people of Andhra Pradesh. It is time the satraps in Delhi realised that a government’s role is facilitator of development and peace and not debilitate the state. Political games are played for partisan reasons that hit the state badly. For nearly two months the State is in turmoil and much of its economy is affected due to frequent violence in Seemandhra and the consequent derailment of transport and communication. Who will compensate for the murder and mayhem? All this coming on top of the runaway inflation makes the life of eight crore people miserable beyond words. It is time to say, thus far, no further.

We invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to feedback@postnoon.com or # Plot No 550-A1,3rd Floor, Road No 92, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad-500033 Landmark – Volkswagen showroom or even by way of a call on 4067 2222. Editor: Dean Williams

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

music IN THE CITY

Letting the groove get in ARUN DANIEL YELLAMATY arunyellamaty@postnoon.com

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he newly released item song Dhating Naach from movie Phata Poster Nikla Hero has become a rage among the younger crowd.

They are lapping up the performances of both Shahid Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri. The voice behind the song, Neha Kakkar opens up about the song and more.

“I was very excited when I was told that this song was going to be an item number for this film. I had recorded this song much earlier for Pritham, and I was more excited that Shahid Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri were dancing on this song. I have been a great fan of Shahid from childhood and when I was told he was involved, I was overly thrilled. I have been reading the response on Twitter and Facebook on how people have been appreciating this song and many are even saying how this song will be the one of the best item song of the year,” she adds.

However she feels that many a time, people focus on the stars of the film and the singers are left with no credit at all.

“Unlike western singers, musicians and composers, here we don’t get noticed that much.

The credit is gone to the films and actors. This does hurt at times and I personally think that filmmakers should start promoting the singers too. That’s what I appreciate in Mika and Honey since they ensure they are given credit of the songs

New Zealand Blurred Lines parody goes viral

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they sing.”

Neha became a household name after her appearance in the second season of Indian Idol and was renowned as the Indian Shakira. Later she participated in Comedy Circus Ka Tansen and tickled the funny bone of the audience. She says after Indian Idol many people promised songs in their films but many of these projects never materialized. “People knew me as a singer after Indian Idol. I got to record for a few movies during this phase. But many who promised me songs backed out.”

She adds, “I would encourage talented people to make use of these reality shows to get

them a platform, but again they have to sell themselves later in the market to get anything. But again, only if you are talented, you should take part in any reality shows.”

Talking about collaborating on songs with her very popular sister Sonu Kakkar, she says, “I was influenced to sing thanks to my sister. My bother, Tony Kakkar too is a great composer.

We have done a lot of songs together on Youtube and those are big hits online.”

Neha also sang a song on Shahrukh Khan called, Shahrukh Khan Anthem. After listening to it, Shahrukh tweeted and thanked Neha for the song.

Some of her hits include, Second Hand Jawani from Cocktail featuring Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty. She also sang the title song for the movie Blue starring Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar, Zayed Khan and Lara Dutta.

feminist parody of Robin Thicke's controversial hit Blurred Lines has gone viral on YouTube after being briefly banned from the video-sharing website for being too raunchy.

The spoof by three Auckland University law students titled Defined Lines satirises Thicke's song with a music video that uses barechested males in submissive poses, instead of the topless female models featured in the original version.

The clip posted by the Auckland Law Review has racked up almost 600,000 hits on YouTube and with reposts from other users is approaching the one million mark.

The number of views has almost doubled since the video was pulled from the website on Monday for "sexually inappropriate content", then allowed back up less than 24 hours later after YouTube admitted it had made a mistake.

Thicke's song contains the refrain "I hate these blurred lines/ I know you want it" and has been condemned by critics who say the lyrics refer to the issue of sexual consent.

It gained further notoriety when Miley Cyrus sang it with Thicke at last week's MTV awards, accompanied by gyrating "twerking" dance moves from the former Disney child star.

AFP

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

spotlight A FUN GATHERING 1

2

3

4

5

WORDS OF

6

7

WISDOM

FLO members were in attendance at Taj Krishna where market strategist Rama Bijapurkar gave a talk on women, consumerism and social change.

8

9

14

15

1 Harleen

4 Trusha

7 Sunaina

10 Vyshnavi

13 Jyotsna

2 Payal

5 Geethika

8 Shibha

11 Lavanya

14 Ajita Reddy

3 Akansha

6 Shariya

9 Gayatri

12 Rekha Lahoti

15 Tarah Shah

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HEALTH IN FOCUS

Pharmac India 2013 was inaugurated by Daara Patel, Secretary Genearal, Indian Drug Manufacturer's Association at HITEX Exhibition Center on Thursday.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

health

POTENTIAL CURE EMERGES FOR DOWN SYNDROME

US researchers may have identified a compound that appears to reverse the learning deficits associated with Down Syndrome in lab mice. While the use of the compound, a small molecule known as a sonic hedgehog pathway agonist, has not been proven safe for testing on people with Down Syndrome, researchers said.

INTERVIEW

19

Conditions of the heart Dr Samir Diwale, senior consultant and Cardiothoracic surgeon at Continental Hospitals, informs us about Cardiothoracic surgery. chain smokers.

FLEME VARKEY fleme.v@postnoon.com

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efore we get into the details, here’s what we need to know first.

What does Cardiothoracic surgery involve?

Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of diseases affecting organs inside the thorax (the chest)—generally treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease) and lungs (lung disease). Cardiac surgery (involving the heart and great vessels) and thoracic surgery (involving the lungs) are separate surgical specialties except in some countries.

Tell us a little about the surgery you specialise in.

Cardiothoracic surgery is not a new form; only certain modifications have been in the ways it is done. At Continental Hospitals, I perform both Adult Cardiac Surgery and Mitral valve repair among others. In case of Adult Cardiac Surgery, there has been a lot of evolution. Earlier in case of bypass surgery it was done using the veins and arteries.

Now surgeons use the arteries only as they remain open in a person for up to 15- 20 years, as compared to veins which close off in a few years time.

Now surgeries are performed using arterial grafts. When the case is not too serious, we also perform minimally invasive surgeries. Minimally invasive heart surgery (also called keyhole surgery) is performed through small incisions, sometimes using specialised surgical instruments. The incision used for minimally invasive heart surgery is about three to four inches instead of the six to eight-inch incisions required for traditional surgery.

The second one is Mitral Valve Repair instead of replacement. In case of heart valve replacements, the bad or the damaged valve is replaced by either a mechanical or bioprosthetic valve. But here we perform mitral valve repairs

DR SAMIR DIWALE, senior consultant and Cardiothoracic surgeon

wherein we try and repair and preserve the damaged valve so that the patient can use his own body part rather than an artificial body, which requires tremendous management and medication. With a valve repaired, the patient goes home with minimal or no medication at all. Many people are coming forward for this now.

Are the incidences of these surgeries in India rising?

Unfortunately, yes. In India the incidences of coronary heart diseases are increasing at a rapid pace. It could be attributed to the rapid urbanisation, our sedentary lifestyles and even our genes. The genes have much to contribute nowadays because we are noticing patients as young as 30 coming to us for surgeries, whereas such problems are usually associated with people who fall after the 50 age bracket.

These are non-retirees. In fact, a study I recently read mentioned that in India people as old as 53 start complaining of these heart problems but in the West people who are above 60 are diagnosed with it. So for such people we offer total arterial bypass or grafting, it proves to be quite beneficial in the long run and allows the

patient to live longer.

What are the causes for such problems?

The culprits are the common ones that are associated with heart disease. Incidents of this disease is commonly found in patients with a history of diabetes, hypertension or are

What are the precautions that one can take? n Lead an active lifestyle. n Making exercising a part of your daily routine. Do brisk walking or some form of cardio exercises to keep fit. n Follow a clean and healthy diet- avoid fatty and fried food. Avoid junk food at all costs. n Do not smoke n Control diabetes and blood pressure. Monitor them regularly. n Consult doctors in case of discomfort, in order to aid early detection of any incidence of disease.

What is the progress that our country has achieved in this field?

In India we are now able to detect incidences of the disease more frequently and are able to diagnose it even better. There are now more number of cardiologists and labs available for the patients, even at the district level.

What kind of population have you seen coming for these surgeries?

It’s a mixed population. Men and women come to us in almost equal numbers. The peak incidences which we have found are in people who are in their mid 50s.

What are the complex surgeries you have performed at Continental Hospitals?

Bypass surgeries are the most complex since there is no room for error in them. The surgeries are different for both adults and children. There is mitral valve repairs, emergency bypass, total arterial grafts, fixing holes in the heart ( minimally invasive surgery) that I have performed here. Then recently there was this case where I had to perform an awake beating heart surgery. The patient had very bad lungs and so could not risk putting him under general anaesthesia and so we gave him local or anaesthesia so that we could monitor him effectively.

PIC USED FOR REPRESENTATIVE PURPOSE ONLY

20

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

Technology GADGETS

Now jam on the go

The San Francisco-based firm unveiled Mini Jambox as a slim addition to its line-up of speakers that synch to smartphones or tablets using Bluetooth technology.

SAN FRANCISCO: Jawbone on Wednesday set out to keep in tune with mobile lifestyles with a stylish, powerful wireless speaker as easy to carry around as a smartphone packed with digital music.

The San Francisco-based firm unveiled Mini Jambox as a slim addition to its line-up of speakers that synch to smartphones or tablets using Bluetooth technology.

“A lot of speakers in the market don’t lend themselves to being easily carried around,” Jawbone audio product management senior director Tim Pryde said after pulling a Mini from a suit jacket pocket.

“If the best camera is the one you have on you, then the best speaker is the one you have on you.”

Members of the Jambox team spent months experimenting with blocks of wood to find an ideal size and weight for the Mini, which is about half the size of the original Jambox but boasts louder volume and improved audio clarity.

Mini weighs in at nine ounces (255 grams) and measures 154 mm long, 24.5 mm wide, and 58 mm tall.

“This is about as small as you can get,” Pryde said. “It’s comfortable to grab and it’s light.”

Mini was priced the same as the original Jambox at $179 for its debut at jawbone.com and was to hit the shelves of realworld shops in North America this month and then roll out international in October.

A Big Jambox tailored for uses such as large outdoor gath-

eBay India (www.ebay.in), India’s leading eCommerce marketplace, has announced the launch of eBay Check, a Chrome Extension to enable consumers to shop smarter. eBay Check allows consumers to compare prices of products while browsing any website through automatic drop down displays of the same product’s listings on eBay India. eBay Check also doubles up as a shopping search engine. Just click on the eBay Check icon on your Google Chrome bar and directly search for best deals on products on www.ebay.in. All one needs to do to use this facility is, download the eBay Check extension from the Google Chrome webstore.

LIMEROAD.COM SOARS

erings was introduced last year and sells for $299.

Big Jambox measures 10 inches (25.6 centimeters) long, 3.1 inches (eight cm) wide and 3.6 inches (9.3 cm) high and weighs 2.7 pounds (1.2 kilograms). “The Mini is as light as a can of Red Bull and fits in a clutch purse or a pants pocket,” Pryde said.

“We believe Mini Jambox will allow you to have those spontaneous moments like sharing a YouTube video on your smartphone with your friend.”

The wireless speaker market has been flooded with competitors since the original Jambox

Vital stats

M

ini weighs in at nine ounces (255 grams) and measures 154 mm long, 24.5 mm wide, and 58 mm tall.

Lightweight

T

he Mini is as light as a can of Red Bull and fits in a clutch purse or a pants pocket

launched in 2011.

The San Francisco firm known for fashionable earpieces

for smartphones crafted its trademark blend of art and engineering into an “intelligent wireless speaker.”

Renowned industrial designer Yves Behar has helped Jawbone make its mark with wireless earpieces, speakers and fitness-tracking UP bracelets that combine fashion and sophisticated compact technologies. “Our goal is to make products that revolve around people’s lives,” Pryde said.

“Understanding how you sleep with UP; having a better phone experience with a headset, and now a speaker that is with you all the time.”

Facebook in fresh privacy row with new policy WASHINGTON: Facebook is drawing fire from privacy activists again, after unveiling a new policy which could turn users' data and pictures into advertising.

The new plan would "dramatically expand the use of personal information for advertising purposes," said a letter this week to the US Federal Trade Commission

EBAY LAUNCHES CHECK

by six privacy organizations.

The letter said the changes violate a 2011 consent order with the US watchdog agency and urged the FTC to "act to enforce its order."

If the changes take effect, "Facebook users who reasonably believed that their images and content would not be used for commercial

purposes without their consent will now find their pictures showing up on the pages of their friends endorsing the products of Facebook's advertisers.

"Remarkably, their images could even be used by Facebook to endorse products that the user does not like or even use," added the letter from the Electronic

Privacy Information Center, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog and three other groups.

Facebook unveiled the changes as part of a settlement of a class action suit over the use of user names and images in so-called "sponsored stories."

AFP

India’s first social shopping platform LimeRoad.com today boasts of over 26 million page views per month and 40,000 active daily engaged user base on Facebook, making it a top engagement platform in Indian commerce.

Registered users are growing at 200% month on month, of which 50% are sign ups coming from facebook logins with rich social graphs. On this occasion, LimeRoad.com announced the launch of its ‘Create & Earn’ initiative an innovative way to enable their unique and rapidly growing community of Scrapbookers to earn from the looks they create.

DCOMO TO SELL IPHONE

Japan's biggest mobile carrier plans to sell Apple's iPhone, reports said Friday, days ahead of the expected launch of the US firm's addition to the popular smartphone. NTT Docomo is in the final stages of negotiations with Apple after losing millions of customers to its domestic rivals, which are way ahead in carrying the handset in Japan, the leading Nikkei business daily reported.

The carrier could start selling the gadget as early as September 20, the Asahi newspaper said. The Japanese carrier is looking to reverse years of lost business as the iPhone soars in popularity, supplying a big boost for domestic rivals KDDI and SoftBank.

21

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

Entertainment FESTIVE TREAT

A J I T H 'S ARRAMBAM JOINS DIWALI RACE

T

he much-awaited Ajith Kumarstarrer Tamil action-thriller Arrambam, currently in postproduction phase, has joined the Diwali race along with actor Karthi Sivakumar's All In All Azhagu Raja. "Our film Arrambam will finally hit the screens during Diwali. It will be a feast for Ajith's fans as it is almost after a year that his film is coming out," the film's producer AM Rathnam said. Arrambam, which features an ensemble cast of Arya, Nayanthara, Rana Daggubati and Taapsee Pannu, is directed by Vishnu Vardhan. He had earlier directed Ajith in Tamil actiondrama Billa. The film has music by Yuvan Shankar Raja, and cinematography by Om Prakash. Ajith is currently shooting for Tamil rural action-drama Veeram, and it is likely to release during Pongal next year.

Our film Arrambam will finally hit the screens during Diwali. It will be a feast for Ajith's fans as it is almost after a year that his film is coming out.

AM Rathnam Arrambam producer

IANS

CINE BYTES Why is Alibaba Okkade Donga special for Ali?

C

omedian Ali, who plays the lead role in upcoming Telugu comedy Alibaba Okkade Donga (AOD), says the film is very special because it happens to be his 50th in the role of a protagonist. "Fifty is a special number for someone who is mostly considered a comedian,” he says. IANS

Two Telugu filmmakers on India's Oscar jury

F

ilmmakers N Shankar and CV Reddy will be in the 12-member jury that will pick an Indian film for the Oscar entry in the best foreign film category. "It's indeed a privilege. I'm looking forward to seeing all the films and rub shoulders with other legends," N Shankar says.

Watch Pandianadu trailer with Madha Gvadha Raja'

T

he trailer of Vishal Krishna Reddystarrer Tamil action-drama Pandianadu will release in theatres, along with the actor's film Madha Gadha Raja. "The trailer of Pandianadu has been attached with Madha Gadha Raja. The trailer will be released in as many as 800 theatres where the latter is releasing," said a statement. IANS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

fashion

I HAVE FASHION REGRETS EVERY DAY: KELLY BROOK

ACTRESS-MODEL Kelly Brook says she regrets her fashion choices every day.

The 33-year-old admits that she doesn’t always dress immaculately because of her busy schedule, and ends up looking back at photographs of herself with regret, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

New York fashion week frenzy kicks off The fashion world takes over New York from Thursday, as industry heavyweights and several newcomers unveil their lines for next spring, and one designer stages the first show for plus-sized women.

A

s the days begin to shorten in the Big Apple, the city can bask a little longer in the warmth as designers look ahead to spring-summer 2014 during Fashion Week.

Celebrities and fashionistas will flock to the city for some 350 shows that will draw more than 100,000 guests for the event, which runs through September 12.

The style spotlight will then swing over to London, Milan and Paris.

Two-thirds of Fashion Week events have spilled out of New York’s official Lincoln Center tents, with runways springing up everywhere from the High Line park to Chelsea art galleries and hotel rooftops.

And with so much fashion to take in and so little time, about 20 designers decided to

TORY BURCH TO LAUNCH BEAUTY LINE

HAVING TRANSLATED a certain lifestyle (moneyed, Upper East Side New York, East Coast living) into a highly successful retail brand, Tory Burch has plotted her next move: beauty.

get an early start, showing their collections on Wednesday in other spots around the city.

The official event traditionally starts with Nicholas K, who will show his latest collection on Thursday.

New York Fashion Week — which prides itself on show-

Anita Bai, from Betul district, returned to her father’s place, despite repeated assurances by her inlaws and husband to provide a toilet. ing “the most internationally diverse group of established and emerging talent” — will show several designers for the first time.

Spanish brand Desigual,

which is opening a shop on Fifth Avenue, will show here for the first time on Thursday.

Britain’s AllSaints will follow suit over the weekend, promising to “disrupt the format of the traditional fashion show and integrate product, digital and music.”

Hometown designer Eden Miller will meanwhile become the first to present a collection for plus-sized women during Fashion Week, showing her Cabiria line as part of the Fashion Law Institute showcase.

“It’s an incredible honour, it is absolutely fantastic,” Miller told AFP. Of course, the usual suspects will be at the party: Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, Proenza Schouler, Jason Wu, Alexander Wang and Victoria

Beckham, to name a few.

The official Lincoln Center venue will host about 100 shows, including those by red carpet darling Monique Lhuillier, Michelle Obama favorite Tracy Reese and fashion royalty Carolina Herrera.

Long-time New York veterans Vera Wang, Diane Von Furstenberg and Michael Kors will also show there.

It will be easier than ever for ardent fashionistas to follow the goings-on at Lincoln Center, with shows streamed live

Fashion for a cause A

s many as 37 Indian designers have created 37 exclusive classic black clutches in their signature style - all for a cause.

The sales proceeds of these products will go to charitable organisation Habitat for Humanity India.

The initiative, The Black Clutch Project, is a joint initiative by multinational financial services corporation American Express and fashion and lifestyle

magazine Vogue for their global luxury fashion extravaganza Fashion’s Night Out (FNO).

The event will happen Thursday at Tote on the Turf in Mahalaxmi, Mumbai.

During the event, American Express Platinum Card members will exclusively witness the creations, which have been conceptualised by designers like Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla and Anita Dongre, said a statement. IANS

22&23

on the website mbfashionweek.com, Facebook and YouTube.

Some designers will do the same on their personal sites, while legions of bloggers, Tweeters and Instagrammers will ensure nearinstant access to next spring’s looks.

Ahead of the fashion circus, debate has sprung up once again over the home of the event, which moved from Bryant Park to Lincoln Center in 2010, and may move again in 2015.

“Whether Lincoln Center will continue or not, we do not know,” Von Furstenberg,

the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, told the New York Times.

Some designers have expressed fatigue with the noisy crowds or glaring sponsorship signs around the official location.

This year also marks the end of “Fashion Night Out”, which started in 2009 as shops tried to boost the struggling clothing industry with a glamorous night of entertainment and celebrity appearances to lure in buyers. However this failed to generate the expected sales, with hordes coming out for free champagne and a glimpse of someone famous, costing designers more than they earned.

AFP Please note: The images used are not representative of the present collection.

Entertainment FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

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Entertainment FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

I've grown to realise the joy that comes from little victories is preferable to the fun that comes from ease and the pursuit of pleasure.

Lawana Blackwell

KAKURO

QUICK CROSSWORD

26

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 Fellow 5 First name at Disney 9 Downhill ski run 14 Surrounding atmosphere 15 ‘Famous’ cookie man 16 DuPont’s acrylic fiber 17 Arc on a musical score 18 Capital on the Daugava River 19 ‘Common Sense’ author Thomas 20 It gets flipped 23 Black-and-white snack 24 Seam treasure 25 Create fashions 28 It may be filled with gravy 30 Common pipe material, briefly 33 Functional 34 Copper’s partner in brass 35 LaBeouf of Hollywood 36 B-movie gangster line 39 Exhibit an inclination 40 Very involved with 41 Hindu noblewoman (Var) 42 Title Miss Spain doesn’t have?

(Abbr) 43 They’re all they’re cracked up to be 44 Appetizing 45 ‘Yay, home team!’

46 Citizen’s duty 47 Request at a sandwich joint, sometimes 54 Rain clouds 55 Remember to forget 56 Saintly 57 Prove beneficial 58 Selfish one’s exclamation 59 Small advantage 60 Highly flexible 61 ___ Mawr, Pa 62 One of a horse rider’s pair

DOWN

1 Preferred bribery medium 2 Shake in the grass?

3 Calla lily, eg 4 Cooked a bit 5 Hall of Fame pitcher Spahn 6 Chihuahuan chum 7 Box-seating area 8 Old Russian despot 9 Andy Warhol genre 10 Angry, and then some 11 Narrow opening 12 ‘Les Miserables’ award 13 Versailles-to-Paris dir 21 Earnestly recommends 22 Take game illegally 25 Some are for tears 26 Anesthesia of old 27 Historic city of Tuscany 28 Deck posts 29 Not fooled by 30 78 player, briefly 31 Hollow-fanged snake 32 ‘Mighty’ man of verse 34 Hurl an insult at 35 Junkyard shopper, say 37 Complement of pawns 38 Love poet’s muse 43 Without struggling 44 Alleviate 45 Frighteningly fervent 46 With lots of streaks 47 Tear asunder 48 Middle Eastern gulf 49 Stink up the stage 50 Abu Dhabi prince 51 Didn’t walk 52 One in an awkward position?

53 Hagman’s co-star, once 54 Catch, as crooks

Chai Time FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 7-9-2013

27

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Your expenses are likely to go up but they will be only towards performing good events at home. Self-confidence and courage levels are at their high, which will make you successful even in challenging tasks. Be prepared for sudden trips.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

Misunderstanding with blood relatives and expenses due to children might upset you.

Employees will get recognition for their sincere work. Writtenoff dues will get collected for businessmen. Some will be forced to make new debts.

Friendship circle is likely to expand. Avoid taking emotional decisions. Health problem and minor hurdles are likely. Longpending wishes will get fulfilled. Written-off dues will come with which you will keep debt issues under control.

You will take bold and wise decisions. which will yield desired results. A happy atmosphere will prevail at home. A vehicle that was troubling you continuously will be exchanged for a new one. Govt work will end favourably without delay.

A minor legal issue in ancestral property will surface. Unexpected expenses might upset you.

Govt work will end after a delay.

Your creativity will increase.

Friends and relatives against you will realise their mistake and come back to your fold.

Enemies will become inactive and you will gain an upper hand. Your bold decisions will be welcomed by all. Misunderstanding with blood relatives are likely to disappear. Treat your mother with due respect and accept her suggestions.

Your shrewd and soft approach will attract all. Your administrative capacities will be appreciated by everyone at the workplace. Businessmen are likely to get govt sops. Health looks fine. You will fulfil needs of your children and make them happy.

Sudden and unexpected fortune opportunity is likely.

Money will come from all the expected sources. Some have a bright chance to buy a house.

Some are likely to go abroad to join a prosperous job. Marriage talks will progress well.

For those in search of a job, good news is on the cards. Old dues will get collected to your surprise. You will succeed in selling an old plot for the expected price and buy a house. Avoid inferiority complex and work with a confidence.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

The Chariot – When you are sending out invitations, do not forget anyone. These omissions can hurt people a lot. They begin to feel unwanted.

LEO:

Page of Cups – Do not easily believe everything you hear or read today. Someone may be misquoted, or you may be reading something out of context.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Four of Pentacles – Acceptance is the key to tide over this difficult time at the work place.

You feel as though your entire time is spent in maintaining processes.

SAGITTARIUS:

Death – There may be an overlap when you make a list and you end up doing a task twice. Stop fretting about it. Go ahead and enjoy the rest of the day.

TAURUS:

Four of Cups – You are looking at a profit-making mission and it looks good. If you have another option where you can work less and earn more, consider it.

CANCER:

The Fool – You may act childish and impulsive today.

You’re in the mood to act without thinking of consequences. It’s best to remove yourself from such situations.

VIRGO:

The Wheel of Fortune – There are times when you just hang on to something someone said in the hope that it can help you out of a rough situation.

SCORPIO:

Eight of Cups – There is an air of mystery today. You feel as though people close to you are hiding something important and you are in the dark about many things.

CAPRICORN:

Eight of Pentacles – You are lagging in a project and need to be more proactive to get the desired results. Do not expect things to happen on their own.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

The High Priestess – You may need support today with chores and unfinished tasks.

Keep people in the loop about your whereabouts. Difficult day ahead.

NUMBER GAME

– You get hurt easily. The only way to avoid it is to stop taking everything that people say seriously. Cushion your heart with protection.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: King of Wands

POOCH CAFE

Avoid interfering or advising others in their personal affairs.

Businessmen are advised to be careful before making new investments or signing new contracts. You will march forward with self-confidence and achieve your goals.

for 7-9-2013

Ace of Swords – Clean your home and de-clutter all the rubbish you have accumulated over the years. Your garage, storeroom, etc., need thorough cleaning.

NON SEQUITUR

Your stock is set to pile up.

Held-up work will resume and now get completed. Financial position will be comfortable.

Success is likely in all the important assignments undertaken by you. Some have a bright chance to buy a house or land.

SUDUKO

Financial position looks more satisfactory, which will let you relax. Those in search of a job will get favourable news soon.

Sudden journey and increased expenses are likely. Profits are likely to improve for the businessmen.

Boggle HOCKEY FOOTBALL BASEBALL BASKETBALL Vol: 3, No 47 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at # Plot no.550-A1,3rd floor, Road no-92, 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 040-23541412,

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Entertainment FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

BOLD & BEAUTIFUL

CINE BYTES

MICHELLE PFEIFFER: I don’t have to look young anymore Scarlett Johansson is engaged

I

t’s been more than 20 years since Michelle Pfeiffer portrayed the sexy whip-carrying Catwoman on the big screen, but PEOPLE’s two-time World’s Most Beautiful Woman still looks puuuurfect at 55!

“Once you get over a certain hump there actually is less pressure. You can begin to look great for your age. You don’t have to look young anymore,” the actress tells Ladies Home Journal in the October issue.

“I’ve moved over to that other side — I’m 55, which is a little too close to 60, but looking great for my age is okay now,” she says.

Pfeiffer — who has been a vegan for a few years now — makes sure to work out five days a week and admits she lives a much healthier life than she did when she was younger.

S

carlett Johansson is engaged to her beau, journalist Romain Dauriac, People has learned exclusively. “They’re engaged and very happy,” a source says of the couple. A rep for the actress had no comment. The proposal occurred about a month ago.

Sofia is the highestpaid TV actress

C

all her the $30 million woman. Sofia Vergara has topped Forbes magazine’s list of the highestpaid actresses on TV. Vergara, 41, topped the list for the second year in a row, earning $30 million, thanks to a pay raise for her role on Modern Family, plus endorsement deals with brands like Diet Pepsi and Covergirl and her own line of clothing.

Eddie Murphy debuts new reggae single

I

t’s been 20 years since Eddie Murphy released an album, and he’s getting back into the music biz with a little reggae jamming.

On Tuesday (Sept. 3), the comedian tweeted out a link to his new song, Red Light, featuring Snoop Lion. It may not be what you expected from Murphy’s next project, but it sure sounds good.

sports

29

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

FORMULA ONE

TOUR OF SPAIN

New York misses out, Mexico back in 2014

Gilbert wins stage 12 TARRAGONA: Belgian rider Philippe Gilbert (BMC) edged out Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) in a sprint finish to take the 12th stage of the Tour of Spain on Thursday.

Boasson Hagen looked set for victory in the 164.2km ride from Maella to Tarragona after being led to within sight of the line by t e a m m a t e Rigoberto Uran.

But Gilbert produced a late surge to take victory on the line with Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Lampre) claiming his third podium finish of the race in third.

In the overall classification, Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) retained the leader’s jersey but lost two seconds on Nicholas Roche (Saxo).

The Irishman picked up two bonus seconds in the sprint past Port Aventura to close to within 31 seconds with Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Chris Horner (RadioShack) remaining 46 seconds back.

Victory was Gilbert’s first since winning the world road race title last year and he thanked his teammates and family for sticking by him during a difficult season.

“Firstly, I want to thank my family and all the people who have believed in me during what hasn’t been the best year,” he said.

AFP

MONZA: Plans for a Grand Prix in New York have been dropped from the provisional calendar for the 2014 Formula One season, revealed to reporters on Thursday, but Mexico does return.

New Jersey had hoped to stage a race around a 3.2mile street circuit with views of the New York City skyline, but instead Mexico can look forward to hosting a first Grand Prix since 1992 at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.

A race in South Korea also features in the 21-race calendar.

A first draft of the 2014 provisional calendar has been distributed to teams ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, but must be approved at a meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council due to take place in Croatia on September 26-28.

If it is approved and all

LEAGUE CRICKET A DIVISION THREE DAYS Day 3 Falaknuma 381 and 38/2 drew with Evergreen 350 (P Vijay Goud 76, Saleem Pasha 50, Sandeep Goud 96, Ahmed Askari 5/118, Mudassir 3/72)

A DIVISION TWO DAYS DAY 1 Khalsa 136 (Divyanshu Choudhary 48, Sai Venkatesh 5/45, Sandeep Goud 5/42) lost to Team Speed 139/2 (Santosh Singh 51no, Anirudh Reddy 40) Sai Satya 177 (Akash Kulkarni 45, Prateek Sangle 42, Amit Singh 5/46) vs Oxford Blues 139/3 (Vikas Billa 55) Budding Stars 251 (Manish Parashar 30, Tushar Saklani 67, Bharath Simha 56, S Prasanth Ran 3/68 ) vs Crown CC 96/2 (Shahnawaaz Khan 40) National CC 114 (Prasad 37, Surya Vikramaditya Mallu 3/19, Basalath Ali Khan 3/18) vs Ours CC 32/2) Charminar 181 (Yesudas 5/47, Vamshi Reddy 3/48) vs Venus Cyber Tech

107/3 (Naresh Kumar 69no) Gujarathi 406/3 (Baljeeth Singh 120, Bharath 208no, Manoj Kumar 65, Shahed 3/96 ) vs Saleemnagar Gemini Friends 133 (Chandrasekhar 49, Ravi Teja 3/40, Ramesh 5/22) vs New Blues 86/8 (Rishab 43, Ganesh 7/35) Jai Bhagwathi 296 (Nikhil Naidu 75, N Avinash Goud 46, SS Bharath 70, V Sriram 5/69, B Preetam 3/88) bt Raju CC 85 (Syed Shabbir Ali 5/45) Osmania 303/7 (Santosh 104, Srujan 47, Ramprasad 44, Raju 57, Kaleem Khan 3/79) vs Zinda Sporting XI 193 (Vivek Mohan 89, Akshay Kumar 4/21, Rajendra 3/65) vs Galaxy 60/3

A DIVISION ONE DAY Universal 148 (Bhavik 35, Trishank Gupta 3/30) lost to Hyderabad Wanderers 149/4 (Khusro 45no) Greenlands 253/1 (M Pratyush Kumar 125no, E Sree Charan 102no) bt Noble 98 (E Sree Charan 4/29) Satya CC 145 (Nagesh 35,

the races take place, the teams will face their longest season in the history of the sport. In addition to the return of Mexico, where big

A first draft of the 2014 provisional calendar has been distributed to teams, but must be approved at a meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council. and enthusiastic crowds have always greeted F1, the calendar includes an event in Russia at the winter Olympic venue Sochi.

“Formula 1 will be amazed by how popular this grand prix can become within a single race - just one race,” Mexico’s Sergio Perez, currently driving for McLaren, said of the return

Draft calendar for 2014 March 16 - Australia March 23 - Malaysia April 6 - China April 13 - South Korea* April 27 - Bahrain May 11 - Spain May 25 - Monaco June 8 - Canada June 22 - Austria July 6 - Great Britain July 20 - Germany July 27 - Hungary August 24 - Belgium September 7 - Italy September 21 Singapore October 5 - Japan October 19 - Russia* October 26 - Abu Dhabi November 9 - Mexico* November 16 - USA November 30 - Brazil * Subject to confirmation

of his home Grand Prix.

“People in Mexico are really enthusiastic about it and it will be fantastic news for my home country.

“People are always talking about bad Mexico is, so I think it’s a real opportunity for us to show the world how good we are as a country.” As expected, the season will start in Australia on March 16 for the traditional double-header with Malaysia.

The Korean Grand Prix has been moved from the end of season run of flyaway events to become the fourth race of the campaign, taking place in the week after the Chinese GP. However, the event is likely to only be made official subject to the completion of a contract with Formula One Management.

The Austrian Grand Prix is also due to return and has been given a provisional date of June 22.

The returning Austrian race is pencilled in for June 22, earlier than the July 6 date that it was originally scheduled for.

AFP

AMERICA’S CUP

Rashid 42, Joseph 34, Anil 6/11) lost to Mahmood CC 146/2 (Rajat 71, Chandan 44no) Natraj 142 (Junaid Ali 62, Vamshi Srivastav 6/28) bt All Saints 56 (Madhu 5/5) Victor CC 194/9 (Mahir 59, Adarsh 56, Vishwak 3/35) lost to Sportive 196/2 (Murali Mohan 30, N Tarun Reddy 62no, Ramu 63no) Deccan Wanderers 197 (Mohammed Imroz 63, Azeem 38, Siddarth 3/28) lost to MP Blues 198/4 (G Avinash 32, TP Varun 71no, K Ramakanth 46no) MP Youngmans 164 (Adarsh Gandhi 42, Uday Kumar 33, Mushtaq 4/50, Rasheed 3/35) bt Rushi Raj 57 (Sreekanth 3/11, Jaya Shanker 4/11,Shiva 3/15) Shalimar 329/6 (Mohammed Saleem 47, Moiz Dalal 133, Sameel Raj 47, Pavan Kumar 50) bt CK Blues 82 (Shanthan 3/18,Mohammed Saleem 4/25) MP Sporting 100 (Ramu 3/31) lost to Kakatiya 104/6 (Ravi 35, Chaitanya 4/29).

Rivals vow fierce battle

SAN FRANCISCO: The time for talking is done in the America’s Cup, with the final races shaping up to be a blood match launched Saturday on the San Francisco Bay. Oracle Team USA skipper Jimmy Spithill and Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker barely glanced at one another during a press conference on Thursday at which they each predicted racing will be fierce for yachting’s prized trophy.

“They probably both want to kill each other,” Emirates wing trimmer Glenn Ashby quipped when asked what the rival skippers, both of whom he has sailed with, had in common.

Spithill said that in a shocking turn of events, defending champion Oracle has become the underdog due to penalties imposed on the US team as the result of a cheating scandal.

“We found out only four days out from the Cup who our race team could be. We lost one of our key guys, and we start out Saturday two points behind,” Spithill said. “So yes, I think we are the underdog.” Oracle was docked two points for cheating during preliminary regattas. One Oracle sailor and two shore team members were banned outright and one sailor suspended four races after the team made illegal modifications to prototype boats it sailed in the America’s Cup World Series.

Software billionaire Larry Ellison’s

Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker (R) and Oracle Team USA skipper James Spithill (L) shake hands in front of the America’s Cup trophy during a press conference on Thursday. AFP/JUSTIN SULLIVAN

outfit was also handed a $250,000 fine.

“We have the fight of our life on our hands,” Spithill said as he looked ahead to the 17-race series that starts on Saturday against the backdrop of Alcatraz and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. “There is a real hunger now given what has transpired,” he added.

“Something has clicked and come Saturday everyone is going to be fired up on our boat.”

New Zealand will also bring its sailing passion to the Bay for the Cup finals, Barker promised.

“We have done everything we can.

The team is in very good spirits and excited now we can finally get to go racing,” Barker said.

AFP

sports

30

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

ZIMBABWE VS PAKISTAN

NZ’S TOUR OF BANGLADESH

Younis leads fightback Pakistan’s Younis Khan, who was unbeaten on 76, led Pakistan’s fightback on the third day of the first Test against Zimbabwe in Harare.

HARARE: Veteran Younis Khan (right) led a Pakistan fightback after his side lost three early second-innings wickets on the third day of the first Test against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday.

Pakistan were 168 for four at the close, a lead of 90 runs, with Younis unbeaten on 76.

Younis and fellow veteran, captain Misbah-ul-Haq, ground out a fourth-wicket stand of 116 after their side, who trailed by 78 runs after the first innings, slipped to 23 for three against Zimbabwe’s new ball bowlers Tinashe Panyangara and Tendai Chatara.

It was slow going against accurate bowling on a pitch of occasional low bounce. The partnership occupied 48.4 overs and Pakistan were still in trouble when Misbah played too early at a slower ball from Shingi Masakadza and gave a simple catch to cover. Misbah made 52 off 157 balls, with four fours.

Younis and Asad Shafiq saw out the day and will resume on Friday, with a new ball due after 10 more overs. Younis, who came to the crease soon after lunch, had faced 174 balls by the close and hit seven fours, while Shafiq was 15 not out.

They will aim to take their side to a total which will give offspinner Saeed Ajmal a chance of

SCOREBOARD Pakistan first innings 249 Zimbabwe first innings (overnight 281-7) E. Chigumbura c A Ali b S Ajmal 69 S. Masakadza lbw b Saeed Ajmal 14 T. Panyangara not out 4 T. Chatara c Younis Khan b S Ajmal 0 Extras (b5, lb11, w2) 18 Total (103.3 overs) 327 Bowling: Junaid Khan 25-8-71-2, Rahat Ali 23-3-70-1 (1w), Abdur Rehman 19-5-56-0, Saeed Ajmal 32.34-95-7, Younis Khan 4-1-19-0 Pakistan second innings K Manzoor lbw b Panyangara 5 M Hafeez c Mawoyo b Chatara 16 Azhar Ali lbw b Panyangara 0 Younis Khan not out 76 Misbah-ul-Haq c Sibanda b S. Masakadza 52 Asad Shafiq not out 15 Extras (b4) 4 Total (4 wkts, 70 overs) 168 Bowling: Chatara 18-5-48-1, Panyangara 13-7-15-2, Utseya 18-354-0, S.Masakadza 16-1-41-1, H. Masakadza 5-3-6-0.

bowling Zimbabwe out. Ajmal took seven for 95 in Zimbabwe’s first innings of 327.

Ajmal took all three Zimbabwe wickets that fell on Thursday as the host nation added 46

EUROPEAN MASTERS

Lahiri lights up event CRANS-MONTANA: Unheralded Anirban Lahiri of India carded an eight under par 63 on Thursday to take a two-shot lead after the opening round of the European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre.

Ranked 178 in the world coming into the prestigious EPGA event in the Swiss Alps, the 26-year-old from Bangalore built his score around two eagles, including a 140-yard second shot on the ninth that flew straight into the cup.

Miguel Angel Jimenez - who set the course record of 61 on his way to winning here in 2010 - and Englishmen Paul Casey and Tommy

Fleetwood are all two shots back.

“It’s nice to come back here with a bang as it was a tough pill to swallow last year missing the cut in the manner I did, so I’m delighted,” said Lahiri.

“I did not get off to a great start today (Thursday) to be one over after four but then you never really expect to then have two eagles, so I tried just to build on the momentum of that.”

Two-time Ryder Cup winner Thomas Bjoern of Denmark is alone on five-under 66 after firing five birdies during a solid bogey-free round that puts him in early contention.

AFP

runs to their overnight 281 for seven. It was his eighth haul of five or more wickets in Tests, but his best figures remain seven for 55 against England in Dubai in January 2012.

Elton Chigumbura became the third Zimbabwe batsman to score a half-century, making 69 before he was out, caught off bat and pad at short leg by Azhar Ali after a 129-ball innings which included eight boundaries.

Pakistan made a disastrous start to their second innings, losing Khurram Manzoor before lunch, with Azhar Ali and Mohammad Hafeez following soon after the interval.

AFP

Vettori, Guptill to miss tour WELLINGTON: New Zealand named two uncapped players Friday in a 15-man Test squad for their upcoming Bangladesh tour but will be missing injured veterans Daniel Vettori and Martin Guptill.

New Zealand has ruled out Daniel Vettori and Martin Guptill from the side’s tour of Bangladesh due to injuries.

The selectors turned to spinner Ish Sodhi and allrounder Corey Anderson for the two-Test series after the pair showed they could handle subcontinental conditions on New Zealand A’s current tour of India.

Coach Mike Hesson said their inclusion, along with specialist spinner Bruce Martin, gave New Zealand plenty of options for the Tests in Chittagong and Dhaka.

“The Bangladesh tour is a good opportunity to introduce a promising spinner, and having two specialist spinners in the squad gives us the option to utilise wickets that are likely to turn,” he said.

AFP

AUSTRALIA VS ENGLAND

Clarke expects Oz to hit back

LONDON: Michael Clarke has warned England that Australia will be a much tougher proposition in the forthcoming oneday international series.

Clarke’s team slumped to a dismal 3-0 defeat in the recent Ashes series in England, but they have a chance to gain some revenge in five one-day internationals, the first of which gets under way at Headingley on Friday.

And the Australian batsman is convinced his team’s high one-day international ranking, which contrasts sharply with their lowly Test placing, is an accurate reflection of their ability to dominant in the limited overs format.

“I think we’re ranked

second in one-day cricket and in Test matches we are fifth so there’s a big difference,” Clarke said.

“We’ve got a lot of young players c o m i n g through our one-day system but in b o t h forms of the game, we haven’t been as consistent as we would like.

“I think in patches we’ve played really well, and generally at home in our conditions pretty well.

“But we need

to perform when we’re away from home, and our most recent trips to the UK have not been successful. Let’s hope we can turn that around.”

An oneday international series victory would ease any perceived pressure on Clarke’s captaincy before they have to face England on home soil in the Ashes rematch at the end of November.

But he insists he is just focused on finishing the tour of England on a high note.

“When you’re captain, you’re accountable - especially when you’re not performing well and your team is losing,” Clarke said. “I understand that.

But me wanting to win this series has nothing to do with my captaincy.

“It’s about this team, where we’re at and trying to move forward and improve in the one-day format and get back to being number one in the world.

“That’s why it’s important we win this series.

“We want to get back to the top of the tree in the one-day format and perform here.

AFP

MEADOW

MAGIC

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

Nadal, Djoker brace for semis Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal must quell a double-edged assault from the masters of the dying art of the single-handed backhand if they are to set up a blockbuster final.

DAVE JAMES Agence France-Presse NEW YORK: Novak Djokovic (right) and Rafael Nadal must quell a double-edged assault from masters of the dying art of the single-handed backhand if they are to set up a blockbuster US Open final.

The world’s top two men have comfortably been the best players at the tournament with Djokovic dropping just one set in five rounds and Nadal not having been broken.

While they have reigned supreme, defending champion Andy Murray slumped to a quarter-final loss to Stanislas Wawrinka and five-time champion Roger Federer was gone by the fourth round.

On Saturday, six-time major champion Djokovic, playing in a 14th successive Grand Slam semi-final and seventh in a row in New York, where he was a 2011 winner, will attempt to make Wawrinka’s maiden last-four appearance a painful experience.

Nadal, the 12-time Grand Slam title winner and the 2010 New York champion, faces

the first time in his career has gone deeper into a Grand Slam than his more-celebrated compatriot Federer.

“I changed when I was 11 because my two hand backhand was not good enough.”

Wawrinka, who has made the semi-finals for the first time at a

Gasquet and Wawrinka have in common, a lethal expertise in the one-handed backhand, something that neither Djokovic nor Nadal employ.

Richard Gasquet, the French eighth seed and one of his closest friends on tour.

Gasquet, like Wawrinka, has reached his first semi-final of the US Open. The two outsiders also have something else in common

PAES, STEPANEK end Bryans’ hopes

NEW YORK: Bob and Mike Bryan’s hopes of becoming the first men’s doubles team since 1951 to claim a calendar year Grand Slam were shattered Thursday at the US Open by India’s Leander Paes and Czech Radek Stepanek.

The fourth seeds downed the top-seeded Americans 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals, ending the US brothers’ hopes of sweeping the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year. The only men’s doubles duo to complete a calendar year Grand Slam remains the Australian pairing of Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman in 1951.

“Realistically it will probably never happen,” said Mike Bryan as he reflected on a chance for history gone begging. “The margins are just so fine in doubles. There are just too many great teams out there and too much can go wrong, and a lot has to go

Radek Stepanek and Leander Paes of India celebrate match point on Thursday.

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right to be in that position. So we gave it everything we had.”

Paes and Stepanek will face Austrian Alexander Peya and Brazil’s Bruno Soares in Sunday’s final.

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— a lethal expertise in the onehanded backhand, something that neither Djokovic nor Nadal employ.

“I’m quite happy with my backhand. That’s one of my best shots,” said Wawrinka, who for

major at the 35th attempt, will need that weapon on Saturday as Djokovic, who has already won the Australian Open this year, enjoys a 12-2 career lead over the Swiss.

Wawrinka’s last win was in 2006 and he was forced to retire through illness when the pair met in the fourth round in New York 12 months ago.

He was beaten again in the last 16 in Australia this year in a

five-hour epic where he had led 6-1, 5-2.

But his confidence is high — in 2013, he is 7-7 against top 10 opponents; in the previous three years he was a combined 7-26.

“The match with Stan in Melbourne was one of the most exciting I have played on hard courts,” said Djokovic, bidding to make a fourth successive New York final. “In the past we knew that Stan had the quality to play well but not on a consistent basis.

Now he has improved his movement and has a greater variety of shot. He is a very complete player.”

Nadal heads into his fifth US Open semi-final boasting 10-0 record over fellow 27-year-old Gasquet. Despite that dominance, Nadal knows that Gasquet is battle-hardened, having needed five sets to see off Milos Raonic in the fourth round, in the longest match of the tournament so far, and then fourth seed David Ferrer.

“I expect to him very good.

He’s playing a great tournament.

Two great wins against Raonic and David. Five-set victories against tough opponents, that’s brilliant for him,” said Nadal.

Andy falls, Stanislas cruises NEW YORK: Defending champion Andy Murray was ousted from the US Open on Thursday, falling to Swiss ninth seed Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in a quarter-final shocker at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Wawrinka reached his first Grand Slam semi-final by stunning the reigning Olympic and Wimbledon champion, booking a Saturday last-four date against either world number one Novak Djokovic or Russian 21st seed Mikhail Youzhny.

Spanish second seed Rafael Nadal and French eighth seed Richard Gasquet will meet in Saturday’s other semi-final.

“It feels amazing for sure, especially after that match against the defending champion,” Wawrinka said. “It was a crazy match for me to beat him in three sets.”

Relentless pressure from Wawrinka, who is deeper than 17-time Grand Slam champion compatriot Roger Federer in a Slam for the first time in his

Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland celebrates match point during his men’s singles quarterfinal match against Andy Murray of Great Britain at the US Open on Thursday.

AFP/AL BELLO

career, led to a Murray meltdown that doomed his repeat dreams.

“He played great. That was the hardest part about the match,” Murray said.

“He just hit the ball extremely well. I didn’t create a break point chance. He served well. He hit a lot of lines, was going for

big shots, and he played too well.”

A grim-faced Murray set a record for hustling to the interview room, arriving before Wawrinka could even leave the court after the match, the 26year-old Scotsman’s stoic visage a sign of his unhappiness.

AFP

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

sports

HODGSON PLAYS DOWN TALK OF WORLD CUP WOES

England manager Roy Hodgson sought to side-step issues about his team’s lack of World Cup pedigree as he prepared for two crucial games in their quest to reach the finals in Brazil. Hodgson’s press conference was dominated by a debate sparked by the FA chairman Greg Dyke.

ROAD TO WORLD CUP

TRANSFER TROUBLE

Sturridge, Caulker injured Daniel Sturridge, who aggravated a groin injury, and Steven Caulker, who hurt his ankle while training, will sit out of England’s qualifier against Moldova, today.

LONDON: In-form Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge (in pic) and Cardiff City centre-back Steven Caulker have been ruled out of England’s World Cup qualifier against Moldova on Friday, manager Roy Hodgson revealed on Thursday.

Sturridge, 24, has scored the only goal in three successive games to send Liverpool to the top of the Premier League table, but he aggravated a groin injury in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Manchester United.

He will return to Liverpool for treatment, but Hodgson is hopeful that he will be able to join up with the squad for Tuesday’s trip to Ukraine in European qualifying Group H. “(Sturridge) has worked hard at his treatment and the initial prognosis was that he wouldn’t be fit for either of them, but he didn’t accept that,” Hodgson told a press conference. “He’s worked very hard and had the necessary treatment, but I think it will be touch and go. On Sunday evening we’ll have a training session before heading for Ukraine. If he passes it then he’ll be with us, otherwise then he’ll be staying with Liverpool.”

Caulker, 21, turned his ankle

32

in training, but he had not been expected to start the game against Moldova. “It’s not a serious matter, but it will keep him out of the game tomorrow night,” Hodgson said.

“It won’t keep him out of the Ukraine game. He’s expected to do some running tomorrow evening, but he won’t be on the bench tomorrow night.”

With Wayne Rooney also absent due to a head injury, Hodgson said that SRickie Lambert will make his first England start against Moldova, having scored on his debut against Scotland last month.

“I have picked the team and Rickie Lambert will start, yes,” Hodgson said in an interview with radio reporters. “He deserves a chance. I can’t deny had Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge been available, it would have been harder for him to get a starting place, but I am more than happy to have a player of his calibre to start this game.”

Hodgson also hit out at criticism of Rooney for pulling out of the squad. Rooney withdrew on Sunday after he suffered a nasty cut to his head following a collision with Phil Jones during a training session at Manchester United.

AFP

Villas-Boas bemoans pressure in Bale saga NYON: Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas on Thursday bemoaned the unfolding of the Gareth Bale transfer saga but said he believed the Welshman would work his magic at Real Madrid.

“The pressure we were subjected to by the player has been intense,” VillasBoas said after a meeting of top coaches at the Swiss headquarters of European football’s governing body UEFA. “The influence of Real Madrid has been very big and you get to a point where you have to consider if it’s feasible not to accept an offer and whether you can press on with a player in that state of mind,” he told reporters.

Bale was officially presented as a Madrid player on Monday, after signing from Tottenham Hotspur on a sixyear contract for around £80 million ($124 million, 94 million euros).

“Obviously, we should be happy with the transfer fee that was paid,” said VillasBoas.

AFP

DONNING A NEW ROLE

Gerrard reveals managerial dreams LONDON: Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard (right) says he dreams of managing the club after revealing that he intends to go into coaching when he hangs up his boots.

The 33-year-old central midfielder signed a new contract during the close season but he says he is beginning to contemplate his future and is thinking of turning his hand to management.

“The dream come true would be to manage Liverpool, when the Liverpool job becomes available,” Gerrard told TwentyFour 7 Football magazine.

“There are world-class man-

agers there ready already, but we’ll have to wait and see. It would be the icing on the cake,” he said.

“When you get to a certain age — my age — you need to start thinking seriously about a life after football. I am planning on doing my badges and qualifications over the next 12 months.

“I definitely see myself as a manager rather than a coach, but that could change,” he added.

Gerrard made his Liverpool debut in November 1998 and has since gone on to make over 600 appearances for the Merseyside giants, notably

England’s Steven Gerrard listens during a press conference at the team hotel, in Watford on Thursday ahead of their World Cup 2014 qualifying AFP/ADRIAN DENNIS match against Moldova at Wembley.

leading them to glory in the Champions League in 2005.

His long-term team-mate Jamie Carragher retired at the end of last season and now works as a pundit for Sky Sports television.

Gerrard says that Carragher had also expressed an interest in coaching, only to decide to pursue a career in the media.

“I remember speaking to Jamie Carragher and he really fancied it, but he’s decided media is what he wants to do,” Gerrard said.

“It’ll be strange seeing him on Sky but I’m really delighted he’s doing it. He can leave managing Liverpool to me!”

AFP