Epaper 09 august 2013

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JAGAN HOLDS THE ACES AS BIFURCATION STARTS GIVING POLITICIANS THE JITTERS

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

The water board and City police commissioner have come together to book criminal cases against water pilferers.

And water board employees who are found working hand-in-glove with water thieves will pay a heavy price.

REPORT ON P3

WATER THIEVES WILL NOW THE CRIMINALS THEY ARE

`3

PG 5

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013 HYDERABAD

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

city events

THEATRE FESTIVAL

The seventh edition of the multi-lingual theatre festival — Abhinaya National Theatre Festival.

Where: Ravindra Bharathi, Saifabad; When: August 16 onwards Contact: (040) 2323 1245

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

26°C

21°C

26°C

32°C

A mix of cloudy and clear skies.

A mix of cloudy and clear skies.

A mix of cloud and sun.

A mix of cloud and sun

New Delhi Mumbai Max 31 Max 30 Min 25 Min 25 Showers likely

Chance of storm

Chennai Max 35 Min 27 Mostly cloudy

Bangalore Max 28 Min 20

Cloudy with chances of thunderstorms.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES SHOWS

Dining experience Chef Olaf Niemeier is holding a week long fine dining experience with Art you can Eat. Where: Fusion9, Banjara Hills When: Till August 15 Tea flavours Try the tea flavours of Budlabeta, Hapjan and Khobong Sessa. A portion of the proceeds will be contributed to WWF India's one-horned Rhino Conservation project in Assam.

Where: Oxford Bookstore, The Park, 22 Rajbhavan Road When: Ongoing Contact: 8790432354

Kathakali dance Kathakali Performance by PV Chandra Shekhran will be staged.

Where: Silver Oaks School, Bachupally When: August 10, 2 pm Contact: 94901-22248

PATRIOTIC FERVOUR: To celebrate and remember the importance of Independence Day, Azaadi ki Udaan is being conducted at GMR Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. The airport has been decorated in the Indian tricolours and landmark events of the freedom struggle artistically explained.

N SHIVA KUMAR Muller, Cord Meier-Klodt & Lalit Verma.

Where: State Gallery of Art,Kavuri Hills, Madhapur.

When: Till August 14 Contact: Goethe Zentrum on Facebook

Reel abilities Kinnudiya Belakalli, a Kannada Play will be staged.

Where: Ravindra Bharathi, Saifabad When: August 10, 6 pm Contact: Srinivas, at 93911-11622 An age of innocence An exhibition by Jaya Javeri depicting playfulness, fantasy, nature and childhood memories will be held.

Where: Ginger Lily, Radisson Blu Plaza When: Aug 3 onwards, 11.30 am onwards Contact: 6733 1133 Art attack Works of artists like Anand Panchal, Nagesh Goud, Laxman Aelay and others will be exhibited.

Where: Aalankritha Art Gallery,

Photo exhibition Jal Anand: Shahi Snan, Maha Kumbha Mela 2013 by Jean Pierre

Commissioner & Spl Officer

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

198 155313

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

Jubilee Hills When: August 10 to August 22, 11 am to 7 pm Contact: +91-40-23113709; 40207171

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

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

DINING

Kuchipudi dance Apoorva-4: Kuchipudi dance recital by dancers from Hong Kong will be staged.

Where: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Basheerbagh When: August 9, 6.30 pm Contact: 98481-64034 / 90000-98789 Talking times A talk on tribal land and forest rights.

Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills When: August 9, 7 pm to 8.30 pm Contact: 96427-31329

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

WORKSHOPS Outdoor photography An outdoor photography workshop for adults and teens will be held by Indira Penubolu.

Where: Our Sacred Space, Secunderabad When: August 10, 11, 3.30 pm to 6 pm Contact: 9030013344, 9246844650, 9949076582

Flavours to savour Unique flavours of Pondicherry.

Where: Dakshin, ITC Kakatiya, Begumpet When: August 30 Contact: 789301 3000

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

Kashmiri food festival Explore the pride of kashmiri cuisine Wazwan . Roganjosh, Yakhni , Tabak Maaz, Kashmiri pulao, sheermal, bakarkhani and much more.

Where: Kangan, Westin When: Till August 11, 7 pm to 11 pm Contact: 040 67676838

Airport Director 27903785, 27906001 For Air India Flight Information Toll free (from any network) for IC Flights 18001801407 And for All Flights: 1800227722 Air India has revised its flight timings.

For more information call (Toll free) 18001801407, 1800227722 from BSNL/MTNL 04023430334 from other lines and mobile Website; www.airindia.in TOURISM OFFICES AP Tourism, Hyd 23262152/53/54 Sec-bad 27893100 Dept of Tourism 23453110 India Tourism 23261360 AP Tourism information Centre (24x7) 23450444, 23455999 UK VISA OFFICE VFS India Pvt Ltd Building, 8-2-542/A, Sunil Chamber, Road No. 7

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

24523211 232431300/7641 24521029

Readers’ views

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

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

news

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

SHOULD AK ANTONY RESIGN? 40% 60%

YES (A) NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

IS THE MANDATORY CSR ALLOCATION ADEQUATE? A)

YES

B)

NO

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

CRIME

Water thieves will now face criminal charges The water board and City police commissioner have come together to book criminal cases against water pilferers. Water board employees who are found hand-in-glove with water thieves will be in trouble too.

AROUND THE

CITY

MOHSIN ALI ali@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: To control illegal water connections in the twin cities, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) will take the help of local police.

The commissioner of police has instructed all the station house officers to slap criminal charges against illegal water connections in the twin cities.

Managing director J Syamala Rao has asked HMWS&SB managers to make a list of illegal connections in their

jurisdiction and lodge complaints with the police stations concerned. The rule will be implemented from August 16.

Speaking to Postnoon, chief vigilance officer KL Rao said, “The board is conducting a special drive to stop illegal water connections, which is increasing every day, causing huge losses.

Besides loss of revenue, the attempts pollute water and damage waterlines. It is high time we stopped this and punished them.”

He said further that until the government provided the rights to the board to take the necessary action against the culprits, such cases will continue. Rao urged the government to convert the board into a corporation

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GRUESOME PICTURES

Man held after ‘Facebook murder’ of his wife MIAMI: A US man was being quizzed by police on Thursday after gunning down his wife and posting a gruesome picture of her dead body on Facebook, authorities said.

Derek Medina, 31, was being questioned by detectives in Miami after turning himself in earlier Thursday following the shooting death of wife Jennifer Alfonso, 26.

In a macabre twist, Medina had apparently posted a picture showing his slain wife's bloodsoaked body on Facebook, under the caption "RIP Jennifer Alfonso," before giving himself up.

In a status update posted shortly before the photo was AROUND THE

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like the electricity board, which has all the powers to punish if the rules violated.

The chief vigilance officer condemned the interference of the politicians in the board, saying that if someone wants water in his area, he makes a call to the politicians, a request the board cannot turn down. Such interference should be stopped, he added.

Another official said, “We were informed that some of the employees (grade IV) from the water board are involved in such illegal activities and that they are providing illegal connections to the public for cheap.

We will dismiss the persons

who are found guilty in this regard.”

The board requested citizens to contact the water board for any kind of help as it has made the process easy. They also requested citizens not to encourage or force the water board employees in such illegal activities, and warned them that strict punishment and heavy penalties would be levied for illegal activities.

The director of HMWS&SB too warned the officials that they could face punishment if they failed to register cases against people who have illegal connections or if they overlook the matter.

uploaded, Medina wrote: "You will see me in the news."

"Im going to prison or death sentence for killing my wife love you guys miss you guys takecare Facebook people you will see me in the news (sic)," he wrote.

"My wife was punching me and I am not going to stand anymore with the abuse so I did what I did I hope u understand me (sic)."

Medina's page showing the picture of his dead wife was up for several hours before being taken down later Thursday.

Beneath the photo — which was shared 170 times before the page was closed down — were comments from people who appeared to be friends with the dead woman.

Media reports quoted Medina's father, Derek Medina Sr, as saying his son had killed his wife after a domestic dispute.

AFP

CITY BRIEFS New party formed for Rayalaseema rights

State extends ban on CPI Maoist party

Meeting to hear postal grievances

Heavy penalty on traffic violations

94 arrested for vandalising statues

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ormer MLA Byreddy Rajasekhara Reddy, who has been fighting exclusively for the rights of Rayalaseema, announced Rayalaseema Parirakshana Samiti, a new party to fight for the rights of the people of Raayalaseema. Addressing a public meeting in Tirupati Thursday, he announced that Thimmamma Marri Manu would be his party's logo.

he State on Thursday extended the ban on CPI Maoist Party for another year. The government issued orders extending the 2005 ban on it and affiliated organisations Radical Youth League, Rythu Coolie Sangham (Mao), Radical Students Union, Singareni Karmika Samakhya, Revolutionary Workers Federation and All India Revolutionary Students Federation.

ffice of Sr Superintendent of Post Offices, Hyderabad South East Division will be conducting ‘16th Division Level Dak Adalat’ to hear the complaints and grievances of the members of the public relating to postal services on August 21.

The Dak Adalat will be held at 11am at the office of Sr Superintendent of Post Offices, Hyderabad.

iolating traffic rules in Hyderabad will cost vehicle owners from next week. The traffic police have decided to implement the GO 108, which is about enhancement of fines for certain traffic violations, from August 12. As per the GO 108, the fine for signal jumping will be increased from present `400 to `1,000, a hike by 60 per cent.

P police have arrested 94 people for damaging the statues of national leaders during the ongoing 'Samaikya Andhra' agitation in Rayalaseema and Andhra regions.

Police booked 39 cases of people vandalising statues under Section 153 A of the Indian Penal Code. If convicted, a person may be jailed for up to three years.

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News FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013 LAST YEAR... HERE Police in peril

L

ast year we had reported how the Ramgopalpet police station, deemed a heritage structure, was in a sorry state. Cops working in the station were worried about their safety, as it seemed like the structure could collapse at any time. With the rains in full force, the leaking ceiling and creaking floorboards only made them more anxious.

AUGUST 9, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

$100mn

is the amount Saudi Arabia has pledged for supporting the international counterterrorism centre under the United Nations on the occasion of Eid.

Im going to prison or death sentence for killing my wife love you guys miss you guys takecare Facebook people you will see me in the news (sic) Derek Medina After killing his wife and posting pictures of her dead body on Facebook

THINGS WE 5LEARNT TODAY The column that teaches everyone something new about the way the City functions.

1

Abuse, democracy and technology plague monks.

Bhutan’s Buddhist monks may have survived centuries of history, but now with a new abuse scandal surfacing, and the incursion of technology, the way of life is more fragile than ever.

2

Braving terror threats for his luxuriant moustache.

Pakistani businessman Malik Amir Mohammad Khan Afridi sports an impeccably trimmed 30-inch moustache — at great peril to himself from terrorists.

3

Want to please the police chief? Play some ghazals.

The police chief loses his temper rarely. Crime cannot faze him, but interfere with his ghazal-listening session, and you might see a whole new side of him.

4

Err on the side of caution when it comes to realty.

A businessman’s property dreams were shattered when a realty agent took him for a ride.

5

Canada takes a step towards curbing cyber bullying.

Two men have been arrested after a teen killed herself over e-bullying.

HEALTH

Argentina begins doling out free ‘Viagra’ AROUND THE

WORLD

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina has begun distributing a free state-produced version of the erection-boosting drug Viagra for the first time, in a move intended to curb its misuse, health authorities announced Thursday.

tion for improving the quality of life — even though no one is going to lose their life over it — is the first to be made by the state in Argentina,” said Guillermo Cleti, a LIFSE director.

“It’s not only to attend to erectile dysfunction in men who need it, but also to avoid the abuse of the drug and to warn the population about its correct use,” he said.

AFP

They said 2,00,000 doses of sildenafil, better known under the Viagra brand name, is to be distributed free of charge through the public health network of the province of Santa Fe. The drug is being produced in Santa Fe by the state-owned pharmaceutical firm LIFSE, which plans to eventually distributed it nationally.

“The most famous medica-

CIVIC

No dignity in death While there are 760 graveyards within the GHMC limits, the City has only six electric crematoriums. Of those, only the one at SR Nagar is functional.

ALEENA ALICE aleena.t@postnoon.com

H

undreds of unidentified bodies have been piling up for months now at Osmania General Hospital (OGH) and at Gandhi Hospital. The delay in shifting the bodies is not only causing concern for the hospital authorities, but also the other patients at the hospital. This disturbing fact only goes to show the GHMC’s unconcern towards those living and those dead.

The morgue at Gandhi Hospital, which can accommodate only 70 bodies, now has more than 100 bodies, up to yesAROUND THE

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terday. The morgue at Osmania General Hospital, which can accommodate a maximum of 32 bodies, now has 80 unidentified bodies piled up since June. In May, the GHMC picked up 173 bodies from OGH that were piled up at one go.

“Patients come here to get better, but because of the stench from the morgue spreading to different blocks, patients are getting worse instead of getting better. Most of the unidentified bodies that come to the mortuary are already in a decomposed state, so by piling up these decomposed bodies, we are only con-

taminating the hospital premises,” said a hospital staffer.

According to the staff at the morgue, out of the 12-18 bodies that come to the mortuary every day, at least six are unidentified.

Those bodies that are identified are handed over to the family members. Those unidentified are kept in the mortuary for a maximum of 72 hours.

The mortuary authorities have to inform the nearby police station about the unclaimed bodies, after which the police write to the GHMC who then assign the job to Satya Harishchandra Foundation, an NGO, to cremate the bodies.

However, since the past few months, this has not been taking place and the bodies have been piling up.

While there are 760 graveyards under the GHMC, the City has

The ones at Punjagutta and Amberpet were forced to shut down by the residents who complained of the foul smell. only six electric crematoriums — in SR Nagar, Punjagutta, Bansilalpet and Amberpet.

However, only the one at SR Nagar is functional. Even the one that functions is not on a regular basis. The reasons for non-functioning are many. At SR Nagar, it is, most of the time, due to technical snags like water filters not functioning. The crematoriums

in Bansilalpet have power issues because of a faulty transformer.

The ones at Punjagutta and Amberpet, though functional, have been forced to shut down by the residents of the surrounding areas who complained of the foul smell emanating from the grounds.

Years ago, the GHMC had invested `1 crore in each electric crematorium and handed over the maintenance to the contractor. The term of maintenance for these contractors was two years.

GHMC officials never did check up on the maintenance work carried out by the contractors, says Rajeshwar Rao of Satya Harishchandra Foundation.

“GHMC authorities claim to have spent a lot of money in doing up these electric crematoriums; however none of them work. Most of the parts in these are of poor quality — that is the reason for the foul smell. Every month, lakhs are spent on the power bill, because these machines are kept on but are not functional. Either the GHMC should take up the complete responsibility or hand over the responsibility of maintenance to us, instead of making a mockery,” he adds.

GHMC officials, who agree that the bodies are not being cremated for months, now play the blame game. Officials in charge are pushing the responsibility on other departments.

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News FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

E-CRIME

Two arrested in Canada rape, cyberbullying case The victim, a 17-year-old girl, committed suicide after suffering months of e-bullying following the assault.

MONTREAL: Canadian police on Thursday arrested two men as part of an investigation into the suicide of a 17-year-old girl who killed herself after suffering months of cyber-bullying following a sexual assault.

Nova Scotia teenager Rehtaeh Parsons died in April, in a case that gained nationwide and international media

FAKING NEWS Xinhua falls for ‘Bezos bought Post by mistake’ MONTREAL: China’s official news agency Xinhua has reported as true a satirical story that Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post newspaper by accident.

The publication on Xinhua’s website came days after it posted a photo gallery of images supposedly showing a woman being executed by lethal injection — which instead appeared to have come from a fetish site.

Bezos’ acquisition of the Washington institution for $250 million was announced earlier this week.

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The original parody, entitled “Amazon Founder Says he Clicked on Washington Post By Mistake”, was written by comedian Andy Borowitz for his satirical Borowitz Report column, published by The New Yorker magazine on its website.

It joked that the deal had been a “gigantic mix-up”, and supposedly quoted the e-commerce magnate as saying: “No way in hell would I buy the Washington Post... I don’t even read the Washington Post.”

The Amazon story was still visible on Xinhua’s site Friday. AFP

attention over the scourge of Internet bullying.

Parsons was believed to have been bullied mercilessly after being sexually abused by four boys at a party in 2011.

Photographs of the abuse were reportedly circulated on the Internet and amongst her classmates.

Police last year decided not

Photographs of Rehtaeh Parsons being assaulted at a party were reportedly circulated on the Internet and amongst her classmates, say police.

to press charges in the sexual assault allegations but came under renewed pressure to reopen the case after Parsons’ death in April.

A brief statement from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Thursday said two males had been arrested, but did not give further information.

“They are in police custody

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and are currently being questioned by investigators,” a statement said.

The arrests come a day after the adoption of a new anti-cyber-bullying law in Nova Scotia. AFP ALSO SEE PG 14

POLITICAL ANALYSIS

Jagan jai ho!

With a smart move, the YSRC stumped the entire spectrum of rival parties by rejecting State division at the eleventh hour. It does not matter if it lost Telangana terrain.

PK SURENDRAN surendran.pk@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: It is like the captain alone batting desperately at the crease while all his team mates have gone for a duck. Carrying the agitating Seemandhra along its strides is now solely on the shoulders of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. He is unequivocally declared the skipper and star batsman of the Andhra team.

And he is doing his role with aplomb. With carefully scripted moves, he dropped to the media that he had even showed his anguish over bifurcation when he met party president Sonia Gandhi (who, in turn, ticked him off for coming to her with the United mantra at the belated hour). “Where were you all this while?” was the reported query she made to him when he said he was against the division.

But Reddy has an answer though he may not dare to

speak before Sonia. He had earlier proposed a `80,000 crore development plan for Telangana which would have helped the people and cadres, not leaders.

But then, any move that does not benefit the leaders is shot down in our polity. However, now the game is proving tough for Congress because, try as he might, Kiran can do only so much. The party is not sure of the merger of TRS with Congress, nor is it in any certainty bagging the trust of the Rayala-Telangana.

YSRC WINS TOURNAMENT Now, all the political parties are now engaged in estimating the electoral prospects in the Seemandhra region, with the agitation against State bifurcation picking up. The Congress and the TDP have scored low for their support for Telangana.

The party that emerges the winner seems to be the YSRC. The YSRC, knowing well

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where its bread is buttered, declared just in time that it was against the division. Now, reports say it is the darling of the masses for its clear stance. And party leader Jagan Mohan Reddy made his MLAs quit in protest.

Though the TDP leaders in the Seemandhra region are making noise against State division, party chief Chandrababu Naidu has stated that the party had taken a decision favouring Telangana and could not go back now. All he said was that he would try to protect the rights of the Seemandhra people.

Likewise, there is sharp criticism against Congress leaders like Union ministers Kavuri Sambasiva Rao and Chiranjeevi, that they were bothered only about their posts and not the people. There is also a feeling

among the people that no Seemandhra Congress leader had acted in advance to stall the Telangana announcement. Even now, they are not being trusted.

It is learnt that Jagan asked his sister Sharmila to now take active participation in the Samaikyandhra agitation. She already gave enough indication of the party’s stance, when she questioned whether Hyderabad was in Pakistan at a public meeting at Ichapuram while concluding her yatra. She alleged that the Seemandhra region would turn into a desert if the State was divided.

YSRC LOSES IN T Everything has two sides. While the YSRC scored high in Seemandhra, it lost miserably in Telangana. But it does not matter for its strength lay in RayalaAndhra, not Telangana. Now since it is billed to become a ‘neighbouring’ State, how does it matter if it scores well or not?

NATION BRIEFS Eight killed as vehicle rolls down gorge

‘SCs of all religions should enjoy benefits’

SE Asian Buddhist sites to be mapped

Haryana to have country’s first e-library

Cable TV blocked, bandh continues

SHIMLA: Eight people were killed and 12 others injured when their vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh, police said Friday. The victims were travelling in a commercial multi-utility vehicle when the accident occurred Thursday evening in Salooni area of Chamba district, a police official told IANS.

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa Friday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to bring in necessary laws to include all Scheduled Castes (SC), regardless of their religion, under the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. SC Christians should be treated on par with Hindus, Sikhs or Buddhists, she added.

KOLKATA: In accordance with the Indo-Thai initiative, the National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation is scheduled to complete the mapping project in two-tothree years spanning a plethora of Buddhist sites in countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Indonesia, India and Thailand. India has around 25 to 30 sites relevant to Buddhism.

CHANDIGARH: The country’s first e-library will be launched in Haryana’s Sirsa district August 15. A Haryana government spokesman said Friday that the first e-library will be inaugurated at village Dhani Bharokha. In the initial phase, a sum of `1 crore would be spent for setting up the e-library under the Backward Regions Grant Fund.

DARJEELING: In a bid to curb tension, authorities today blocked airing of news by three local cable TV operators even as the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha-sponsored “indefinite bandh” entered the seventh day. The authorities ordered channels to stop airing news on the ground that the broadcast allegedly in favour of GJM created tension.

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News FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

HALL OF SHAME

Dogs kill toddler in Mexico

Protests after Odisha burn victim succumbs

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MEXICO CITY: A 20-monthold boy died in Mexico City after being mauled by a pitbull and then attacked by several other dogs, media reports said.

The toddler was killed Wednesday after he walked past the fenced-in front yard of a house, Federal District special prosecutor Oscar Morales de Oca said.

The pitbull bit the boy on the leg and dragged him into the yard, where other dogs attacked and killed him, officials said. The boy's mother tried to pull him away from the animals but failed.

The dogs' owner, identified as 48-year-old Maria Estela Flores Perez, was arrested and will be investigated for manslaughter, officials said.

The boy's body was taken to the coroner's office for an autopsy.

IANS

A People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) member wearing a dog costume poses during an awareness event in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

PETA members urged the public to adopt Indian dogs as opposed to buying foreign breeds imported into the country.

AFP/ SAM PANTHAKY

CRIME

Plot sold on fake papers A businessman who entrusted a real estate agent with the responsibility of buying a good plot for him finds himself saddled with a fake document, and the real owner of the plot is unaware!

MOHD SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com

D

Ram Reddy, a Secunderabad businessman, regrets the day he met a realty agent who became his friend and finally a foe, escaping with his money.

The complaint Reddy lodged with the Karkhana police says he had trusted one realty agent Ram Kumar and asked him to locate a

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The plot was worth several crores of rupees and he was to get it for a surprisingly low rate. good plot for him.

Accordingly Kumar spotted a plot in the AP Text

colony in Karkhana and informed Reddy about it.

Reddy saw the plot and liked it. The plot was worth several crores of rupees and he was to get it for a surprisingly low rate. Accordingly, Reddy gladly gave Kumar Rs.13 lakh in cash for advance payment. And, that was the last time Reddy saw of Kumar.

The complainant said he was promised registration in one month’s time but after a month he found Kumar unavailable and his mobile phone switched off. He was not traceable anywhere. Getting suspicious, Reddy made enquiries and found to his chagrin that the plot rightfully belongs to another person who has never heard of the deal.

He then lodged a criminal breach of trust against Kumar.

BHUBANESWAR: Activists on Friday staged demonstrations here to protest the death of a minor girl, set afire by two people last month in Odisha's Kendrapada district, police said.

The girl died Thursday night before she could be flown to New Delhi for better treatment. She was brought to the Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar from the airport after her condition deteriorated, Capital Police Station inspector in charge Ashim Kumar Panda told reporters.

As the news spread, hundreds of activists of the opposition Congress and BJP staged separate demonstrations across the city. While some protestors ransacked the hospital and broke furniture, a mob damaged three ambulances and torched two buses and a truck. However, no one was injured.

The protestors also attempted to barge into the residences of CMNaveen Patnaik and Health Minister Damodar Rout but were chased away by the police.

The 14-year-old girl was set on fire July 28 by Pradip Das and Ekadashi Das at Kharinashi village, about 150 km from Bhubaneswar. Police arrested Pradip the next day and Ekadashi a few days later.

Police said Pradip wanted to marry the

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Women's helpline gets maximum complaints from NCR CHANDIGARH: The newly-launched women's helpline (1091) in Haryana has received the maximum number of complaints from the national capital region (NCR) districts of the state, data revealed by the police Friday show.

A police department spokesman said 3,283 complaints were received by the helpline in June this year, of which 2,238 complaints were from districts within the NCR area. victim's elder sister. He was enraged when the family solemnised her marriage with someone else. The man, a resident of the same village as the girl, allegedly began threatening the elder sister's family and also her in-laws. Along with Ekadashi, Pradip invited the victim to his house, dragged her in and poured kerosene on the girl before setting the minor ablaze.

IANS

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News FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013 Terror fight gets $100mn boost RIYADH: Reaffirming his country’s determination to combat terrorism, Saudi Arabian President King Abdullah has donated $100 million for supporting the international counterterrorism centre under the United Nations.

In a joint Eid Al-Fitr message with Crown Prince Salman, King Abdullah, who is also the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, said: "Terrorism threatens global peace and stability."

He also called for joint international efforts to fight terrorism without any leniency toward militants and their sponsors.

IANS

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N.SHIVA KUMAR

ity police chief Anurag Sharma is known to be pleasant always. He hardly gets worked up even in trying times. The whole constabulary and officers know this. In the past 14 months, he saw many disturbing trends in the City and yet not once did he bark or bay.

But recently, officers saw his mood swing to the nasty side. It was when he was deprived of his ghazal quota. It turned out that he is a deewana of ghazal and any disturbance in the programme would get him angry. At the Chowmahalla palace, while the ghazal was on, it got disrupted for some technical reasons. When it happened more than once, he exclaimed in anguish, “What’s this, yaar? Ghazal ka mazaa hi khatam hota hai.” It was then that his comrades-in-arms realised why Sharma was peeved.

A few days ago, ACP Charminar M Ram Mohan Rao organised a dinner and ghazal

programme for the police chief.

As Sharma sat absorbed in the meaning and nuances of the ghazal, it was over. Suddenly, as if woken up with a start, he showed his anger. The ghazal had to be restarted to keep him happy.

Well, it is good to have a connoisseur of music at the police headquarters.

MS

THIS BISCUIT IS DELICIOUS

Biscuit Srikanth, the only socialite who is known for organising premiere screenings of every big film, is now just one film away from hitting a century. His 99th premiere was Chennai Express and he says that 100 could be ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobaara.’ Hope he has a list of all the movies he has previewed, if people ask.

Well, kudos to him to be the first person to do so.

AD

HARE KRISHNA! IT’S UNJUST

It is, to be very frank, unjust to the core. The AP government, which refuses to touch places of wor-

ship, had no qualms issuing an acquisition notice to the ISKCON temple located on Sardar Patel Road opposite St John’s Church in Secunderabad for 1,700 sq yards of the 3,500 sq yards belonging to the temple. The land is required for Metro corridor-III that runs from Nagole to Shilparamam via Sangeet and ISKCON (in pic).

The ISKCON temple is a source of inspiration for lakhs of Krishna devotees in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

Apart from Shri Krishna, this temple complex houses 200-year-old idols of deities Dattatreya Swami, Kali, Navagraha, Shri Ganesha and Shri Veer Hanuman; idols which have been worshipped for generations.

Actually opposite the ISKCON temple, there is land belonging to the railways — not just a couple of acres but many acres! This land has many unoccupied buildings. Also the road in front of the temple is almost 150 feet in width. The Metro Rail

Project is meant to go over the road. So it is evident that there is sufficient land and space to build Metro project over this road, without disturbing any part of the ISKCON temple.

SS

MODI VS RAHUL MATCH IN HYDERABAD

Since the fracas over the Narendra Modi meeting here on Sunday is cleared and the High Court has jettisoned petitions seeking a ban, all eyes are being trained on LB Stadium, where he is supposed to sound the bugle of 2014 elections.

The interesting thing is that his entire IT team from Gujarat is here covering the vast social media with aplomb. He is proving one up on the ‘young’ Rahul Gandhi, who is far behind in using social media despite the vast army and resources at his disposal.

Interesting match on the card. PK (Contributed by Arun Daniel, Srinivas Setty, N Shiva Kumar, Mohd Subhan and PK Surendran)

News FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

GLOBAL CELEBRATIONS

PICS: N SHIVA KUMAR

JOYOUS THANKSGIVING

8&9 PICS: AFP

PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN

IRAN

SRI LANKA

AFGHANISTAN

Muslims around the world celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the period of fasting in the holy month of Ramzan. This year it is special as it is being observed on a Friday in many countries, including India. Some parts of the world also celebrated it yesterday. Hyderabad City bore a festive look as the faithful crowded mosques to offer prayers in the morning.

BANGLADESH

10

News FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

TERROR ALERT

US pulls Lahore mission staff over 'terror threats' US citizens are advised to avoid non-essential travel to Pak.

A Pakistani mourner carries the body of a child outside a hospital in Quetta today, following an attack by gunmen on a mosque. Gunmen killed nine people and wounded 10 others when they opened fire outside a Sunni mosque on the outskirts of the city of Quetta, police said. The shooting came a day after a suicide bomber targeted a police funeral and killed 38 people in the same city.

AFP/BANARAS KHAN

ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER

Oil spill turns Manila Bay red

LAHORE: The United States on Thursday evacuated all nonemergency staff from its consulate in the Pakistani city of Lahore, citing “specific threats” amid a worldwide alert over AlQaeda intercepts.

The travel warning issued by the State Department also reiterated longstanding advice to US citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Pakistan.

The closure comes as Pakistan celebrates the festival of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, and a day after a suicide bomber killed 38 people at a police funeral in the city of Quetta.

Meghan Gregoris, spokeswoman for the US embassy in Islamabad, said the evacuation was not linked to a terror threat that prompted the closure of 19

diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa.

“We received information regarding a threat to our consulate in Lahore. As a precautionary measure we have undertaken a drawdown for all but emergency personnel in Lahore,” she told AFP. The US embassy and conAROUND THE

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sulates in Karachi and Peshawar were closed Friday for the Eid alFitr public holiday but are expected to open again on Monday, she said. But the Lahore mission was likely to remain closed and there was currently "no indication" of when it might reopen.

AFP

Al-Qaeda suspects arrested in Saudi RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has arrested two suspected members of Al-Qaeda who may have been plotting against Western embassies in the Middle East, the interior ministry said.

The two men who were arrested, a Yemeni and a Chadian national, had contacts with AQAP, the terror network's Yemeni offshoot, state news agency SPA quoted ministry spokesman General Mansour al-Turki as saying on Thursday. The Chadian suspect had been expelled from Saudi Arabia.

REMEMBERING NAGASAKI

There have been reports of people having difficulty breathing because of the fumes.

MANILA: A diesel oil spill spread a large reddish stain over Manila Bay in the Philippines' capital on Friday, posing potential health and environmental hazards, authorities said.

A fuel tanker is suspected of having dumped half a million litres of diesel into the country's busiest waterway on Thursday, said coast guard environmental protection chief Commodore Joel Garcia. “I cannot say that we have contained it because it has affected so wide an area,” he told reporters.

“There have been reports of cases of people going to hospital

AROUND THE

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from difficulty of breathing due to the fumes coming from this oil.” Oil containment booms were deployed while government experts are checking the impact on marine life, Garcia said.

The 300-square-km slick was drifting toward the mouth of the bay Friday, Garcia said.

About 20 kilometres (12 miles) of coastline near the capital Manila has been affected, he added.

AFP

Doves fly over the Peace Statue at the Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki, Japan on Friday as the city marks the 68th anniversary of the bombing. At 11.02 am on August 9, 1945, the explosion of an atomic bomb devastated Nagasaki, which killed 70,000 people in the southern port city, three days after dropping the world's first atomic attack on Hiroshima.

AFP

WORLD BRIEFS 'Gandhi to King' concert to mark MLK march

Two Turkish pilots abducted in Lebanon

China twin babies stolen by doctor found

Chocolate museum to be razed in Mexico

Russia has not delivered Syria S-300s: Report

WASHINGTON: The American capital is set to begin the 50th anniversary celebrations of Martin Luther King's famous civil rights march on Washington with a concert named 'Reflections on peace: from Gandhi to King'. The US civil rights leader led a March on Washington on August 28, 1963 and delivered his iconic "I Have A Dream" speech.

BEIRUT: Gunmen kidnapped two pilots working for Turkish Airlines early on Friday on Beirut's airport road, Lebanon's Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told AFP. "A kidnapping operation took place at 3am targeting a bus carrying several members of a Turkish Airlines crew going from the airport to the hotel," Charbel said.

BEIJING: Twin baby girls allegedly stolen and sold by the obstetrician who delivered them in China have been recovered by police, state media reported Friday. The girls, born last month in the northern province of Shaanxi, were allegedly victims of the same female doctor who sold a baby boy reunited with his parents earlier this week.

MEXICO CITY: Officials have ordered the demolition of the Chocolate Museum, which is being built by the Choco Story Chichen company in the Chichen Itza archaeological zone "without authorization", the Mexican National Anthropology and History Institute, or INAH, said.

The company has been notified that the project "is improper".

MOSCOW: Russia has not delivered advanced S-300 missile systems ordered by Syria although several have been built and Damascus has paid a deposit, Vedomosti reported Friday, citing arms industry sources. A batch was due to be sent to Syria this spring, but the systems are now apparently due for delivery no earlier than the summer of 2014.

11

News FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

LIFESTYLE

Dicing with death for a moustache in Pakistan Pakistani businessman Malik Amir Moha mmad Khan Afridi sports an impeccably trimmed 30-inch moustache — at great peril to himself from terrorists.

JENNIE MATTHEW Agence France Presse PESHAWAR: Pakistani businessman Malik Amir Mohammad Khan Afridi has been kidnapped, threatened with death, forcibly displaced and lives apart from his family: all because of his enormous moustache.

Impeccably trimmed to 30 inches (76 centimetres), Afridi spends 30 minutes a day washing, combing, oiling and twirling his facial hair into two arches that reach to his forehead, defying gravity.

“People give me a lot of respect. It’s my identity,” said the 48-year-old grandfather in the nor thwestern city of Peshawar, when asked why he was prepared to risk everything for his whiskers. “I feel happy.

When it’s ordinary, no one gives me any attention. I got used to all the attention and I like it a lot,” he said.

For centuries, a luxuriant

moustache has been a sign of virility and authority on the Indian sub-continent.

But in Pakistan, Islamist militants try to enforce religious doctrine that a moustache must be trimmed, if not shaved off.

So Afridi went from celebrity to prisoner of Lashkar-e-Islam, then a rival and now an ally of the Taliban in the tribal district of Khyber on the Afghan border.

First the group demanded protection money of $500 a month.

When he refused, four gunmen turned up at his house in 2009.

He says they held him prisoner for a month in a cave and only released him when he agreed to cut it off. “I was scared they would kill me, so that’s why I sacrificed my moustache,” he said.

He fled to relative safety in Peshawar. But he grew his facial hair back and in 2012 the threats started again: telephone calls from people threatening to slit his throat. So he left the Talibanhit northwest altogether, moving

An Indian holds the record for the world’s longest moustache at 4.29 metres. Ram Singh Chauhan has even appeared in Bollywood films and had a cameo in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy.

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to the Punjabi city of Faisalabad and returning to Peshawar to visit his family only once or twice a month.

“I’m still scared,” he says.

“I’m in Peshawar to spend Ramadan with my family but most of the time I stay at home and tell people I’m in Faisalabad if they want to meet me,” he says.

His only concession is the fasting month, when a freestanding moustache interferes with his daily ablutions and he keeps it smoothed across his face and tucked behind his ears.

It costs $150 a month to maintain — more than a Pakistani teacher can earn — although he gets a moustache bursary of $50 from the home district in the lawless tribal belt he was forced to flee.

The Khyber administration pays anything from $10 to $60 a month to men with particularly eye-catching moustaches as a symbolic gesture of appreciation for the bravery and virility traditionally associated with such

Pick

It costs $150 a month to maintain although he gets a moustache bursary of $50 from the home district in the lawless tribal belt he was forced to flee. facial hair. Both tribesmen and members of the security forces can qualify for the sum, which is handed out at the discretion of the chief administrator.

Afridi has a hair dryer, bars of soap, shampoo, an alleged German oil from Dubai whose label he has ripped off so no one knows its alchemy, a mirror and an old bottle of homemade coconut oil. Then there are towels and a hair brush.

He massages the secret oil into his whiskers, twiddles and twirls them in front of the mirror and dries them to stand on end, before striding around a shopping mall, quickly attracting a crowd.

An opinion piece published in Pakistan’s Daily Times last year drew parallels between power and a luxuriant moustache,

at the

although current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the only man in the country to win a third term in office, is clean shaven.

It also had a word of advice for elected leaders, who three times in the past have been deposed by military coups... led by the only three generals in the country with moustaches.

“Never appoint a moustachioed chief of the army staff or a chief justice if you wish to govern in peace,” it warned.

But Afridi’s wife and 10 children are less keen. “Sometimes my family tell me ‘cut it, it would be better if you lived with us.’ I can leave my family, I can leave Pakistan, but I can never cut my moustache again,” he said.

So his dream is to find political asylum or represent Pakistan at an international competition, if only he can get a visa. “I’m trying to move my family abroad.

To America, Canada, Britain or even to Dubai but I need asylum,” Afridi told AFP. “I don’t like smoking. I’m not fond of snuff, or drinking. This is the only choice in my life. I’d even sacrifice food, but not the moustache. It’s my life. It’s not part of my life. It is my life.”

airport,

-

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News FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

BRAVE NEW WORLD

THE LAST MONKS OF BHUTAN? The Bhutanese worldview has changed dramatically with the introduction of TV, Internet and smartphones, weakening the dominance of monks who for centuries were a powerful force.

RACHEL O’BRIEN Agence France-Presse THIMPHU: Kencho Tshering, a redrobed Buddhist monk, takes a call from the King of Bhutan’s office, then duly dashes off to start a ceremony praying for a break in the monsoon rains.

But while he may be on speed dial for royal requests, the clout of his fellow monks is on the wane in the remote kingdom as it absorbs the impact of technology and democracy as well as an abuse scandal.

“Bhutan is changing. The monastic body is going down and down,” Tshering said at Dechen Phodrang, the monks’ school where he is principal, which is perched with majestic views over the capital Thimphu.

“Even for senior monks, there’s no respect in the city,” he sighed.

Bhutan is renowned for its rich Buddhist culture, and villages are still steeped in its traditions. Protecting the Buddhist culture is a key pillar of Bhutan’s unique “Gross National Happiness” development model, which aims to balance spiritual and mental well-being with economic growth.

Yet Tshering, who spent three years, three months and three days in silent meditation, believes Buddhist devotion has waned since Bhutan allowed television in 1999 — the world’s last country to do so.

In terms of spiritual influence, some say monastic materialism is partly to blame for a decline. Although usually associated with a spartan existence, Bhutan’s strand of Buddhism allows

A recent report by The Raven, a Bhutanese magazine, told the story of two young boys who said they escaped their monastery after being sexually abused by two of the older monks, who are supposed to be celibate.

The National Commission for Women and Children confirmed to AFP that the case had been dealt with internally by the monastic body, and one of the accused had been disrobed.

monks to own a range of possessions — “there are even monks with big cars,” said Damber K. Nirola, a psychiatrist in Thimphu. But the monasteries still play a vital social role, providing homes to thousands of children whose parents may have died or feel unable to support them.

With a government allowance per boy of less than a dollar a day, Tshering says it is a struggle to look after their 260 students, aged as young as six, who sleep in rows on classroom floors.

While just over 7,000 monks are registered with the central monastic body, on the ground about 9,000 to 11,000 exist at any one time, according to Karma Penjor, secretary at the Commission for the Monastic Affairs of Bhutan.

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“They can’t say no when people come with their children,” he told AFP, saying the monasteries look after and educate “Bhutan’s poorest of the poor”.

They are also not without controversy. A recent report by The Raven, a Bhutanese magazine, told the story of two young boys who said they escaped their monastery after being sexually abused by two of the older monks, who are supposed to be celibate.

The National Commission for Women and Children confirmed to AFP that the case had been dealt with internally by the monastic body, and one of the accused had been disrobed.

Between young monks, non-pene-

trative “thigh sex” is also “common”, according to a UNICEF-supported report in 2012 on vulnerable Bhutanese adolescents.

Psychiatrist Nirola, a former district medical officer, said he found sexually transmitted diseases were quite regular among monks and possibly from heterosexual liaisons outside the monasteries.

He also came across youngsters suffering stress from the highly disciplined lifestyle, which was often not one of their own choice. “They want to go to town, play on smartphones. That creates a lot of problems in their mind.”

In May, the monastic commission opened a child protection office for the welfare of young monks and to raise awareness about their rights, but Penjor said better backing was crucial to its success.

“It’s one thing to keep having awareness workshops, but if support for infrastructure is not there, after a while rights keep falling off, it’s not very effective.”

Some monks have embraced Bhutan’s modernisation in a bid to get more support.

The Phajoding monastery, which is a three-hour uphill hike from the nearest road, is using social media to spread its news and raise funds, with regular updates on Twitter and Facebook.

Karma Phuntsho, author of The History of Bhutan and a former monk thinks it will take more than PR to get Bhutan’s monastic body on the rise again, and a key to that is modernising its education system. “I can see a very urgent need for them to reform.”

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

Business

OZ CENTRAL BANK LOWERS GROWTH FORECASTS Australia's central bank on Friday scaled back its near-term forecasts for economic growth, saying mining investment was unwinding faster than expected and a pick-up in China was unlikely this year.

CLEAN-UP ACT

Salient features of the new Companies Bill

P

arliament on Thursday gave its nod to the new Companies Bill that seeks to enhance compliance and transparency, make corporate social responsibility mandatory and protects the interest of employees and small investors.

The provisions of the Bill would ensure prevention of a Satyam-like fraud, the biggest in India's corporate history running into $1.5 billion detected in 2009.

The Bill will now go to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent.

The new legislation will come into effect with notification by the corporate affairs ministry after the presidential assent.

The new law will replace the nearly sixdecade-old Companies Act of 1956. n Companies are required to spend at least two per cent of their net profit on Corporate Social Responsibility n To help in curbing a major source of corporate delinquency, introduces punishment for falsely inducing a person to enter into any agreement with a bank or financial institution to obtain credit facilities. n The limit of the maximum number of companies in which a person may be appointed as auditor has been pegged at 20. n Appointment of auditors for 5 years shall be subject to ratification at every Annual General Meeting n Independent directors to be excluded for the purpose of computing one-third of retiring directors n Whole-time director has been included in the definition of the term key managerial personnel. n Maximum number of directors in a private company increased from 12 to 15 which can be further increased by a special resolution. n The term private placement has been defined to bring clarity.

n Financial year of any company can only end on March 31. The only exception is for companies which are a holding/subsidiary of a foreign entity requiring consolidation outside India.

IANS

KIM QUITS NEWS CORP

Stricter controls on Vatican Bank Pope Francis sets up new panel to co-ordinate anti-corruption efforts.

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis intensified the fight against corruption in the Vatican on Thursday, strengthening the law to counter "money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."

The short "Motu Proprio", a decree of Francis's own initiative, strengthens the supervision of financial transactions "in response to a recommendation of the Moneyval Committee," the European watchdog which carried out a review of the Vatican bank last year.

It includes the creation of a new Financial Security Committee to help increase vigilance and coordinate efforts in countering corruption.

It also extends laws which previously only applied to the tiny state to the "institutes and entities dependent on the Holy See, as well as to nonprofit organisations" — such as the Caritas International humanitarian organisation.

The decree is just the latest in a series of bold moves on the part of the pontiff to clean up the institution's murky financial

GRAFT Alstom paid millions for Sao Paulo contracts: Paper SAO PAULO: French power company Alstom paid millions of dollars in bribes to secure lucrative contracts in Sao Paulo state in 1998, a Brazilian newspaper reported Thursday.

The Estado de Sao Paulo cited federal police documents as saying Alstom executives were among 10 people facing charges in connection with the scandal.

Two ex-state secretaries, two heads of the state energy firm EPTE also faced prosecution, according to the report.

Alstom did not comment directly on the specific allegations.

The report comes five years after Brazilian federal prosecu-

13

tors and authorities in France and Switzerland investigated Alstom for alleged payments of bribes to win contracts for metro equipment between 1995 and 2003.

Press reports at the time said Alstom paid $6.8 million to win a $45 million contract for extending the Sao Paulo metro.

According to the federal police documents, Swiss authorities seized 7.5 million euros in alleged bribe money from a joint account in the name of Jorge Fagali Neto and Jose Geraldo Villas Boas, two officials linked to the Sao Paulo state government and the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB).

AFP

image. The Vatican is attempting to reform its finances to get onto a "white list" of states that respect international fraud rules.

What has been hailed as a potential revolution by many religious watchers began with the appointment mid-June of one of the pope's trusted allies to oversee management of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) — as the bank is known.

The 76-year-old pontiff followed this by installing a special fivemember commission tasked with investigating the bank and reporting their findings directly back to him personally.

The commission's first report is expected in October, and may spark wider reforms of the murky institute.

A US consultancy firm, Promontory Financial Group, has also been tasked with conducting an external review of the bank's rules on money laundering.

Francis moved to act after a string of scandals and reports in Italian media about anonymous accounts at the bank being used by organised crime figures and fraudsters.

AFP

GSK PROBE China contacts Novo Nordic COPENHAGEN: The world's leading insulin maker, Danish pharmaceutical group Novo Nordisk, said Thursday Chinese authorities had contacted it following a corruption probe into British drug firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

"We were contacted on August 1st by the local authorities in Tianjin, where we have our factory. They contact companies on a regular basis," Novo Nordisk general manager Lars Rebien Soerensen told analysts in a telephone conference.

China last month arrested four GSK executives for alleged bribery and other

offences, and is currently investigating 60 foreign and domestic pharmaceutical companies over their prices.

GSK later admitted that some of its executives had broken Chinese law and that it was collaborating with the probe.

Meanwhile, China's 21st Century Business Herald newspaper reported Thursday that a whistleblower had provided it with four documents purporting to show that staff at French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi paid doctors in 79 hospitals bribes totalling 1.71 million yuan in a bid to increase sales.

AFP

SYDNEY: News Corp Australia chief Kim Williams quit Friday after just 20 months in the job with media baron Rupert Murdoch appointing experienced executive and company man Julian Clarke to replace him.

The shock announcement comes in the middle of an election campaign in Australia where the Murdoch media has made clear it wants conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott to replace Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

It also follows the mogul jetting in his trusted Australian lieutenant, New York Post editor-in-chief Col Allan, last week to shake up his titles. Murdoch controls two-thirds of Australia's newspapers and has a stake in broadcasters Sky News and Fox Sports. His newspapers are an influential voice in Australia and have made clear whose side they are taking in September 7 national elections with his Sydney tabloid The Daily Telegraph this week running a front-page headline "Kick This Mob Out" under a picture of Rudd.

NUMEROLOGY

$294

mn

is the amount spent by French energy group GDF Suez to acquire British construction firm Balfour Beatty's WorkPlace division (BBW)

HONDA PLANT IN BRAZIL SAO PAULO: Japanese automaker Honda plans to build a new assembly plant in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo with an annual capacity of 120,000 units, the company said. The $430 million facility will become operational in 2015 and will double Honda's annual output capacity in Brazil to 240,000 units. The Japanese auto giant is currently producing 120,000 units a year at its existing plant in the city of Sumare, also in Sao Paulo state. The Itirapina plant, which will employ roughly 2,000 people, is to churn out Fit-class compact vehicles which are in high demand on the world market.

THUS SPAKE In dealing with the challenges that Greece faces, we cannot simply look at austerity for a strategy. It's important that we have a plan for fiscal consolidation to manage the debt.

BARACK OBAMA, US PRESIDENT

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

Comment

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS

In another feather in its cap, the autonomous CBI has allowed former UP chief minister and BSP chief Mayawati to be spared from prosecution in disproportionate assets case. HFT is sure the timing of the verdict and Samajwadi Party’s refusal to support Food Security Bill in Parliament is just coincidence.

BRITISH TEEN SUICIDE

It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do.

14

SPOTLIGHT ON CYBER-BULLY SITE

KATY LEE

Elbert Hubbard American writer

Qaeda is down, but not out: Analysts

A

resurgence of bombings in Iraq. A new generation of jihadists flocking to the chaotic crucible of the Syrian conflict. Terror alerts in Yemen that prompted embassies to be shuttered.

US President Barack Obama may be correct in asserting that Al-Qaeda’s leadership has been “hammered” but recent events have proved the terror network remains a deadly threat, analysts say.

Obama’s administration has scored a string of victories over Al-Qaeda, locating and killing Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011 and sharply increasing the use of drones in targeted strikes against the network’s leaders.

Despite these successes, “the recent global terror alert illustrates that, 15 years after its first attacks on America, Al-Qaeda is thriving,” former CIA analyst Bruce Riedel wrote in a recent opinion piece.

“The pandemonium in Syria, Libya, and Egypt, are like a hothouse for al Qaeda, which is thriving just as it has in Somalia and Afghanistan,” Riedel added.

“Over the past decade, there has been a net expansion in the number and geographic scope of Al-Qaeda affiliates and allies, indicating that Al-Qaeda and its brand are far from defeated.”

While the core leadership of he group has been weakened “tactically,” the overall network “absolutely has not,” added Aaron Zelin of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

And the fact that the group had not struck in the United States since Christmas 2009 “did not mean they had stopped trying,” Zelin added.

AFP

Agence France Presse

T

he social networking website ask.fm is at the centre of a storm in Britain following the suicide of a schoolgirl who was bullied online — with advertisers pulling out and the prime minister leading calls for a boycott. Hannah Smith, 14, hanged herself last week.

Friends said she had been taunted on ask.fm about everything from her weight to the death of her uncle. Bullies bombarded her with anonymous messages, telling her to “drink bleach” and “go die”.

Campaigners say she is not the first teenager to be “bullied to death” on ask.fm, which counts millions of adolescents around the globe amongst its 60 million registered users.

The Latvia-based website — which has turned its founders, brothers Mark and Ilja Terebin, into millionaires since it launched in 2010 — has been linked to at least four other teen suicides in Britain, Ireland and the US this year.

Hannah’s death has pushed criticism of the website to fever pitch, with parents — including PM David Cameron — asking why users are able to post such

vicious remarks with complete anonymity, often to youngsters in the same school class.

Wary of the negative publicity, advertisers including telecoms giant Vodafone and designer Laura Ashley have scrambled to abandon the site — and after Cameron called Thursday for users to boycott it, ask.fm’s founders were forced to issue a defence.

“We are committed to ensuring that our site is a safe environment,” the Terebin brothers insisted in a statement. “We do not condone bullying of any kind.” The website had already described Hannah’s suicide as a “true tragedy” and said it is working with police investigating the death.

Her father has called for its operators to face murder or manslaughter charges.

‘NO ACCOUNTABILITY’

Ask.fm has a question-andanswer format — users pose each other questions, such as “Who is your best friend?” and their answers are posted on their profiles.

Crucially, users can choose to post anonymously — a feature that campaigners say has made the website a playground for cyber-bullies.

“People can go on to the website and produce pure hatred without being identified,” said Anthony Smythe,

managing director of the charity BeatBullying. “There is no accountability.”

Charron Pugsley-Hill agrees. Her niece Ciara Pugsley, 15, was found hanged in the woods next to her house in Ireland last September after she was bullied on ask.fm.

Ciara was a “feisty, very bright” girl who had represented Ireland at karate, PugsleyHill told AFP. “This was not a girl that sat quietly in the corner,” she said.

“If it could happen to Ciara, it could happen to anybody.”

Ask.fm has defended the

anonymity feature, saying its users can choose not to receive questions from anonymous users.

For many British teens, dealing with online abuse has become almost a part of daily life. One in three young people are cyber-bullied, according to BeatBullying.

Some users relish the honesty that ask.fm’s anonymity feature brings.

“I use it because it can give you an insight on what people think of you and no one is fake there,” another teenager told AFP.

EDITORIALS

A

An outdated ritual, this

s many as 36 students of a government school in Nalgonda district were hospitalised on Thursday when they complained of stomach ache and vomiting after eating mid-day meal at the school, police said.

The incident occurred at government school in Bothalpalem village of Damarcherla mandal where students of Class I to Class VII were served rice and spinach curry for the mid-day meal. This sort of news comes almost every day from different parts of the country. It is because those running the government are out of ideas about moving with the times.

The mid-day meal was justified in the ‘sixties when utter poverty dissuaded millions of kids from attending classes. To continue with this in the first quarter of the 21st century shows how poor the rulers are in thinking with the times.

Today, below poverty line people are getting subsidised ration, get many other perks not available before. What’s preventing them from

READERS’ VIEWS

cooking a day’s meal for their kids? This kind of trouble would not have arisen if food is cooked at home. We know the hygiene of hotels and restaurants. It would be too much to expect the school staff to cook food for lunch. It’s a repugnant idea altogether. But then the vote catchers at the helms would have none of this and continue to toe the welltrudged lines repeatedly ad nauseam.

Many planners on government panel would justify it saying that mid-day meal prevented dropout in the villages. But they really carry no survey or study before declaring this. Even those parents who go for work early in the morning could very well cook a morning meal. This would save their health too, besides being healthy food. Why mid-day meal made sense in the ‘sixties is because crass poverty and terrific shortage of liquid cash prevented ordinary man from getting essential goods. Situation is vastly different now.

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

Editor: Dean Williams

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

MUSIC

USHER FEELS FORTUNATE TO SEE SON ALIVE

Usher feels ‘blessed and fortunate’ that his son is recuperating well from his near-death experience. The R&B singer’s five-year-old child Usher Raymond V nearly lost his life after drowning in a swimming pool at the star’s home in Atlanta, Georgia.

WORDS OF WISDOM

15

Mark Wahlberg to Justin Bieber: The 2 Guns Mark Wahlberg star gives the singer some advice: “This career can be short-lived — you might as well be the best you can while you’re doing it, while you’re in the game. And after, if you want to go ‘F’ off, do that.”

M

ark Wahlberg is apparently tired of seeing Justin Bieber’s underwear. In a live web chat with The Sun, the 2 Guns star delivered a strong message to the young singer.

“Justin, are you listening?

Don’t be so naughty, yeah,” Wahlberg said with a British accent in the Tuesday webcast.

“Be a nice boy, pull your trousers up, make your mum proud, yeah? Stop smoking all that weed, you little b******.”

But Wahlberg then showed his true feelings, laughing and saying Bieber should be given some slack.

“He’s a kid! Let him live his life,” he said, adding: “He’s a teenager, obviously living in a different day and age. Everybody’s got a cell phone and paparazzi everywhere. I was in prison before I got a record out and I do-

n’t think he’s been to prison. I don’t think he wants to go.”

But still, he offered some words of wisdom to the recording artist: “This career can be short-lived — you might as well be the best you can while you’re doing it, while you’re in the game. And after, if you want to go ‘F’ off, do that.”

It’s not the first time a Hollywood star has criticised Bieber’s clothing — or lack thereof.

Olivia Wilde tweeted in March: “Bieber, put your f—-ing shirt on. (unless you lost all your

shirts in a fire in which case my condolences and please purchase a new shirt.)”

Following a backlash from Bieber fans,

Wilde later said during an appearance on The Tonight Show that the comment wasn’t meant to be “mean-spirited” but intended with “love.”

Meanwhile, Wahlberg in the live webcast said he and Bieber are still talking about doing a movie together. It was previously reported that Wahlberg wanted Bieber to star as a street-hustler basketball player in a movie that Wahlberg once described to E! News as The Color of Money, but in the world of inner-city basketball.”

“We have a great script that … could be a vehicle for him to make his debut in movies,” Wahlberg said. “That may happen, then maybe we could do something for the soundtrack.”

Bieber has had a roller-coaster year that has included accusations of a hit-and-run with a paparazzo (the L.A. County District Attorney declined to prosecute), drawing fans’ anger by showing up late on stage at London’s O2 Arena and leaving an ill-advised comment the guestbook of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.

Among other headline-making incidents: He was hit with assault charge and speeding accusations, was tackled by a fan, had his tour bus searched for weed, insulted Bill Clinton, saw his monkey confiscated in Germany, had his earnings stolen after a concert in South Africa and was booed at the Billboard Music Awards.

IMDB

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

spotlight TRADITIONALLY YOURS

STAR-STUDDED

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Iftar party hosted by minister Mhd Arif Nasim Khan in Mumbai was a star-studded event. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kabir Bedi, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan and Shabana Azmi were some of the eminent personalities who attended the event.

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1 Tanisha 2 Akbar Khan 3 Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi 4 Farha Ali Khan with a friend 5 Suzanne Roshan 6 Kajol 7 Adnan Sami with his wife

IT’S SHOWTIME

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Shahrukh Khan fans made a beeline to Cinemax where his much-awaited movie Chennai Express was screened. The event was organised by Bisket Srikanth.

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1 Swati, Amitam 2 Bisket Srikanth 3 Zemy, Ankita 4 Arundati 5 Bina Mehta, Vikram Mehta 6 Nikita Reddy

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

health

LOVE OF SPICY FOODS MEANS YOU'RE A RISK-TAKER A new study presented recently at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting suggests there’s a correlation between preferences for spicy food and risk-taking personalities.

HOME TRACKING

19

Monitor blood pressure at home Tracking your blood pressure at home can help you control hypertension, a new research review finds.

I

f you have a clinician’s help in monitoring your blood pressure, you’ll likely do even better, at least in the short term, according to the study, which was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

“For adults with hypertension who are willing and able to monitor their blood pressure at home in conjunction with their health care center, self-monitored blood pressure can be a useful tool to lower blood pressure, and possibly lower the risk of cardiovascular events, at least for the short term,” said lead researcher Dr. Ethan Balk, from the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

Whether the benefits extend beyond one year needs further research, said Balk, whose team looked at more than 50 studies on the effectiveness of home blood pressure monitoring.

Self-monitoring includes keeping a record of the readings so a physician can determine if your blood pressure medicine is working effectively or needs tweaking. Left uncontrolled, high blood pressure can lead to stroke, eye and kidney damage,heart disease and disability.

Exactly how home monitoring keeps blood pressure levels low isn’t clear, Balk said. “Likely reasons are improved monitoring and tailored treatment of blood pressure by both the clinician or nursing staff and the patient, and increased incentives to control one’s diet and increase physical activity,” he said. “But these explanations are purely conjectural.”

Also, it isn’t clear to what

ANEWS PP-LYBRIEFS YOURSELF OtoSim Companion OtoSim Companion is a medical app to be used while learning how to use an otoscope.The app is used in combination with a device that resembles a real ear called the OtoSim Simulator.The app can also be used as an otologic atlas since it is full of great images and text that show and describe the normal ear as well as various pathologies.

degree additional support enhances the benefits or which methods of additional support are best, Balk said. “An important caveat is that the evidence refers to self-monitored blood pressure used in conjunction with clinicians and/or nurses who are using and monitoring the information,” he said.

The results don’t apply to people who decide on their own to measure their blood pressure at home without consulting medical professionals, he said.

“National and international guidelines recommend that patients with hypertension measure and monitor their blood pressure in the home setting, and a number of studies have shown this can result in better blood pressure control,” he said.

“These findings ... highlight the importance of actively engaging patients in the measuring, monitoring, goal achievement and goal maintenance of their blood pressure,” he said.

HOUSECALL Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a brain disorder caused by prions, proteins that induce abnormal folding of normal brain proteins. About 85 per cent of CJD cases occur sporadically and have unknown origins. The remaining cases are either familial or iatrogenic (caused by contaminated instruments used during medical treatments or by transplants from infected organ donors). Most CJD cases are seen in people over the age of 50.

DID YOU KNOW?

When choosing a device, the American Heart Association recommends an automatic, cuffstyle, upper-arm monitor. Wrist and finger monitors are not recommended because they yield less reliable readings. Monitors for the elderly or pregnant women should be validated specifically for those purposes.

For the current report, Balk’s team reviewed 52 published studies in which patients monitored their blood pressure with and without assistance. They found some evidence that monitoring blood pressure at home improved control at six months, but not at 12 months. When patients got help, either through educational material or direct contact with medical professionals, home monitoring improved blood pressure control at both six and 12 months.

From this data, Balk’s group concluded that home blood pressure monitoring is effective in the short term. Source: webmd

LATEST FINDINGS

Addictive gaming

Acne problems

Children with an autism spectrum disorder spend about twice as much time playing video games as kids who don't have a developmental disability, according to a new study. Researchers also found that children with an autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder are at an increased risk of gaming addictions.

The face of acne is getting a lot younger, say dermatologists across the world, who are starting to see more cases of pediatric acne – as in kids as young as seven.

Doctors believe it's likely linked to earlier onset puberty, which causes hormones called adrenal androgens to start increasing, triggering pimples to erupt sooner on these young faces. In girls especially, preteen acne “can be a predictor of more severe acne in adolescence.

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

Technology KNOCK! KNOCK! WHO’S THERE? PROTECT YOURSELF

THE THREAT

GLOW BABY GLOW!

SAN FRANCISCO: PayPal co-

AVOID SPAM Never open emails from an unknown source. This USE REAL WEBSITES is the most common wat Don't access your frefor hackers to plant a quently used websites virus in your system. from an email or other link. Type in the URL manually.

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS Create different passwords for different accounts.

USE SECURE PAYMENT WEBSITES

How Hackable is

YOUR LIFE? In the world today, 170 million people own laptops and 1 billion people own smartphones — most of which have a camera installed in the screen. We do everything on them: sign into our email and social media accounts, take pictures, have conversations and access on your device, but was actually watching you while you did it. As it turns out, that happens more often than you think...

BE CAUTIONS OF Don't enter credit card info from your wallet.

MOBILE DOWNLOADS Choose a truested secure Many mobile infilsite to make any online trations result from purchases. downloading malicious game or apps.

DISABLE "REMEMBER YOUR COMPUTER" FEATURE Hackers can spoof your IPv4 address or even use malware to hijack your computer.

CLOSE YOUR LAPTOP This will prevent hackers from watching your every move.

Alternatively, put tape over your cameral at all times unless you're using it.

UPDATE SOFTWARE

POINTS OF ENTRY

Create what appears to be an official Facebook email account, prompting you to click on a link to a comment, then plant the chosen virus.

WHAT CAN THEY DO WITH IT? There is an average 156-day lapse between the time a computer or phone is compromised and the time it's detected. This leaves attackers months to collect everything they need. What could they possibly do with it.

Find your location by conducting a masked call to you and disabling notification so that they can access your IP address.

All they needed to hack into mT Huron's life — his laptop, iPad and smartphone — was a credit card number and a billing address. Once in his apple account, access to every file, account, picture and video of his family and newborn baby were wiped out.

Use spam emails with a form of malware called a RAT, or Remote Access Trojan, that tricks users into visiting a webpage, which grants them access to the webcam.

Amy Wright was begged for cybersex and when she denied, the hacker threatened to post naked pictures if she called the cops. He had her naked pics because he had been watching her for months.

Create apps that install malware when downloaded.

The most at-risk computers are running software which has not been updated, and without up-to-date anti-virus software installed.

founder Max Levchin rolled out a new iPhone application on Thursday designed to help couples conceive by calculating the best time to procreate.

The Internet entrepreneur and partners in his latest endeavor released the Glow software at Apple's online App Store in the United States.

Glow also announced $6 million in backing from Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz and several investors.

Women keep Glow applications updated regarding what is happening with their bodies and the information is analyzed to pinpoint optimum times for conceiving.

The long term vision for Glow includes riding the "wearable computing" trend to incorporate ways to automatically feed applications information through sensors in bracelets, pendants, scales or elsewhere.

"Glow helps women become more informed about their reproductive health," said Gunce Arkan, who recounted leaving a Wall Street career and undergoing six cycles of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to have her two children.

She worked closely with Glow to develop the application.

Arkan maintained that Glow gives women "the option to focus on their careers and think about children a little later if they'd like to" and that the application is the work of a talented team focused on "overcoming obstacles."

Inspiration for the startup came from the trend of women postponing having children, often to focus on careers, while fertility treatments are treated as elective procedures in the healthcare system, according to Glow.

Approximated ten million couples annually in the United States try to have children, with fewer than half having babies, statistics cited by the startup indicated. The infertility industry is estimated at $5 billion and growing, with one in three aspiring moms between the ages of 35 and 39 unable to get pregnant after pursuing the goal for a year.

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

Entertainment CLEARING THE AIR

CINE BYTES

VISHNU-HANSIKA

off-screen friendship helps film: Director

R

efuting rumours that Vishnu Manchu stormed out of the sets of his yet-tobe-titled Telugu multi-starrer as he was upset with Hansika Motwani, the film’s director Srivas said “their off-screen friendship adds intensity to the film”.

“A gift to a director is the chemistry between the lead actors and these two (Vishnu and Hansika) share a great chemistry. In fact, their off screen friendship adds great intensity to the film. This makes them a hit pair on screen,” Srivas said.

Hansika and Vishnu have teamed up for the second time after the highly successful Telugu comedy Denikaina Ready. “I have worked with them since the first day of shooting. Both have surpassed my expectations with flawless performance in every scene,” he added. The film, which also features Raveena Tandon, Manchu Manoj, Manchu Mohan Babu, Praneetha, Varun Sandesh and Tanish, is racing towards completion. It is being coproduced by 24 Frames Factory and Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures.

IANS

Vijay’s Thalaivaa faces political ire

T

ickets were being sold like hot cakes since Monday for Vijaystarrer Tamil action-drama Thalaivaa, but on Wednesday afternoon most theatres, including multiplexes, stopped bookings following threat calls from political activists. Reportedly, members of a political activist group, who claim Thalaivaa to be a political film, have warned theatres not to screen the film. IANS

Trisha urges mayor to scarp dog-pound

T

risha, a long-time People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India supporter, has written to Chennai Mayor Saidai Duraisamy asking him to scrap plans to roundup 30,000 dogs and confine them to pounds.

“Warehousing dogs, even if they are sick or old, for the rest of their lives is extremely cruel,” said Trisha in her letter to the mayor. IANS

‘Ajith insisted on doing his own stunts’

D

irector Vishnuvardhan, who has teamed up with Ajith Kumar for the second time in upcoming Tamil thriller Arrambam, says, “He is so committed that he didn’t let me appoint a body-double for him in the action scenes. He said he could do it on his own even after he injured his leg in one of the car chase sequences.” IANS.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

fashion

MISSONI OPENS STORE IN DELHI

With Pucci and Michael Kors opening their first flagship stores in India this month the inflow of international luxury labels into Delhi’s DLF Emporio Mall isn’t ebbing any time soon.

The newest entrant is Missoni, an expensive Italian knitwear brand known for its iconic zig-zag patterns.

should men wear 1 What according to build and height?

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FOR TALL AND LANKY MEN

FOR TALL AND WELL-BUILT MEN

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What shoes to wear for different functions of the weddings and for the wedding itself?

Shoes depend completely on the outfit that is being worn: n Sherwani – Mojdi or Formal chisel-toed slip on shoes, depending on the design of the sherwani. n Bandhgala – Formal slip on shoes n Kurta – Sandals/ Mojdi

What accessories should men wear?

Accessories can be a plenty, depending on what one is wearing: n Sherwani – Stole/ Cummerbund/ Pearl necklace/ Pagdi/ mojdi n Kurta – Stole n Bandhgala – Pocket square/ brooch

FOR SHORT AND STOUT MEN

These guys need to avoid anything that is too long.

The longer the garment, the shorter they would look.

Ideally, they should avoid sherwanis and instead wear Indo-Western outfits, or bandhgalas etc.

pelmmfkd

MADE EASY FOR MEN Women have a lot of fun dressing up and planning their attires for a wedding or a function in the family, whereas men are often lost for advice and end up clueless in most cases. Bangalore-based menswear designer Paresh Lamba offers the men some neat solutions.

FOR SHORT AND THIN MEN

These guys need to avoid long and unstructured clothes.

They would best be dressed in bandhgalas and layered Indo-westerns. They should definitely avoid things like kurtas etc., as it will make them look thinner.

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I would recommend men to be far more adventurous when dressing for a wedding, especially, if you are the groom, or are closely associated with the wedding family.

Nothing is too much on such occasions.

Experiment with colours and use the lavenders/ fuchsias/ reds etc. to the full.

Guys who are a little apprehensive to do the same can stick with the eternal favourite, black, but accessorise it with bright colours.

The look should be such that it capitalises on the height, but camouflages the leanness. Ideally, a layered garment with 2/3 layers on top of each other would enhance the wearer’s voluminous look. A normal length sherwani would look great, but instead of just a sherwani, one could have an inner jacket, and a sherwani, accompanied by a stole.

They are probably the easiest to dress.

They would look great with anything.

From a long flowy sherwani, to an indo-western outfit etc., they can carry off anything with great élan. Kurta pajamas would also look great on them, as that would sit properly on their body.

What kind of colours should men wear to weddings?

FLEME VARKEY fleme.v@postnoon.com

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

A

ce designer Paresh Lamba has been part of the fashion industry for the last 15 years and caters to some of the most influential entities in the country.

Though based in Bangalore, he retails from Hyderabad too.

Recently, he was the first designer from Bangalore to have showcased his creations internationally

at Dubai. Next on his list is the Wills Fashion Week, in September.

Specialising in menswear, be it prêt or couture, Paresh’s work ethic never fails to deliver the best in quality, design and innovation. A master in working with the many shades of black as well as colour, he is also a wizard with fabric.

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What according to you is the easiest ensemble that men can put together without looking too flashy on weddings?

The easiest ensemble for me would be the bandhgala jacket or the Jodhpuri. It can be worn in various ways to create the right impression. You can wear it with formal trousers and make it look like a complete suit, or pair them with jodhpuri breeches/ dhoti/ Patiala trousers and create a different look.

MEET THE COACH BARBIE

COACH is the latest label to give Barbie a high-fashion makeover. The American accessories brand has teamed up with Mattel on a collector’s edition version of the famed doll..

ARUN D YELLAMATY arunyellamaty@postnoon.co m

“I

t was a dream come true for a young designer like me, I was excited and thrilled when I was invited to display my work at the IIJW and the response I got from the people at the show was unbelievable, life is going to get busier,” says, Hyderabadbased jewellery designer, Moni Agarwal whose work was well appreciated at her first ever appearance at the Indian International Jewellery Week held in Mumbai recently.

She continues, “It was a big task for me to take my designs to Mumbai, where a lot of big players and well established designers were coming too. It was my first and I was the youngest among them and I am very happy with the outcome.”

The designer decided to call her collection, ‘The Voyage of Sat Lada’. She tells us her collection was inspired by the history of the Sat Lada Haar, which dates back to the 19th century Hyderabad Nizam necklace, with its seven tiers comprising the most perfect Basra pearls and filigree in gold. “I wanted my collection to show the history of Nizam and Hyderabad — Mumbai loved it. A lot of

people have been talking about it and personally, the IIJW board met me and appreciated the way I brought Hyderabad to Mumbai.”

The show not only gave her big platform to showcase her talent but also has got her some good offers , few from Bollywood as well. Ace ad film-maker Prahlad Kakkar, who was at the show walked up to her and appreciated her collection and after which asked her to design for his upcoming film, Moni adds, “Prahlad Kakkar, walked up to me and was very happy with the display and decided to use the double multi-chain Sat Lada Haar which RaNa had walked wearing during the show for his next film and also wanted me to design for his next film.” She also got to meet quite a lot of jewellery store owners who decide to keep a lot of her collections at their store.

The designer says she gave in a lot a thought and had added a Hyderabadi touch to her complete show. It had Sufi music being played while stars like Tapsee, RaNa and Kajal Agarwal walked the ramp

for her. Their clothing was designed by City-based designer Shravan Kumar.

Moni did not start out as a jewellery designer. She first studied MBA, the worked with her father in his company but all the while feeling that something was amiss. “I had a passion to collect jewels and wanted to know more about jewels and was interested in the creative field, but I ended up studying MBA. I never felt I was meant for it, I was working with my dad in his firm and nothing was interesting me so I told my parents I wanted to study Jewellery Designing. I did gemmology. I made a few designs and put up a show and everything worked on well, I started enjoying what I was doing and never looked back.” She adds, “I love my Jewellery and love my work” Moni likes working with Pearl, Diamonds and Gold and also depends on the idea and collections she keeps coming up with. When she is not working with jewels she likes to read, paint, potter around the garden, spend time with friends and travel. But she spends close to 10-12 hours only designing her collections.

“I want to design for Sonam Kapoor,” she says adding that now for the few months her energies are going to be spent in planning for the upcoming jewellery week.

22&23

‘I want to design

for Sonam’ Jewellery designer Moni Agarwal in a candid interview talks to us about her journey of becoming involved in the world of designing and Bollywood offers coming her way and much more.

Entertainment FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

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Entertainment FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

Winston Churchill

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 Forward sail 4 Hanna-Barbera bear 8 Toddlers’ parents celebrate it 14 Spoon-bender Geller 15 Briefly unknown?

16 Advertising medium 17 Independent one 19 Unannounced social visits, on “Seinfeld” 20 Lemur with a short tail 21 Cowardly critter 23 What a green light may represent 25 ‘’Diary of ___ Housewife’’ 26 Type of reaction 28 Average poker hand 33 Yonder thingamabob 37 Battle of Britain flying gp.

39 Sensations before migraines 40 Something offered for the common good 44 Women with low voices 45 Playing hard to get 46 Letters from Greece 47 Dais 50 Wedding announcement word 52 Spirited steed 54 Cardsharp’s hiding place 59 Blame-bearer 64 “___ the Family” 65 Diamond-shaped pattern 66 Filthy scoundrel 68 China clay 69 “Star Trek” producer Roddenberry 70 Pipe with a right angle 71 Swallow 72 Timeline divisions 73 “Diff’rent Strokes” actress Charlotte

DOWN

1 Child of cooking 2 They handle your pressing needs 3 Does some bookmaking

4 Deviating erratically from a set course 5 The avant-garde’s Yoko 6 Course game 7 Prefix with “red” or “structure” 8 Old Rome’s ___ Way 9 Excellent bargain 10 TV athletic award 11 Suffix with “psych” 12 “99 Luftballons” singer 13 Once, at one time 18 Preposition in poetry 22 ___, amas, amat 24 Steak, on some menus 27 ___ chi 29 Whine and whimper 30 Trapped like ___ 31 “Today ___ man” (bar mitzvah declaration) 32 Yanks’ enemies 33 Pre-Soviet royalty 34 Saintly circle 35 They’ll make a play for you 36 Harness race pace 38 Org. that regulates the airwaves 41 They live on acres of Acre’s 42 Suffix with “restrict” 43 Assents on the sea 48 Requiring fast action 49 Red Army leader 51 Makes jubilant 53 “Dragnet” credits sight 55 Ron who played Tarzan on TV 56 Tree whose berries can be made into wine 57 Small cousin of the cello 58 Writer Madeleine L’___ 59 Short story writer born H.H. Munro 60 Prefix in many Ocean Spray drinks 61 Very excited 62 Gomer of classic TV 63 Bleacher feature 67 Part of the genetic code

Chai Time FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 10-8-2013

27

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Delayed marriage talks will resume and finalized. Financial position will improve steadily and keep you relaxed. You will solve the long pending issues with your innovative techniques and with your rich experience.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

You will take the successful personalities as your role model, go ahead in your life and will be successful. Those involved in construction or purchase of a house will be successful in their goals. Son will get a promising job.

You will be more courageous and take right decisions which will yield desired results.

Tensions and confusions existed will be over. You need to avoid anger and harsh talks which will hurt others. Give maximum love to your children.

Some might change their residence to a comfortable one.

Persons in powerful position will become your friends.

Though expenses will be beyond expectations, good inflow of money will take care of the situation.

Your influence is set to improve.

Unwanted expenses are to be controlled and plan properly with the available resources. You will become more active and focus on the works to complete them in scheduled time. Delayed work will resume.

Employees will be entrusted with more responsibilities.

Expenses to increase but good inflow of money will take care of such situation. Though hurdles are likely in the works undertaken, they will disappear like the mist upon sunrise.

You will become bold enough to take some important and wise decisions on your own which will yield expected results. Self confidence level will go up. Some will sell their old property for a good price and purchase a new one.

Patience is the need of the hour for you. Daughter’s marriage might get finalized but be sure to verify the credentials of the boy before proceeding further.

You might face failures and disappointments if proper planning is not done.

You will not be affected by the bad events but will treat both good and bad events with a seasoned mind and absorb shocks without getting panic.

Though deficit financial position is likely, helps will arrive from expected sources.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Justice – This is a very passionate time for you. You discover many sensual pleasures, in food, music and physical experiences. Enjoy the time!

LEO:

Queen of Swords – There is a possibility that you may be asked to work on a project alone. It is nothing you cannot handle. It may be something you might enjoy.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Two of Cups – There is a proposal in front of you, and to make the decision is becoming very stressful to you. You want more time but you don’t have it.

SAGITTARIUS:

Three of Cups – You are nearing the completion of a project. This is a great time to reflect on how things went and give your project one final push.

TAURUS:

The Sun- This is a lucky time when you’re high on energy and good ideas come to you pretty quickly, too. Utilise it, and do not get cocky about anything.

CANCER:

Two of Pentacles – You are in the process of a major transformation. You begin to look at life differently. You like to collect new experiences.

VIRGO:

Five of Pentacles – You are very good at making character sketches. You will be in a position to gauge a person’s character by their appearance and behavior.

SCORPIO:

Ten of Wands – Singles are in the line for marriage. It may happen suddenly, especially if you haven’t really been planning it all this while. Don’t stress over it.

CAPRICORN:

Page of Cups – Laugh a lot. You need laughter to loosen up a bit and to destress. It will take your mind off things and people that are stressful.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Three of Wands – Take up a voluntary teaching assignment. This will improve your own knowledge of things, and widen your perspective of life.

NUMBER GAME

– Routine can get very boring, but it is essential in order to carry on with life and do the things we always wanted to. Don’t give up. Keep at it!

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Five of Wands

POOCH CAFE

Avoid anger and unwanted expenses else a financial crisis is not ruled out. Benefits are likely through friends. Works will get completed but with a delay which might irk you.

However, a very important work will be done successfully.

for 10-8-2013

King of Swords – This is a creative time. You are in the middle of some significant changes.

Do not put all your eggs in one basket.

NON SEQUITUR

Peaceful atmosphere is likely at home. Court verdict will go in your favour. You will give more importance for good character rather than money minded persons. Unexpected financial fortune is likely which will make you cheerful.

SUDUKO

Financial inflow is very good which will make you cheerful.

Unexpected journey, sleeplessness and unexpected expenses are likely. Be alert and take good care. Those trying for a new job will get favorable result.

Boggle FORD GRANT REAGAN MONROE CARTER Vol: 3, No 20 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon. com and for subscription, please call 040-4067 2222, Fax: 040-4067 2211

28

Entertainment FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

WAITING TO COME BACK

CINE BYTES

S

ushmita Sen has lost oodles of weight, and she looks wonderful. The former Miss Universe and actress admits she is readying herself for a comeback to showbiz.

On the silver screen, Sushmita was last seen in the 2010 film No Problem.

During the three-year hiatus, she was busy taking care of her second adopted daughter, Alisah. She had first adopted Renee in 2000.

“I will definitely

Cabaret songs will have longer shelf life: Pooja

A

ctress-director-producer Pooja Bhatt is currently busy recording songs for her next project Cabaret and promises that the songs won’t be short-lived.

“Yes, like always, even the music of Cabaret will be unusual. The songs will have longer shelf life,” Pooja, whose last film was Jism 2, said.

IANS

I’m getting

READY for a comeback SUSHMITA SEN

comeback with a film,” the 37-year-old said on the sidelines of the India International Jewellery Week Tuesday.

Without giving out too much details, she added: “I will wait for the producers to officially announce it. I had to take a threeyear break to spend time with my daughter Alisah. She is now three years old, so I am back to films, back to that life. Yes, Sushmita Sen is getting ready!”

In the past, the 37year-old has been a part of movies like Biwi No.1, Kyo Kii...

Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta, Main Hoon Na” and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?

IANS

Ekta to repeat ImranSonakshi in her next?

I

mran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha have teamed up for the first time in Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara and their chemistry has appealed to the film’s producer Ekta Kapoor so much that she has apparently decided to repeat them in her next movie. Ekta is of the opinion that Imran-Sonakshi make a lovely pair, but nothing concrete.

IANS

Sunny Leone gets tips from Naseeruddin Shah

W

orking with veteran actors is always a learning experience for newcomers, and it’s no different for Indo-Canadian porn star and Bollywood actress Sunny Leone, who is sharing screen space with Naseeruddin Shah in Jackpot. “He (Naseeruddin Shah) is very calm and reserved, but he gives suggestions, which is very nice,” Sunny said in an interview.

IANS

sports

29

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

MONTREAL MASTERS

Djokovic, Nadal surge ahead MONTREAL: Novak Djokovic (left) and Rafael Nadal were made to work for their wins Thursday as the elite seeds struggled into the quarter-finals of the Montreal Masters.

Andy Murray failed to advance as he slumped to a shock 6-4, 6-3 loss to Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis.

Top seed and threetime Canadian champion Djokovic dropped the opening set before swinging back into form to earn a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over 66th-ranked Denis Istomin. Nadal subdued Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz 76 (8/6), 6-4.

It was a huge day for

COURTING TROUBLE

Bannister banned for missing tests

SYDNEY: Australian Olympic javelin thrower Jarrod Bannister said Friday he has been banned from competition for 20 months after missing three drug tests.

Bannister, 28, the reigning Commonwealth gold medallist, said he had been banned until February 2015 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport because he missed three drug tests in an 18month period. Bannister said in a statement on his Facebook page that the court had agreed that he had not deliberately set out to dodge the tests, but that missing three in that time period was considered to be tantamount to a failed drug test.

“It was found that there was no deliberate action by myself to avoid being tested. That finding is consistent with my defence submissions at the hearing on the 21 June 2013,” said Bannister, who will not be able to defend his Commonwealth crown in Glasgow next year.

In this file photo taken on September 3, 2011, Australia’s Jarrod Bannister is seen competing in the men’s javelin throw final at the IAAF World AFP/ADRIAN DENNIS Championships in Daegu.

Bannister blamed poor communication and procedures by Athletics Australia as a key reason for his breaching of the ASADA’s athlete whereabouts programme. The programme requires drugs agencies to be made aware of athletes’ move-

ments at all times.

Athletics Australia chief executive Dallas O’Brien said Bannister’s ban was disappointing and highlighted the need for athletes to ensure strict adherence to their obligations under the World Anti-Doping Agency code. AFP

nerve in his neck for 12 minutes in the first set, also got a break when the chair ruled a ball dead on a point in the eighth game of the second set despite his foot brushing the net.

The call led to a break of del Potro for 4-4 a few games from the end and left the Argentine angry.

host Canada, with two players into the quarterfinals for the first time since 1989.

Vasek Pospisil shocked fifth seed Tomas Berdych 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5) while 11th seed Milos Raonic blasted Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 6-4. Raonic, treated for a pinched

ROGERS CUP Serena rolls into quarters TORONTO: World No. 1 Serena Williams (right) easily booked her spot in the quarter-finals of the WTA Rogers Cup, routing 13th-seeded Kirsten Flipkens in straight sets on Thursday.

Two-time champ Williams avenged a first-round loss by her sister, Venus, to Flipkens, beating the Belgian 6-0, 6-3 in a third round match in the $2.4 million tournament at the Rexall Centre stadium.

“After I won the first set I definitely thought about Venus, and I thought about what a good comeback Kirsten had, so I thought, ‘I’m not going to get over-confident,’” Williams said. “I was just trying to stay really focused as well as really intense at that moment.”

Flipkens, a surprise semifinalist at Wimbledon, ousted Venus Williams 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round.

But she couldn’t repeat the upset against Serena, the reigning US Open and French Open champ. Serena won this tournament in 2001

and 2011 and was the runnerup in 2000.

Williams blasted 10 aces, had one double fault and lost just one point (14 of 15) on her second serve in the 56minute match.

Williams moves on to the quarter-finals where she next faces Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova.

AFP

WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS Novlene running to inspire cancer sufferers MOSCOW: Newly-crowned Jamaican 400 metres champion Novlene Williams-Mills says she hopes by competing at the world athletics championships she will inspire fellow cancer sufferers after she battled against the illness for the past year.

The 31-year-old, who showed great grit when she won Olympic 4x400m relay bronze last year having been diagnosed with breast cancer just before the Games, said when she lines up for the 400m heats on Saturday in Moscow it will be another “baby step” on her road back.

“It was a very hard time for me,” she said after completing training. “I am a breast cancer survivor but at the same time I don’t want people to label me as such. “However, if I can help to inspire other people suffering from cancer then I can say that I have served a purpose.”

AFP

Bolt eyes Lewis mark of eight medals MOSCOW: Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt goes into the World Athletics Championships within touching distance of equalling American legend Carl Lewis’ record of eight world gold medals.

Bolt’s presence, along with Britain’s Mo Farah, will at least offer a ray of sunshine to a sport that has been recently rocked by a series of doping offences.

There is also a long list of star performers ruled out through injury, not least of all 100m champion Yohan Blake, Kenyan 800m master David Rudisha and Olympic heptathlon champion

Jamaica’s sprinter Usain Bolt reacts during a training session at the Luzhniki stadium in central Moscow on Thursday, ahead of the World Athletics Championships.

AFP/YURI KADOBNOV

Jessica Ennis-Hill.

Blake claimed victory in Daegu two years ago after Bolt dramatically false started in the final of the blue riband event and was disqualified. Make no mistake that Bolt is in the Russian capital to top the podium in an event he has dominated since taking gold in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

“Of course it’s very important (to win back the title),” the 26-year-old said of the 100m, which will feature neither American rival Tyson Gay nor Asafa Powell after both tested positive for banned substances.

AFP

30

OAK HILL, AUGUST 8 – 11

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

Scott, Furyk share lead Masters champion Adam Scott birdied five holes in a row and matched Jim Furyk for the first-round lead with Tiger Woods six shots adrift.

JIM SLATER Agence France-Presse ROCHESTER: Masters champion Adam Scott birdied five holes in a row Thursday and matched Jim Furyk for the firstround lead of the PGA Championship with top-ranked Tiger Woods six shots adrift.

On an Oak Hill layout softened by pre-dawn showers and a 70-minute afternoon rain delay, Scott and Furyk flirted with the course record of 64 shared by Ben Hogan and Curtis Strange before finishing on five-under par 65.

“Probably the best run I’ve ever had,” Scott said. “I just hit really nice shots and didn’t leave myself too much work... It was a dream start.”

England’s Lee Westwood and Canada’s David Hearn shared third on 66 with Australia’s Jason Day and Marcus Fraser, England’s Paul Casey and Americans Matt Kuchar, Scott Piercy and Robert Garrigus on 67.

Woods, a 14-time major champion seeking his first major title since the 2008 US Open stumbled to a 71, as did world number two Phil Mickelson.

“I’m still right there,” Woods said. “I’m only six back and we have a long way to go.”

Scott won his first major title last April at Augusta National, becoming the first Aussie winner of the green jacket, and the 33-year-old from Adelaide is firmly in the frame to land another major after his epic birdie binge.

Scott started his birdie run at the par5 fourth and birdied the next four in a row before a par at the ninth gave him a 30 for the front nine and a share of the lead.

“I got on a bit of a roll and hit a few shots clean,” Scott said. “You’ve got to take advantage of that if it happens because it doesn’t happen very often at majors.”

Scott made an eight-foot birdie putt at the 14th but missed a five-foot par putt at 16, before finishing with a 12foot par putt at 18.

“I managed to right the ship,” Scott said. “I hung in there and that was a great par at the last.” Just 13 months after squandering a four-stroke lead with bogeys on the final four

holes to hand a British Open title to Ernie Els, Scott was showing the form that saw him come third in last month’s British Open at Muirfield.

Furyk, who started on the back nine, took a bogey at the ninth to miss out on the record, but still produced a 65 for his lowest first-round score in 73

Adam Scott of Australia hits a tee shot on the 16th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship on Thursday. AFP/STUART FRANKLIN

Thai’s Kiradech plays it cool

ROCHESTER: Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, whose stocky build and attacking style have drawn comparisons to John Daly, is a shock contender at the PGA Championship after adopting a more conservative approach. The 24-year-old from Bangkok fired a twounder-par 68 at Oak Hill on Thursday in his debut at the year’s final major tournament to grab a share of 11th, three shots behind co-leaders Adam Scott and Jim Furyk after 18 holes, the best performance among Asian entrants.

“This week, don’t want to force myself,” Kiradech said. “I can’t say what score I want to shoot. “I still just tried to play my best golf, just take on the game plan and take on the fairway and give me a lot of chances to putt.”

Kiradech is ranked 85th in the world after winning his first European Tour event, this season’s Malaysian Open. He shared 40th at last week’s World Golf Invitational event and two weeks earlier at the British Open, he fired a 72 in the first round only to shoot 85 in round two and miss the cut.

AFP

career majors.

Furyk, the 2003 US Open champion, has not won since the 2010 Tour Championship but the 43-year-old American fired six birdies at Oak Hill to launch his quest for a 17th career title.

“I had a good ball-striking day,” Furyk said. “I felt like the course would set up well for me. It’s set up like a US Open course.

“I missed one drive in the heavy stuff but overall a good day. It was good to get my feet under me. I got relaxed and settled into my game.

I got on a roll and got a lot of confidence out there.”

Furyk opened with a birdie at the 10th, added a birdie at the 16th and followed with back-to-back birdies at the 18th and first. He made another at the par-4 fifth and yet another at the seventh to grab a two-stroke edge on the field before closing with a bogey at the ninth. Woods began on the back nine and birdied the par-5 13th and sank an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-3 15th and saved pars at 17 and 18 after missing the green.

Selected first round scores 65: Jim Furyk (USA), Adam Scott (AUS) 66: David Hearn (CAN), Westwood (ENG) 67: Garrigus (USA), Casey (ENG), Kuchar (USA), Fraser (AUS), Piercy (USA), Day (AUS) 68: Aphibarnrat (THA), Stricker (USA), Dufner (USA), Haas (USA), Stenson (SWE), Cabrera Bello (ESP), Blixt (SWE), Castro (USA), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Martin Kaymer (GER), Justin Rose (ENG) 69: Hoffman (USA), Horschel (USA), Gainey (USA), Garcia (ESP), Bradley (USA), Lynn (ENG), Jamieson (SCO), Ishikawa (JPN), Clarke (NIR), Clark (RSA), Moore (USA), Rory McIlroy (NIR), Woody Austin (USA), Zach Johnson (USA) 70: Leishman (AUS), Mahan (USA), Fowler (USA), McDowell (NIR), Bjorn (DEN), Streelman (USA), Wiesberger (AUT), Snedeker (USA), Watson (USA), Jaidee (THA), Singh (FIJ), Brett Rumford (AUS), Ian Poulter (ENG), Graham DeLaet (CAN) 71: Lowry (IRL), Every (USA), Guthrie (USA), Fujita (JPN), Teater (USA), Beem (USA), J.J. Henry (USA), Toms (USA), Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Tiger Woods (USA), Olesen (DEN), Grace (RSA), Koepka (USA), Howell (USA), Colsaerts (BEL), Walker (USA), Luiten (NED), Donald (ENG), Laird (SCO), Mickelson (USA), Beljan (USA), Brendan De Jonge (ZIM), Chris Stroud (USA), Chris Kirk (USA) 72: Senden (AUS), Matsuyama (JPN), Thompson (USA), Sterne (RSA), Yong-Eun (KOR), Hanson (SWE), Johnson (USA), Lawrie (SCO), Jones (AUS), Huh (USA), Ernst (USA), Manassero (ITA), Idoki (JPN), Weekley (USA), Molinari (ITA), Webb Simpson (USA), Richie Ramsay (SCO) 73: Sowards (USA), Palmer (USA), Siem (GER), Brown (USA), Curtis (USA), Gay (USA), Polzin (USA), Stallings (USA), Jeff Sorenson (USA), J.C. Anderson (USA), Balin (USA), Watson (USA), Willett (ENG), D.A. Points (USA), Mikko Ilonen (FIN), Kyle Stanley (USA), Gary Woodland (USA) 74: Gaus (USA), Els (RSA), Lingmerth (SWE), Love (USA), McNabb (USA), Jason Kokrak (USA), Van Zyl (RSA), Coetzee (RSA), Harris English (USA), Ogilvy (AUS), Fernandez-Castano (ESP), Jordan Spieth (USA), Carl Pettersson (SWE), Kevin Stadler (USA), Marc Warren (SCO) 75: Sheftic (USA), Cink (USA), Gallacher (SCO), Caine Fitzgerald (USA), Ken Duke (USA), John Merrick (USA), Bae SangMoon (KOR), Chris Wood (ENG), David Muttitt (USA).

Lee in major hunt again ROCHESTER: Three weeks after England’s Lee Westwood settled for another heartbreaking major near-miss at the British Open, he is back in the major title hunt once again at the PGA Championship.

The 40-year-old former world number one, who led in the final round last month at Muirfield before Phil Mickelson took the Claret Jug, fired a bogey-free 66, six-under par at Oak Hill to stand one stroke behind co-leaders Adam Scott and Jim Furyk after 18 holes.

“I’m driving the ball well. I’m getting in good position,” Westwood said.

“On this course, if you set it up with good drives, you can score.”

Only Westwood and American Matt Kuchar, who shot 67, toured the 7,163-yard course without

a bogey. Westwood has 16 top-10 finishes in 62 prior major starts, half of them top-three efforts including his share of third at the British Open last month.

“I didn’t have my best

Lee Westwood of England plays a shot from a bunker on the 11th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship on Thursday in Rochester, New York.

AFP/STUART FRANKLIN

game and I had a two-shot lead going into Sunday, so that shows you are at a high standard,” Westwood said. “I could have looked at it as disappointing, but as a golfer you try to take the positives out of it and carry on. I managed to get focused again this week and I felt very calm out there, in control.”

Westwood handles the questions, from critics and well-wishers alike, about when will he win a major in a relaxed manner.

“I pay little attention to it really, just try to go out there and do my best, improve my weaknesses and build on my strengths,” Westwood said. AFP

URN

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

IT ASHES 2013

31

Hot Spot for remaining Tests Hot Spot system will be used in the final two Tests of the ongoing Ashes series, the International Cricket Council said, despite controversy over its use and cheating claims.

JULIAN GUYER Agence France-Presse CHESTER-LE-STREET: Cricket’s Hot Spot system will be used in the final two Tests of the ongoing Ashes series, the ICC said Thursday, despite controversy over its use and cheating claims.

Australia’s Channel Nine alleged on Wednesday that players in the current series between England and Australia were using the tape on their bats to avoid nicks being detected by the thermal imaging system.

The allegations prompted swift denials from both teams while the ICC said the claims were incorrect and it was not investigating any alleged attempts by players to cheat the technology, as reported.

On Thursday, it said in a statement that its general manager of cricket Geoff Allardice had met both sides but only to talk about the Decision Review System, which has similarly provoked discussion over contested dismissals.

Allardice described the talks as “very constructive”, with the teams and umpires reiterating their support for the DRS, and the continued use of Hot Spot in the final two Tests that will be played at Chester-le-Street,

Cook backs Pietersen CHESTER-LE-STREET: England captain Alastair Cook (above) said a report players in the ongoing Ashes were using silicone tape on their bats to avoid nicks being detected by “Hot Spot” technology was “rubbish”.

The allegations were made by Australia’s Channel Nine television on Wednesday, with England batsman Kevin Pietersen (below) said to be one of the players under suspicion. But Pietersen took to Twitter on Wednesday to slam the report as “horrible journalism” and “hurtful lies”, with Australia captain Michael Clarke insisting none of his players were involved in the practice. And Cook, whose side have retained the Ashes at 2-0 up with two to play ahead of the fourth Test in Chester-leStreet starting Friday, had no problems with Pietersen’s use of social media.

“When you get called a cheat I think you quite rightly want to clear your name pretty quickly when you haven’t done anything wrong,”

Cook said Thursday.

The opening batsman added: “Players have been putting tape on their bats for years. I just think the actual story is a load of rubbish in terms of why people are putting tape on their bats. Fibreglass tape on their bats, that’s been going on for years. That’s just to protect the bat to make it last longer.

“I think that whole story we have to rubbish it because it is rubbish.”

AFP

northeast England, from Friday and at The Oval in south London from August 21.

“We acknowledge the DRS has not performed as effectively during the past three Tests as it has in other series,” Allardice said.

He also stressed Hot Spot was just one tool at the disposal of the third umpire.

“We know that the majority of edges are detected by Hot Spot but there are occasions when a fine edge isn’t picked up.

“If there is no mark on Hot Spot, the TV umpire can use replays from different angles to see whether the ball has deflected off the bat, and he can listen to the sound from the stump-microphone to determine whether the batsman has edged the ball.

“Either deflection or sound can be used by the TV umpire to make his final judgment.”

The ICC were looking at ways to improve the system, he said, adding: “During the Old Trafford Test, we conducted a trial where a TV umpire accessed replays using a multi-channel monitor system with its own operator and recording device.

“The aim was to get more replay angles to the umpire, faster, so he will be able to make more accurate decisions and

Captain Clarke confident Harris will pull through C H E S T E R-L E-S T R E E T: Australia captain Michael Clarke was upbeat Thursday about Ryan Harris’s prospects of featuring in the fourth Ashes Test starting Friday despite the paceman’s poor fitness record.

Tasmania quick Jackson Bird was added to the Australia XI that delivered a much improved performance in the drawn third Test at Old Trafford when the tourists named a 12-man squad Wednesday for the Chester-le-Street Test.

With Australia 2-0 down with two to play, and so unable to regain the urn, there are those who argue now is the right time to give the twice-capped Bird his first taste of Ashes action.

Australia captain Michael Clarke was upbeat about Ryan Harris’s prospects of featuring in the fourth Test.

But Clarke said Tests were too important for anyone to just be “given a go”.

Harris took seven wickets in Australia’s crushing 347run second Test defeat at Lord’s, including a first innings haul of five for 72, and four more at Old Trafford.

However, only once in a 14-Test career blighted by injuries has the 33-year-old played in three successive

Tests — and he broke down in the third of those matches, the 2010/11 Boxing Day clash against England, when he suffered an ankle injury.

Clarke, though, said the fact Australia had little bowling to do on a rain-marred final day at Old Trafford would help Harris.

“In my mind I’m confident Ryano will be fine,” Clarke said Thursday. “Us not bowling on that last day because of the rain is definitely going to help our bowlers.

“If he is (fit) I think he should definitely be selected.

He’s a fantastic bowler, his record shows that, and I think we’ve seen throughout this series how important he is to our team.”

AFP

Inventor raises concerns with ICC SYDNEY: An Australian TV channel Thursday repeated claims that cricketers are using silicone tape on bats to cheat “Hot Spot” readings, saying the inventor has raised concerns with the sports’ s authorities.

Channel Nine renewed its allegations on its evening news bulletin Thursday, saying Warren Brennan — inventor of Hot Spot — had raised his “serious concerns” with the ICC about flaws with the system.

AFP minimise delays to the game.

“The feedback from this trial has been very positive, and we now need to consider how this technology could be most effectively used as part of the DRS system.”

The move to retain Hot Spot was backed by England captain Alastair Cook, who said abandoning the technology midseries would be a “very dangerous precedent”.

Claims that players had attempted to cheat Hot Spot were aired by Australia’s Channel Nine television on Wednesday.

Ashes Test a dream come true for Durham CHESTER-LE-STREET: England and Australia play at Chester-le-Street takes place on Friday, it will represent the culmination of a dream decades in the making.

Northeast side Durham, based at Chester-le-Street, only became a first-class county in 1992, with the ground, in the shadow of the 14th century Lumley Castle, making its senior debut three years later.

Yet by 1999, the ground on the banks of the River Wear was staging World Cup matches and in 2003 Chester-le-Street became England’s first new Test venue since 1902 with the visit of Zimbabwe. Although it has now played hosts to four Tests in all, including two against the West Indies, to be part of Ashes history is a major milestone for Durham. “All the superlatives have been stated. It’s fantastic, not just for all those connected with the club now but for all those involved in helping it gain first-class status,” Durham director Bob Jackson said.

“It was always a dream to have Test-match status and, although we’ve had Tests here before, the dream has really come true with an Ashes match.”

AFP

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013

sports

100 MILLION FOR BALE ‘SEEMS A LOT’: PEREZ

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has admitted in an interview with ESPN that he finds the idea of paying in the region of 100 million euros to sign Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale excessive. Perez did not deny that his club have been in negotiations with Tottenham regarding Bale.

EUROPA LEAGUE PLAY-OFFS

Swansea ease into play-offs

32

TRANSFER WOES

Swansea ensured their place in the Europa League play-offs after a draw at Malmo preserved their 4-0 advantage from the first leg.

Malmö’s Emil Forsberg (2ndL) fights for the ball with Swansea’s Alejandro Pozuelo (2ndR) during the third qualifying round for Europa League Malmö vs Swansea on Thursday in Malmö.

AFP/BAX LINDHARDT

PARIS: Swansea ensured their place in the Europa League playoffs after a 0-0 draw at Malmo preserved their 4-0 advantage from the first leg of their third

qualifying round clash.

The Welsh club, playing in Europe for the first time in 22 years, saw Michu and Wayne Routledge go close in Sweden

while Wilfried Bony had a ‘goal’ ruled out for offside.

“Overall, I’m very satisfied,” said Swansea coach Michael Laudrup.

“It was a professional performance from ourselves, they had a chance in the first minute but then I think we dominated the game.

“There were also many positives. We have played two games, kept two clean sheets and not given many chances away to the opposition.

“If we had to find a negative then it is the fact that we have to do better offensively. But we can’t always dominate games, and the clean sheets are very important because it breeds confidence.”

Scotland’s two representatives in the final qualifying round were knocked out.

Motherwell, already 1-0 down from the first leg, lost 2-0 at Kuban Krasnodar in Russia while St Johnstone were defeated on penalties by Minsk of Belarus.

Saint Johnstone were 1-0 up from the first match but were defeated by the same score at home before Minsk prevailed 3-2 in the shootout.

The play-off draw takes place in Nyon on Friday.

AFP

WARNING ISSUED

Rooney needs to be playing: Hodgson LONDON: England manager Roy Hodgson has warned unsettled Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney (in pic) that he risks losing his place in the national side if he is not playing regular first-team football.

Rooney is reportedly concerned about his position at United after falling behind Robin van Persie in the pecking order and the club have rejected two bids for him from Premier League rivals Chelsea.

While Hodgson was reluctant to speculate about the likely outcome of Rooney’s situation, he said it would be difficult to continue selecting the 27-yearold if he was not playing regularly at club level.

“It’s always better for a national coach when their players are playing on a regular basis, especially if they’re playing well,” he said. “It’s always a concern when players you count on for your

national team are not getting a regular game in their club sides.”

Rooney was on Thursday named in Hodgson’s squad for the

England manager Roy Hodgson has warned Wayne Rooney that he risks losing his place in the national side if he is not playing regular first-team football. friendly game against Scotland at Wembley on Wednesday, despite having missed all of United’s pre-season fixtures with hamstring and shoulder injuries.

Hodgson has spoken to both the player and his United manager David Moyes, and says Rooney is “very keen” to play against Scotland despite his lack of match fitness.

The England manager also warned against expecting too much from Rooney at a time when his future remains unclear.

“You can’t divorce a person and the way a person feels from the way he plays. You sometimes forget that,” Hodgson said.

“But I would also say that Wayne Rooney’s discipline and the performances he’s given in the year and a bit I’ve been working with him have given me no concern. If he does play some part in the game, I would expect him to put any personal problems he may have or any professional concerns behind him and give everything for England.”

At a time when transfer speculation is rife, Hodgson will remind his players to focus their minds on their duty to the national team, although he accepts he cannot stop players talking to players from other clubs who have shown interest in signing them.

Suarez not for sale: Henry LONDON: Liverpool owner John W Henry has dealt a major blow to Luis Suarez’s hopes of escaping Anfield after the unsettled Uruguay striker was told he won’t be allowed to leave at any price.

Suarez has been desperate to leave the Reds since the end of last season and Arsenal have tried to take advantage by making a £40 million plus £1 bid that was supposed to trigger a clause in the forward’s contract that allowed him to talk to interested clubs. However, Liverpool are adamant there is no such clause, prompting a furious response from Suarez, who accused Reds boss Brendan Rodgers of going back on a promise to let him leave after the Merseyside team failed to qualify for this season’s Champions League.

Rodgers reacted by banishing Suarez, who he said had shown “total disrespect”, to train with the reserves and Henry, the figurehead of Fenway Sports Group, has now made it clear he will not consider letting the Reds’ prize asset join a top-four rival with the new Premier League season just over a week away.

AFP

We are not going to sell Luis. For all the top clubs it’s extremely important (not to sell to a rival) but especially for Liverpool because we’re not in Europe this year.

John W Henry Liverpool owner