Epaper 12 september 2013

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 HYDERABAD

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AGE-DEFYING BEAUTIES

Michelle Pfeiffer recently said, “I don't have to look young anymore”.

We hear you! Inspired by the notion of timeless beauty, we've rounded up 10 women over 50 from the two biggest film industries in the world — Hollywood and Bollywood.

Here's why they are here.

P16&17

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

SPRING FASHION UNCUT

New York designers rang in the start of the fashion journey for the next year.

Here begins the talk of what’s hot and what’s not.

Over these two days we will be bringing you glimpses of what made headlines at the New York Fashion Week Spring 2014.

Officer’s Colony in RK Puram has fallen into ruin, thanks to the apathy of the authorities whose job it is to take care of tax-paying residents. Locals are up in arms but will anyone come to their aid?

REPORT ON P7

P22&23

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

city events

DOUGHNUT DELI

Savor the classic combination of gourmet coffee and doughnuts.

Where: Hyderabad Baking Company at Hyderabad Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre When: All September Contact: +91 40 2752 2589

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

26°C

21°C

Cloudy with showers likely.

Cloudy at times

Morning

Afternoon

26°C

32°C

A mix of sun and cloud

Chance of few showers

New Delhi Mumbai Max 40 Max 33 Min 36 Min 26 Mostly sunny

Chennai Max 32 Min 24

Showers likely

Chances of thunderstorms

Bangalore Max 25 Min 20

Cloudy with chances of rain

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES 11 am Contact: 4949-1234

WORKSHOPS

Showtime Where Have You Hidden My Crescent Moon, a film by Iffat Fatima will be screened.

Where: Hyderabad Central University, Gachibowli When: September 12, 5.10 pm Contact: 2313-2110 Play pursuits Barbareekudu, a play By SaudaAruna Theatre Group will be staged.

Where: NTR Auditorium, Nampally When: September 14, 6.30 pm Contact: 2323-0641 / 2323-0435

Confidence-building A two-day workshop for working women to acquire smart look and confidence Where: Colorama Printers, Begumpet When: Sept 14 and 15, 10.00 am to 4.30 pm Contact: 80086-34949 / 80088-85493 Robotics A robotics workshop will be organised.

Where: Kamala Nehru Polytechnic College, Nampally When: Sept 14 and 15, 10.00 am Contact: 98498-57584 / 94405-08195 Styling workshop Roopaantar, a makeover and styling workshop will be held.

Play Evam Indrajit, Hindi play by Badal Sircar will be staged.

Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills When: September 13 and 14, 7:30pm Contact: 99598-07901 PAYING HOMAGE: Students participated in ‘Run for the Nation’ on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda at People's Plaza on Wednesday.

N SHIVA KUMAR Where: Sutradhar School Of Acting, Himayatnagar When: Till Sept 13, 6.30pm to 8.00pm Contact: Sophie, at 87907-91295

Contact: +91 9908228822

SHOWS Film festival Movie Above The Street, Below The Water will be screened.

Where: Sarathi Studio, Ameerpet When: Sept 13, 6.30 pm Contact: 93910-20243

Movie mania Waiting movie by Atul Gupta and Shabnam Ara will be screened.

Where: Hyderabad Central University, Gachibowli When: September 12, 2.30 pm Contact: 2313-2110

Photo exhibition Landscapes of Ladakh - Photo exhibition by Kishor Krishnamoorthi will be held.

Where: The Blue Door, Road No. 45, Jubilee Hills When: Till September 19

Commissioner & Spl Officer

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

198 155313

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

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

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

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

Couture show Tarun Tahiliani in association with Trident, Hyderabad presents Tarun Tahiliani’s AW 2013-14 & Couture Collection 2013-14.

Where: The Kaveri, Trident, Hyderabad.

When: September 12, 6.30 pm

DINING Food fest Indian Tapas is on offer.

Where: Altitude Lounge Bar at Hyderabad Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre When: Till Sept 19 Contact: +91 40 2752 2556 Kashmir food fest ITC Kakatiya is paying ode to the delectable Kashmiri cuisine.

Where: ITC, Begumpet When: Till Septemeber 15 Contact: 040 40081801

Creative strokes Palettes & Palates, art exhibition by Jaya Baheti will be held.

Where: Park Hyatt Hyderabad, Banjara Hills When: Till Sept 13,

155313 23307328 23313163

27505566 23314095 23390933 24600146 27001134 23607777 30418888 30417777 30419000 30416666 39879999

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

27567892 23559555 23226624 27633087 27035588 27550238 30799999 30418296 30417445

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

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

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

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

24523211 232431300/7641 24521029

Readers’ views

We invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to feedback@postnoon.com or # Plot no.550-A1, 3rd floor, Road no-92, Jubilee hills, Hyderabad-500033 Landmark — Volkswagen showroom.

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

news

TODAY’S QUESTION

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

ARE THE COPS ALLOWING SAFFRON OUTFITS A FREE REIGN IN THE CITY?

IS DEATH PENALTY A SUCCESSFUL DETERRENT AGAINST RAPISTS?

YES (A) NO (B)

29% 71%

A)

YES

B)

NO

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

CRIME

ANUSHKA ADDS FUEL TO BRAND

Fake sari seller arrested

Pernod Ricard India has restaged Seagram’s Fuel to occupy a far bigger role in the brand, as it embarks “on a contemporary, youthful journey” with Anushka Sharma as its brand ambassador and a communication focused on dance, party and friendship with ‘Night Abhi Young Hai’. Raja Banerji, GM (marketing), Pernod Ricard India comments on the launch of the new campaign: “We felt that engaging with a personality like Anushka — with her positive energy, confidence and ambition will be of shared success.”

The scam came to light after a man who was cheated lodged a complaint with the police.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: A glibtongued crier who cheated many telling them he was selling Kancheevaram or Benaras silk saris at low prices for the sake of clearance is in the police net.

The arrested, Venkat Rao, has another associate who has fled the scene after police reached.

The duping came to light after one Rajesh who was cheated of 12 such Banares saris lodged a complaint with the police. He had paid `12,000 for a

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dozen ‘Benaras silk saris’ which the seller claimed was worth `5,000 each. The arrested person Venkat Rao, 38, a resident of Secunderabad is running a tiffin centre and undertook sale of saris to supplement his

income.

It is said that he told the police that people believed and bought the stuff thinking they were lucky to get expensive saris for low prices. His three associates are missing.

They would sell saris on the roadside telling customers that d u e to over supply and stock clearance they were for selling Benaras saris cheap.

Many bought saris worth `100 for `1,000.

INFANTS ON SALE

The Warangal baby mart The CID state that the operation is not a one-person show but most likely has a network of women behind it.

Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: The CID have unearthed a racket flourishing in Warangal (and probably extending to other districts too) where girls born to poor families are sold.

The price ranges between `2,000 and `25,000, police say.

The poor families, who

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believe girls are a burden, have no qualms giving them up and taking the money.

The matter came to light when the CID managed to rescue a baby girl sold to a couple in Kita Kistapur village of Atmakur Mandal .

The CID state that the

operation is not a one-person show but most likely has a network of women behind it.

Enquiries reveal that the baby was sold by one Savithri, who turned out to be a procuress. Her house was raided and one more baby girl was found.

Surprisingly, the woman managed to escape and a police team has been sent to apprehend her.

HATE-MONGER

US pastor held with kerosene-soaked Korans According to Jones's website, he had plans to burn 2,998 Korans, in recognition of 9/11 victims.

MIAMI: A controversial Florida pastor was arrested Wednesday before he planned to burn almost 3,000 copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, US media reported. Terry Jones, 61, was detained in the town of Mulberry, near Tampa, and faces charges of transporting fuel illegally and openly carrying a firearm, the Orlando Sentinel said.

Deputies said Jones was riding in a pickup truck that was towing a trailer carrying a large barbecuelike grill filled with kerosenesoaked Korans. He also had extra bottles of the fuel inside the truck bed, the Sentinel reported.

According to Jones's website, he had plans to burn 2,998 Korans

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in the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday, in recognition of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Jones in 2010 threatened to burn copies of the Koran, drawing widespread outrage in the United States and abroad, before he called the plan off. In 2011, however, his congregation did burn the Muslim holy book and the following year he promoted an anti-Islam film.

All three incidents sparked violence in several parts of the world.

AFP

CITY BRIEFS Naidu returns to City today after yatra 1st leg

Kiran meets finance panel representatives

3 rowdy sheeters Woman commits suicide Mum, daughter reported nabbed in Secunderabad due to dowry harassment missing from Shivajinagar

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C

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he main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N Chandrabbau Naidu will return to Hyderabad today after completing his the first phase of his bus Yatra.

During the 10 day long Yatra, which began on September 1 this month, Niadu covered 417.2 km in 10 assembly constituencies in Guntur and Krishna districts

hief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy met with the representatives of 14th Finance Commission this morning at the Jubilee Hall. He requested the chairman of the commission Dr. Y Venugopal Reddy to make increased amount of allocations for Andhra Pradesh State.

Many state cabinet ministers were present on the occasion.

he police team of Mahankali arrested three rowdy sheeters at night from Ghans Mandi in Secunderabad. They were trying to make nuisance and incite violence in the area. They three have been identified as Abhi Yadav, a resident of Ranigunj, B Praveen and D Kiran, he runs a sugarcane stall. The trio was sent into police custody.

V

Gauri, 30, a resident of Lemour village of Kandukur committed suicide by consuming poision on Tuesday. The victim died while undergoing treatment at Osmania General Hospital. Her husband of 12 years, V Babu, used to harrass and beat her regularly when he was drunk. He was also demanding more dowry due to which she took this step.

K

hushboo Kumari, 26, a resident of Shivajinagar, Secunderabad has been reported missing under suspicious circumstances from home on September 10 along with her twoyear-old daughter Reethika. Her husband, Jay Prakash has lodged a complaint with the Shivajinagar market police in this connection and a casehas been registered.

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News THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 LAST YEAR... HERE 20,000 more autos

L

ast year on this day we reported that as if the traffic and pollution situation in the City wasn’t bad enough, the transport ministry’s fantastically ridiculous idea to permit 20,000 more autos onto the streets promises more gridlocks, fumes and stress. Question is, will any of these new autos actually use a fare meter?

Unlikely!

SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

95%

is by how much a new vaccine being rolled out in the ‘meningitis belt’ that stretches across north-central Africa has reduced the cases of the potentially fatal disease meningitis.

PAUSE TIME

Festive mood keeps people away from agitation The biggest resource that politicians thrive on, crowds, are not forming, threatening their designs.

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Boon for T-leaders

T

Md INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com

It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the IsraeliPalestinian conflict and destabilise the Middle East and North Africa.

Vladimir Putin, Russian president See page 9

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THINGS WE LEARNT TODAY

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

1

Fake Kancheevaram or Banares saree seller arrested The duping came to light after a man who was cheated lodged a complaint with the police.

2

US pastor held with kerosene-soaked Korans According to Jones's website, he had plans to burn 2,998 Korans, in recognition of 9/11 victims.

3

Festive mood keeps people away from agitation The biggest resource that politicians thrive on, crowds, are not forming, threatening their designs.

4

Chief minister tries to broker peace He invited all his Cabinet colleagues to his residence and reportedly asked them to make way for peace in place of the animosity that was created among the leaders.

5

It’s an officer’s mess

What started as a GHMC initiative to improve the existing infrastructure in RK Puram has turned out to be a veritable nightmare for its residents as the work that started over eight months ago.

HYDERABAD: The commencement of the nine-day long Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations has dashed the plans of Seemandhra leaders and employees. The extensive agitations being held by these people is likely to come to a standstill due to the festival, which is celebrated with much aplomb and fervour across the State. Leaders of the AP Non-Gazetted Employees Association, which is spearheading the ongoing stir for keeping the State united, are acknowledging this and are saying that the nine-day long celebrations have diverted the attention of the public from the ongoing agitation.

“The beginning of the Ganesh festival has dampened the spirits of the agitators. It has already begun to have its effect on the people of the Seemandhra region and employees,” a leader of APNGO

The extensive agitations being held by these people is likely to come to a standstill due to the festival.

Association told Postnoon.

However, to give an impression that the entire breed of employees are agitating for a united Andhra Pradesh, the Seemandhra employees’ unions have decided to hold mild protest programmes from 11–14 September.

They have also officially decided to intensify the agitation after 16 September. This would mean that the agitation would be intensified only after the conclusion of the ongoing festival. The Ganesh idol immersion is scheduled to take place from 15 September across the State.

“It is a challenge for us. We can’t force employees to agitate during festival time as it would boomerang on us, neither can we prevent them from celebrating the festival. We are chalking out our programmes accordingly,” another Seemandhra employees’ union leader added.

he festival seems to have become a boon for proTelangana political parties and leaders. The leaders are saying that the Centre and State governments can now heave a sigh of relief from the point of law and order as the Ganesh festival has been diverting the attention of the public. They also feel that the festival would help the Centre speed up the process of creation of the separate Telangana state.

“Union Home Minister Susheel Kumar Shinde has already announced the Cabinet note on a separate Telangana state is ready. We hope that the hiatus caused by the ongoing festival will help the Centre intensify its work for constitution of the 29th state of the country,” a senior Congress MP from Telangana added. On the other hand, the proTelangana groups have postponed their plans to hold counter agitations in view of the festival. A massive meeting of pro-Telangana groups is being planned after the conclusion of the festival on 30 September.

STAMPING OUT PROTEST Riot policemen beat a teacher during a protest against the educational reform proposed by President Enrique Pena Nieto, along Reforma avenue in Mexico City on Wednesday. The Mexican goverment is facing several weeks of protest by teachers who are against the education reform legislation.

President Enrique Pena Nieto pushed through Congress changes to the constitution in December in order to put education — which was in the hands of powerful unions — back under government control and require teachers to undergo mandatory performance appraisals.

AFP

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News THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

POLITICS

CM tries to broker peace

MENINGITIS

He invited all his Cabinet colleagues to his residence and reportedly asked them to make way for peace in place of the animosity that was created among the leaders.

Md INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: The efforts for the peaceful creation of a separate Telangana State seems to have begun at the government level. In an indication, none other than Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy himself took an initiative towards this direction despite his known opposition to the bifurcation.

The CM, who shot to fame with his vitriolic rhetoric against the formation of separate telangana state couple of times, brokered peace between the warring State Cabinet ministers from the Telangana, Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. He invited all his Cabinet colleagues to his residence and reportedly asked them to make way for peace in place of the animosity that was created among the cabinet ministers of the three regions following the announcement of a separate Telangana state by the All India Congress Committee on July 30

CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy is seen felicitating Dr YV Reddy, chairman of the 14th Finance Commission. This was part of the dinner that was held at Grand Kakatiya, following the Cabinet meeting.

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this year.

Interestingly, this is the first face to face meeting of the State Cabinet ministers after a gap of 40 days. A total of 26 out of 36 cabinet ministers turned up for the meeting. The remaining 10

ministers could not attend the meeting for varied reasons. The meeting of the cabinet ministers was followed by a sumptuous dinner.

Speaking to Postnoon, a state cabinet minister from Telangana said that the meeting was held to sort out of the differences among the ministers of all the three regions following the announcement. “We all sat

together and debated on the issues that the State would be confronted with after the division. A Seemandhra minister reeled out the problems their region would face after the division. While Telangana ministers made attempts to pacify the emotions of the Seemandhra ministers,” he revealed.

He further added that most of the cabinet ministers agreed to further debate over the pros and cons of the division by holding many more such meetings.

STATE BACK ON TRACK Apart from this, the state administration is also likely to return on track after a long gap.

The CM’s meeting with his cabinet colleagues also decided to hold the much awaited state cabinet meeting on September 20. The meet will be the first after the announcement of the division of the state. Many public problems and crucial policies await the approval of the State Cabinet.

BANDIT ATTACK

PNG trekkers recall attack ordeal

Two porters were hacked to death with machetes, one reportedly partially decapitated.

Associated Press he and the rest of the group were forced to lie on the ground as the men ransacked their backpacks, stealing passports and other items.

“They then laid into us with bush knives, hitting us with the flats of the knives,” Stevens said.”You can’t tell whether they’re going to hit you with the flat side. Some people were cut.” Stevens said two of the thugs were clearly on drugs and “they did the most damage”.

PNG media said at least three of the attackers were believed to be prison escapees.

New vaccine slashes cases by 94 per cent PARIS: A new vaccine being rolled out in the “meningitis belt” that stretches across northcentral Africa has reduced cases of the potentially fatal disease by 94 percent, doctors reported on Thursday in The Lancet.

Researchers monitored the spread of type A meningococcal disease in Chad after the new vaccine, MenAfriVac, had been approved by world health watchdogs in 2010.

Three regions of Chad where around 1.8 million people had been vaccinated by December 2011 were compared with the rest of the country where the vaccine had yet to be introduced.

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In the vaccinated regions, around 2.5 cases of meningitis of any kind, and none of meningitis A, were recorded per 100,000 people, compared to more than 43 cases per 100,000 in the unvaccinated areas, a fall in incidence of 94 per cent. The risk of transmitting the germ was reduced by 98 per cent among those who had been vaccinated, according to evidence.

“This is an extremely encouraging signal for those countries that have yet to introduce the vaccine,” said Jean-Marie OkwoBele, director of the Department of Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals at the World Health Organisation. “We are not even halfway done with introducing this revolutionary new vaccine across the meningitis belt of Africa, yet we already have extraordinary results.”

AFP

Two porters were hacked to death with machetes, one reportedly partially decapitated, while up to six others were seriously wounded. Four of the Australians were also injured, including one who was speared through the leg.

“It started to rain and some of us were inside the tents when there was a whole lot of noise, shouting. I thought the boys had found a bush kangaroo, an animal or something like that,” one of the survivors, Nick Bennett, told Channel Nine after arriving in the capital Port Moresby.

“Next thing, I thought ‘what’s going on’, I put my head outside tent and smack — I thought I’d been shot actually,” he said of being hit with a rifle butt.

“They were laying into the porter boys. I realised they were butchering the porters. It was just appalling and we’re very fortunate.”

Another survivor, Peter Stevens, told Australian

Curfew in Shopian after man dies in firing

Bangladeshis held with fake passports

Ex US envoys seek clean immigration reform bill

Two killed in explosion in cracker factory

Policeman shot at by criminal

SRINAGAR: An indefinite curfew was Thursday imposed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian town following protests after a man was killed allegedly in firing by the paramilitary CRPF Wednesday. The CRPF has denied any firing by its personnel.

Residents said Muhammad Rafi Rather, a 28-year-old bus driver, was killed by the CRPF personnel.

LUCKNOW: Two Bangladeshi nationals were arrested at the Lucknow airport when they tried to board a flight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on fake Indian passports, officials said Thursday. The two were arrested from the Amausi airport by the Central Industrial Security Force when they were at the immigration counter on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON: Five former US ambassadors to India have written to top US Congressional leaders in support of a “clean” immigration reform bill.”For all the right reasons, the US has made India one of our premier strategic partners,” wrote the five who served as envoys between 1991 and 2009 described as “the transformative period of India’s economic opening.”

MIDNAPORE: Two persons were killed in an explosion in a cracker factory in West Midnapore district today. An explosion took place at the cracker factory in Thakurda Gurtala this morning.

Two persons died in the explosion and many are injured, Kharagpur ASP B Chandrasekhar said. Fire tenders have rushed to the spot to extinguish the fire, the ASP added.

FIROZABAD: A policeman was shot at and seriously injured by a criminal, who later attempted to committed suicide in Dakshin area, a senior officer said. Policeman Sachin Yadav was shot at by history sheeter Pramod alias Minna Chaudhary late last night, circle officer Rakesh Singh said. Fearing that he would be caught, Minna shot himself in his leg.

MARTIN PERRY Agence France-Presse SYDNEY: A group of Australian and New Zealand trekkers brutally attacked by bandits in Papua New Guinea told Thursday of their harrowing ordeal and horror as two porters were butchered.

The eight tourists were in their tents on the remote jungleclad Black Cat Track in the lawless Pacific nation’s northern Morobe province when a mob of six armed men struck at dusk on Tuesday.

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NATION BRIEFS

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News THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

THE 1 PER CENT

VIGILANTE JUSTICE

Rich Indians, poor rupee Despite India’s modest population growth, the country added more UHNW individuals than any other BRICS nation in the past 12 months.

NEW DELHI: For Indians, there is something to cheer for under the gloom of falling rupee. At 16 per cent India has the highest proportion of ultra high networth (UHNW) women in the world, according to the latest wealth report.

The country has over 1,250 UHNW individuals — those with net assets worth $30 million or above — with a combined fortune of $95 billion, says reports from London.

Despite India’s modest 1.6 per cent population growth, the country added more UHNW individuals (120) than any other BRICS nation in the past 12 months.

India is home to 103 billionaires — a fall from 109 billionaires in 2012. In comparison, China this year has 157 billionaires. This is significantly higher than most of its immediate neighbours — Pakistan (415 super rich), Bangladesh (90) and

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Bangalore has recorded the highest percentage increase in the number of UHNW population - increasing from 720 in 2012 to 750 in 2013 Sri Lanka (75). Only Japan (14,270) and China (10,675) have more super rich population than India.

Bangalore has recorded the highest percentage increase in the number of UHNW population - increasing from 720 in 2012 to 750 in 2013 — a 4.2 per cent increase. It is followed by Chennai which has seen a 4.1 per cent increase in this category — 385 UHNWs in 2013 compared to

370 the previous year. However, in absolute numbers, Mumbai and Delhi account for more than half of the super-rich Indians.

Mumbai’s super rich increased by 1.4 per cent — from 2,105 people to 2,135 in 2013 while in Delhi it went up to 1,980 compared to 1,945 in 2012. T More than 90 per cent of India’s UHNW individuals live in 10 cities which include Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai,

GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

Surprises galore at the zoo HYDERABAD: In order to celebrate the tions and the desirous participants will Golden Jubilee celebrations of Nehru be encouraged to register their names Zoological park, various programmes with details of events in which they are are being planned for the zoo visitors. desirous of participating.

There are also spot photography Competitions like quizzes for school and college students, debate competitions, competitions being held for two age clay modelling and various nature groups i.e. below 16 years and above 16 years on September 29 games for the zoo staff from 8am to 10am in children have been disthe zoo. cussed in meeting held AROUND THE Similarly the zoo with zoo friends. State CITY run (open to all ) will be director of WWF proheld on October 2 from posed certain programmes like snake and ladder game 7.30am onwards. The participants will and biodiversity watch for various cate- run on the Zoo Ring Road covering a distance of 3 km. gorise of visitors.

Ananatha Sriram, the renowned telIn order to improve participation in all the programmes and competition the ugu cine lyricist, will also be participatevents are being publicised in a big way ing. He has already given details of the by the zoo officials. A circular has proposed Golden Jubilee song which he already been sent to educational institu- is scripting for the occasion.

Ahmedabad, Pune, Gurgaon and Jaipur. Among these cities, Gurgaon and Jaipur have seen the largest fall in UHNW population over the past year - a fall by 4.8 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively.

Wealth X, considered the definitive source of intelligence on the ultra wealthy found that billionaires were the weakest performing wealth tier in India in the last 12 months.

AFP

11.5-year jail for ‘Uncle House’ BEIJING: A Chinese court sentenced a city official nicknamed “Uncle House” for his large property holdings to 11-and-a-half years’ jail on Thursday, domestic media reported.

Cai Bin, a mid-level bureaucrat in the southern city of Guangzhou, was convicted of taking 2.75 million yuan (in bribes.

The court “sentenced AROUND THE

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him to 11 years in jail and fined him 600,000 yuan", China National Radio reported online.

Cai’s wrongdoing surfaced after citizens began posting pictures of his assets, on the Internet. He was said to have accumulated at least 22 properties.

Ordinary Chinese have increasingly turned to social media to expose government corruption.

AFP

ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE YOUR WEEKLY HYPERLOCAL GUIDE TO THE CITY THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

IT’S AN OFFICER’S MESS

What started as a GHMC initiative to improve the existing infrastructure in RK Puram has turned out to be a veritable nightmare for its residents as the work that started over eight months ago still remains incomplete. While the area’s drainage facilities may have been improved, its roads have become unusable.

ALEENA ALICE

ALEENA ALICE aleena.t@postnoon.com

T

he laying of the underground drainage lines by the GHMC, which should have been good news for the residents of Officers Colony in RK Puram is nothing but a nuisance now. Though the pipework has been completed, residents have to hike though huge granites, haphazardly laid manholes and clouds of dust to get to where they want. Needless to say, health issues and accidents have become a daily affair.

One year back when the residents were informed that the GHMC would be replacing the existing drainage pipes with bigger pipes, the residents were happy and expected their colony to be developed with better infrastructure facilities. However for residents of Officers Colony in RK Puram better infrastructure facilities is now a distant dream.

The GHMC officials had dug up the road to lay bigger drainage pipes. Though the work is completed, the road had not been laid back and residents have to suffer because of broken road that was dug up.

The contractors who took up the work, had changed the complete direction of the flow of water while covering up the dug up portion with mud. “Earlier the slope for water flow was from higher level to lower level so that the water would flow.

However now they have changed the direction from down to up, because of which there is no flow of water and when it rains the water gets stagnated in front of our houses,” says Susan Sampurna, a retired government employee who has been residing here for 30 years.

The contractors now seem to

be playing up and despite several complaints to the GHMC officials by the residents of the colony, they have received no satisfactory response.

Because of the incomplete work, residents find it very difficult to take out their two- and four-wheelers from their houses.

The condition worsens when it rains. The dug up road is filled with water making it impossible not only for vehicles but also pedestrians to use the road, say

residents. “The water on the road comes into the houses and does not flow through. We not only have to then bear with the stink of the stagnant water but also it is a breeding spot for mosquitoes and flies,” says P Mumtaz, a resident.

If moving through stagnated water and potholes is one problem residents have been facing in the monsoons, the residents say that even during a dry spell, they are not able to open the doors of

What officials say

The RK Puram story

W

RK

hen Postnoon contacted the area corporator Mariamma Ipye, he said that the work would be completed by this month end. He blamed the delay on the monsoons and said, “We have received complaints and will take action against the contractors. `10 lakh has been sanctioned for the area road work and by this month end or first week of October the work will be completed. Because of the monsoons the work is delayed.”

Puram is a well known residential area in Secunderabad.

Though earlier most of the houses were independent houses, because of the development of the area, many apartment complexes have been multiplying. Many educational institutions too have come up in this area.

The RK Puram Rythu Bazaar.

Army school and the RK Puram railway station are landmark places in this area.

their houses because of the dirt and dust. The dust kicked up by the constant movement of vehicles enters the house and is making it very difficult for them, because it is posing as a health hazard.

The garbage collectors also overlook the road and as a result animal excreta and dried leaves lay all over the street causing severe health concerns to residents. Residents rue that in spite of several complaints the GHMC officials have not taken any action against the contractors.

The entire stretch of the road also is accident prone as there have been many instances of two wheelers skidding on the incomplete road. Since there are no proper street lights, it becomes very difficult for two-wheelers to ride on the bad road.

This apart there are also three schools in that area, making it difficult for little kids and their parents to walk on the stretch of the road. There have been several cases of kids falling down while walking on the stones on the road but officials remain unaffected.

We cannot go out for a walk or take our children out because of the road.

Especially during rains, the water stagnates to knee-deep level.

G Rajyam, Resident of Officers colony and home maker

“In spite of several complaints the officials seem to be turning a deaf ear to our problem.

Whenever we call the area corporator, he makes false promises saying that the road will be laid in the next 10 days, but so far no action has been taken since the last eight months.

KV Williams, Resident, and retired government employee

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News THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

POLITICAL DRAMA

‘PM candidate call after talks’ But a major concern for Rajnath Singh is to convince Advani and Sushma Swaraj, who are of the opinion that a decision on Modi should be taken after the assembly polls in five states.

NEW DELHI/PATNA: BJP’s prime ministerial nominee for the 2014 general elections would be announced after “talking to everyone”, party president Rajnath Singh said Thursday.

“We will decide after talking to everyone,” BJP president Rajnath Singh told a news channel.

Party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi added: “Discussions are going on and we will announce the nominee soon. There is no contradiction in the party on who will be the prime ministerial candidate. All is well.”

According to party sources, there is a broad agreement on the name of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate.

LEADERSHIP CHANGE

Internet radio titan Pandora gets new chief

five states, said sources.

In case a general consensus among the parliamentary board does not emerge, Rajnath Singh can also make an announcement even without a parliamentary board meeting as he has the power to do so.

ADVANI CRITICISED

A formal announcement may be made Friday when the BJP parliamentary board meets to approve Modi’s candidature.

But a major concern for Rajnath Singh is to convince

senior leaders L.K. Advani along with Sushma Swaraj, who are of the opinion that a decision on Modi’s projection as prime ministerial candidate should be taken after the assembly polls in

Former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi has criticised senior leader L.K. Advani for not supporting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.

“Advaniji has failed to gauge the public mood. Advaniji himself declared Atalji as PM candidate. Now also he could have done the same for Namo (Nare-

NATION

ndra Modi),” Sushil Modi wrote on Twitter Wednesday night.

Nearly a month ago, the Bihar unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) passed a resolution to declare Narendra Modi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections.

A BJP leader said that a few months ago, Sushil Modi was considered close to Advani and was a vocal supporter of the party patriarch within the BJP. But the changing equation in the party in favour of Narendra Modi forced him to take an antiAdvani stand.

IANS

VIETNAM

TOP DOG

Democracy activist gets 15-year jail

OAKLAND: Internet radio titan Pandora on Wednesday appointed a digital advertising star as its chief executive in the increasingly competitive online music business.

HANOI: Vietnam has sentenced a former army officer to 15 years in jail for plotting to overthrow the communist regime, a court official said Thursday, in the latest crackdown on dissent.

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Brian McAndrews took the helm of the Oakland, Californiabased firm as Apple was poised to launch an iTunes Radio service with the September 18 release of new iOS software for powering iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch devices. McAndrews succeeds Joe Kennedy, who announced his planned departure early this year after nine years at the company’s helm.

AFP

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A British dog called Ozzy who holds the world record for the fastest crossing of a tightrope by a dog pictured in an undisclosed location. The 4-and-half-year-old successfully crossed a rope measuring 3.5 m in 18.22 seconds.

This record is presented in the new Guinness World Records 2014 book.

AFP/PAUL MICHAEL HUGHES

Ngo Hao, 65, who served under the US-backed regime in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, was convicted at a trial on Wednesday, the official said. He was accused of activities seeking a multi-party political system under the instruction of the Bloc 8406 pro-democracy movement, which is banned in Vietnam, media reports said.

AFP

WORLD BRIEFS Japan to hike sales tax, launch $50 bn stimulus

Two state lawmakers killed in Mexico

Heavy fighting in rebelbesieged Philippine city

Japan hangs murderer, bringing Abe’s toll to 6

N Korea said to restart plutonium reactor

TOKYO: Japan’s PM has decided to hike the nation’s sales tax next year, but will soften the blow with a $50billion stimulus package aimed at protecting a budding economic recovery, reports said Thursday. Shinzo Abe, will press on with a plan to lift taxes to 8.0 percent from the current 5.0 percent, a move seen as crucial to tackling a staggering national debt.

OAXACA: Authorities said Wednesday that two local lawmakers were killed in separate incidents in Mexico. Oaxaca state legislator Everardo Hugo Hernandez was shot at a restaurant near the capital on Tuesday. Elsewhere, local lawmaker Osvaldo Esquivel Lucatero was hacked to death by machete-wielding assailants.

ZAMBOANGA: Heavy fighting broke out Thursday between Philippines government forces and Muslim rebels who laid siege to a southern city, with mortars and sniper fire unleashed on troops as they advanced on militant positions.Troops advancing toward the militants, who are dug in on the city’s outskirts, were met with rebel sniper volleys, sources said.

TOKYO: Japan hanged a 73-yearold man on Thursday, bringing to six the number of inmates executed since the conservative government of Shinzo Abe came to power in December. Tokuhisa Kumagai was convicted of shooting dead the owner of a Chinese restaurant in May 2004. Japan now has 132 inmates on death row.

WASHINGTON: North Korea appears to have restarted a reactor that produces plutonium, making good on threats to boost its stockpile of nuclear weapons, US analysts said Wednesday. Satellite imagery taken on August 31 shows white steam coming out of a building next to the five-megawatt plutonium reactor at Yongbyon.

9

News THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 MOSCOW FARCE?

Sobyanin is Moscow mayor again ANNA SMOLCHENKO feedback@postnoon.com MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin is to attend the inauguration of a close ally as Moscow mayor, despite claims of foul play in weekend polls from his antiKremlin rival who plans to send a truck-load of complaints to court.

Incumbent mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who barely avoided a run-off in Sunday’s closer-than-expected Moscow mayoral polls, will be sworn in during a ceremony attended by hundreds of guests led

by Putin on Thursday evening.

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The Moscow election commission refused to conduct a partial vote recount demanded by Sobyanin’s main rival Alexei Navalny.

Navalny said his team was putting together evidence that the vote was rigged in favour of Sobyanin, who was appointed Moscow mayor in 2010 but had called the elections before his term was due to end.

According to official results, Sobyanin received 51.3 per cent of the vote but Navalny’s team insists that according to its data, the mayor had polled around 49 per cent.

SYRIAN CRISIS

DEATH ROW

Syria strike would be apocalyptic!

President Vladimir Putin claims that a US strike on Syria would destroy the current world order.

DAVID CLARK feedback@postnoon.com WASHINGTON: Russia issued a stark warning Thursday that unilateral US military action could destroy world order, as the rival great powers discussed a plan to remove Syria’s chemical weapons.

In a bid to appeal directly to US voters and policy-makers over the head of President Barack Obama, Kremlin leader President Vladimir Putin penned a commentary in the New York Times.

His article appeared at the same time as US Secretary of State John Kerry took off for Geneva, where he was to work with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on a plan to neutralize Syria’s chemical arsenal.

Putin welcomed Washington’s willingness to engage with the Moscow initiative, but he rebuked Obama for his previous threat to launch US military strikes to punish Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

He warned that carrying out such a move without the approval of the United Nations Security Council, where Moscow wields a veto, would destroy the credibility of the world body.

Court slams forced medication WASHINGTON: A Texas appeals court ruled that a schizophrenic death row inmate cannot be forced to take medication which could make him mentally fit to be executed.

Steven Stanley, 51, had originally been scheduled to be executed in 2006, but he won a reprieve when he was found to be mentally incompetent.

Prosecutors sought permission to have him “involuntarily medicated” and after a lengthy legal battle were able to get the worst of his symptoms under control.

Despite continuing to suffer from some delusions, Stanley AROUND THE

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“No-one wants the UN to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage,” he said, referring to the United Nations’ failed inter-war predecessor.

“A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism,” Putin wrote, in a piece that emphasized that many of the rebels ranged against Assad have ties to Al-Qaeda.

“It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa,” he continued.

“It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance,” he said.

Syria is a traditional ally of Russia, and Moscow has blocked any attempt to sanction his regime through the United Nations during the two-and-ahalf year civil war that grips his country.

was found to be mentally competent to be executed in 2012. The state’s criminal appeals court overruled that decision, arguing that the lower court lacked the authority to order Stanley’s medication.

“We hold that the evidence conclusively shows that appellant’s competency to be executed was achieved solely through the involuntary medication, which the trial court had no authority to order,” Judge Elsa Alcala wrote in a 5-4 opinion.

“The evidence conclusively shows that the appellant is incompetent to be executed.”

9/11: THE 12TH ANNIVERSARY

America marks a day of infamy In New York, the US capital Washington and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, relatives of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the hijacked airliners and on the ground gathered for somber remembrance ceremonies.

MARIANO ANDRADE feedback@postnoon.com NEW YORK CITY: War-weary Americans on Wednesday marked the 12th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, with President Barack Obama — for now holding fire on Syria — saying force alone cannot “build the world we seek”.

In New York, the US capital Washington and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, relatives of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the hijacked airliners and on the ground gathered for

somber remembrance ceremonies.

“Our hearts still ache for the futures snatched away, the lives that might have been,” Obama said at the Pentagon, where 184 AROUND THE

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died when one of the planes struck the building.

“They left this Earth. They slipped from our grasp.”

Polls show a majority of Americans — weary of war after

US interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan — oppose action in Syria. Relatives gathered at the 9/11 Memorial around the two huge black fountains that mark the footprints of the Twin Towers for the ritual reading of the names of the dead.

That list has 2,983 names in all: the 9/11 victims, plus those killed in the precursor to those attacks, the 1993 car bombing of the World Trade Center.

And at the US Capitol, hundreds of lawmakers marked the anniversary singing God Bless America.

10

News THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Confucius say, ‘He who cooks best, eats most food’

CAROL HUANG Agence France Presse

QUFU: Revered for centuries but reviled in recent decades, Confucius is making a comeback in China — and on its dinner plates.

“Confucius cuisine” is a finedining trend that reflects how the ruling Communist party — which long saw the sage as a reactionary force — has drafted him into its modern campaign to boost what President Xi Jinping has called China’s “cultural soft power”.

One of the few ancient Chinese names to have global recognition, the philosopher highlights bonds with overseas Chinese and other Asian nations, and his moniker has been adopted for more than 300 languageteaching “Confucius Institutes” in 90 countries.

The authorities are “going back and finding certain elements that existed before the 20th century” and “exploiting Confucius as a brand”, says Thomas Wilson, a professor at Hamilton College in New York.

Among restaurants in Qufu in the eastern province of Shandong — where the philosopher known in Chinese as Kong Zi lived from 551 BC to 479 BC — the cuisine is an edible symbol of the way the writer has been reworked.

“Book of Odes and Book of Rites Ginkos”, a dense, mildly sweet dessert named after two Confucius classics, is a yellow pea flour “book” topped with nuts and drizzled with honey.

In another dish, radishes carved into exquisite trees reflect his saying that “food can never be too fine and cooking never too delicate”.

The philosopher’s teachings of hierarchy, order and deference

One of the few Chinese names to have global recognition, the philosopher highlights bonds with overseas Chinese and other Asian nations.

Confucianism, and during the tumultuous 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, Red Guard youths incited by Mao Zedong destroyed Confucian temples along with other symbols of the past, and targeted Confucian chefs for abuse.

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had deep resonance in the feudal societies of China and the region.

Tens of generations of his descendants lived at the sprawling Confucius Residence complex in Qufu, enjoying close ties with a succession of emperors, along with ever bigger land grants and hereditary titles.

They regularly feted all manner of dignitaries with elaborate banquets, over time developing

an exquisite cuisine, say the chefs promoting it today. But that privileged world disappeared in the 20th century, as Japan invaded the country and the Communists won the civil war.

Many Confucius descendants — then in the 77th generation — abandoned Qufu and fled to Taiwan.

After taking power the Communists savaged

has proved difficult.

“The Cultural Revolution cut off nearly four generations,” laments Wang Xinglan, who was commissioned by the commerce ministry to rediscover Confucius cuisine in the 1980s and now heads the Shandong Cuisine Research Association.

Today’s dishes supposedly draw from those developed over the centuries at the residence in Qufu, but that leaves plenty of room for interpretation among enterprising restaurateurs.

“Some people want to use the label, but they simply don’t understand the dishes, the culture, the history — so they can’t make the food,” says Wang.

A couple running Confucian Home-Cooking — one of many hole-in-the-walls in Qufu advertising authentic traditional dishes — serves Confucius Residence Tofu for 30 yuan ($4.60) and egg soup for five yuan.

Their version of “Book of Odes and Book of Rites Ginkgos”

amounts to a pile of the yellow nuts ringed by tomato slices, which the husband takes just a few minutes to whip up before sitting back down to stuff chopsticks into plastic sleeves.

On the wall hangs a C rating from the sanitation bureau.

Meanwhile down the street the luxury Shangri-La hotel — where dishes run as high as 680 yuan — boasts an artistic Confucius feast reimagining “Book of Odes and Book of Rites Ginkgos” as a snow pear carved with the word “poetry”.

The dessert is topped with a slowly stewed date, lotus seed and ginkgo nut and drizzled with caramel sauce and osmanthus honey.

The hotel’s Confucius Mansion’s Eight Treasures soup includes sea cucumber, abalone, fish maw and other delicacies.

In another dish prawns are cocooned in hand-pulled fried vermicelli and plated like a modern sculpture.

Professor Wilson points out that “the first motive for reviving any of these things is to make money. “The so-called Confucius cuisine is part of the opening up of the tourist industry in China,” he says.

A Qufu resident surnamed Li, 45, passing by the lush hotel grounds, dismisses what she considers a ploy for free-spending tourists.

“They take a carrot and carve it into something pretty. But it doesn’t taste good, it only looks good,” she says.

“It’s for people with money.”

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News THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

THE PALESTINE QUESTION

A grand plan ‘doomed to fail’ Settlement building, to which the Palestinians had long demanded a halt before negotiating, was stepped up with Israel’s announcement before talks on August 14 of more than 2,000 new settler homes, infuriating Palestinian negotiators.

RAMALLAH: Twenty years after the historic Oslo accords, seen then as the cornerstone of an imminent peace settlement, Israelis and Palestinians had to be dragged back to the negotiating table following conflicts and political deadlock.

With Palestinian officials admitting the latest US-brokered talks are “doomed to failure” and Israel stepping up settlement construction, analysts see outside pressure as the only way to reach an agreement.

“Both sides will have to... restrain the extremists. The enemies of peace are within both camps,” Yossi Beilin, a mastermind of the Oslo accords, wrote in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.

Pro-settlement ministers in Israel’s ruling coalition, including Housing Minister Uri Ariel, oppose any withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory and even the creation of a state for the Palestinians.

Success in the talks is “so dependent on the players,” agreed Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath, speaking to journalists this week.

“I thought when Oslo started that it had a strong opportunity for success.

“There were two leaders who were dedicated to make it work,” he said of then Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who sealed the accords with a handshake on the White House lawn on

September 13, 1993.

But given the current climate, “it should not be just bilateral negotiations and just bilateral agreements because the balance of power (firmly in Israel’s favour) makes it impossible to implement,” Shaath said.

“There has to be international involvement ... and there has to be a commitment...to monitor implementation and take steps needed if any party violates” tacit agreements.”

Settlement building, to which the Palestinians had long demanded a halt before negotiating, was stepped up with Israel’s announcement before talks on August 14 of more than 2,000 new settler homes, infuriating Palestinian negotiators.

The last round of talks in 2010 broke down within weeks over the settlements issue.

“The presence of a third party is vital in a situation where the two sides themselves are not initiating anything,” Beilin said.

“When the leaders of the two sides believe that the status quo is tolerable, there is the need for a third party to wake them up to reality.”

Palestinians complain that Israel has deliberately kept the United States, which brought the two sides back to the table after months of persuasion by US Secretary of State John Kerry, away from any meetings since August.

Ahead of the Oslo anniversary, observers can reflect on its achievements, such as the creation of the

Understanding the Oslo Accord

T

he Oslo I Accord, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim SelfGovernment Arrangements, was an attempt in 1993 to set up a framework that would lead to the resolution of the ongoing Israeli– Palestinian conflict. It was the first face-to-face agreement between the government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Negotiations concerning the agreement, an outgrowth of the Madrid Conference of 1991, were conducted secretly in Oslo, Norway hosted by the Fafo institute, and completed on 20 August 1993; the Accords were subsequently officially signed at a public ceremony in Washington, DC, on September 13, 1993 in the presence of PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, the then Israeli Prime

Minister Yitzhak Rabin and US President Bill Clinton.

The Accord provided for the creation of a Palestinian interim self-government, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The Palestinian Authority would have responsibility for the administration of the territory under its control. The Accords also called for the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

It was anticipated that this arrangement would last for a fiveyear interim period during which a permanent agreement would be negotiated. Issues such as Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlements, security and borders were left to future negotiations. In 1995, the Oslo I Accord was followed by Oslo II. Neither promised Palestinian statehood.

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Palestinian Authority (PA). But the goals of ending the decades-old conflict and paving the way for Palestinian statehood appear as distant as ever.

Beilin said the PA, dominated by the Palestine Liberation Organisation and headed by Arafat’s successor as Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, was crucial for the success of any dialogue.

“Israel has a definite Palestinian entity that it can address... Today Israel and the Palestinians coordinate operations in all spheres... especially the security field. This is the major change that the Oslo accords have brought about,” he wrote.

But “the fact that, 20 years after the signing of the Oslo accords, we are standing in front of scaffolding instead of a finished structure is disappointing,” he said.

OSLO ONLY A STARTING POINT PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi agreed the PA’s creation had been a starting point.

“We have achieved the return of the Palestinian leadership to Palestinian territories as well as about 300,000 families, and the building of Palestinian institutions and an administration,” she told AFP. But “we have lost a lot — land, resources, capabilities — and Israel has imposed an infrastructure (on

us), splitting us up into isolated areas through settlements. It’s as if the settlements have always been there and the Palestinian presence is what’s new.”

Adnan Abu Amer, professor of politics at Gaza’s Umma University, said there was “no doubt that the Oslo accords were a necessary stage for both sides.”

But they “did not give the Israelis the security they

wanted in Gaza and the West Bank, and did not grant the Palestinians the land they wanted based on the 1967 lines” The Palestinians want the borders of their future state to be based on borders which existed before Israel occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. That would involve the evacuation of settlements.

PICK YOUR

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Across Stores

ities Twin C

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News THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

A DYING LEGACY

The twilight of Cashmere Weavers have produced exquisite shawls in Kashmir for centuries, but their craft risks dying out in the face of cheap foreign imports and a young generation uninterested in mastering the skill.

SAJJAD QAYYUM feedback@postnoo.com GRACE VALLEY: In his tworoom wooden house high in the beautiful Grace Valley in Kashmir, Hidayat Ullah weaves at a manual paddle loom. Asked how he learned the craft, he gestures to a frail, wizened old man coughing on a bed in the corner.

“I got this skill from my father, but now my son is not taking up this profession. He prefers to work in the fields and sometimes also works as a labourer — it’s better money than the loom,” Hidayat Ullah told AFP. Weavers have produced exquisite shawls in Kashmir for centuries, but their craft risks dying out in the face of cheap foreign imports and a young generation uninterested in mastering the skill.

Kashmir gave its name to the soft cashmere wool that commands huge prices in the West, but in Hidayat Ullah’s village there are now only 10 paddle looms, known as khadis, where once there were 100.

Cashmere scarves and sweaters sell for hundreds of dollars in the developed world but Hidayat Ullah takes only 3,000 rupees — $30 — for the 15 days’ labour needed to make a single shawl.

For centuries the people of Grace Valley in Kashmir lived off their livestock, taking their animals up to high pastures in summer and bringing them down in September to shear them and spin the wool.

As snow blanketed the valley for the long months of winter, villagers confined indoors wove shawls, embroidering colourful patterns by hand before selling them in the spring as the emerald slopes returned to life.

Now demand among locals is collapsing.

“A hand-woven shawl costs 10,000 rupees ($100) while you can get the same kind of shawl in the markets for 2,000 to 3,000 rupees,” weaver Zeenat Bibi, 32, told AFP. Bibi makes shawls with her father-in-law but says no-one else in the family is interested in learning.

“I have a 10-year-old daughter, who asks me why I waste my time doing this strange old job,” she said.

In the past, the isolation of the area helped local craftsmen as it was difficult to bring in

Thousands of Kashmiris are involved in the Pashmina trade, but scarce raw materials and an explosion in fakes worries artisans and many have quit. goods from outside. Now, as communications open up, things are changing.

“These days second-hand clothes with new designs, good material and at cheaper prices are available, so they want to buy these and this old tradition is diminishing day by day,” said Fatima Yaqoob, a lecturer at the Arts and Cultural University of Kashmir.

Government help is needed to modernise the industry — in particular to switch from manual to power looms — and encourage more people to go into it, she said.

In India, the government has already stepped in to minimise the impact of similar problems affecting the traditional artisans who make beautiful shawls from special wool from the Pashmina goat.

It has secured a GI (Geographical Indication under

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WTO) mark for the fabric and the process of shawl making and set up a testing laboratory in Srinagar.

Pashmina goats are reared by nomads in the Changthang area of Ladakh, at an altitude of more than 14,000 feet where winter temperatures can plummet to minus 50 degrees Celsius.

The finest Pashmina wool is hand-spun into shawls, usually by women. Artisans then embroider them with intricate designs for a finished product that can cost thousands of dollars in the West.

Thousands of Kashmiris are involved in the Pashmina trade, but scarce raw materials and an explosion in fakes worries artisans and traders, and many have quit the profession.

“The term Kashmir Pashmina is being misused by very many people around the world,” said MS Farooqi, who heads the Craft Development Institute in Srinagar.

“The craft of Pashmina making has such a historical context, exquisiteness and uniqueness that it is a coveted product worldwide... and GI will help

The ‘Cashmere’ industry

I

ndia has become the largest producer of raw cashmere and their clip is estimated at 10,000 metric tons per year (in hair).

Mongolia produces somewhat more than 3,000 tons (2,721 tonnes) (in hair), while Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, and other Central Asian Republics produce significant but lesser amounts. The annual world clip is estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,000 tons (13,605 and 18,140 tonnes) (in hair).

“Pure cashmere”, resulting from removing animal grease, dirt and coarse hairs from the fleece, is estimated at about 6,500 tons (5,895 tonnes). It is estimated that on average yearly production per goat is 150 grams (about 1/3 lb).

bring it back to the people and the region it belongs to,” Farooqi said.

“Kashmir Pashmina will now be branded as that and restored to the original creators of the craft.”

But the younger generation are abandoning Pashminas for jobs with the government or in the construction industry in Ladakh.

Last winter some 25,000 Pashmina goats perished in Changthang in unusually cold weather when their fodder froze and land routes to the area were cut off for weeks.

Scientists at the Sher-iKashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology or SKUAST in Kashmir last year succeeded in making a clone of the Pashmina goat, which was called Noori.

The aim is to increase productivity of the Pashmina yielding goats and to send male clones into the environment to breed naturally.

Experiments have shown that while the Pashmina goat can survive at lower altitudes in Kashmir, they do not produce the same quality of Pashmina wool.

But it’s unclear if science can stop the market trends.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

Business

OIL EDGES UP DESPITE DISAPPOINTING US DATA

World oil prices ticked higher Wednesday after two straight days of losses, despite a weaker-than-expected report on US crude-oil inventories. New York’s main crude-oil futures contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for October, closed at $107.56 a barrel.

WAITING FOR IKEA!

FBI SET TO GET TRUMPED

So where are all these global retail chains?

In September 2012, Walmart said it aimed to launch its first retail store in India within the next 18 months but has made no recent mention of the target. Carrefour and Britain’s Tesco, operate in India as a wholesaler with local partnerships but is yet to set up its own stores.

SALIL PANCHAL feedback@postnoon.com MUMBAI: A year since India reduced foreign investment barriers to its retail sector to spur economic growth, confusing rules and political uncertainty are keeping overseas supermarket giants away, analysts say.

In September 2012, the government allowed foreign stores to set up 51-per cent-owned joint ventures in India which they had eyed for years as a potentially lucrative market.

But so far there has been no rush to open outlets, despite further easing of entry barriers.

“There’s no comprehensive consolidated government paper on FDI — just updates and statements. It’s not a good sign,” said retail analyst Anil Talreja of global consultancy Deloitte.

Last month, US giant Walmart sought more government clarifications on FDI, having earlier said it was unable to fulfill sourcing guidelines stipulating 30 percent of products must come from small-scale industry.

In September 2012, Walmart said it aimed to launch its first retail store in India within the next 18 months to two years but has made no recent mention of the target. The firm, like French supermarkets Carrefour and Britain’s Tesco, operates in India as a wholesaler with local partnerships but is yet to set up

13

WASHINGTONL Flamboyant New York property developer and reality TV star Donald Trump is casting his eye on what some Washingtonians consider an architectural eyesore in the US capital — FBI headquarters.

He told The Washington Post in an interview that he might take an opportunity to acquire the Brutaliststyle premises on Pennsylvania Avenue in return for erecting a new and bigger home for the storied federal law enforcement agency.

“We’ll be watching the FBI as to what’s going to happen,” the Post quoted Trump as saying. “Whether or not we will bid on it, we may, we may not.”

NUMEROLOGY

$49

bn

is the value of Verizon’s recordsmashing bond sale, as it gathers financing to buy Vodafone’s stake in their Verizon Wireless joint venture.

BP SIGNS HUGE IRAQ DEAL

its own stores.

Devangshu Dutta, head of retail consultancy Third Eyesight, said “regulatory complexity” was an issue for brands “evaluating the costs against benefits” of entering the country.

The inability to woo big foreign firms is a blow for India, keen to attract outside investment to help boost its sliding economy. The rupee has fallen by nearly a fifth against the dollar this year, economic growth is at its slowest in a decade and the current account deficit, the broadest trade measure, is at a record high.

But with elections due by next May, the Congress-led gov-

ernment now seems more focused on populist measures, such as a huge food-for-thepoor scheme, than on streamlining FDI policy — a politically sensitive issue, analysts say.

The central government has left it to each state to decide whether foreign retailers can set up shop — and so far only 11 out of 28 states have expressed a keenness for overseas chains.

Sonam Udasi, Mumbai’s IDBI Capital research head, said there were “too many different noises” over foreign investment to reassure players. “Most will wait until a new government comes to power,” he told AFP. One of the few foreign

retailers to commit to India in recent months is Swedish giant Ikea, which plans to open 25 stores as part of a wider push into emerging markets.

The firm’s India chief, Juvencio Maeztu, has said it is willing to wait “five years” to find perfect store sites.

But while foreign supermarkets hold back from India, domestic chains are rapidly expanding, underlining the potential of a middle-class.

But as local players push ahead, the wait for foreign supermarkets will likely continue until the economic outlook and regulatory climate clears, experts say.

GOLD `30,682 10g SILVER `52,439 1kg

24C

for

for

DOLLAR `63.18 POUND `99.97

KIRKUK: British energy giant BP has signed a deal with Baghdad on an oilfield at the heart of a dispute between the central government and Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq, officials said. The agreement calls for the company to carry out surveys at the Kirkuk oilfield but could eventually lead to it working to increase the field’s production.Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region swiftly condemned the deal. Developing the field is part of Iraqi efforts to boost oil output in order to fund much-needed reconstruction.But Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan are locked in a dispute over a swathe of disputed territory.

THUS SPAKE Aggressive cuts to social security, health and education, fewer rights for workers and unfair taxation are trapping millions of Europeans in a circle of poverty that could last for generations. It is moral and economic nonsense.

NATALIA ALONSO, HEAD OF OXFAM’S EU OFFICE

BSE NSE

19,915.58 81.87

5,892.10 21.05

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

Comment

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS Yes Mr Prime Minister, control of tobacco needs a combination of political will and public health action and only multi-sectoral policies will drive down its demand. Enacting comprehensive legislations for tobacco control and bans on public smoking and production of gutka have just not worked.

ANNIVERSARY OF A GLOBAL DEBACLE

14

FIVE YEARS AFTER THE CRASH, US PICKS UP THE PIECES

AFTER THE CRASH

JEREMY TORDJMAN

I

t is an anniversary without celebration: five years after the implosion of banking giant Lehman Brothers sparked the worst crisis in generations, the US can say it avoided catastrophe.

After just barely pulling back from the precipice, industry is picking up, home prices are gaining, banks are stable and American consumers have started spending — albeit still with great caution. But the millions still jobless, and an economy still needing stimulus, shows the scars have yet to heal.

“I wouldn’t say we’re anywhere near having a fantastic situation again,” says Harvard economics professor Kenneth Rogoff. “But at least the economy is now moderately robust.”

The economy was already struggling under the housing market collapse when on September 15, 2008, Lehman crumbled and the government’s decision not to save it sent a shock down Wall Street.

The fall of the century-old US investment banking stalwart detonated an implosion in the US financial sector that reverberated around the globe.

The government quickly mobilised more than $420 billion to prop up other banks and automakers GM and Chrysler,

whose collapse would have meant hundreds of thousands more jobs lost. But that wasn’t enough to stem the hemorrhage.

In the 12 months from September 2008, unemployment rocketed from 6.1 per cent to 9.8 per cent. The economy melted down, contracting at an 8.3 per cent annual rate in the final

quarter of 2008. With receipts sinking and intervention costs rising, the government deficit soared to $1.4 trillion, from 3.2 percent of gross domestic product to 10.1 per cent by 2009. “It was a very risky period, we could have had a new Great Depression,” said Rogoff.

Five years later, that night-

mare has passed.

The ability of the US authorities to take an aggressive approach to resolve the financial crisis was decisive,” said Nicolas Veron, a researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. It was crucial to shore up faith in the banks.

After helping them with financial support, the government forced banks to prove their strength via “stress tests” applied to their capital foundations.

That was done first in 2009, and was then cemented as an annual exercise in the DoddFrank legislation laying down fresh regulation for the financial system to avoid a repeat.

In February 2009 the new administration of Barack Obama marshaled $787 billion to boost consumption and shore up the decimated housing industry.

The results? Home prices have certainly bounced back, and the administration says millions of families avoided losing their homes to foreclosures. But home prices remain well below the pre-recession peak and millions more families still struggle to make payments.

Consumer spending, the fundamental motor of the US economy, is also still below its peak, partly because household wealth — including what people put away for retirement — has dramatically fallen.

Five years later, too, the economy remains dependent on the Federal Reserve’s unconventional efforts to pump cheap dollars into it — around $3 trillion since the onset of the crisis.

But firming growth means that could soon be halted. Many expect the Fed to announce next week the winding down of its stimulus — the beginning of the end of crisis operations.

EDITORIALS High and mighty UK discriminating against us Ease plight of the common man

T

he UK Cabinet better be united over the issue of visa bonds for Indians, and that better be to jointly overthrow the suggestion. Making Indian visitors seem like desperadoes, almost giving them a criminal status is going to sour relationship between the two countries. The impending introduction of bond for a £3,000 refundable amount applies to ‘high risk’ individual from six countries India, Ghana, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nigeria. Who are these arbitrarily defined ‘high risk’ individuals? There already is a mechanism in place to ensure that people from here do not flock there. A visit to the UK embassy for a visa will leave no doubts that anybody from India who needs to go to the UK on a certain purpose remains focussed on that purpose. Gone are the days when Indians were all starry eyed to try and make it big in a foreign land, London being a much-preferred destination. Gone too are the days when the London Bridge beckoned those who could afford to live a dream as a must-visit. The tides have changed. India today offers enough opportunities to earn here and spend there. Britain has the largest visa operations in India, processing almost half a million applications every year. This rather unfriendly move will dissuade Indian companies’ from investing in UK and deter tourists from going there. UK will have to reconsider its decision to pilot this discriminatory scheme in its own interest.

READERS’ VIEWS

A

s long as the cure is in focus, the disease will continue to command the situation. The key is to prevent the disease itself. By monitoring processes properly, the government can and must ensure that there is no violation at any stage, and this is not an impossible procedure. Once things are let of hand, reining it in is difficult.

There are enough loopholes in the law, there is the stay from a court that one can effectively use to one’s advantage. The scope for escaping punishment is possibly more than the avenues available to enforce law. In any case, the punishment is going to be passed onto the user, the common man. In fact the criminal procedures only add to their financial woes.

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

15

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

tELEVISION REWIND

Going back to the files

NEW SERIES

The X-Files turned 20 this week, here’s a list of some of the episodes that made it the phenomenon it is.

T

here were Morleys.

There were iced teas.

There was the flukeman, Pusher, Tooms and little green grey men. There was a missing little sister and a gold cross necklace and a bee with really, really bad timing.

And at the heart of The XFiles, there were Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, the FBI’s most unwanted, who chased aliens, all things paranormal and, of course, each other for nine seasons on Fox. Tuesday marked the 20th anniversary of the eerie series’ premiere.

These episodes have been chosen, some for the way they forwarded the mythology, some for their humor, some for how they nudged the central pair’s glacially paced relationship toward its eventual, lovers-on-the-lam end.

But if Season 5’s Bad Blood taught us anything, it’s that different people can have different takes on the same event. (And that a hungry Scully is an unhappy Scully.)

American Psycho FX is developing a TV-series sequel to Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial modern classic American Psycho.The novel told the story of a wealthy young investment banker in the late 1980s who moonlit as a serial killer. A film version starring Christian Bale was released in 2000. The FX version will be set years after the events in the book and star A Bateman in his 50s who takes on a new apprentice.

DID YOU KNOW...

Nach Baliye 6 Actor Ashutosh Rana has been reportedly approached to participate in the upcoming edition of celebrity dance reality show Nach Baliye along with his actress wife Renuka Shahane

PILOT

Season 1 Mulder is condescending.

Scully is green. But after a couple of mosquito bites and nine unaccounted-for minutes, a partnership is born.

TRENDING...

TOOMS

Season 1 Notable both for the Monster of the Week’s liver-noshing grossness and the infamous iced tea/root beer exchange in the stakeout car.

a reason to live.

MEMENTO MORI

Season 2 Scully goes missing, in an intergalactic sense, and we’ll never again be able to listen to “Red Right Hand” without getting the heebie-jeebies.

Season 4 Scully gets cancer. Mulder, in a fit of funky poaching, steals her eggs. (It’s gallant! Really!)

He won’t tell her about the frozen ova for years, but somehow that doesn’t matter as the duo embraces in a hospital hallway.

ONE BREATH

TRIANGLE

ASCENSION

Season 2 “We’ll be together again, Starbuck,” a ghostly Papa Scully tells his comatose, just-returned-from-abduction daughter. “But not now.”

Plus: Superstars of the Super Bowls — we knew there was

Season 6 The ambitious episode, shot in just a few very long takes, plays with time and simultaneous shots to put Mulder & Co. on a cruise liner in the Bermuda Triangle. In 1939.

And the ship is comman-

deered by Nazis. But Mulder tells Scully he loves her at the end, so there’s that.

DEADALIVE

Season 8 Mulder’s back! He looks like death warmed over, which he basically is, but he’s back!

EXISTENCE

Season 8 With only Agent Reyes’ whale sounds to guide her, Scully gives birth to baby William in a creepy town full of menacing figures. Mulder, as usual, arrives too late to be of much help. But he makes up for it at the end of the episode when he pulls Scully and the baby close and, with

a kiss and “The truth, we both know,” confirms what we’d hoped: He’s the boy’s dad.

THE TRUTH

Season 9 You’d think a newborn at home would be enough to keep Mulder in one spot.

You’d be wrong. Though he’s sentenced to death and forced to sit through a sham trial, the wily agent somehow escapes and takes to the road with Scully for a fugitive life (at least for a while the film The X-Files: I Want to Believe updates us on their assimilation back into society.

Source: IMDB

NCIS fans were shocked when it was revealed that fan favorite Cote de Pablo would be leaving the hit CBS drama after playing Ziva David for eight years. De Pablo will return for part of Season 11 to conclude Ziva's story properly, and, according to executive producer Gary Glasberg, viewers might need tissues on hand.In an open letter to fans shared via Twitter on Tuesday Glasberg addressed the issue.

Michelle Monaghan rounds out the lead cast of Open, HBO’s drama pilot from Ryan Murphy. The Fox 21 project, which Murphy cowrote with Lauren Gussis, is described as a modern, provocative exploration of human sexuality and relationships.

Monaghan will play the central female character Grace, a successful and recently engaged gynecologist.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

spotlight PORCELAIN LTD

Lladro Vice President, Angeles Lladro, unveiled a special edition porcelain sculpture, Ram Darbar, at the Lladro boutique at Punjagutta.

The unveiling coincided with the brand’s completion of 60 years.

Handcrafted and modeled in Spain, the sculpture is of Ram and Sita along with Lakshman and Hanuman.

Business of Style ROOTS, a city based International School of Business and Management organised Aamantran 2013 to welcome new students.

The core theme was Global Desi and it was held at the Park Hotel.

Ms. Fresher ROOTS 2013, Vindhya

Mr. Fresher ROOTS 2013, Ayush Gehlot

18 PUTTING IT IN GEAR

Fashion designer Sailesh Singhania’s handloom collection was launched

by Hon. Minister for Information and PR, Smt. D K Aruna.

Created with the intention to revive weaving, the collection consists of a blend of silks , Charkha Khadi, Ikats and Jamdhani, which is used to create sarees, lehengas and dresses.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

health

INNOVATIVE CALL CENTRE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN & CHILDREN IN ASSAM Health Management and Research Institute, an initiative under the Ajay G Piramal Foundation, in association with Assam National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) have set up a formal and organised call centre for pregnant women in Assam under the Central Government’s Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS) scheme.

WHAT TO AVOID

FOR WOMEN

19

PAINKILLERS

can cause certain birth defects Women taking prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin, Vicodin and Percocet early in pregnancy are twice as likely to give birth to babies with devastating neural tube defects such as spina bifida, a new study suggests.

D

espite the doubled risk, researchers described the escalation as “modest” since neural tube defects — which include those of the brain and spine — seldom occur. With study participants’ use of prescription opioids, the risk of these birth defects translated to a prevalence of nearly six per 10,000 live births.

“We want to keep in mind that major birth defects of any kind affect only 2 percent to 3 percent of live births, so the risks we’ve identified should be kept in perspective,” said study author Mahsa Yazdy, a postdoctoral associate at Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University. “Even though we found a doubling in the risk of neural tube defects, these are still rare occurrences.”

Funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the study was published online Sept. 9 in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology in advance of the October 2013 print issue.

Defects of the neural tube, which typically occur in the first month of pregnancy, include problems such as spina bifida, where the spinal column doesn’t close completely, and anencephaly, where most of the brain and skull don’t develop. The new study echoes findings from previous research linking birth defects with early pregnancy opioid use.

Prescription painkillers

Dr Pratap C Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group is seen with (L-R) Dr Rooma Sinha, consultant gynaecologist, Dr Meenakshi Jain, minimally invasive surgery specialist, USA, Dr Priyamvada Reddy and Sangita Reddy at the workshop.

TRANSFORMING GYNECOLOGICAL SURGERIES Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad recently hosted a Robotic Gynaecology Workshop at Apollo Health City, Hyderabad.

T

he workshop beamed live demonstration of Robotic Hysterectomy & Robotic Myomectomy (removal of fibroids), from the Operation Theatre to the Conference hall, which had Gynaecologists from across the City attending.

Since the approval of Robotic assisted Laparoscopy by US FDA in 2005, it is rapidly finding its place in gynaecological surg-

are second only to marijuana when it comes to drug abuse, according to a January 2013 government report, and about 22 million Americans have misused these painkillers since 2002.

The prevalence of opioid use among pregnant women ranges between 2 percent and 20 percent, according to background information included in the new study, which looked at drugs such as codeine, oxycodone (Oxycontin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin), among others.

“With the widespread usage of these medications, we want women to know about this [finding],” said Dr. Siobhan Dolan, medical advisor to the March of Dimes.

“We need more of this kind of data so people can make informed decisions.” Dolan was not involved with the new study.

Yazdy and her team used data collected during a 12year span from telephone interviews with mothers within six months of childbirth. The interviews included detailed questions about medication use.

Mothers of 305 children born with neural tube defects were compared to those of more than 20,000 babies in two other groups — one of healthy babies, and babies with other types of birth defects that weren’t related to opioid use. “Periconceptual” opioid use was defined as any reported use in the two months after the last menstrual period.

Although the study found an association between the use of opioid painkillers during pregnancy and a higher risk of neural tube birth defects, it did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

eries. Robotic surgery is an advanced computer enhanced laparoscopic surgery that helps the surgeon to perform precise and detailed surgery. Robotic instruments can access hard-toreach areas of the human body more easily especially in pelvis during gynaecological surgeries.

Contrary to the myth, it is the surgeon and her skill that determines the outcome of the surgery and not the robot.

The potential advantages of the robotic systems 1. Less chance of converting to open.

2. Less Scarring- Due to precise movement, tissue trauma is less.

3. Minimal Blood Loss- With better dissection in the right planes and the ability to suture more quickly, there is significantly less intra-operative blood loss.

4. Less post-operative painPatients also experience faster healing with less post-operative pain.

5. Faster recovery- Due to faster healing most patients are able to go home in 24 to 48 hours and resume their normal activities within 2 weeks. Unlike 6 weeks as in open surgeries.

6. Excellent suturing- The excellent precision and visualisation offered by the da Vinci SI robotic surgery enhances the surgeon’s ability to suture the uterus so the future pregnancy outcome is good.

Benefits

T

his technology gives an opportunity for a significant paradigm shift in the surgical management of a gynecological disease that is typically prevalent in obese, postmenopausal women. These have higher risk of wound

complications if undergo laparotomy. Minimally invasive surgery, specifically with robotic assistance, has increased the possibilities of performing minimally invasive surgery in morbidly obese women.

20

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

Technology TOP GEAR

ELECTRIFIED IN

FRANKFURT! Electric cars steal the show as the 65th edition of the IAA auto show opening later this week.

FRANKFURT: Electric cars by German builders are just some of the nearly 70 world premieres at the 65th edition of the Internationale AutomobilAusstellung (IAA) auto show opening later this week.

German premium maker BMW has an entire hall to itself where pride of place will be given to the new i3, its first-ever fully electric model with a driving range of between 130-300 kilometres (80-186 miles) which is scheduled to hit Europe's showrooms in November.

Another hotly awaited model at the show, opening in Frankfurt on Thursday, will be BMW's plug-in hybrid, the i8.

The Munich-based group will also present the definitive version of its new Series 4, the coupe version of its Series 3 limousine and the x5 eDrive prototype, a plug-in hybrid take on its x5 SUV. Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, is also going electric with its first fully electric models, the e-Golf and the eUp!.

The e-Golf, with a driving range of 190 kilometres, will hit the roads from the beginning of next year.

The e-Up!, a four-seater with a starting price of 26,900 euros ($35,490) and a range of 160 kilometres, will go on sale in Germany in October.

VW will also show off its Golf R, a revved-up 300 horsepower version of its perennial Golf.

Mercedes-Benz is looking to draw the crowds with its concept S-Class Coupe and a third version of its A-Class -- the compact sports SUV which is a rival to Audi Q3 and the BMW X1.

Smart is set to unveil a prototype of its door-less fourseater FourJoy, while Opel is hoping to create a buzz with its Monza concept car, a hybrid intended to lead the way for the brand-new style of the group's upcoming models.

SEAT, the Spanish arm of the

MAYER’S PRISON FEARS

SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo

chief Marissa Mayer on said she feared winding up in prison for treason if she refused to comply with US spy demands for data.

Her comments came after being asked what she is doing to protect Yahoo users from "tyrannical government" during an onstage interview at a TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco.

Mayer said Yahoo scrutinizes and fights US government data requests stamped with the authority of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, but when the company losses battles it must do as directed or risk being branded a traitor.

TABLETS TO THE RESCUE

BOGOTA: Some 3,600 indige-

nous Colombians who dropped out of school have received digital tablets to enable them to resume studying in their native languages, ofďŹ cials said Wednesday.

The initiative is targeted at natives between the ages of 15 and 50 and aims to help graduate from high school and become community leaders. Authorities hope the tablets will also help indigenous Colombians learn to read and write in Spanish, as well as in four native languages.

VW group, will unveil its new Leon ST estate car to be launched in November. And VW's Czech brand Skoda will show off a compact model of its Rapid family car, the Rapid Spaceback.

Sports car enthusiasts can gape in wonder at the Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4

What is IAA?

T

he Frankfurt Motor Show, in German known as the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA) is the world's largest motor show. It is held biennially in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. The show occupies 12 buildings.

The IAA is organized by the Verband der Automobilindustrie.

Since 1991 the show is split in two: Even-numbered years show commercial vehicles in Hanover and odd-numbered years passenger vehicles (including some motorcycles) in Frankfurt.

The show is scheduled by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles.

Squadra Corse, a limited edition with 570 horse-power, or the hybrid Porsche 918 Spyder with close to 900 horse-power under its bonnet.

Renault will lift the lid on a new concept car that will prefigure the successor of its Espace mini-van model in the form of a top-of-the-range crossover. The French group's efforts in this field are being closely watched following the failure of its VelSatis and Avantime models.

Renault is also going to unveil a new generation of the Dacia Duster compact SUV. Citroen last week unveiled its Cactus concept car which prefigures its new range of budget vehicles.

Peugeot is coming to Frankfurt with a new version of its 308 that will rival VW's Golf 7.

Swedish group Volvo, owned by China's Geely, will show off a concept coupe and Fiat of Italy will lift the veil on its 500X, a crossover version of its 500 model.

APPLE DRAGS MARKET NEW YORK: Apple's launch of two new iPhones raised fresh doubts Wednesday about its strategy to expand its smartphone market share, prompting a slide in the company's shares and harsh analyst comments.

Some analysts said Apple had failed to slash prices enough to make an impact in key emerging markets or with budget-conscious buyers, and did little to show it has regained its edge in innovation. Shares slid 5.4 per cent to end at $467.71 in New York, a day after the technology giant presented the two new iPhones as part of an effort to regain momentum in the smartphone market.

21

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

Entertainment PERIOD DRAMA IN THE MAKING

India’s answer to The Lord of the Rings?

A

ctor Adivi Sesh, who is set to start shooting for SS Rajamouli’s Telugu perioddrama Baahubali Sep 29 onwards, says the film will be India’s answer to The Lord of the Rings franchise. ”I’m really looking forward to start shooting for the film. It’s being made on such a grand scale that it will undoubtedly be India’s answer to The Lord of the Rings franchise. I’ll start shooting from Sep 29 and I have asked to keep aside 60 days from my calendar,” Sesh said. Sesh, who has featured in Telugu films such as Karma and Panja, will be featured in an important role in the film. He has been asked to gain weight for his role. ”I have been asked to gain some weight and also learn sword fighting, horseriding and some basic action skills before I join the crew. It’s going to be a great experience,” he added. Baahubali also features Rana Daggubati, Prabhas Varma and Anusha Shetty in important roles. The film is simultaneously being made in Tamil, and will also be dubbed in Telugu. Meanwhile, Sesh-directed Telugu romantic-comedy Kiss (Keep it Simple Stupid) is slated to release Friday. ”It’s a story about two strangers from San Francisco coming together. The entire story transpires in 24 hours and that’s something the audience can look forward to.

The film’s major portion shot in the US will serve as its USP,” he said. Sesh says direction is stressful. ”It’s (direction) a stressful job, but I somehow managed do it without much hassles. I’m keen on acting and I don’t think I will direct again. I think I found direction easier because of the support of my brother as producer and also scriptwriter,” said Sesh. Kiss, which also features debutante Priya Banerjee, is produced by Sai Kiran. IANS

CINE BYTES

Kamal’s Ninaithale... digitally restored

T

he trailer of digitally restored version of actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan-starrer 1979 Tamil comedy Ninaithale Inikkum will be released on Sep 13. ”Kamal Haasan will release the trailer of Ninaithale Inikkum. The film has been digitally restored and is getting ready for release soon,” said a statement. IANS

Actor Avasarala Srinivas turns director

K

nown for his memorable performances in Telugu films such as Ashta Chamma and Pilla Zamindar, actor Avasarala Srinivas will wield the megaphone for a yet-tobe titled Telugu romanticcomedy. ”Srinivas’s film will be a full-length comedy entertainer,” the film’s producer Sai Korrapat said.

IANS

Srikanth hopes to revive career with Kshatriya

W

ith five back-to-back flops, actor Srikanth’s career has hit a rough patch, but he is confident that he will bounce back with upcoming Telugu actiondrama Kshatriya. ”I believe Kshatriya will bring me back in the league. I know some of my recent films didn’t do well, but I believe this film won’t let me down,” he says. IANS

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

fashion

I

JESSIE J, THE NEW FACE OF NIKE?

After turning down offers from brands like LA Gear, Quasar and Sondico, singer Jessie J has reportedly signed a deal with sportswear brand Nike, reports The Sun newspaper.

TORY BURCH

nspired by the French Riviera in the ’60s, the designer gave us botanical vibes aplenty, and had people wishing they could while away the hours in the collection’s jewelled Queen Anne’s lace print organza dress, or perhaps one of the beaded appliqué burlap dresses. In a garden-fresh palette of green, white, and coral, mixed in with some blooming prints, she delivered an array of dresses, tunics, capris, swimsuits, anoraks, and structured maxis in sumptuous dupioni, lace, linen, burlap, crep de chine, and lattice cut-out leather. Never one to shy away from embellishment, a healthy dose of jewels and crystal appliqué glimmered on the runway, which was fittingly painted with water wavelets to complement the sartorial flora.

G

VICTORIA BECKHAM

eometric shapes and the "merging of boy and girl sensibilities." Structured blazers, buttoned-up dress shirts, sporty track jackets and even cropped pants tempered feminine details including a drop-waist peplum, peeka-boo pleats and pops of sheer chiffon. But Beckham's most surprising departure laid in her choice of hemline. Known for her midilength body con dresses, Beckham instead chose flirty mini hems this season. The colours were monochromatic, punctuated by the occasional pop of fuchsia. Sleek Manolo Blahnik stilettos set the tone for her geometric handbags, many of whose angular shapes appeared again on her roomy dress shirts.

22&23

LACROIX FOR PETIT BATEAU

PICS: AFP

CHRISTIAN LACROIX is returning to fashion, and this time his collection is set to be beautiful and affordable.

The legendary couturier has teamed up with French favourite Petit Bateau as well as the Paris Opera, WWD reports, to create a capsule collection set to thrill mothers and daughters alike.

New York designers rang in the start of the fashion galas for the next year. Here begins the talk of what’s hot and what’s not. Over these two days we will be bringing you pictures of those who made the headlines at the ongoing New York Fashion Week Spring 2014.

E

JASON WU

xploring the connections between construction and ease and making something with emotion and effortlessness. A black va-vavoom mermaid gown featured a silky slip top that shimmied down to a red-carpet-worthy train, while a frothy bias-cut dress of the palest sage winked toward a nightie cut. A black embroidered romper dazzled with up-to-there hemlines and sprays of beading.Flirty corsets laced up the back of cropped utility jackets and well-cut trenches, and a tailored cream sheath dress came in need-totouch suede. The palette was a departure for Wu, replacing his bold red, white and blues with a soft mix of mint, blush and gold against allbusiness black and navy.

MARC JACOBS

M

arc Jacobs, of course, is infamous for putting grunge on the fashion map.

Twenty-odd years later, he has rediscovered the look, albeit in a sweeter, brighter, peppier kind of way. Marc by Marc Jacobs had a major metallic moment for Spring 2014 with iridescent jackets, sequin-laden dresses, and David Bowie-worthy stars scattered onto satin jumpsuits.

V ERA WANG

M

ovement. It’s what fashion’s all about — change, forward motion, quick reaction to stimuli. For Vera Wang, movement is part of her ethos as a designer. It’s the athlete in her; clothes that don’t move just don’t work. Her spring collection was all about clothes that move, either in concert with the body like a second skin or wafting gracefully around it. There were literal sports references, such as cropped and fulllength baseball jackets. She gave equal attention to the artful side — along with black, her palette featured “Rothko red, Franz Kline blue, Van Gogh golden yellow” — with dramatic effect.

Entertainment THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

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Entertainment THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty - a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture.

Bertrand Russell

KAKURO

QUICK CROSSWORD

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SUDOKU How to play kakuro Kakuro is a popular game similar to sudoku in some ways. But is also suitably different. The key question: ‘How do you play kakuro?’, well here are the rules of kakuro. The answer: The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers.

However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number.

Within each collection of cells — called a run — any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once.

Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on...

So, how do you work out the actual combination? Well, this is done through elimination and cross-referencing. For instance, as you work out the answers for other kakuro clues, this will naturally limit the valid combinations, and hence the answer for this particular run.

Note the second cell in row two — it contains two numbers, 30 and 11. The 30 refers to the vertical run underneath the number 30 and the 11 refers to the two cells to the right, horizontally, of the number 11.

ACROSS

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

SCRIBBLING PAD

1 Neighbour of Senegal 5 Bit of a blizzard 10 Some parents 14 Arabian Peninsula sultanate 15 Athena’s shield 16 Skin cream ingredient 17 Babe in the woods 18 Diner basketful 19 Construction wood 20 Yield to a bluff 23 Keep the newspapers coming 24 Recant 25 Iron-poor blood condition 28 Unpopular spots for teenagers 30 Hand over 31 Beer mug 33 Teamwork obstacle 36 Vocational school instruction 40 Chapter of history 41 Architectural ellipse 42 By mouth 43 Attack, cat-style 44 Reproduction cell 46 Beauty pageant headpiece 49 Certain Arabian 51 Deception 57 Speakeasy’s risk 58 Former students 59 Solo delivered at the Met 60 ‘... and ___ the fire’ 61 Credit counterpart 62 ‘Ring bell for service’ sound 63 The Untouchables’ leader 64 Playful pranks 65 Reverberation

DOWN

1 ___ Blanc (France’s highest peak) 2 Asian caregiver 3 Place to hibernate

4 In the know 5 Hot breakfast cereal 6 Sierra ___ 7 Subtly illuminated 8 Pottery oven 9 To be, in old Rome 10 ‘Scooby-Doo’ character 11 Wanted-poster info 12 Disco queen Summer 13 Dilapidated 21 Third-century Chinese dynasty 22 Islam’s largest branch 25 Arthritis complaint 26 Within earshot 27 ‘American Beauty’ novelist Ferber 28 ‘Dynamic’ prefix 29 US undercover outfit 31 Winter blanket?

32 Final amt 33 Emerald land 34 Pesky insect 35 Look up and down?

37 Word with ‘flare’ or ‘power’ 38 Reproductive cells 39 Appoint 43 Confessions of faith 44 Whom the host hosts 45 Use a plus sign 46 ‘Shroud’ city of Italy 47 Silly as a goose 48 Miners’ entryways 49 Ignores intentionally 50 Allow, as evidence 52 Journey to Mecca (Var) 53 On the safe side, at sea 54 ‘Hungry Eyes’ singer Carmen 55 Hyperbolic sine (trigonometry) 56 Pudding starch

Chai Time THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 13-9-2013

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Financial position will be very strong. Some are likely to go abroad for a prosperous career opportunity. Renovation plan of ancestral property is likely to be taken up and complete successfully. Children will make you proud and happy.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

You might be worried about the future of your children.

Friendship circle is likely to expand. Your suggestions and ideas will be well received. Your attitude will be in for a drastic change which will help you achieve your goals easily.

Family members will co-operate well and strengthen your hands. Though you face difficulties in completing certain work, due to your straightforwardness you continue to retain your values and achieve success at last.

Friendship with persons of high esteem is likely to benefit you.

Some have to change their residence to another state due a transfer. You will take bold and timely decisions, which will yield favourable results. Your selfconfidence level will be high.

You will be surprised to meet old friends and close relatives unexpectedly in a get-together.

Official journey will prove beneficial. Planned work and longpending wishes will be fulfilled.

Buying a house or land is not ruled out for some.

Financial inflow will improve considerably with which you will come out of deficit situation.

Happy events are likely to take place at home in a line. A longterm wish of buying a house will materialise. Businessmen will have steady growth.

Old dues will get collected to make you financially comfortable. Businessmen will be very happy as they prosper. You will not stop till the goal is achieved; with the co-operation of family members and relatives you will do so without fail.

Friendship circle is likely to expand with addition of VIP friends. Some have a bright chance to buy a vehicle. You take correct decisions after taking suggestions from others. Good news through spouse is on the cards. You will be active.

Help will come from all the expected sources both financially and physically enabling you to complete all undertaken assignments. Some will be forced to change their residence for unexpected reasons. Avoid unwanted arguments with spouse.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

The Lovers – You are interesting in figuring out the engineering behind machines and tools. Your attention to detail is your biggest strength. Use it well.

LEO:

The Moon – While publicity and promotions can hype up a product or service, it may fall flat if the buildup is too much. Stay real and reasonable.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Ace of Cups – Go for tailored clothes and change the fit and colours you wear. This will make you feel different. A wardrobe makeover once in a while is good.

SAGITTARIUS:

Two of Pentacles – You’re overcome by emotions about something to do with a family member. It upsets you that this person can be so insensitive. Don’t react.

TAURUS:

Ten of Pentacles – Speak to a lawyer if you think a situation might get sticky and get you into litigation. Better be careful before you make any commitment.

CANCER:

King of Swords – You have a passionate fire burning in your heart for a cause. Do not let the fire die down till you have used it to benefit other people.

VIRGO:

Eight of Swords – Be very subtle in your choice of words. What you say may hurt someone very close to you even if the intention was not to hurt.

SCORPIO:

Eight of Wands – You seem lost to the changes taking place around you. Maybe you’re out of the gossip mills or you’re not listening in too keenly.

CAPRICORN:

Knight of Wands – Your willpower can take you places. But be sure of what you really want because you will get it. Exercise your mind and body to stay fresh.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Strength – You’re up for a raise and promotion. It’s work well done and a pat on the back well deserved. Go out and party. Leave the worrying for someone else.

NUMBER GAME

Learn to cooperate with your colleagues. Don’t unnecessarily rake up issues that would create problems in the smooth functioning of a project.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Six of Cups –

POOCH CAFE

Unexpected financial fortune will make you financially comfortable. You are capable of meeting any type of challenge and be successful as the time is favourable. Influence is set to increase. Speculative deals will bring moderate gains.

for 13-9-2013

Five of Swords – You will remember good old days with your grandmother today. The stories she shared, the food she cooked for you and the time you spent.

NON SEQUITUR

A happy atmosphere is likely to prevail at home. A strained friendship will blossom again and understanding will improve. You will not give up even in the face failure in any of the undertaken work and try till you succeed.

SUDUKO

Your stock is set to pile up. One of your major plans will be implemented successfully, which will make you cheerful.

Marriage talks are likely to end favourably. Those trying for a job and putting enough efforts will get favourable news.

Boggle YEN PESO EURO POUND RUBLE DOLLAR Vol: 3, No 52 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at # Plot no.550-A1,3rd floor, Road no-92, Jubilee hills, Hyderabad-500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon. com and for subscription, please call 040-23541412,

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Entertainment THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 CINE BYTES Swift, Kacey top Cma Awards 2013 nominees

T

aylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves have come out on top of the list of nominees of the 47th annual Cma Awards.

The pair of country singers scored six nominations apiece, putting them ahead of the likes of Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert. Swift's nominations were for Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year etc..

HER WISHLIST

V

anessa Hudgens seems to have it all figured out. She's gone from Disney darling to serious actress, challenging herself to take on more heavy-hitting roles while staying grounded and confident.

"I am so comfortable with myself," Hudgens, 24, tells Marie Claire.

"Honing in on what I love and what makes me powerful," she says.

"Things I've been doing lately, I'm super proud of. So I don't really care if someone doesn't like it, because I love it."

Selena Gomez, Hudgens's close friend and Spring Breakers costar, attests to Hudgens's positive, down-to-earth attitude.

"She's not jaded at all," says Gomez.

"The person you see and talk to is the same person I talk to."

Adding that Hudgens was "very protective," during an encounter with paparazzi, Gomez says, "I was distracted, and she took me aside and talked to me about who I am and what I represent. I felt safer after that."

Hudgens attributes her ability to deal with daily difficulties, like the paparazzi, to her sense of perspective.

"A sense of knowing I'm part of something bigger than myself has allowed me to enjoy life more. And not worry about the little things. Like paparazzi."

As for the future, Hudgens has a small checklist: "A vintage Mustang, kids and an Oscar," she says.

VANESSA HUDGENS WANTS AN OSCAR

Paparazzi made Sheryl Crow relocate

S

inger Sheryl Crow says she relocated from Los Angeles to Nashville because she grew tired of the paparazzi, reports contactmusic.com. "One of the grandest things about living here is getting to be in my line of work, and getting to have my kids and myself have a normal life," a Tennesseean newspaper quoted Crow as saying. IANS

Alyssa Milano content with life

A

ctress Alyssa Milano says she is currently content with her life. The 40-year-old gave birth to son Milo, her first child with husband David Bugliari, in 2011. "I’m just content in this part of my life.

I have no reason to not be happy. Things are good," people.com quoted Milano as saying. IANS

sports

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

TOUR OF SPAIN

LEAGUE CRICKET

Mollema emerges victorious Bauke Mollema attacked at the end of the 189km ride from Calahorra to take home the 17th stage win ahead of Sky’s Norwegian rider Edvald Boasson Hagen.

MADRID: Dutch rider Bauke Mollema of the Belkin team won the 17th stage of the Tour of Spain in Burgos on Thursday as Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall race leader’s red jersey.

Mollema, 26, attacked at the end of the 189-km ride from Calahorra to take the stage win ahead of Sky’s Norwegian rider Edvald Boasson Hagen and Argentina’s Maximiliano Richeze, of Lampre, who were second and third respectively.

The Dutchman’s move completely took by surprise the peloton, containing the leading riders in the general classification, to recover some pride from a race in which he had been left trailing in the overall standings. “I knew that this was my only chance to win a stage,” Mollema told Spanish television at the end of a stage that had been earmarked as

Belkin’s Dutch rider Bauke Mollema celebrates his victory with Cava on the podium on Wednesday at the 68th edition of “La Vuelta” Tour of Spain, a 189km stage between Calahorra and Burgos.

AFP/JAIME REINA

one for the sprinters. “I came to the Vuelta with ambitions to do well in the general classification, my team had designated me for that role, but it hasn’t been possi-

ble and so we decided to go for stage wins instead,” added Mollema, who became something of a cult hero in his native Netherlands on his way to finish-

ing sixth at Tour de France.

Nibali and his principle rivals — the American veteran Chris Horner of RadioShack and Spanish duo Alejandro Valverde of Movistar and Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha — reached the finish just behind Mollema and were given the same time as the stage winner. However, several riders lost time after cracks appeared in the peloton when Ireland’s Nicolas Roche and his SaxoTinkoff team attacked in crosswinds with just under 30 kilometres to go. France’s Thibaut Pinot and Italy’s Domenico Pozzovivo were among the riders worst affected, with both losing 1min 31sec on Nibali.

“It was a stage in which we needed to be wary from beginning to end. On paper it looked easy, but we saw what happened to two riders,” AFP

FORMULA ONE

‘Hope nobody will stop me’ NEW DELHI: Who does he think can stop him from winning the Formula 1 drivers’ championship for the fourth successive year? “Nobody, I hope,” quips Sebastian Vettel, who leads the title race by 53 points over his nearest rival, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, after the 12th of the 19race card. For all his disarming modesty, the 26-year-old German, with 222 points, looks well on course to win the World Championship for Red Bull.

“If you ask the others they probably will tell you that they’re trying very hard. But I am not thinking about the championship and the title too much.

It’s good to know that you’re in a strong position, but anything can happen between now and the Brazilian chequered flag,” Vettel, who has won six of the 12 races in 2013, told IANS in an e-mail interview. “If you look back to last year or 2010, it went down to the wire. So never feel too comfortable where you are. Fernando can pose a challenge as he is consistent and quick.”

With Felipe Massa’s inconsistent form, there was talk in the Formula 1 paddock about Vettel’s move to Ferrari. However, the three times World Champion scotched all rumours by extending his Red Bull contract till the end of the 2015 season. But

wasn’t it his childhood dream to race for the Italian team?

“Of course, as my hero Michael Schumacher was wearing red, so as a youngster you imagine yourself taking the place of your idol. Now I see it differently. I am very happy in blue and very happy with the team I am racing for,” said Vettel, who has helped his team win the constructors’ championship comprehensively from 2010-12.

The champion has already broken several records.

He is the youngest to win a Grand Prix at 21 years and 73 days. He is already third in the

For all his disarming modesty, the 26-yearold German, with 222 points, looks well on course to win the World Championship for Red Bull. list of most number of pole positions (40), after Schumacher (68) and the late great Ayrton Senna (65) and is tied fourth in the exalted list of most Grand Prix victories with 32.

Does he set targets like becoming one of the most successful F1 drivers?

“No, such thoughts never cross my mind. I love what I am doing and of course I want to be successful, but I am not waking up in the morning thinking ‘Wow, 2011 was a fantastic year, 2012 was awesome’, and so on. I want to do the best that I can today - not yesterday and not tomorrow,” said Vettel, who won the Italian Grand Prix Sunday.

The Red Bull driver has had a frosty relationship with his teammate Mark Webber.

The Australian has decided to quit Formula 1 at the end of the season and Vettel’s attitude towards him is attributed as one of the reasons. “To believe that would be very childish. He is the master

of his own fate and he had the opportunity to remain with us or somebody else. I don’t know where else his options could have been. Every driver seeks these things out for himself. The picture that people have had for some years about Mark’s situation in the team is very wrong. I know that; so I don’t think that I had any influence on his decision,” explained Vettel.

He added that whatever be the changes in the engines envisaged for next year, the driving skills will be paramount. He doesn’t believe the introduction of the 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 engines will have any major bearing on driving.

IANS

Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Final Day 2 TNCA 12 for no loss vs Delhi DCA (Day Two Washed out without a ball being bowled) A division two days P&T Colony 205 bt Crown 193 (Md Samiuddin 71no, Md Taquiullah 4/37, S Govind 3/44, Ajay Rawat 3/59) Visaka 186/9 (Revant Sai 43, Meher Prasad 44, Md Abdul Majeed 36, Bharath Reddy 3/34) bt Budding Star 83 (Surender Singh 4/22, Revant Sai 3/15) Kosaraju 141 lost to Cambridge XI 145/3 (Mohammed Asifuddin 51) Inter district under-19 one day Medak 147 (B Naresh 43, R Harish 4/16) bt Nizamabad 128 (Eshwar 30, V Bharath Kumar 4/21, Manohar 3/17) Khammam 145 (K Anil 36, Vinod 3/34) lost to Adilabad 148/2 (Pradeep 53no, Sravan Kumar 47) Warangal 142/7 (Navarasan 43) lost to Karimnagar 143/8 (Shanawaz 36) A division one day Satya CC 381 (Chintu 33, M Somashekar 5/10, P Ashok 4/20) Rushiraj 121/5 (Zia 30no) drew with Aggarwal Seniors (Match Washed out due to rain) Southern Stars 44 (Ravi 5/14, Pavan 5/30) lost to Kakatiya 46 for no loss.

RUGBY All Blacks ready for Springboks challenge AUCKLAND: The All Blacks will put their future on the line when they face the Springboks in Auckland on Saturday in a battle for supremacy in the Rugby Championship. It is a match New Zealand have labelled their toughest contest since winning the World Cup two years ago.

For the Springboks, the clash of the only two unbeaten sides in the championship and the top two ranked teams in the world, is about continuing to rewrite the history books.

They have named the same line-up that thrashed Australia 38-12 last week in an historic first win in Brisbane over the Wallabies.

The All Blacks, meanwhile, have made five changes to the side that stuttered to a 28-13 win over Argentina, including the selection of Test tyro Dane Coles ahead of seasoned hookers Andrew Hore and Keven Mealamu.

AFP

sports

30

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

RESTED WOODS READY FOR TOURNEY Tiger Woods, who took a week off to strengthen his sore back says the he is ready for the $8 million BMW Championship.

CHICAGO: Tiger Woods used a week off to strengthen his sore back and he says he’s ready to make a run at US PGA Tour playoff points leader Henrik Stenson. Stenson roared past Woods to the top of the table by winning the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston two weeks ago.

The 37-year-old Swede will be trying to maintain that position at the $8 million BMW Championship, starting Thursday at Conway Farms Golf Club. Woods, who remains world number one, will aim to finish the season on top, especially after the week off between tournaments.

“That was nice, it was nice to have that week of treatment, strengthening, so that was all good, and practicing towards the end of the week,” Woods said after he carded a bogeyfree 68 in the pro-am on Wednesday.

Conway Farms is hosting a US PGA Tour event for the first time, but has hosted two US Golf Association championships. Woods, whose wins in the Chicago area include two PGA Championship titles at Medinah and five US Tour wins at Cog Hill, says he likes playing in front of Windy City sports fans. “It’s a great sporting town,” Woods said. “They come out and support their events. This will be a fun crowd.”

But things will be serious inside the ropes with the remaining 70 playoff contenders narrowing down to 30 by the end of the tournament, with those players advancing to the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.

The playoff points will be re-set prior to the season finale so that everyone in the field has a mathematical chance of claiming the $10 million FedEx Cup playoff bonus.

Only the top five in the standings will go to Atlanta knowing that a victory will earn them the prize.

Stenson, whose current world number six ranking is just two spots lower than the career-high he reached in 2009, has been tremendously consistent of late. “I’m excited about these two weeks and I’m obviously going to try my hardest to try and keep the boys behind me,” he said.

Stenson, Woods and Masters champion Adam Scott, lead the standings and will play together in the first two rounds. They are virtually guaranteed to remain in the top five in the standings going into the Tour Championship.

Woods gained his strong position in the standings with five tour titles this year, while Scott won the first playoff event, The Barclays, last month.

At fourth and fifth in the standings, American Matt Kuchar and Canadian Graham DeLaet, could be vulnerable.

Kuchar said his task this week is simple: “Stay inside the top five come Tour Championship and have a chance to win the FedEx Cup.” AFP

DAVIS CUP

KARNATAKA GOLF FEST

Canada face Belgrade barrier PARIS: Rank outsiders Canada take their fairytale run to Belgrade as they face a daunting challenge against Serbia, while defending champions Czech Republic host Argentina in the Davis Cup semi-finals which begin on Friday.

The Canadians, who had never won a World Group tie before causing upsets against Spain and Italy this year, have been the tournament’s gatecrashers but travelling to the cauldron of the Belgrade Arena, where Novak Djokovic will lead the 2012 champions, will be uncharted territory for the North Americans.

The Serbs have chosen to play on clay, likely in order to take the sting out of big-serving Canadian number one Milos Raonic who is the country’s highest ever ranked player after breaking into the world top ten.

While the Serbian fans will certainly play a huge role with the tie being played in one of the

largest indoor arenas in the world, the visitors know the region well with three of their players having Eastern European roots.

Raonic was born in Montenegro before moving to Canada at two, while veteran doubles’ player Daniel Nestor hails from Belgrade and Frank Dancevic has Croatian parents.

The Canadians have been the tournament’s gatecrashers but travelling to the cauldron of the Belgrade Arena, will be uncharted territory for them.

“Some of the guys have already touched on that, they’re looking forward to playing there, and seeing family and friends and relatives and not feeling so out of place, not as out of place for sure as we would be if we were playing in

Central or South America,” explained team captain Martin Laurendeau.

“There is a sense of something a bit more comfortable. Of all the ties you can play away, for a lot of our guys it’s not all that bad to end up there.”

Raonic is the man on whom they have built their campaign and the 22-year-old comes into the tie on a seven match Cup winning streak as he hopes to tame a potentially fatigued Djokovic after his exertions at the US Open.

AFP

Starry field set

BANGALORE: Over 450 golfers led by S. Chikkarangappa and Khalin Joshi will take part in the fifth Toyota Karnataka Golf Festival at the Karnataka Golf Association here Sep 12-15.

The festival will also see top amateurs like junior champion Syed Saqib Ahmed and Anisha Padukone besides former cricketers Gundappa Vishwanath, Erapalli Prasanna and Syed Kirmani, former India hockey goalkeeper Ashish Ballal and Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna in action.

The golfers will compete in five different categories (0-5, 6-10, 11-15, 1620, 21-24 handicap) for berths in the Indian team at the World Golfers’ Championships to be held at Durban from October 26 to November 3.

IANS

sports

31

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

AUSTRALIA VS ENGLAND

Rain halts England slump England had slumped to 59 for three in under 16 overs before rain played spoilsport for opponents Australia and washed out the third one-day international.

BIRMINGHAM: England slumped to 59 for three inside 16 overs before rain washed out the day/night third one-day international against Australia at Edgbaston on Wednesday.

Mitchell Johnson again proved a thorn in England’s side, the left-arm paceman taking one wicket for 20 runs in five overs and twice seeing close lbw decisions against Jonathan Trott overturned in the batsman’s favour. When the umpires took the players off the field at 3:34pm local time, Trott was 28 not out on his Warwickshire home ground and stand-in England captain Eoin Morgan five not out.

A minimum of 20 overs per side were needed for a result to be declared under the Duckworth/Lewis method but, with the rain coming down ever harder, the umpires abandoned the match at 7:05pm (1805GMT).

The no result left Australia, who won the second ODI by a crushing 88 runs at Old Trafford

SCORECARD England M. Carberry run out (McKay) 1 K. Pietersen c Bailey b Johnson 6 J. Trott not out 28 J. Root c and b Voges 12 E. Morgan not out 5 Extras (w7) 7 Total (3 wkts, 15.1 overs) 59 Bowling: McKay 5-0-23-0 (5w); Johnson 5-0-20-1 (2w); Hazlewood 2-0-6-0; Faulkner 1-0-3-0; Voges 1.1-0-3-1; Clarke 1-0-4-0 Result: No result (rain)

Australia’s Clint McKay (L) runs out England’s Michael Carberry (not pictured) in the first over during the third ODI at Edgbaston in Birmingham on AFP/ANDREW YATES Wednesday.

on Sunday, 1-0 up with two play and knowing victory in the fourth match at Cardiff on Saturday would see them win the series. “We started really pretty well today again with Mitch and Clint, so it was disap-

pointing that the rain came in like it did,” Matthew Wade told reporters.

“The positive is we’re 1-0 up.

We’ve lost two games (to the weather) with two to play so it’d be nice to get a win there

(Cardiff) and wrap up the series.”

Meanwhile Morgan said England needed to improve.

“It’s a semi-final and final for us. That’s the way we’re going to treat it. We need to come out and up our game, our intensity and play well.”

Earlier, Australia captain Michael Clarke won the toss and elected to field.

Ashes-holders England, criti-

PAKISTAN IN ZIMBABWE

BACK ON TRACK

Younis shines for Pakistan HARARE: Younis Khan carried on from where he left off in the first Test as he played another solid innings for Pakistan on the second day of the second Test against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday.

Younis followed up a match-winning double century in the first Test with an unbeaten 52 as Pakistan reached 163 for three at the close of play in reply to Zimbabwe’s first innings total of 294.

When he reached 50 for the 49th

SCORECARD Zimbabwe, first innings (overnight 237-8) P. Utseya c Rahat Ali b J Khan 22 T. Chatara lbw b A Rehman 21 B. Vitori not out 19 Extras (b7, lb 14, w1) 22 Total (109.5 overs) 294 Bowling: Junaid Khan 33-11-67-4 (1w), Rahat Ali 19-7-48-2, Younis Khan 3-0-7-0, Saeed Ajmal 27-6-92-1, Abdur Rehman 23.5-6-47-3, Mohammad Hafeez 4-0-12-0 Pakistan, first innings K Manzoor run out (Chigumbura) 51 M Hafeez c Masakadza b Vitori 22 Azhar Ali lbw b Panyangara 7 Younis Khan not out 52 Misbah-ul-Haq not out 27 Extras (lb4) 4 Total (3 wkts, 68 overs) 163 Bowling: Panyangara 13-3-30-1, Vitori 16-5-42-1, Chatara 18-5-28-0, Masakadza 9-4-18-0, Utseya 12-0-41-0

Pakistan batsman Younis Khan (R) celebrates reaching 7 000 test runs and is congratulated by captain Misbah Ul Haq. AFP

time in Test cricket Younis became the fourth Pakistan batsman to reach 7000 runs in Tests.

Batsmen of both sides played cautiously on a slow pitch. Only five wickets fell in the day, while 222 runs were

cised by former captain Michael Vaughan for resting five senior players — regular skipper Alastair Cook, batsman Ian Bell and bowlers James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann — this series, were unchanged from the side beaten so heavily in Manchester. But the overcast conditions led Australia to select seamer Josh Hazlewood in place of leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed.

Kevin Pietersen, opening alongside Michael Carberry in the absence of Cook and Bell, whipped the fourth ball of the innings, from McKay, for a boundary through midwicket.

However, two balls later, England lost their first wicket.

Carberry, desperate for runs after making just 10 against Ireland and four at Old Trafford following his international recall, was run out by yards when Pietersen set off for a needlessly tight single only for McKay to gather the ball and run in to demolish the stumps.

AFP

scored.

As in the first Test, Younis batted patiently against steady bowling. With several prominent cracks in the pitch he stretched well forward to most deliveries, with bat and pad close together to combat any unpredictable bounce.

Younis and fellow veteran Misbahul-Haq will resume on Thursday, after putting on 67 for the fourth wicket.

They came together soon after tea when opening batsman Khurram Manzoor was run out for 51.

Younis faced 127 balls and hit six fours, while Misbah made 27 not out off 88 deliveries.

Manzoor, who was recalled for the Zimbabwe series after more than three years out of the Test team, survived confident appeals for a catch behind and leg before wicket early in his innings.

He showed good timing as he hit nine fours in reaching his fourth Test half-century off 119 balls, but his innings came to an end when he played the ball to leg and set off for a run. He was sent back by Younis and could not beat Elton Chigumbura’s throw to wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami.

Pakistan endured a frustrating morning as their bowlers struggled to dislodge the Zimbabwe tail.

AFP

Johnson gives Eng timely reminder BIRMINGHAM: England may have batted for barely 15 overs at Edgbaston before the third ODI was washed out on Wednesday, but that was time enough for Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson to remind them of his ability. The abandonment left Australia 1-0 up with two to play in the five-match series ahead of Saturday’s clash in Cardiff, with their 88-run win in Manchester falling between two rain-ruined no results in Leeds and now Birmingham. However, of arguably greater significance than Wednesday’s raw result was left-arm paceman Johnson’s return of one wicket for 20 runs in five overs which came as England slumped to 59 for three before rain stopped play. Kevin Pietersen was Johnson’s prize scalp, the star batsman unable to get over the top of a short ball and lobbing a gentle catch to square leg.

Johnson was also unlucky not to dismiss Jonathan Trott as a couple of close lbw decisions went against him after he’d previously dismissed the top-order batsman for a duck in Manchester. Rather like the child in the nursery rhyme, when Johnson is good “he’s very, very good and when he’s bad he’s horrid,” with unplayable deliveries often mixed in with extravagant wides.

AFP

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

sports

FIRST TRAINING SESSION FOR BALE IN MADRID

Gareth Bale trained with Real Madrid on Wednesday for the first time since his move from Tottenham Hotspur to the Spanish capital. Madrid published a photo on their website of Bale being greeted by Cristiano Ronaldo at the club’s Valdebebas training ground.

SOUTH ASIAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION CUP

32

Afghanistan stuns India EDOUARD GUIHAIRE Agence France-Presse KABUL: When the rattling sound of Kalashnikov assault rifles resonates in the streets of Kabul, it’s more often than not because of an attack by Taliban insurgents. But that changed, for once, on Wednesday, the shots being fired in celebration at Afghanistan’s victory over India to win the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) title.

The smell of burning cordite enveloped the Afghan city after the national team’s 2-0 win over the Indians in Kathmandu thanks to goals from Mustafa Azadzoy and Sandjar Ahmadi.

The victory will no doubt reinforce the popularity of the national team that already grabbed the right headlines with a 3-0 win in a friendly against Pakistan, the neighbouring state with which Afghanistan shares stormy political relations.

As the win over India played out, Afghans did not wait for the referee’s final whistle for some welcome relief, packing cafes, restaurants and businesses throughout Kabul that showed the game on television.

In a tearoom in the old city, some 20 people crammed around a television set mounted on a wall.

Situated on the first floor of a rickety house, the tearoom had small platforms covered in red carpet on which the clientele stretched out to drink tea, smoke cigarettes or hashish.

The smell of burning cordite enveloped the Afghan city of Kabul after their national side’s 2-0 victory over India at the SAFF event.

“I came here to visit my brother and also to watch football,” said 30-year-old civil servant Gholam Rasol Lala. “I love to watch football, especially the English championship.

“It’s good for us, it makes us forget the war and the attacks that we can see every day in our country.”

When Azadzoy opened the scoring after a badly attempted clearance by Indian goalkeeper

Afghan fans celebrate in the streets of Kabul after Afghanistan won the SAFF Championship trophy after their team defeated India during the final, on Wednesday. Afghanistan won its first international trophy in football on Wednesday, beating India 2-0.

AFP/SHAH MARAI

Subrata Paul, it was met by deafening cheers and applause.

“They’re playing very well,” beamed tearoom regular Gul Raman. A little further down the street was a restaurant also showing the game.

The owner was left rubbing his hands in delight at the sight of his packed establishment, grilled kebabs of meat accompanied by long, spiced chips selling like hot cakes.

With no places left to sit inside, dozens of locals massed in front of the restaurant in an ambitious bid to spy the smallscreened television set up at the far end of the establishment.

Abdel Wahed, 21, avoided any disruption to his viewing entertainment by simply going to a shop selling televisions.

The final was broadcast on a big screen still sporting its plastic protective wrapping.

“If we win, there will be a big celebration,” the 21-year-old Barcelona fan said.

“We went through three decades of war so it is good to think about something else from time to time.”

When Sandjar Ahmadi chipped ‘keeper Paul for Afghanistan’s second in the 62nd minute of a fast-paced final, and the team then held on for the win, the relief was palpable.

LIGUE 1

Blanc, PSG back to Bordeaux Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc returns to his old stomping ground of Bordeaux as the reigning Ligue 1 title holders look for a pre-Champions League boost.

ANDY SCOTT Agence France-Presse PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc (right) returns to his old stomping ground of Bordeaux on Friday as the reigning Ligue 1 title holders look for a pre-Champions League boost.

The French capital club travel to Greece to face Olympiacos in Europe next Tuesday, but the clash with Bordeaux is the first of a hectic run of seven games in 23 days which will also see them face Monaco, Benfica and Marseille. PSG are yet to lose this season, but draws in their opening two Ligue 1 games were followed by not entirely convincing

wins against promoted duo Nantes and Guingamp just before the international break.

However, they have already had the measure of Bordeaux, beating the French Cup holders 2-1 in the Champions Trophy at the beginning of last month.

“Bordeaux are one of these teams who are capable of defending well and punishing you on the break,” PSG’s Christophe Jallet said this week.

“We saw that in the Champions Trophy before we turned the game around late on. We know what to expect and what we need to do better against them this time around.” It will be a special occasion for Blanc, whose three

years in charge at the Stade Chaban-Delmas were highly successful, with Bordeaux winning the title, the League Cup and the Champions Trophy in 2009 before reaching the last eight of the Champions League a year

later. Now in the away dugout, he must improve PSG’s rather poor record in the Gironde, where they have won just seven times in 39 previous visits.

On Friday, Blanc will again be without Jeremy Menez, who is suffering from kidney stones, and must decide whether his returning international stars, such as Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, France’s Blaise Matuidi, Brazil’s Thiago Silva and Uruguay’s Edinson Cavani, are in condition to play.

“Zlatan came back very, very tired after playing in Kazakhstan on an artificial surface,” PSG assistant coach Jean-Louis Gasset said in a radio interview, indicat-

ing that Ibrahimovic may not feature this weekend.

France’s other representatives in the Champions League group stage are Marseille, who travel to bottom club Toulouse on Saturday. Before hosting Arsenal in Europe next Wednesday, OM will be looking to get back to winning ways domestically after a 2-1 home loss to Monaco in their last outing.

Since that game, coach Elie Baup has seen France under-20 World Cup-winning duo Florian Thauvin and Mario Lemina arrive from Lille and Lorient respectively, and it is possible that they could make their debuts for the club.