Postnoon E-Paper for April 13th 2013

WHERE HISTORY RESIDES

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he City of Agra is synonymous with the monument of love — The Taj Mahal. But around this famous mausoleum lies a part of Agra where history was made. We take you through some for the famous sites in the former capital of Hindustan, the Agra Fort, the Fatehpur Sikri, Jahangiri Mahal and Akbari Mahal through pictures.

PG 16&17

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Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

APRIL 13, 2013 HYDERABAD

REVERSE HARASSMENT!

32 PAGES

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ON SATURDAY

HUBBY COMPLAINS OF ILL-TREATMENT

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harassed man claims that his wife spent all his money and dumped him for her alleged paramour.

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TEACHERS

IN A TIGHT SPOT

MILEY CYRUS

PUTS OFF HER WEDDING TO LIAM?

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ctress-singer Miley Cyrus has reportedly postponed her wedding with fiance Liam Hemsworth.

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Spot evaluations for SSC papers began yesterday with teachers complaining of lack of facilities. Forced into tiny classrooms and denied basic facilities, they fear this will affect the quality of grading.

REPORT ON PG 5

IT’S A MAD RUSH FOR CABINET BERTHS

With a Cabinet reshuffle on the cards, scores of aspirants have begun lobbying with various leaders at the Centre.

Kiran, however, is likely to pick only loyalists.

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PAGE TWO SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

WORLD TOURISM CONFERENCE

Punjabiyaan Di Shaan With Baisakhi ushering in, masterchefs from Punjab, along with the skilled team of Radisson Blu Hyderabad, recreate the lip smacking authentic Punjabi delicacies and an array of cultural festivities.

Where: Chill Restaurant & Terrace, Radisson Blu Hyderabad, Banjara Hills When: Up to April 14 Contact: (040) 6733 1133

Baisakhi Celebrations This Baisakhi, Marriott Hyderabad Hotel and Convention Center brings you a celebration with all the pomp and fare of Punjab. There are special treats for children.

Where: Okra, Hyderabad Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre When: April 14, 12.30pm to 3.30pm Contact: (040) 2752 2567

Baisakhi Food Festival Carrying forward the festive mood and spirit, GreenPark introduces Baisakhi Food Festival, bringing in the authentic flavours of Punjab.

Where: Once Upon a Time Green Park Hotel, Greenlands, Begumpet When: April 11-15, 7:30pm to 11pm Contact: (040) 6651 5151

Malvani cuisine Taj Deccan is hosting Malvani Food Festival at Spice Junxion. Enjoy a scrumptious spread of classic dishes like pandhara kombdiche saar, kale vatana ni gawarchi bhajji and puran poli.

Where: Spice Junxion, Taj Deccan, Road No 1, Banjara Hills

The Golconda Fort is lit up for the meeting of the UNWTO commission for East Asia, the Pacific and South Asia S BALAKRISHNA on Friday.

When: Till April 25 Contact: (040) 6652 3939

French animated film Alliance Française of Hyderabad presents Le chat du Rabbin, directed by Antoine Delesvaux and Joann Sfar.

Where: Alliance Française, Banjara Hills When: April 18, 6.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 2355 4485

Reflections and Images An exhibition of paintings by artists including Agacharya, Anand

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typical Sunday brunch can be a little confusing — it’s hard to stick to one cuisine. Taj Krishna in the City has decided to go off the beaten track by launching its Sparkling Yumcha brunch this Sunday at the Golden Dragon. The brunch, which includes sparkling wine, will focus only on delicacies from the heart of China. It lures you with dimsums, soup, spring rolls, noodles, rice and a variety of seafood to choose from. Visit once, you’ll definitely indulge again!

City’s #1 spot

CINEMAS

Panchal, Arvind Kolapkar, Datta Bansode, Devyani Parikh, and Kaushik Raha.

Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery 468, Road No 10, Banjara Hills When: Up to April 30 Contact: kalakriti.in

Vaishali Bisht’s theatre workshop Vaishali Bisht is conducting special Summer Holidays theatre workshops for children between the ages of six and 12. The course consists of 20 classes held Monday to Saturday. Using theatre games and exercises, the workshop helps children use their imagination and get creative.

Where: Road no 7, Banjara Hills When: From April 15, Monday to Saturday, 4.30pm to 6.30pm Contact: 94904 40986

Filmmaking workshops for children Yavanika Films is conducting a unique filmmaking workshops this summer vacation for children in Hyderabad. A parent and child can register as one student pair to make a short film together.

Where: Begumpet When: From April 24, 2pm to 7pm,

Daily classes except on weekends Contact: 94901 00404

IPL Fervor Kailash Parbat has a special offer this IPL season. You can order any four or six items from the menu and get the chat of d day free.

Where: Kailash Parbat,

Above Ebony Gautier, 2nd floor, Road No 36, Jubilee Hills When: April 14, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 2355 8856

Three for two Taj Safaris offers guests the option of extending their two-day trip. It gives you a third day complementary stay. There are four exquisite lodges in the national parks of MP. Where: Taj Safaris When: Offer is valid from April 15 to June 30 Contact: (022) 660 1 1825

Big Cinemas, Ameerpet, 30581470; Cinemax, Banjara Hills, 44565555; Cine Planet , Kompally, 61606060; INOX, Banjara Hills, 447677770, Prasads, Tank Bund Rd, 23448888; PVR, Punjagutta, 08800900009; Talkie Town, Miyapur, 40214175; Tivoli, Secunderabad 27844973

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CITY SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

South to unite on power

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n a show of solidarity, the AP government has asked all southern states — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Pondicherry — to collectively ask the Union government to resolve the power crisis in the region by raising the transmission corridor to the south from other parts of the country. This request was made by CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Kidnapped teen rescued

Chocolate making classes

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he Madannapet police have arrested six students who had kidnapped a teenage girl. She was traced to Nalgonda within 24 hours of being kidnapped. All the accused are said to be underage and were produced before the juvenile court. The police said one of the boys was attracted to the girl and had kidnapped her to sexually assault her later.

he Agri-Horticultural Society, public gardens, Hyderabad, is conducting a two-day training programme on chocolate making from April 17 at its campus in Public Gardens. The training is aimed at helping entrepreneurs start their ventures.

Those interested can contact the society on (040) 23299779, 9912046095 and (040)65591474.

Reverse harassment: Man complains of ill-treatment A harassed man claims that his wife spent all his money and has forsaken him for her alleged paramour.

MOHD SUBHAN

mohd.s@postnoon.com

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allaiah, 33, is sad, hurt and angry. His young wife Leelavathy, on whom he lavished gold and cash to keep her happy, has taken away all his valuables and money and returned to her parents’ house because he objected to her alleged sexual relationship with another man.

He has now sought the help of a local Marredpally court, which has directed the police to investigate the case and take action.

Mallaiah, a resident of Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar in Marredpally, is a

A NEIGHBOUR TOLD MALLESH THAT A MAN WAS SEEN GOING INTO HIS HOME OFTEN. A FEW DAYS LATER, HIS WIFE WENT MISSING WITH CASH AND JEWELLERY. municipal employee at Lingampally.

He married Leelavathy in July 2010 and claims that he had not asked for dowry. On the contrary, he bought her gold and other valuables.

Mallaiah would go to work at 8am and return by 8pm. For a few months, the couple led a happy life, he told the court.

A few days back a neighbour told him that he had spotted a man going into his home often when Mallaiah was away. When Mallaiah confronted

Mad rush begins for berths With a Cabinet reshuffle on the cards, scores of aspirants have begun lobbying with various leaders at the Centre.

Kiran, however, is likely to pick loyalists. held a preliminary discussion with the party high command on the issue of Cabinet expansion. He impressed the party leadership with the urgent need to have his own team. He will get a green signal soon,” a close aide of Kiran told Postnoon.

BLESSING IN DISGUISE

Inkeshaf Ahmed ahmed.m@postnoon.com

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gadi, the New Year of Telugus, is poised to bring a lot of happiness to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. The chief minister is likely to have his own Cabinet soon.

“Yes, the CM recently

Apart from this, the issue of removal of six Cabinet ministers, who have received notices from the Supreme Court on their involvement in YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s disproportionate assets (DA) case, came as a blessing in disguise for the CM to push his plans forward. The Opposition is mounting pressure on Kiran to remove the tainted ministers from his Cabinet.

Reacting on the issue of

the tainted leaders, a ministerial aspirant said that the CM will have to remove the them at any cost to save the image of the party.

“While the chief minister has ruled out the possibility of removing minister Dharmana Prasada Rao, the remaining five ministers are likely to be either removed from the State Cabinet or shifted to new, unimportant portfolios,” he indicated.

SEVEN VACANCIES LIKELY If the chief minister decides to remove the five ministers, it would lead to five vacancies in the Cabinet. Apart from this, Kiran is planning to remove his bitter critics, like Dr DL Ravindra Reddy and APCC president Botsa Satyanarayana. This will take the number of likely

vacancies in the Cabinet to seven.

There is already a mad race for the Cabinet posts.

Scores of senior MLAs and Kiran’s loyalists are leaving no stone unturned to secure the posts of Cabinet ministers. Apart from staunch supporters of the CM, like chief whip G Venkata Ramana Reddy, A Mohan, E Anil Kumar, T Jayaprakash Reddy and deputy speaker M Bhatti Vikramarka, many other former ministers like JC Diwakar Reddy, Mohd Shabbir Ali Mohd Jani and R Padma Raju are trying their best to get the ministers’ posts.

These leaders are also meeting the party high command in order to secure a berth for themselves in the State Cabinet.

Leelavathy, she flatly denied and rubbished the claims.

Not convinced, Mallaiah gathered evidence and found out that his wife was heating on him. Mallaiah then told Leelavathy’s parents about her relationship and they rebuked him for blaming her. Recently, Mallaiah returned to an empty house with `70,000 in cash and gold ornaments missing. He called up his inlaw’s and found that Leelavathy had returned to her parents’ home.

When Mallaiah went to bring back his wife, his in-law’s reportedly chided him for his uncouth behaviour. According to Mallaiah, they demanded a monthly maintenance amount and told him that if he wanted his wife to return to her marital house, she should be allowed to live the way she wants. He then decided to seek judicial remedy.

High Court puts govt on contempt notice The petition was moved by the State BJP for not filling up the posts in AP women’s commission despite directive.

Postnoon News feedback@postnoon.com

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he Andhra Pradesh High Court has served the State government with a notice on a contempt petition moved by the BJP. The contempt notice is based on a plea that the government has ignored a October 2012 court directive to fill up the vacancies in the State women commission.

Moving the petition, BJP counsel T Suryakaran said six months after the court issued the directive, the government is yet to fill up the post of chairperson and that of six members, which has left the commission paralysed.

The court had given the government two months to comply with the directive.

The commission has been headless for four years. It was S Malathi Rani, State Vanitha Morcha president, who had moved the HC on this matter last year. Acting Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justice VV Afzulpurkar have admitted the contempt petition and have ordered the State to respond immediately.

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CITY SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

A triumph for RTI activists

Years of struggle by an RTI activist to get undertrials justice has borne fruit with Maharashtra asking all jails to furnish details about undertrials who languish in jails for long. Other states have to follow suit.

RAHUL RAMAKRISHNA

rahul.r@postnoon.com

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n what can be termed as an important development for the RTI Act and a victory for RTI activists across the country, the Maharashtra State Information Commission has passed an order to all prisons and jails in the State to publish details and information of all undertrials who have been languishing in jail for more than half the prison term they are liable for.

The move comes after former central information commissioner Sailesh Gandhi filed a second appeal under the RTI Act on January 11.

His efforts at bringing in transparency in the legal system, where many of the undertrials suffer because of poverty, has borne fruit.

This will ensure prisoners and other activists are relieved from such trials and is the first step in providing relief to people who were denied freedom. This

Man kills wife, flees

order will be applicable in Maharashtra and RTI activists hope that other such orders are issued in all states.

Speaking to Postnoon, Raoji Brahmanand, an RTI Activist

KCR says several MPs and MLAs will be joining the party in 10 days.

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Postnoon News

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ment specified for the charge he is booked for. They can be released on a personal bond if they cannot furnish bail. Yet, our legal system does not follow this and most of our undertri-

‘No more grand alliance’

Postnoon News man, in a fit of rage, is alleged to have set his wife ablaze, accusing her of infidelity.

The Habeebnagar police said that one Mohan, 40, a car painter, came home last night in an inebriated state and picked a quarrel with his wife, Vijaylaxmi, 34, on her alleged extra-marital affairs. The police gathered that it had become a regular affair. The couple had married 12 years ago and have one daughter.

The police said the quarrel led to the murder.

The badly burnt woman, before dying, accused her husband of the cruel act.

The man has absconded, police said.

from Guntur, says, “Section 463 CrPc says that the maximum period for which an undertrial can be detained without being released is not more than 50 per cent of the maximum imprison-

als suffer in prison because they are poor. This change brought in by the Act will ensure that even the poorest of the poor can avail justice that is usually denied to them.”

It has been reported that the additional director general of prisons, Maharashtra, has commended the order and has welcomed the change it will bring about in the legal system.

Sailesh Gandhi’s efforts for this cause started nearly two years ago, when he first filed an RTI with the Maharashtra state information commission on November 26, 2012, and a first appeal on December 12, 2012.

On both these occasions, he was refused information by the public information officer and the first appellate authority.

Following the second appeal, Maharashtra state information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad heard the case and using his powers under Section 19 (8) of the RTI Act, asked prison officials to comply with the order by May 12, 2013 in fulfilment of the prison department's obligation under Section 4 (1) (b) of the Act.

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RS chief K Chandrashekar Rao has made it clear that his party will contest the 2014 elections on its own.

“Enough of the troubles with others,” he said.

At the Telangana Bhavan on Friday, he said that his party will win 15 Parliament seats and keep its option open on support to the party at the Centre.“ He said that TRS has good experience with leaders like TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and former chief minister late YSR, who backstabbed the party after the elections.

KCR made it clear that the UPA government is not in a position to carve out a separate Telangana state at this juncture because the government itself is on the edge. He castigated the Congress for deceiving the Telangana people for three generations. He alleged that former PM Jawaharlal Nehru failed to implement the Fazal Ali Commission recommendations, that Indira Gandhi was responsible for killing 400 youngsters during the 1969 movement and

Sonia Gandhi was the reason for the present situation.

He hurled a challenge at Congress leaders to come forward for a debate on the party’s betrayal with regard to the creation of a separate Telangana.

He said he is ready to participate in a debate at Abids if the Congress leaders had the guts to come forward.

KCR added that several MPs and MLAs were in touch with him to join TRS and it will be known within 10 days time. He said that the achievement of a separate Telangana is possible only with the political stamina of TRS.

SELECTION

OF CANDIDATES

The TRS chief said that the can-

didates’ selection will be held on the basis of a survey and the survey will be conducted in all 10 districts of the Telangana region. The party will appoint 10 teams and every team will visit their allotted district and conduct a survey, constituency wise. He said that the training camps will be conducted within 10 days.

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CITY SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

Exams now burden teachers Spot evaluations for SSC papers began yesterday with teachers complaining about the lack of facilities.

Forced into tiny classrooms and denied basic facilities, they fear this will affect the quality of grading.

Exam papers neglected

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xams papers, which reached the centres on Friday, were kept haphazardly and were clearly neglected. Trunks carrying the exam papers were not locked, making it vulnerable to tampering. There were also no security personnel on site when the boxes were sent to the valuation centres. When Postnoon took this up with officials, none had an answer.

ALEENA ALICE

aleena.t@postnoon.com

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fter the inconvenience faced by students who wrote the SSC examination, it’s now the turn of teachers evaluating the papers to go through a tough time. Spot valuations, which began yesterday, saw majority of teachers expressing their discomfort over the facilities provided by the government.

The first day of valuation turned out to be chaotic and as many as 150 teachers sought exemption from their duties citing various reasons. Officials were left with no option but to conduct spot appointment to replace teachers who skipped evaluation.

“Every year the situation is the same. This year, we had made it clear that strict action will be taken against teachers who seek exemption for no valid reason. Only teachers with medical issues can get leave and that too only after they produce a medical certificate,” said a senior officer in the education department.

Thousands of teachers who were present for spot valuation complained of how there were no facilities in classrooms. “A classroom made for not more than 35 students has to be shared by 65 teachers. All day long we have to

sit on benches that are too low for us and correct papers. No proper drinking water facility is provided. Every year the government makes false promises that the facilities will be improved, but we see no improvement,” says Raghavaiah, an assistant examiner who has been allocated duty at St Ann’s High School in Vijay Nagar Colony.

Another teacher says that the lack of facilities eventually hampers the correction process

and therfore affects the marks of the students. “The future of the students is in our hands and we try our best to ensure that the correction is done fairly. But when teachers above the age of 40 are asked to sit on benches used by students who are 13years-old it gets very uncomfortable. At the end of the day, we are tired and our entire body hurts,” says a teacher who was at Holy Mary School, Saidabad, for spot valuation. It is a rule

that no teacher should correct more than 40 papers, but the teacher says that they end up correcting almost 65 papers.

Though yesterday was only the first day, the educators said they were left frustrated, fearing that this is likely to affect the quality of paper correction.

What’s more, the erratic power cuts only added to their woes. “As it is we are stuffed into small classrooms which have only one fan. When there is a

power cut, the classrooms turn into furnaces. Last year as days went by we were given almost 70 papers and we had to stay back till 7pm and correct papers in candle light. This year also the condition is going to be the same,” lamented assistant examiner Dayanand.

But district education officer Chinna Reddy claims that necessary facilities have been provided by the education department.

“This year we have ensured that there is a canteen and also proper drinking water and toilet facilities. We are trying our best to ensure that teachers at the spot valuation are comfortable.

We also have a reserve list of teachers in case those on duty miss the evaluation, so that there needn’t be the burden of extra correction on other teachers,” he said.

Get poetic this evening

New denizens at City zoo

KANCHAN AGARWAL

feedback@postnoon.com

kanchan.a@postnoon.com

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mall literary clubs are on the rise in the City.

Adding to the treasure is the Red Leaf Poetry club which will hold its second meeting this evening.

The theme for the meeting is nationalism. Published poet and photographer Ananda Vishwanada will read lines from his books Moving On and In Drive. If you also want to read out your poem, you are required to send your work in advance for approval.

Red Leaf was chosen as the name of the club as it refers to the colour of a new leaf. The club is open for all to join and is planning to hold a poetry festival by the end of the year. Today’s meeting will be held at the Landmark book store in Somajiguda between 5pm and 7pm.

Postnoon news

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ehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad, has received animals from Mysore and Kanpur zoos as part of an animal exchange approved by the Central zoo authority.

In the first exchange, the Nehru Zoological Park gave a pair of sloth bears, two pairs of purple heron, two pairs of leaf turtle, one male marmoset and one male mouse deer to the Mysore Zoo. In turn, the zoo received a pair of wolves, one pair of black swan, a pair of ecultistus parrot, one female marmoset and a female mouse deer. All the animals have safely arrived at the City zoo and are have been kept in quarantine for 15 days, said zoo official HM Hanifulla.

In the second exchange the Nehru Zoological Park gave one pair of Asiatic lions and a pair of golden pheasants to Kanpur

Zoo, which in return gave one male rhinoceros to IGZP, Vishakapatnam. The Nehru Zoological Park received a pair of hyenas from the Kanpur Zoo which has been kept in the summer house to complete the

quarantine period.

This apart, the zoo has, under the aquarium modification programme, expanded the aquarium area to 1,600 sq ft from the existing 800 sq ft.

Twelve tanks were constructed,

each five to six inches in length, four inch in height and three inch in width. Ten of these tanks were prepared for fresh water fish, into which 36 species of fish were released for display.

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NATION SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

Bomb hurled at leader’s home

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nidentified people hurled a petrol bomb at the house of a Hindu outfit leader here in the early hours today, police said. No one was injured in the incident in Ukkadam at around 5am, but window panes of the bedroom of Arjun Sampath, President, Hindu Makkal Katchi (Tamizhakam) were broken, they said.

Medha Patkar ends fast

Akhilesh swaps posts

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ctivist Medha Patkar called off her over a week-long fast following an assurance by Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan that an inquiry would be conducted into the demolition of a slum. She ended her fast after midnight, an associate of the activist said. Patkar was fasting since April 4 after 43 houses of the slum area were razed by civic authorities.

REDUCED TO ASHES

nder pressure of his party cadres to remove AC Sharma from the post of Director General of Police (DGP) because his subordinates in the state capital and districts were not listening to them, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday replaced him with Devraj Singh Nagar, an IPS of 1983 batch.

Eshwarappa in the dock over speech SHIMOGA: A crimi-

NEW DELHI: A woman looks on from her burnt shanty in Bawana on the outskirts of AFP New Delhi on Friday.

Rae Bareli, Amethi get 24X7 power supply again LUCKNOW: Pushed on the backfoot after "strong political reactions" from New Delhi, the Uttar Pradesh government restored 24x7 power supply to Rae Bareli and Amethi on Friday — parliamentary constituencies of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

While the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) had confirmed on Thursday that power cuts had been effected in the two VIP districts owing to acute power shortage, it now says that power rostering in the two districts was "part of routine adjustments".

"There were no specific instructions for these two districts. Power cuts have been happening even in VIP areas like Kannauj, a parliamentary constituency represented by Dimple Yadav, wife of the chief minister," managing director of UPPCL AP Mishra pointed out.

WHILE THE UP POWER CORPORATION SAID POWER CUTS WERE EFFECTED IN THE VIP DISTRICTS, IT NOW SAYS POWER ROSTERING IS ROUTINE. Asked why such rostering was not done in other VIP constituencies, Mishra refused to respond, saying only that "24x7 power supply has been restored to Rae Bareli and Amethi".

With the onset of summer, Uttar Pradesh is reeling under a severe power crisis, with peak demand for electricity going up to 11,500 mega watt, while supply from different sources in around 8,000 mega watt. The state faces a shortIANS fall of over 3,000 MW.

HC acquits wife-killer

Two arrested at Chennai airport

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court

CHENNAI: In two separate arrests at the Chennai airport today, a woman was caught with 20 kg of ketamine while a 38-year-old man wanted in a murder case was nabbed on his arrival from the UAE. The woman had hidden the banned drug, worth ` 20 crore in the international market, inside her suitcase, airport sources said. In the second incident, Jotheeswaran of Thanjavur district was arrested on his arrival at the airport early this morning. Jotheeswaran is wanted in a three-year-old murder case and had gone absconding.

has acquitted a man convicted by a lower court for murdering his wife by setting her afire eight years ago. Hearing the appeal filed by Pune-resident Bhanudas Thite, a division bench of Justices VK Tahilramani and PD Kode recently set aside the 2005 order of the Pune trial court which had sentenced him to life imprisonment. According to the prosecution, Thite lost his job in 2004 and he and wife Indubai often quarrelled. On July 3, 2004, he poured kerosene on her and set her on fire.

nal case has been filed against him in his home town Shimoga, 280 km north of Bangalore, for a speech that allegedly provokes hatred between communities, a police spokesperson told reporters on Friday.

Addressing a public function here Sunday, Eshwarappa had reportedly said that a number of young Hindu girls had become victims of

Karnataka Deputy CM is in trouble for his alleged ‘hate speech’ in the poll-bound state.

"love jihad", wherein Muslim youth allegedly lure Hindu women and dump them after exploiting them.

The case against Eshwarappa followed a complaint by Shimoga district Congress leaders that the deputy chief minister's speech was aimed at instigating one community against the other and violated model code of conduct in force for the May 5 Assembly IANS elections.

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WORLD SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

IMF recognises Somalia

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he International Monetary Fund has announced that it is recognising Somalia’s new government after a 22-year break in relations with the once-chaotic country, part of a general push by the United States, United Nations and the West toward encouraging rehabilitation there. The US formally recognised the African nation’s new government in January.

Ono to publish new book

Quake hits western Japan

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strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit western Japan early on Saturday, injuring at least 24 people and destroying some houses, officials and reports said. Japan’s meteorological agency, which earlier reported the quake was measured at magnitude 6.0, revised the seismic reading to magnitude 6.3. There was no risk of a tsunami, it said.

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oko Ono, wife of late Beatles’ star John Lennon, will publish a new poetry book nearly 50 years after her last offering. The musician released Grapefruit, a book of “instructional poetry” in 1964. Her latest is titled Acorn, which she describes as “poetry in action with participation". Ono reveals the book is based on her online musings.

Kerry looks to China for help on N Korea Kerry heads to Beijing on Saturday seeking China’s help to rein in Pyongyang.

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S Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Beijing on Saturday seeking China’s help to rein in a belligerent North Korea and provide a foundation for Seoul to lower soaring tensions with Pyongyang.

Kerry was due to fly to the Chinese capital from South Korea where he held talks Friday with President Park Geun-Hye and offered public US support to her plans for initiating some trust-building with the North.

The Korean peninsula has been engulfed by escalating military tensions and dire threats of nuclear war ever since North Korea conducted a rocket test last December and a nuclear test in February. Despite intelligence reports that the North has prepared what would be a highlyprovocative, medium-range missile launch, Park has in recent days made some conciliatory gestures to the regime in Pyongyang. In a meeting with her ruling party officials on Friday, Park said that the South should meet with the North and “listen to what North Korea thinks".

While Kerry berated Pyongyang’s “unacceptable” rhetoric and warned that any missile launch would be a “huge mistake," he also took pains to stress US backing for Park’s initiative.

Manila offers US help MANILA: The US would be allowed to station forces at military bases in the Philippines if it went to war with North Korea, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Saturday citing a treaty between the allies.

SK police stopped Anti-NK leaflet launch SEOUL: South Korean police on Saturday stopped a planned launch of anti-North Korea leaflets across the border, an activist said, as Seoul seeks to open dialogue and defuse soaring tensions with Pyongyang.

“President Park was elected with a different vision for the possibilities of peace and we honour that vision ... and we hope that vision is the one that will actually take hold here," he said.

“We’re prepared to work with conviction that relations between North and South can improve and they can improve very quickly," he added.

In a joint statement released just before Kerry left for Beijing, the United States said it welcomed the “trust building process” proposed by Park.

But Kerry also made it clear that reducing tensions would

require cooperation from all sides, and in particular China, whose trade and aid have propped up its ally North Korea since the end of the Cold War. “China has an enormous ability to help make a difference here, and I hope that in our conversations when I get there that we’ll be able to lay out a path ahead that can defuse this tension," he said. Kerry will hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday and meet the country’s new president, Xi Jinping. Without naming any countries, Xi said last weekend that “no one should be

allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gains".

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Friday China’s leaders were “very concerned” about the crisis and were working to reduce tensions.

“The Chinese have told us that they are doing their utmost to ease the tension," he said in Beijing after meeting Xi. After China, Kerry heads to Japan which is also deeply involved in the North Korea issue and which deployed Patriot missiles around Tokyo this week ahead.

Mubarak retrial begins today CAIRO: The retrial of Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak begins on Saturday in Cairo, with the fate of the ousted strongman largely eclipsed by the deadly turmoil and economic woes gripping the country.

His original trial in August 2011 was a major moment for both Egypt and the region as it was the first time an Arab leader deposed by his people had appeared in court in person.

But dramatic scenes such as an ailing Mubarak being wheeled on a stretcher into a barred cage are unlikely to be repeated.

Mubarak, his interior minister Habib al-Adly and six security chiefs will be in the dock again over their alleged complicity in the murder and attempted murder of hundreds of peaceful protesters on January 25-31, 2011. The toppled despot’s sons Gamal and Alaa — once symbols of power and wealth — will also be retried on corruption charges.

Another defendant, business tycoon Hussein Salem, is being tried in absentia. The hearing will be held at the police academy that once bore Mubarak’s name in a Cairo suburb.

Mubarak, has suffered several health scares.

AFP

3 dead as storm hits US Midwest

Tycoon wins $12m in Bird flu toll in damages in wine fraud China rises to 11

JACKSON: A powerful storm has unleashed torna-

NEW YORK: A New York jury on Friday awarded $12 million in damages to a US billionaire, who said he had been defrauded when he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for supposedly vintage wine that turned out to be fake. John Hueston, a lawyer for Florida energy executive Bill Koch, confirmed the award to AFP, saying his client was very pleased with the outcome. The decision was the culmination of a high-stakes trial, during which Koch, brother to the politically connected siblings who help fund the US conservative Tea Party movement, accused California Internet entrepreneur Eric Greenberg of fraud, saying he had been sold fake vintage wine as part of a $3.5 million purchase he made at auction.

does and peeled the roofs from homes in the US Deep South and heaped snow on the Midwest, killing three people and leaving thousands without power as it moved up the East Coast. Emergency officials said yesterday one person was killed by a tornado in Mississippi. In Missouri, a utility worker repairing power lines was electrocuted, and a woman in Nebraska died when she tried to walk through a snowstorm from her broken-down car to her house 1.6 kilometer away. The second day of golf at the Masters at Augusta National in Georgia began as scheduled, though the course was a bit wet but undamaged.

BEIJING: The deadly new bird flu, which has caused 11 deaths in China so far, spread to Beijing as the capital reported its first case today, increasing the total number of cases in the country to 44. A seven-year-old child in Beijing was suspected to have been infected with H7N9 strain of bird flu, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted local health officials as saying. It needs to be confirmed by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The child is being treated at the Beijing Ditan Hospital, and is in stale condition, the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau said in a statement. Two people, who had close contacts with the child, have not shown any flu symptoms, sources at the bureau said.

8

COMMENT SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

EDITORIALS WHY SPARE THOSE who kill for a cause?

The Supreme Court’s dismissal of the condemned prisoner and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) terrorist D S Bhullar’s plea for commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment has not come a day too early. Friday’s decision will pave the way for his hanging and is likely to have an impact on 17 other convicts on the death row including those held guilty in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. This, together with the Afzal killing, sets a welcome trend in today’s terror-driven world where armed struggle and guerrilla war have come to be identified as the ‘legitimate’ redress of perceived grievances.

Human rights surely don’t apply to those who commit coldblooded murder of innocent people on road. In fact, the very act is inhuman and where is the case for a ‘human rights?” the maudlin pleas of human rightists for the same is an insult to the victims and their families. Will the same rightists suffer a similar crime and plead for mercy? Only a Jesus or a Gandhi could do, not the majority of ordinary citizens. If at all an alternative to hanging exists, it is to make these condemned criminals toil for the families of their victims for the remaining parts of their life, if the Law allows it.

Whatever the reasons, a civilised society can’t justify armed struggle because it involves loss of life of millions who have no stake in the decision-making. If these people can kill for their cause they should be brave enough to accept the penalty, too.

WHY WE LOVE...

Mamata Banerjee West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan, who is also the Chancellor of the Presidency University, has apologised to the students and teachers for his failure in protecting the varsity and its premises. Even more touching is that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called the Vice-Chancellor and expressed her deep regret over the attack on the historic Baker laboratory, allegedly by goons of the Trinamool Congress students’ organisation. She has promised her full support to make it world class. Can you find a more pretty face of ugly politics?

Call of the wild Soul Curry SUMAA TEKUR

A

weekend trip to a jungle retreat was not just an unwinding pleasure trip, it also ended up being an exercise in overcoming fear.

The weekend experience helped me in understanding how to deal with what the body and mind take to be foreign, unknown and therefore to be feared.

Now, this was a jungle retreat in the Nilgiri forests, which gave the true experience of being out in the wild and as close to nature as one can possibly be. It meant after dusk, tuskers could walk by your door, leopards could have wandered into the land in search of food and water, and mountain bears could be passing by. The man who runs the retreat told us that as per government rules, they were not allowed to put up fences for the property

because the land was supposedly in an elephant corridor. So his retreat was open, and guests experienced wildlife up-close.

Food and drink was only served at the restaurant, which was about a half-a-kilometre from the various cottages, tree houses and rooms. We were not allowed to carry food into the rooms because they would attract rats, and rats, in turn, would attract snakes. Post dinner, we would all be escorted back to our rooms by experienced guides, who knew the forests like we do our homes.

On one full moon night, my friends and I assumed that there was enough light to spot any wild animals. But they told us that the elephants stand behind trees and in the night it’s difficult to spot them.

The guides flashed their powerful torches on the pathway as we walked back to the room each night. We asked them if the animals didn’t find the light annoying. They said that the animals were used to it.

They knew that this property belonged to people who cared for wildlife, and that they would be caused no harm if they were

FEAR HAS MANY FACES AND KNOWLEDGE IS THAT POWERFUL LIGHT, WHICH CAN OVERCOME FEAR. IF WE KNEW WHAT ACTION NEEDS TO BE TAKEN WHEN TROUBLE KNOCKS ON THE DOOR, WE WOULDN’T BE AS SCARED. walking by it.

The proprietor of the retreat showed us a video of the animals that were spotted at the property. They set up camera traps at night. These traps would record for one minute if it sensed any movement. They had videos of leopards, bisons, elephants, snakes, etc. As the guests watched the videos in silence, some were intrigued but many others questioned their safety. The reason they show these videos to all guests is not scare them, the proprietor later told me. It’s so that guests are careful and don’t get

too adventurous to venture out by themselves at night, which might lead to incidents.

Fear has many faces and knowledge is that powerful light, which can overcome fear.

If we knew what action needs to be taken when trouble knocks on the door, we wouldn’t be as scared.

Fear emerges from deeprooted ignorance. We don’t always put things in the entire context and tend to see them as isolated issues that we magnify in our heads and label them as problems. All it needs to tackle these issues is light. Light from our inner vision and our instincts can light up our physical consciousness and make us see things differently. It’s necessary to awaken our inner beings to bring this consciousness to the fore.

There were many lessons to learn from this weekend with wild animals for company. I also became acutely conscious of the need to restore balance in life at regular intervals.

After all, we have taken away the space that belonged to the animals. We can at least learn to coexist.

9

COMMENT SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

EAT, PRAY, PLAY My World SHRADDHA JAHAGIRDAR-SAXENA

T

VISWAPRASAD RAJU

Urban sketches

Green City

he last two weeks have been a whirligig of moments, moods and if I can put it, movements.

For apart from the regular office to home and back routine, I enjoyed travelling to three different locations for different reasons.

As I mentioned in my previous column, my first visit was to Shirdi to experience first-hand the pull and impact of Sai Baba.

I had gone with my friend Prabha who has been there before. But call it coincidence, faith or what you will, the darshans that we enjoyed this time were in her words beyond what she had experienced before.

Personally, I came away impressed by the belief and faith that He generates. I was impressed by the sheer organisation and discipline in the crowds.

We had our passes that we had booked online. But even as we joined the long queue inside there was no jostling, no exchange of words and no unquiet. Men and women, young and old, waited patiently for their moment in the inner sanctum sanctorum. The evening aarti was a sheer joy to experi-

ence. Called the dhoop aarti, it lasted for an hour and standing there brought a certain peace even as I witnessed the varied emotions on the countless devotees who shared the same moments with us. The next day, even at 6.30am, the crowds swelled and surged — but all in one line. There were boys chanting in the early morning light, women holding their children tightly by the hand as they climbed the steps and many more. It was a discovery of a slice of India, if I may say so,

that I had not seen before.

From this intensely personal experience in a public place, I then travelled the next day to Pune for a family function — the naming ceremony of my nephew. Only to catch up with another older nephew who took all of us by surprise with his cool Mohawk cut. Since I stayed at his home, with my cousins, I completely enjoyed the friendly repartee that we exchanged — as we dined out at a starred hotel or enjoyed a simple meal of misal pav at home. The ‘sample’

that we dipped into, a kind of tomato-based gravy that is poured over pohe and potatoes (I have yet to get the recipe) and mixed with onions and coriander — was mouthwateringly tasty. Time sped by all too swiftly and we had to return to base in Mumbai.

I thought I could put my bag away for a bit, but a work trip to Pondicherry decreed otherwise.

Once in the city, we walked the length of the waterfront in the evening when the heat of the sun had died away. At that time,

for the uninitiated, the area became a car-free zone which makes walking a real pleasure.

A short halt at Le Café replenished our (the photographer and mine) swiftly depleting energy (summer heat does take its toll) and we were up and about on the road in no time. On the last night before our return, we stopped at a fence that overlooked a small maidan on the same promenade. To watch with wide curious eyes what the eight to 10 adult males were playing.

After some 20 minutes of observation — which made me think of the scene in Lagaan where Aamir Khan and the Indians sit crouched in the grass watching the British play cricket for the first time — I asked one man what game it was. Petanque, he replied. I learnt later that the aim is to toss, or roll a number of hollow steel balls as close as possible to a small wooden target ball. Players take turns and the team that ends up nearest to the target ball when all balls are played, wins.

As we watched for about three-fourths of an hour, I noticed more people join me at the fence. And I mentally said, “What is this world if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?” That time at the fence brought a new word into my dictionary, and reinforced the fact that if you keep your eyes and ears open, the world can still surprise you, anytime, anywhere!

Global edits The Guardian (UK)

Margaret Thatcher: setting it in stone

I

t was glumly inevitable that someone this week would prematurely suggest that a statue of Margaret Thatcher should be erected in London.

The defence secretary Philip Hammond and Lord Tebbit have duly obliged, proposing Trafalgar Square. Boris Johnson has floated the alternative of Parliament Square, with the statue financed by public subscription. Since the deep-pocketed former Tory party treasurer Lord Ashcroft is also a keen supporter, it is clear that a prominent Thatcher statue in London may all too soon become a done deal.

Not so fast, please. There are many good reasons why the advocates of a Thatcher statue should, at the very least, be told to pause before pressing their proposal. The first is that Westminster council has a sensible guideline of waiting 10 years after a death before

authorising a statue. The principle that the dust should be allowed to settle on a person’s life and death – though recently brushed aside in the case of Ronald Reagan’s Grosvenor Square statue – remains a good one. It should apply with special force where passions are strong, as they are in Lady Thatcher’s case, as earlier rows in London and Grantham have illustrated.

The second reason is that political parties of left and right – and other groups like football clubs and victims’ campaigns – need to rein in their desire to erect statues and memorials in public spaces and to rename airports and streets. We may know which one we prefer politically, but the left’s Mandela memorialisation is as problematic here as the right’s current urge to commemorate Lady Thatcher. The rival groups are making a battleground of public spaces that should belong to all, not to one or other political or sporting tribe. Just leave us and our streets and parks alone, please.

The third reason is aesthet-

WHY THE ADVOCATES OF A THATCHER STATUE SHOULD BE TOLD TO PAUSE BEFORE PRESSING THEIR PROPOSAL ic. Much modern statuary and memorial architecture is too obtrusive and often of low quality. Even if Lady Thatcher was wholly uncontroversial, the artistic quality of earlier statues of her has been embarrassing. The newish London memorial to RAF Bomber Command, another of Lord Ashcroft’s pet projects (dubious on grounds of war obsession too), is a further case in point.

Capital cities around the world – think Berlin, think Washington, and certainly think London – are increasingly cluttered with too many memorials and statues of questionable public value which add little – to put it generously – to the rewards of living in them or visiting them. The current indulgence in favour of memorials, especially obtrusive ones, ought to be reversed.

10

BUSINESS SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

Russia faces recession?

E-learning via set-top boxes

T

entre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has launched a new software that facilitates e-learning via set-top boxes(STBs). Eighty elearning courses will be made available using the tool by C-DAC in collaboration with the Pune University's Educational Media Research Centre (EMRC), a spokesman said.

he Russian economy could slip into recession this coming fall unless measures to stimulate growth are urgently implemented, Economy Minister Andrei Belousov said. "We will propose economic stimulation measures," he said, warning that otherwise Russia will see zero growth by the fall. "These measures are necessary,” he added.

C

Yen gains strength

T

he yen strengthened Friday after the United States said it was monitoring Japan's policies and urged Tokyo to avoid "competitive devaluation" of its currency. The dollar bought 98.37 yen around 2200 GMT, down from 99.73 late Thursday. The euro fell to 128.89 yen from 130.68 yen. However, the euro-dollar rate was barely changed from Thursday.

S BALA KRISHNA

Relief’s a click away Vijit Jain runs the first and only portal in the world offering simple and effective solutions to the gas and digestion related problems.

PRUDHVI RAJU K

prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

V

ijit Jain, an electronics and telecommunications graduate, quit his enticing career with Cisco to start gasrelief.com, the first and only portal in the world offering simple and effective solutions to the gas and digestion related problems.

Solutions are medicine free, natural and based on spices readily available in every Indian kitchen.

Vijit started his career with Cisco after finishing his Masters in engineering and management from Weatherhead School of Management in 2006.

“To do something on my own had always been my dream from my junior college days. In order to gain experience and global exposure, I decided to opt for career with Cisco, USA in 2006.

Being with Cisco, helped me to understand and be updated with evolving technologies, trends and start-ups on the Internet.

After working for three years, I came to Cisco, India, on transfer and continued here and in Bahrain for another three years,” Vijit said.

About gasrelief.com, he says, “I shared my interest to step in to entrepreneurial journey with my uncle, Ashok Surana, who is the owner of Champion Manufacturing. He told me about the idea of giving solutions to gas-and digestionrelated problems, on which he was doing research for almost seven years. With my web experience and his expertise on the subject, we together started gasrelief.com in August 2010 with an intial investment of `1.5 lakh.

However, it took another six months to get the website developed.”

Explaining how Uncle Ashok gained expertise on the subject, he says, “His father suffered from intestinal and digestion problems. Despite taking various existing medicines from allopathy, homeopathy and ayurveda, he never got relief.

This pushed Ashok to do research on ancient herbs by reading various texts and to come out with effective solutions. We among family mem-

At gasrelief.com you get solutions for problems like n n n n n

n n

Flatulence Smelly gas Bloating of stomach due to gas accumulation Constipation Shifting body pains due to gas trapped in body tissue Loose stools Hard stools

bers and friends tried and tested these remedies for years and got desirable benefits after which we decided to use our knowledge to help the public.

Even I suffered from gas problem after eating out, which almost got cured with the same treatment.”

“Many patients who visit us suffer from acute gas and digestion problems. Other medication did not cure them.

However, our simple solutions have brought immense relief to them. We use everyday spices

and prescribe in minute quantity after understanding the problem of the patient. The medicine controls the activity of bacteria resulting in proper digestion,” he says.

“There are various problems that evolve due to improper digestion: bloating, excessive burping, flatulence, constipation and body pains. Especially problems like excessive burping, flatulence affect the people’s morale in public gatherings. There are people suffering from flatulence, who quit their jobs because they could not find a cure,” he says.

Gasrelief.com is an online solution provider, where in the user only needs to answer the questionnaire on the page and the system automatically generates solutions based on his/her condition.

“The results can be seen in almost 80 per cent of the cases within five days. Based on the feedback, we will change the frequency or dig deep for a solution if it is not that effective with the patients. We also offer solutions through telephone for the people who are not Internet savvy,” he explains.

The business is almost visit-

ed by 7,000 visitors every month and ranks among the first page in the search results of Google.

However, it is facing a challenge in converting the traffic to customers. “The concept is radically different and people are not used to this type of solution wherein a stranger offers a solution on the web whom they haven’t seen or met earlier.

“Many people, who are satisfied with results do not want to acknowledge or give positive rating as they don’t want to publicly say that they faced such issues,” he says.

On the revenue model, he says, “It is a paid model with three types of registrations — 100 (1 month), 500 (three months) and 4,500 (tele medicine). We want to earn revenues to make this business sustainable but not to generate great profits. We could offer these solutions for free, but the user does not value free stuff, which is one of the reasons to use the paid model.”

The business is also set to launch various other solutions for diseases like allergic sinusitis under their BodyNSpice website. It is expecting a break even in the next fiscal year.

11

FOCUS SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

Philippines’ unsettling

GUN CULTURE

The proliferation of firearms in the Philippines has been in the spotlight since January, following a series of shooting-related deaths, including of two children hit by stray bullets on New Year’s Eve. MANILA: Bespectacled and clean shaven, 37-year-old Jomari Paraas could pass for a typical office employee in the Philippines, except he has six guns in his backpack that he will soon sell.

The father-of-two is a prolific player in the country’s enormous and lucrative weapons black market, which has been under scrutiny following a spate of high-profile massacres and shoot-outs this year.

“Why do I trade guns?

Because there is a demand for it.

And it’s extra income,” said Paraas, a former Communist guerrilla whose day job as a community organiser for a nongovernment organisation is not enough to pay his bills.

Speaking to AFP in a crowded Manila slum where he was planning to sell the six guns, Paraas said he had been a firearms trader for more than a decade, starting in his late 20s when he quit the rebel movement.

Paraas is a made-up name for security reasons, but his real identity has been vetted by a Filipino expert on security issues who advises local law enforcement officials on the gun trade.

Paraas started selling used guns and knock-offs of foreign brands made by illegal gunsmiths in central and southern Philippines, before moving to more expensive weapons smuggled from abroad.

The American-made .22 calibre Magnum Black Widow revolvers in his bag were ordered by a buyer through a shadowy network of small-time gun runners who take advantage of the city’s urban squalor to peddle their deadly wares.

Their clients range from security-conscious housewives to slum dwellers and members of “private armies” employed by political warlords.

“They are light and easy to move, and in demand from many people because they primarily use it for self-defence,” Paraas said of the revolvers, which he sells for 5,000 pesos ($120) each.

“Higher calibre guns and automatic rifles can also be bought, at a higher price.”

The proliferation of firearms in the Philippines has been in the spotlight since January, following a series of shooting-related deaths, including of two children hit by stray bullets on New Year’s Eve.

Then and now

T

he Philippines has a strong gun culture dating back centuries, with a history of armed struggle against Spanish and US colonial rulers. Today, people typically carry guns because they lack confidence in the country’s security forces to protect the public, according to security analysts and firearms traders.

A salesman at a practical defence and weapons shop in Manila, demonstrates how to use a conversion kit that transforms a 9mm hand gun to resemble a close-quarter submachine gun unit.

AFP PHOTO / JAY DIRECTO A drug-crazed gunman also killed seven people in a slum rampage, and a shoot-out linked to a gambling turf war left 13 dead, among them corrupt police and military officers.

The Philippines has a strong gun culture dating back centuries, with a history of armed struggle against Spanish and US colonial rulers.

Today, people typically carry guns because they lack confidence in the country’s security forces to protect the public, according to security analysts and firearms traders.

There were 1.2 million registered firearms in the Philippines last year, with another 6,00,000 unlicenced firearms in circulation, according to national police data.

Getting a licence to own a conventional gun is easy, subject to police clearance and security checks that include psychological tests, and firearms shops sit alongside clothes outlets in malls.

But getting one without a police clearance can be even eas-

GETTING A LICENCE TO OWN A CONVENTIONAL GUN IS EASY, SUBJECT TO POLICE CLEARANCE AND SECURITY CHECKS THAT INCLUDE PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS, AND FIREARMS SHOPS SIT ALONGSIDE CLOTHES OUTLETS IN MALLS.

THE

NUMBERS

There were

1.2

MILLION

registered firearms in the Philippines last year, with another

6,00,000

unlicenced firearms in circulation, according to national police data.

ier. Security analyst Ed Quitoriano, who regularly advises foreign embassies on threat issues, said there could be as many as four million unlicenced guns across the country.

The gun culture can be unsettling, particularly for foreign visitors.

Private security guards with loaded, sawn-off shotguns infest the crime-plagued cities, protecting small and large private businesses.

Traffic wardens deputised by the police but with little security training stand at intersections with revolvers hanging off their hips.

Restaurants, nightclubs and banks often have signs asking patrons to leave their firearms at entrance counters.

Foreigners are warned by long-time expatriates to avoid any incident that could escalate into violence, because of the potential for a gun to be used on them.

This month, an Australian man was shot in the head from point-blank range at a beach

resort he managed, with police suspecting an aggrieved former staff member may have ordered the murder.

President Benigno Aquino launched a high-profile campaign at the start of the year to get unlicenced guns off the streets.

But government data shows this has so far netted fewer that 2,200 firearms, highlighting what Quitoriano said was the government’s lack of resolve and capabilities to tackle the issue.

Quitoriano said many powerful figures, including soldiers, police and politicians, profited from the firearms trade, part of a huge corruption problem that plagues all sectors of society.

“Many of the unlicenced guns that leak into the grey market actually come from legal imports and government purchases,” he said.

Quitoriano said the climate of fear fuelled the black market.

“If the public trusted the government more, there would be no need for them to protect themselves by arming,” he said.

Alexander Reyes, who owns self-defence specialty shop Aquila Firearms and Ammunition Corp. at a Manila mall, agreed.

“It used to be for prestige, because guns equate with power,” Reyes said. “But nowadays, it is mostly for protection.

The police cannot protect AFP you 24/7.”

12

TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

UTILITY WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

MOBILE GAME REVIEW

APP OF THE WEEK

www.glarysoft.com t is a free, powerful and all-in-one utility for cleaning your Windows PC. Boosts PC speed and fixes frustrating errors, crashes and freezes. It also protects your privacy and wipes out sensitive internet and chat history.

I

TOMA 2 SOLITAIRE

Network Ping

A

very cool app it allows one to ping not only a single IP address, but also a whole subnet via the iPhone. The iPhone displays all addresses telling which addresses are working, which are offline.

he goal of this solitaire is to clear the board of cards by matching them to win a level. Each time you remove all cards, you will move on to the next round of the game, and it will be harder.To match them you have to select a card of your choice.

Learning can be fun These games are not only entertaining but also educational.

Here are some of the games that entertain you while you learn.

T

AGE

OF

EMPIRES

AND

CIVILIZATION

SERIES

MICROSOFT

hese two games have been around for a long time and is one of the best ways to learn and understand history. While Civilization has a bit of fictional element to it, Age of Empires sticks to the original story to whatever extent it can. The best game in the series is Age of Empires II: Age of Kings and it was recently republished with a few minor updates such as update for HD screens etc.. via Steam. Microsoft also has a free version of the game which packs in multiplayer elements called Age Of Empires: Online.

Available for PC

W

DANCE

D Q

QUARREL

uarrel is a mix of Age of Empires and Scrabble. This game again is more fun if played with a group of friends. To begin with all players get a territory and a set of letters with which they need to create a word in their territory. Players can conquer their friends territory by heading there and making a word with more points than the occupant’s. Developed by UTV Ignition, the game won the Best Game award at Bafta 2011.

Available for Xbox 360, iOS

FLIGHT SIMULATOR

ant to learn how to fly a plane? No problem, you can do so via Microsoft’ flight simulator which is also one of the oldest gaming series still available off the shelves. Due to its popularity and presence in the market it also has several add-ons that increases the capability of the game beyond what is available out off the box. You can even change the cockpit model, aesthetics and the model for the aircraft as per your fancy.

Available for PC

CENTRAL

ance Central is only as educational as Guitar Hero, but it’s definitely more entertaining, if dancing is your thing. To play the game you need to have the Kinect controller which captures the way your whole body moves.

In the game you’re required to mimic the steps of the character on the screen.

Though the initial few levels feel like aerobics sessions, it gets much tougher later on. The game can be played in big groups too with the others playing the role of members in your group.

Available for Xbox 360

SIMCITY

T

he latest avatar of the game ran into a lot of controversy because it demanded that gamers remain connected to their servers to play the game. However, it is still a very good game that can help a young mind understand the planning that goes into building and maintaining a city. The game also requires you to balance the budget of a city while meeting the infrastructure and entertainment needs of residents. The multiplayer elements in the game will force you to strike deals with your neighbours (actual players) so each city can develop and prosper independently.

Available for PC

13

ANIMAL KINGDOM SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

PET NEWS Dinosaur embryos found

A

site in China contains 190-millionyear old organic remains from non-avian dinosaurs and dinosaur embryos, and some of the world’s oldest known eggshells, according to a new study.

Lip-smacking like humans

T

he lip-smacking vocalizations gelada monkeys make are surprisingly similar to human speech, a new study finds. Geladas are the only ones known to make undulating sounds, known as “wobbles”.

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

First brain surgery on bear

I

n the mountains of northern Laos, a three-year-old Asiatic black bear has become a medical pioneer: the world’s first bear to undergo brain surgery. The bear’s name is Champa.

CATS AND DOGS The Animal Care Clinic 040-2335 2474 Pet’s World Dog Clinic 98856 46259 Blue Cross of Hyderabad 040-3298 9858, 23544355/ 5523 Vet-N-Pet 040-6553 9535, 93463 05890 Bluplus Pet Clinic 040-2712 1739, 2716 2636 Sri Sai Pet Clinic

Street clinic: Help on wheels

040-2779 7458, 9848645350 Claws & Paws 98662 82772 All Creatures Animals Clinic 040-2773 0885 BIRDS Govt Veterinary Hospital 040-2331 9656, 2753 5755 Bird Watcher’s Society 040-2355 6166 Friends of Birds9391048315 SNAKES Friends of Snakes 8374233366

PIC COURTESY ACHALA PAANI

There are many people in slums who care for the stray dogs in their area, but can’t afford to get them medical help. Let’s Live Together reaches out to them.

DEEPASHRI V

deepashri.v@postnoon.com

‘L

ife on the street’ was Achala Paani’s graduation project. Today, that project has given life to hundreds of stray puppies. She is the founder of Let’s Live Together (LLT), a registered, charitable trust for homeless animals in Bangalore.

LLT rescues abandoned pup-

plans to organise its next street clinic.

What sparked the idea of a street clinic?

I got the idea of a street clinic when I did a street campaign for Let’s Live Together’s spay and neuter drive with the Humane Society International in February. We spayed and neutered a lot of owned dogs from the slums. Only when I went around the slums did I realise that the dogs in the slum were quite medically neglected.

The slums have a large num-

ber of dogs with owners who can’t afford regular medical care.

LLT’s ‘Street Clinic’ campaign is to promote responsible pet ownership by providing free medical treatment for the dogs that need medical attention.

How many volunteers and doctors took part in the initiative?

Finnish vets from IPAN assisted the street teams, along with four volunteers from Lets Live Together. Dr Vinutha from Bangalore was also extremely supportive and encouraging.

What areas of Bangalore did you cover and how many animals were treated?

dogs and treated another 250 dogs for severe mange, scabies, open wounds and injuries.

What are some simple ways in which people can care for stray dogs in their area, especially in this scorching heat?

CAMPAIGN IS TO PROMOTE RESPONSIBLE PET OWNERSHIP BY PROVIDING FREE MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR THE DOGS.

The simplest thing anyone can do is to provide fresh drinking water to the homeless animals around their neighbourhood, apart from being kind enough to let them sleep in some shade, may be in their own compound spaces.

People feeding homeless dogs should feed them with healthy nutritious food and not leftovers.

Leftovers can cause a great deal of skin infections even to healthy dogs and can affect their immune system as well.

Healthy nutritious food, fresh water and timely vaccinations are simple things communities can keep a track of, for their community dogs.

pies, nurtures and fosters them, and holds an adoption camp every month, where many of these puppies find a family.

Their last initiative was a street clinic, held in the first week of April. Postnoon talks to Achala Paani and finds out what are the problems faced by stray pups in slums, what help can be given to them, and when LLT

A campaign like this requires a lot support from the community and people. If we have people and companies coming forward to sponsor us with vaccines, medicines and all other requirements, we could have many more camps like this one.

If people wish to donate and support us they could write to us at letslivetogether.in@gmail.com.

LLT’S ‘STREET CLINIC’

Lets Live Together, in partnership with IPAN, held a weeklong free, door-to-door street clinic for owned/community dogs all over Bangalore and our first target area was Srirampuram.

A team of three skilled

We covered the slums of Srirampuram and Goripalaya and treated around 450 dogs.

What were the common ailments or problems that you found in the street dogs in these areas?

We vaccinated around 200

Do you plan to organise another street clinic soon?

14

BOOKS SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

SHORT READS Title: The Interestings Author: Meg Wolitzer Publisher: Penguin Group Four teenagers who meet at a summer camp for the arts continue to keep in touch. While two give up their artistic dreams for more practical pursuits and careers, the other two become incredible successful as artists, causing a strain in their friendship.

Title: Roger Ailes: Off Camera Author: Zev Chafets Publisher: Sentinel HC There’s no denying that Roger Ailes has transformed journalism in the US. The creator of Fox News is a surprisingly full of contradictions and surprises, and some of his most ardent fans are those who have clashed with him on and off camera.

A fascinating profile of an unusual man.

Title: Tapestry of Fortunes Author: Elizabeth Berg Publisher: Random House Four women at different stages of their lives come together to change their lives.

The women are trying to go back and rectify past decisions, in an attempt to lead a fuller life. For the protagonist, Cece, this means tracking down the one that got away.

Title: It's All Good Author: Gwyneth Paltrow Publisher: Grand Central Life & Style Gwyneth Paltrow returns with a new cookbook in which she details recipes for foods she turns to when she wants to lose weight and feel good. In the book, the actress gives her secrets for great-tasting, yet healthy meals.

Badshas of badland

An enlightening insight into the heartland of jihad and the workings of its most successful facilitators — the Haqqani network.

ARUN KOSHY PHILIP

arun.k@postnoon.com

H

aqqani network has emerged as the synonym for terrorism that has its roots in the mountainous region that straddles PakistanAfghanistan border. It is a historical irony that a Muslim radical organisation that flourished under American aid has become one of the biggest contributors in the ideological and material warfare against the US and its interests in the region.

Exploring meticulously, a hitherto ignored treasure trove of information available in the region, Vahid Brown and Don Rasseler shed light — and challenge some popular assumptions about the operations of Haqqani network and its continuing role in conflicts that have bloodied the region for decades.

The book explores in depth, the regional, cultural, ethnic, linguistic, religious and political permutations and combinations that led to the growth of a supranational force.

The unforgiving terrain of Pashtuns, divided by the Durand Line, was never effectively governed by a central authority. It was this strategically located, yet isolated, that became the heartland of the movement that successfully integrated ideological indoctrination and motivated military mobilisation of its followers.

Extensive reference to locally published propaganda material of Haqqani network and its

THE GREATEST STRENGTH OF THE HAQQANIS IS THEIR ABILITY TO STRIKE THE RIGHT BALANCE OF FEAR AND FAVOUR SO THAT REGIONAL STAKEHOLDERS CONSIDER THEIR CONTINUANCE AS VITAL TO THEIR INTERESTS. allies provide several details that help us understand the complexity of their operational arena and the dexterity with which they handle these issues.

As emphasised throughout the book, the greatest strength of the Haqqanis is their ability to strike the right balance of fear and favour so that regional

stakeholders consider their continuance as vital to their interests.

Various accounts in the book’s chapters depict the tact of Haqqanis in their posturing so

that its purposes are served by the general momentum of events rather than pitting itself in open confrontations that may deliver a decisive blow to its capabilities.

The relations shared by various militant organisations that operate in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as global players like Al Qaeda is narrated in a comprehensive manner.

A downer is the rather tedious narrative that goes on long, winding references that tend to throw you off focus.

There are too many repetitions of what the authors perceive as key capabilities of the Haqqanis.

Unless you are a person with scholarly interest in the subject matter, and willing to persevere till the concluding pages, disappointment is a highly likely possibility — notwithstanding the quality of the content.

Name Fountainhead of Jihad Authors Vahid Brown, DonRasssler Pages 245 Publisher Hachette India

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BOOKS SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

A POET'S PROSE

John Montague's short stories retain a measure of the magic his poetry contains, and are as deeply personal as his poems are.

Name A Ball of Fire Author John Montague Pages 286 Publisher Prolibris Publishing Media Jyotsna Nambiar

jyotsna.n@postnoon.com

J

ohn Montague is better known for his poems — he has even been called one of the greatest Irish poets of his generation.

It’s not difficult to see why. His poems, with rich imagery and flowing rhymes, evoke a profound love for the green isle even in those who haven’t been fortunate enough to live there.

His short stories retain a measure of the magic his poetry contains, and are as deeply personal as his poems are. His latest book, A Ball of Fire, brings together Montague’s prose, old and new, and is as good an introduction to his work as any.

The Lost Notebook kicks things off, a story of a gauche young Irishman and his passionate relationship with an American painter. Though pegged as an erotic novella, the story is hardly scandalous for our times and reads more like a coming of age tale of a youth.

The rest of the stories are divided into four sections,

though the criteria that bind the stories together aren’t very restrictive. The stories revolve around growing up in Ireland, the constant struggle between the old order and the growing influence of the outside world.

Montague’s personal experiences colour his stories — being brought up by maiden aunts in relative poverty, returning to Ireland after studying and working abroad are common themes.

By the virtue of his having grown up partly in interior Ireland and partly outside the country, Montague’s stories, like his poetry, are a unique mix of

JOHN MONTAGUE’S STORIES , LIKE HIS POETRY, ARE A UNIQUE MIX OF THE GLOBAL AND THE LOCAL . the global and the local. Perhaps the best example in the collection is The Cry. The story revolves around a reporter who works for a London newspaper and is home for the holidays.

When he hears of a youngster being beaten up by English

policemen in his village, he decides to investigate, but quickly comes to realise that the truth is neither simple nor straightforward. With its charged political atmosphere and detached analysis, it brings to life the conflict in Ireland without resorting to overtly violent imagery.

Young love is another preoccupation with Montague; this shines through especially in The Limits of Innocence and Sugarbush, I Love You So. The last few stories are the most puzzling. Death of a Chieftain, set in South America, has echoes of authors like

Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Graham Greene. Montague says himself that the story is considered by some to be a precursor to magic realism. Though very different from the stories of an Irish childhood, the short story still has the same compelling style.

The collection ends with The Three Last Things, about a German couple settled in northern Ireland. It’s a fitting conclusion to a collection with some real gems. Montague might be one of the greatest Irish poets, but his prose ain’t too shabby either.

WHAT’S SELLING Walden’s best in fiction

Walden’s best in non-fiction

New York Time’s best in fiction

New York Times’ best in non-fiction

n In The City Of Gold And Silver

by Kenize Mourad

n Miracles Happen

by Dr Brian Weiss

n Lover at Last by JR Ward

n Lean in by Sheryl Sandberg with Nell Scovell

n Follow Every Rainbow by Rashmi Bansal

n Six Years by Harlan Coben

n Salvation Of A Saint by Keigo Higashino n Bankster by Ravi Subramanian n Accidental Apprentice by Vikas Swarup n Racketeer by John Grisham

n All Is Well by Louise L Hay n Dongri To Dubai

by S Hussain Zaidi n Patriots & Partisans by Ramachandra Guha

n The Burgess Boys

by Elizabeth Strout

n Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss n Sum it up by Pat Summitt with Sally Jenkins

n Leave Everything most loved by Jacqueline Winspear

n Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

n Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

n My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor

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WOMEN SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

WEBSITES OF THE WEEK National Stroke Association: The National Stroke Association wants to make sure you know what the signs of a stroke are, and what to do if one is happening.

Deva Curl: This is the official site of the Devachan Salon, which believes that every woman’s hair should be what it was meant to be.

Good hair tips and videos, too.

What2WearWhere. com: Going to a business luncheon and need a new outfit?

No problem. This site will give you terrific options at different price points, with links to buy everything you need on the spot.

Sweet dreams are made of these SUNORY DUTT

feedback@postnoon.com

Fatcat Kids, a range of nightwear for little tykes by Zainab Sulaiman makes bedtime that much more fun.

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aunched in February this year, Fatcat Kids offers ‘jammies for your little jam pots’. Think bright and happy striped PJs and rainbow-checked tops. And just for the fun of it, Fatcat Kids also offers PJs for ‘jam jars’ as well as the mums and dads. So if you’d like to look like a chillaxed version of the von Trap family, this is as cool as it can get.

Zainab’s ‘nocturnal’ venture was born out of her need to stop counting sheep. Well kind of: “I couldn't find wellpriced quality cotton nightsuits for my kids easily. The only options were the local cheap-looking poor quality ones or the expensive Mothercare variety. So I decided to make them myself.”

With style and comfort in equal measure, Fatcat Kids’ nightwear is made from pure cottons and cool-as-a-cucumber mul-muls in summer, and flannels in winter. Zainab ensures the chosen fabrics are durable and wash well, and of course appropriate for the season.

She’s always on the lookout for cute designs that appeal to kids.

Interestingly, colourful madras checks are a particular favourite. Customers also have the option of providing their own fabrics.

While her clientele consists mostly of mothers of young children aged between two and 10, Zainab hopes to tap into a 'pyjama' segment that exists for adults, that is at the moment going unaddressed.

Customers can choose from designs that are viewable on Fatcat Kids’ Facebook page and mail her their requirements.

There is also a video guide to taking measurements that it uploaded to help customers take measurements (though she makes night suits in standard sizes as well).

Prior to these little dramas

in pyjamas, Zainab ran her own production unit in Bangalore that specialised is children’s bed linen and quilts way back in 2004. About five years down the line and with the birth of her second child, it got too much to handle (“I could hardly spend a few hours at the unit and this affected my business badly”) so she decided to down the shutters. In retrospect, Zainab is happy with the self imposed break as it helped her re-evaluate her old business model and tap into many new

opportunities that now allow her to work from home on a made-to-order business model and at her own pace. She shares, “Compared to my older format of working out of a dedicated unit, this is a walk in the park!” Now that she’s back in the game, Zainab notices a welcome change in the retail market: “Customers are more accepting of the cash-on-delivery model and are less hesitant to order something off the net, which is a big step forward for small entrepreneurs like me

who can't afford the high rentals and other associated costs of retail spaces.”

Zainab already has many satisfied little sleepy heads going hippity hop to bed in their cute jammies. She plans to share their photos on Fatcat Kids’ Facebook page and also encourages all her clients to share their pictures.

For further information visit: www.facebook.com/pages/Fatca t -Kids/124782712286?ref=ts& fref=ts

Men keep looking All About Eve

FLEME VARKEY

A

study recently found that women saw romantic relationships as partnerships involving equal input from both partners with shared goals and beliefs. While men kept themselves at greater distance from their closest friends and from their partners. Even when men are in committed relationships they persist in acting as though they are members of the dating market, researchers in Britain found.

“Our research shows that successful relationships are much more essential to women's well-being than men's. Men seem to keep their relationships at arm's length with one eye on the dating market,” the researchers said in a statement.

Well the war between the sexes is on even in the relationships. But for me the funny part is a that a study needed to reveal this fact.

Judging by the numerous instances of infidelity and the number of gender problems we have had in this world, it was already a given that the men always had an eye on an escape route.

A classic example proving this study now is something I observed in my friends circle itself. One of my friends was going steady since five years but none of us in the group knew about it and we were always talking of finding him a partner, a search he wholeheartedly took part in. On asking him the reason for his secretiveness, he replied, “I just don’t want the world to invade on my privacy and moreover I always wanted to keep my options open.”

On the other hand, women I have noticed make it a point to blurt out to all and sundry about the guy they are going around with. Though I would not call that a plus point, there is at least acceptance and recognition on their part.

So ladies pay attention even though he may see you as his woman, it doesn’t mean he’s playing the field. Doesn’t mean he’s not interested in seeing other women.

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SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

Supporting craft

S BALAKRISHNA

4

S BALAKRISHNA

1

Assocham ladies league held a session on boosting market links in the textile and handloom sectors.

The chief guest was Panabaka Lakshmi, Union minister of state for textiles, petroleum and natural gas.

2

3

1 Pooja

3 Alka Lamba

2 Panabaka Lakshmi

4 Samia Alam Khan

1

2

Bling bling

Welcoming the world 3

After a long day of discussing sustainable tourism, delegates of the ongoing UNWTO conference enjoyed a cultural evening and dinner hosted in their honour at Golconda Fort. Union tourism minister Chiranjeevi played the ideal host.

The much-awaited Jewellery Expo is here! The exhibition, a three-day celebration of jewellery, is on at Hotel Marigold by Greenpark. Upasana Kamineni inaugurated the exhibition on Friday.

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S BALAKRISHNA

4

Traditionally yours 6

7

Hyderabadis turned up in their traditional best for the launch of Aalayam store on Road No 45, Jubilee Hills. Designer Shravan Kumar and owner Smita mingled with customers, even as models flaunted the beautiful threads.

S BALAKRISHNA

1

1 Chandana Khan, Mini Mathew

5 Allu Arvind

2 Governor ESL Narsimhan, Vimala

6 Shobana Kamineni

3 UNWTO secretary general

7 Nagu Babu

Taleb Rifai 4 Chiranjeevi, Surekha

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2

8 Ram Charan, Upasana 9 Allu Arjun, Sneha

3

9

1 Sofia, Anjali 2 Smita 3 Sujatha

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RELATIONSHIPS SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

I AM ALL EARS

I

have been married for the past six years and we have two kids. The eldest is two years old. The complication is my wife is unable to take care of my kids when I am off to work. When her mum comes to babysit things get even worse. I have asked her to look for a nanny but she gets angry. Please help.

Dear parent, Well, so know you’re kids are a handful and need extra supervision. At this growing stage they can be difficult but not impossible. So maybe if you back off for sometime, as in not complain to your wife about her lack of care maybe she can do something. Or else you could find someone as a stay-in nurse or nanny. Offer boarding and food as well, an extra hand might give her some form of comfort and she will also feel rested then.

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omen immerse themselves in their romantic relationships, while men place their best friendships and romantic partners on an equal but distant footing.These are the findings by Dr Anna Machin and Professor Robin Dunbar from the University of Oxford presented on April 11, at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference in Harrogate.

The roommate syndrome After a long day at work, when you finally get to see your partner in the comfort of your own place, there can sometimes be only one problem — your roommate.

KANCHAN AGARWAL

kanchan.a@postnoon.com

A

fter a long day at work, when you just want to hang out with your roommate and watch a movie or a cricket match, and have an absolute boys’ or girls’ night in, there can sometimes be one big hindrance — the roommate’s partner.

“My roommate believed I needed her care and attention all the time. She would keep a check and question and admonish my every move whether I was talking on phone or fighting with my boy friend or having a good time with him. She would keep insisting that hers was the most ideal relationship, although she was cheating on her partner. I had no breathing space at all,” says fashion designer Deepali Mishra. If there are those who think they need to take you under their wing, there are many of those who just won’t let you alone, in turn, never leaving your romance alone.

“My roommate was an attention seeker. If my boyfriend would come to my house, she never had the good sense to let us two be alone. If I went to his place to stay over, she would send messages saying “I am feeling lonely and sad”. So out of guilt, I would ask her to come over and we would end up sitting and chatting,” says Natasha Arora, a corporate communication manager.

If this wasn’t enough, there are those who also objects those few minutes of private time over phone. “My girlfriend and I would sometimes talk inconsequential things which were fun. Although I had no qualms doing it in the presence of my roommate, he didn’t feel very comfortable and would ask me to go out and talk.

If you can’t meet your partner and phone is the only option, it can be an issue. How long can you stand in the balcony talking over a phone or a laptop after a hard day at work?” questions John Kuruvilla.

This being one side of the story, roommates too have grievances to share. “We were

four of us sharing a flat. We never interfered in each other’s lives unnecessarily and felt each of us had our space. But whenever we would go out to eat, this one guy would still be on the phone talking to his girlfriend. We may have been living together but such little things were very annoying. There was a phase when we hardly got to spend any time with him. He was on his phone until a couple of months

before his break up,” says Rehman Habeeb, a MBBS student. Letting your roommate get consumed by the relationship, is still okay. What can you do when that relationship begins to consume you and your private space?

“Soon after my roommate started dating, we were practically living with the woman. Her clothes and undergarments were everywhere.

We started eating food that she liked and comments on how dirty

I kept my room were flying in the air. I had to make sure I was dressed appropriately for a lady in company, too. That was not why I chose to find a roommate”, says Ravi Verma, a software entrepreneur.

Being in a relationship while you still have roommates may not be as bad. Jean Joseph, a psychology counsellor says, “My roommate and I bonded very well over our dating experiences. It may

have been easier since I was in a long distance relationship.

Although I would miss him, I would talk of him only in context. I never kept bragging about our relationship. And she too had just stepped out of a depressing relationship. And she only shared her lessons instead of turning me against relationships or men as such. It was quite nice.”

Names have been changed on request

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CINEMA SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

First look of

SAHASAM

unveiled T he first look of Gopichand’s upcoming action adventure film Sahasam was unveiled recently. Chandrasekhar Yeleti has directed the film and BVSN Prasad is the producer.

Taapsee is playing the lead role. “We have shot the film in several exotic locales which haven’t been explored in Telugu films. The principal shooting has been wrapped up and the film will release in the last week of May,” producer BVSN Prasad said. Sahasam is the first action adventure film in Chandrasekhar Yeleti’s filmography.

After films like Aithe and Anukokunda Oka Roju, he has carved a niche for himself in Telugu cinema, but his subsequent films like Okkadunnadu and Prayanam couldn’t set the cash registers ringing. After a

long hiatus, he’s back with an action adventure film which narrates the story of a common man who goes on a treasure hunt. The film has been extensively shot in Ladakh, Hyderabad, Belum caves among many other places. In a recent interview, Taapsee revealed, “We were shooting for a Bushkazi, an Afghan sport, scene in Ladakh and I was almost trampled by a horse. I have never done so many action sequences and I am quite confident that Chandrasekhar Yeleti will surprise everyone. The film’s climax is a visual extravaganza and it was quite a thrilling experience to shoot under tough conditions.” Shakti Kapoor and Ali are playing important roles in the film. Sri has scored the music and Shamdat is the cinematographer.

Action to release in May A

nil Sunkara, one of the producers of Dookudu, is turning director with a 3D film titled Action. Allari Naresh, Vaibhav Reddy, Shaam, Raju Sundaram have played the lead roles in this comedy entertainer. Neelam Upadhyay, Sneha Ullal, Kamna Jethmalani and Ritu Barmecha are the lead actresses in this multi-starrer.

The film has been shot with a RED EPIC camera with a 5K resolution sensor, which was imported from US and it’s reportedly the first time that a Telugu film has been shot using this camera. Most part of the film has been shot in Hyderabad, Bangkok and Goa. Sudeep is playing an important role and we hear he was paid a bomb for his role as he had become widely popular post the success of Eega. Bappi Lahari and Bappa Lahari have scored the music. The film is likely to release in the second week of May.

KAALICHARAN’S trailer banned!

E

ver heard of a trailer being banned because of excessive violence? That has precisely what has happened in the case of Prawin Sri’s upcoming film Kaalicharan. The film is based on a real incident which happened in the early ’80s in Palamoor and it has been billed as an ‘ultra-violent’ revenge drama. No wonder, the violence depicted in the trailer has come under scanner and the AP Cyber Crime cell has issued a notice to all the media houses to take down the trailer because it is

provocative and also stated it will hurt the sentiments of a community since several real characters have been depicted in the film. Last year, during the film’s opening ceremony, Prawin Sri had hinted that it’s going to be a controversial film and it certainly looks like his words are going to come true. On the other hand, the trailer is making waves on the social media and directors like RGV and Anurag Kashyap have praised it.

Chaitanya and Chandini have played the lead roles.

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CINEMA SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

People should have their own sensibility:

Tailored humour A

n official remake of the French film Apres Vous [2003], Nautanki Saala is *not* another slapstick comedy that uses every trick in the book to make you laugh. On the contrary, the humour here is tailored for spectators who love new-age cinema. Rohan Sippy steps into a new terrain with Nautanki Saala but the plot as

Movie: Nautanki Saala Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana , Pooja Salvi, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Evelyn Sharma and Gaelyn Mendonca Directed by: Rohan Sippy

EKTA KAPOOR

P well as the situations are so unfussy and uncomplicated and the characters so convincing that you start taking to the goings-on without much struggle.

On the whole, the film is

uncontaminated, witty and amusing, offers an interesting premise with plenty of good laughs. A lightweight fare that caters to an appetite for contemporary cinema.

BOLLYWOOD HUNGAMA

COMMANDO

roducer Ekta Kapoor feels that entertainment on screen should not be compared to reality."Everyone should have their own sensibility. Anything which is there in a movie should not be connected to reality," Ekta said during a press meet. Recently, the National Commission for Women (NCW) summoned her and co-producer Vishal Bhardwaj after a complaint was filed by Ipsita Roy Chakraverti, a Wiccan priestess, alleging that the film shows women in regressive roles.

IA NS

AN OUT AND OUT VIDYUT JAMWAL FILM

Without the risk of exaggeration we can 'safely' say Vidyut Jamwal takes the kind of risks in his action scenes that we haven't seen in any screen-hero.

Subhash K. Jha feedback@postnoon.com

T

e be sure, a star is born in Commando. We saw Vidyut completely upstage John Abraham in the hand-to-hand heart-inmouth fight scenes in Force.

Now, Vidyut proves himself a maestro of unequalled sinewy skills, gliding rather than fighting, pre-empting the adversary's moves almost like a chess game.

With tongue firmly in shriek mode, Vidyut in one of the early stunts scenes of the film rips open a poster of Force and attacks the baddies. The action never stops. And the song breaks, especially an

item song in the second-half by Nathalia Kaur, are unwelcome speed breakers.

We really don't want to see Vidyut romance the pretty Punjabi damsel in distress played by Pooja Chopra who seems a tad too well-groomed for the rigours of the jungle.

Not that we care. We just want to see Vidyut take on the bad guys, full-force. And boy, does Vidyut deliver! It's a straight one-to-one fight-to-finish between the silently simmering commando and a satanic goon from a small-town in Punjab with no eyeballs and apparently no balls either, who believes the power of the gun and the strength of SantaBanta SMS jokes can

Movie: Commando Cast: Vidyut Jamwal, Pooja Chopra, and Jaideep Ahlawat Directed by: Dilip Ghosh Rating: be co-ordinated in one range of activity.

Jaideep Ahlawat, last seen giving a riveting performance in Kamal Haasan's Vishawaroop, gives to the goon's part a wacky spin. The man is half-devil half-imbecile.

The goon makes Simrit (Pooja) an offer — either a suhaag-raat

with him after the wedding, or a 'suhaag raat' with him and all his battle-stained cronies right away? Hmmm?

Is it any wonder that the pretty spunky Punjabi lass makes a run for the jungles rather than accept the goon's marriage proposal. Predictably, Simrit runs into the banished army-man, our commando-hero, who seems to have seen the collected Rambo series back-toback at least eight-10 times.

The first time Vidyut plays the saviour at a bus stand, we know he means business. He is not just a one-man army, he is also the Indian army's favourite bete noire. Despite the heavy burden of playing protector to country and the leading lady, Vidyut's fights

manage to bring in a lot of warmth and some humour in their execution.

The film is shot on some interesting locations. The backwaters of Punjab and the thick jungles serve as just the right ambience for the rugged actioner.

Vidyut takes care of the rest. His action definitely speaks louder than his words.

It's a one-man-show off all the way. Pooja shows flashes of talent when she isn't busy brazenly aping Kareena Kapoor's voluble-Punjabi act from Jab We Met. To its credit Commando creates a climate of clenched conflict for the hero to vent his voluminous talent as a martial artiste. Indeed, a IANS star is born.

CINEMA SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

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CINEMA SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

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CINEMA SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

There are many ways to describe Oblivion, but the softly spoken afterword by Tom Cruise’s character really makes you feel the human heartbeat of this sci-fi epic.

T

Visually stunning film with a beautiful heart

he new film from Riseborough and Olga director Joseph Kurylenko.

Kosinski, who Oblivion feels like a directed 2010’s homage to the old science Tron Legacy, has fiction films where it two things going for it — explores around its world, his brilliant visual style shows off its landscapes, and a brilliant score, this soars all the ships that time provided by M83 used to be made out of rather than Daft Punk who cardboard, and let the charscored Tron Legacy. The acters scrutinise until the film is rapturplot finds the ously beautiful; actual conflict.

Movie: Oblivion it was filmed The film feawith 4K cameras tures plenty of Cast: Tom Cruise, which is defiamazing conMorgan Freeman, nitely the way in cepts and specOlga Kurylenko which to see it tacular visuals Directed by: as it is stunning. that could be Joseph Kosinski The film stars intriguing.

Tom Cruise who There seems to can make anybe a theme in thing watchable (as he did the first half but all the with Knight and Day, barequestionable twists made ly) and he brings a familiar the plot convoluted. It’s disface to a completely foreign appointing when it hits territory, as the world has that point. It still can be been devastated by a war entertaining and the techfor Earth. He is joined by nical work is indeed a Morgan Freeman who does splendour. There’s plenty of not feature as much as the potential around but there poster would have you is still something missing IMDB believe, also Andrea in the end.

Miley Cyrus puts off her wedding to Liam?

A

ctress-singer Miley Cyrus has reportedly postponed her wedding with fiance Liam Hemsworth. “They were supposed to get married in June, but there have been so many problems with them, they thought it was best to work out their issues before making such a big commitment,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted a source as saying. “They aren’t ready. Their families are both concerned.

They don’t want to see Cyrus and Hemsworth get married and then get divorced. They’re very young to be getting married,” the source added.

IANS

A

BEYOND THE PINES

mysterious motorcycle racer, Luke (played by Ryan Gosling) drives out of a travelling carnival’s globe of death and whizzes through the backstreets of Schenectady, New York, desperately trying to connect with a former lover, Romina (Eva Mendes), who recently and secretly gave birth to the stunt rider’s son.

In an attempt to provide for his new family, Luke quits the carnival life and commits a series of bank robberies aided by his superi-

Movie: The Place Beyond the Pines Cast: Ryan Gosling, Craig Van Hook, Eva Mendes, Bradley Cooper Directed by: Derek Cianfrance

or riding ability. The stakes rise as Luke is put on a collision course with an ambitious police officer, Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper), looking to quickly move up the ranks in a police department riddled with corruption. The sweeping drama unfolds over 15 years as the sins of the past haunt the present day lives of two high school boys wrestling with the legacy they’ve inherited. The only refuge is found in the place IMDB beyond the pines.

26

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

SUDOKU

THOUGHT OF THE DAY The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter her/ his life by altering the attitude.

– William James

KAKURO

How to play kakuro

SCRIBBLING PAD

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.

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 ‘Humble’ place to live 6 System of principles 11 Battleship success 14 The majority of Jutlanders 15 Person looking through crosshairs 16 Praiseful poem 17 Frequent site on Rodeo Drive 19 Diner’s prerogative 20 Material for a whitesmith 21 Victoria’s reign, eg 22 Hardship 23 Pavement material 27 With a toothed edge 29 One of a migrating herd 30 Hyena’s hangout 32 Situation for rubber bullets 33 Lithium-___ battery 34 Rise partly 36 Pungent salad green 39 ‘Peanuts’ crab 41 Agatha Christie and Judi Dench, eg 43 Rombauer or ‘la Douce’ 44 Anesthesia of old 46 Hard-___ (tough) 48 Drill insert 49 Short newspaper piece 51 Amphitheater sound 52 Put on the feedbag 53 Rayed flowers 56 Fuddy-duddies 58 Old horse or ex-wife?

59 Kind of tray 60 Serpent’s pigeon?

61 Pen point 62 Lady’s carry-all 68 Olympics chant, say 69 Jeweled crown 70 Four-time Kent portrayer 71 Relay segment 72 Take effect 73 Shooting sport

DOWN 1 Pitched messages 2 ‘Hogwash!’ to Scrooge 3 Yoko’s surname 4 It may precede ‘perception’ 5 Spottings or detections 6 Dog food container 7 Fix, as an election 8 Plant firmly 9 More beloved 10 Health-food adjective 11 Ache soother 12 Not exactly a brainiac 13 Little house on the prairie?

18 Like marquetry or parquetry 23 Like a gymnast 24 Sty sniffer 25 Training room equipment

55 Young pig 26 Tennessee pro 57 Yankees all-star 28 Spelling of ‘90210’ 31 Grist for a yenta’s mill Jeter 35 Money in Monterrey 63 Swiss forest canton 37 Clobber, in the Bible 64 PC-to-PC hookup 38 Eats more than one’s 65 Flower pollinator fill 66 Park, in NYC 40 Furry Himalayan 67 Figure out legend PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER 42 Not off one’s rocker?

45 Replaces actors 47 Chisholm Trail figures 50 Golfer’s five iron 53 Declare invalid 54 Strikers’ demand

27

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Justice

Five of Pentacles

Four of Wands

The Moon

Five of Swords

Six of Pentacles

W

W

ork – Good luck will put you in the limelight. It’s also your hard work and preparation that are working in your favour. Romance – This is a wonderful time for those in relationships. Don’t be in a hurry to take it forward or make any commitments. Health – There are many ways one can solve a health problem.

Reduce stress by doing things you enjoy. Music, books, movies could work well. Money – Finances are in good shape. A salary hike has put you in a comfortable position and you are able to invest well. Tarot message – Good time to plan ahead and think about things. Take action when you feel the time is right.

W

ork – Your mood swings are putting you in more trouble than you can imagine. People are going to use it as a weapon to undermine your importance.

Romance – Distance from the partner is important to figure out your priorities. Don’t let another person interfere with your romance. Health – A volatile mind is the root cause of many problem that may or may not exist.

Think of ways to calm the mind down. Meditate!

Money – Finances are stable. Keep them where they are and don’t move around the money too much if you don’t want to take risks yet. Tarot message – Learn to take people along with you. You are not better than everyone else.

W

W

W

ork – Rave, rant, manipulate, beg, borrow, steal, all these are part of life. Don’t judge another person by how much of any of these they do. You don’t know their realities. Romance – You run the risk of adding your own interpretation, feelings and thoughts to your spouse’s. Avoid colouring your emotions by judging what it might be. Health – Feeling good is half the battle won to good health. Spend a few minutes every day doing something you really enjoy. Money – If you have made your investments, then you need to just wait for the results to show.

Hold the reins on your spending. Tarot message – Perception is everything.

It will decide how you face life’s challenges.

ork – Too much analysis of why something happened is not going to get you answers.

If your boss favours someone else, there’s little you can do about it. Romance – Fights, misunderstandings and arguments can all be solved by keeping a calm mind and listening to your partner when he/she speaks. Health – Take care of the joints, knees especially, as they are weak and may tend to show some problems.

Money – Secure what you have and do not bet on something you do not have. Be completely practical, and not emotional while making money decisions. Tarot message – This may be a difficult phase but it’s not the end of the world. You come out successful.

ork – Some embarrassment is possible.

It may not be avoidable.

Just think of it as another unfortunate thing and don’t take it too seriously.

Romance – Fights, conflicts are all part of the game. Think of why you two are together and it will become clear why these fights happen – to make your bond stronger. Health – Anxiety and depression need to be avoided at all costs. Do regular cleansing of both mind and body.

Spend an hour everyday in maintaining your mental health. Money – Safeguard your wealth. Don’t be cool about an unsupervised investment. Tarot message – Life would be nothing without testing times.

Make this time an important learning experience and don’t repeat mistakes.

SUMAA TEKUR tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

Libra

Scorpio

Two of Pentacles

Ace of Cups

W

ork – You may not know the whole truth about a project and will be expected to deliver anyway.

Reason with your boss on how much you can do with the limited information.

Romance – You and your partner are enjoying the company of each other and have reached a happy equilibrium where you both give each other space.

Health – Go for natural and organic foods to feel rejuvenated. A detox day with nothing but fruits will do wonders to your health.

Money – A shortcut route to achieve your financial goals is possible as long as you know the risks involved. Speak to your advisor. Tarot message – Creativity is at its best.

You feel confident about your choices.

ork – Develop your knowledge in your subject area. You may have to take up a course to update yourself. Do it in order to survive. Romance – Midlifers need to do the balancing act because they may be enjoying life without the company of their spouse… and be comfortable with it. Health – If your exercise routine is not showing expected results, consult a good fitness expert. Your body metabolism may be slow.

Money – Shopping may make you feel great but will you be able to live with the guilt late at night upon seeing the goodies you picked up? Tarot message – Balance is the need of the hour. There are ways to achieve this without compromising too much.

W

Sagittarius Four of Swords

W

ork –Spice up your work space by taking photos of your vacations and family members.

Remove the dullness and boredom from work.

Romance – An unlikely pairing may leave you quite surprised with yourself. You discover new things about what you like and don’t.

Health – You are interested in all things spiritual for healing. You take extra interest in reikie, pranic healing, naturopathy, etc.

Money – You need to find a job that you like and also pays you well. Not everyone is this lucky. But such an opportunity presents itself to you soon. Tarot message – There are ways to make life less mundane and you’re in a space where you can experiment. Add variety to your daily life.

Capricorn

Date 14-4-2013

Aquarius

Five of Cups

Four of Cups

W

ork – A job offer will set you thinking about your current work place. Are you plain lethargic to move out of your comfort zone? Romance – If a relationship is not going well, or not moving ahead at all, don’t fret.

There are many fish in the sea. Health – Be careful while making important health related decisions.

Always consult only a reliable doctor who will not take you for a ride with unnecessary tests. Money – You need to see clearly the role of money in your life. Being blinded by the idea of making more money may be robbing you of your sleep. Tarot message – Remove the tinted glasses and see clearly.

Assess where you’re headed and make changes.

ork – There are ways to increase your creativity at office. Start by visualisation and mentally dismantling the structures that hold us back. Romance – Wine and dine with your loved one to reignite the passions. Candlelight always works. Good food also always works. Health – You may need to focus on your mental health especially if you have the tendency to feel bad about what cannot be, or what was. Money – Investing in creative new ways will make the process of money-making itself more interesting. Think of investing in art or on antique whisky. Tarot message – The world will always seem black and white unless you decide to go out and add some colour to it.

ork – A sense of humour is needed.

Imagine as though your daily office routine is a play, in which your boss plays leader and you all, assistants. Romance – A getaway will make things very clear with a loved one. Take time off and spend time doing things you both like.

Health – If you are consulting a doctor on a niggling health problem, make sure you do a background check on the doctor’s credentials before you trust him/her.

Money – Make a list of all things you need to do – pay property tax, file returns, sign up for a pension plan, etc. Tarot message – A mix of creativity and structure can make life more interesting.

W

Pisces The Tower

W

ork – Some change in the office, either a new boss, or a shift to a new project, will upset your routine. Don’t be stuck on one thing. You might even like this change. Romance – You and your partner reach a new level of understanding and it opens up many wonderful things for you two. Health – Stick to your exercise routine no matter what. Even if you have to wake up two hours earlier, do it. Money – Market changes are impacting your investment requirements and needs.

Assess your situation well before you make your move. Tarot message – A little shaking up is required for each of us to get us out of our comfort zone. Be open to experiencing the new.

Vol: 2, No 267 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon.com and for subscription, please call 040-40672222, Fax: 040-40672211

28

THE SATURDAY QUIZ SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

IN THE NEWS

Nicolas Kim Coppola?

11. What does the term 24/7 mean?

12. James Dean died in which year?

13. How many kilograms does the Maria Gloriosa Bell in Erfurt, Germany weigh?

14. In what year was Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven pub-

lished?

15. Who invented dynamite?

16. Which was the world's tallest office building between 197273?

17. Who wrote Oliver Twist?

18. What was the capital of the first persian empire?

19. What is the main religion of Japan?

Answers

6. In which year was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart born?

7. Which animal appears on lamborghini logo?

8. Who directed the 2009 film Avatar?

9. Which artist's birthday is also celebrated as International Dance Day? 10. Which actor’s original name is

1. Michelangelo Merisi 2. 0 3. Claude Monet 4. 14 5. Armenia 6. 1756 7. bull 8. James Cameron 9. Jean-Georges Noverre 10. Nicolas Cage 11. Always 12. 1955 13. 11450 14. 1845 15. Alfred Nobel 16. World trade centre 17. Charles Dickens 18. Persepolis 19.

Shintoism

TEST YOURSELF

DO YOU KNOW THEIR ORIGINAL NAMES?

CURRENT AFFAIRS

1

2

1

Which country recently passed a reform of its anti-terrorism laws that narrows the definition of terrorist propaganda in line with EU demands?

2 3

A pop star lost her VIP status in Malawi and was objected to a blistering tirade from its government spokesman. Who is she?

4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Air conditioner

A group of rich countries which met recently failed to patch up divisions over Syria and condemned North Korea's threats.

Which is this group?

Which is the latest novel from author Haruki Murakami that was released this week?

WHO INVENTED THE FOLLOWING?

Safety pin

Rubber band

Headphones

Eyeglasses

4

3

Pen

1. Turkey 2. G8 3. Madonna 4. Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Answers

Pen drive

KNOW YOUR COUNTRY

Frisbee

PICTURE PUZZLE 62 with Santosh Ghule Hidden here is one thing free flying birds loathe. Find it.

WHO AM I? I am a character that was recently introduced by DC comics in the latest Batgirl issue that was released this week. I am the roommate of Barbara Gordon who is Batgirl's alterego. I am the first transgender in mainstream comics.

Who am I?

Answer: Alysia Yeoh

Konigsberg

Ushering in what could be the biggest change in the country's school examination system, Central Board of Secondary Education will introduce a new system from next year on. Which is the system?

Answers: 1. Reginald Kenneth Dwight 2. Mark Vincent 3. Demetria Gene Guynes 4. Allen

Indian cricketer Sreesanth called a fellow player a “backstabber”. Who did he refer to by this name?

Answers

1 2 3

The Supreme Court rejected a plea by a terror strike accused this week. Who is he?

1. Willis Carrier 2. Walter Hunt 3. Stephen Perry 4. Nathaniel Baldwin 5. Salvino D' Armate 6. Petrache Poenaru 7. Pua Khein Seng 8. Walter Frederick Morrison and Warren Franscioni.

1. What is the real name of Baroque painter Caravaggio?

2. How many eyebrows does Da Vinci's Monalisa have?

3. Who drew the famous Waterlily painting?

4. In which century did Leonardo da Vinci paint The Last Supper?

5. What nationality is Martiros Saryan?

A crocodile.

Answer for 61:

1. Devinder Singh Bhullar 2. Harbhajan.

3. Open book system

Answers

29

SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

Champ falls thrice

Ex-F1 ace suffers blowout

TOKYO: World champion Patrick Chan tumbled three times in his free skate but combined with Kevin Reynolds to lift Canada into second spot behind the United States at the World Team Trophy competition on Friday. Chan, fresh from his third straight world triumph and cushioned by a solid lead from the short programme, still finished second overall.

HOUSTON: Defending champ Juan

Robert Kubica saw his Rally of Portugal hopes crumble on Friday after a series of punctures trumped his total of remaining spare tyres. Kubica, 28, whose F1 career careered to a halt when he suffered a horror crash in an Italian rally in February two years ago, was second in the standings in the production class.

Heat trio make triumphant return Miami’s magic trio has been in and out of the lineup in recent weeks.

MIAMI: LeBron James led with 20 points and nine assists in a 109-101 win over Boston as the Miami Heat benefited from having their big three reunited for the first time in two weeks.

James also had six rebounds, Chris Bosh finished with 17 points and seven rebounds and Dwyane Wade chipped in with 11 points on Friday for the Heat, who have a franchise record 63 wins on the season.

The Heat, who have already clinched home-court advantage through the playoffs, also wanted to give them a rest as the regular season winds down.

Heading into Friday’s contest, James had missed four of the team’s last six games to rest an ailing hamstring.

Wade missed six games because of an ankle injury and Bosh had missed the previous three games with a knee problem and an illness.

Rashard Lewis chipped in 19 points for the Heat in the win over the under-manned Celtics.

Jeff Green and Jordan Crawford paced Boston with 25 and 20 points, respectively.

The Celtics played without their two leading scorers as Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett sat with lingering ankle AFP issues.

Monaco primed for rematch

LISBON: Ex-Formula One driver

Monaco crushed Robby Ginepri 6-1, 60 in the quarter-finals Friday of the US Clay Court Championships, setting up a re-match of last year's final with John Isner. Only this time Monaco and runner-up Isner will meet in the Houston semi-finals after Isner booked his spot with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Ricardas Berankis earlier in the day.

Alonso trumps Massa in final practice SHANGHAI: Ferrari enjoyed a one-two in the final practice on Saturday for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, as Fernando Alonso outgunned his team-mate Felipe Massa late in the session.

Alonso, the two-time world champion, was 0.622sec quicker than Massa, who had topped the time charts in the afternoon session on Friday. Lewis Hamilton, recovering from a pollen allergy, was third-fastest in warm but dry conditions.

Alonso clocked a lap time of

Rree practice times 1. Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 1:35.391, 2. Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 1:36.013, 3. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes 1:36.065, 4. Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull Racing 1:36.286, 5.

Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull Racing 1:36.420, 6.

Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 1:36.549

one minute 35.391sec to snatch the best time.

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel was fourthfastest, 0.895sec off title rival Alonso. Vettel’s estranged Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber came home fifth-fastest.

He was followed by the Force India of Adrian Sutil, ahead of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen. Jenson Button of McLaren, team-mate Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg, of Sauber, rounded AFP out the top 10.

YOUNG ACHIEVERS

Brandon Bass (R) drives to the basket against LeBron James on Friday AFP at American Airlines Arena.

Durant fined for slash gesture OKLAHOMA CITY: Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant has been slapped with a $25,000 fine for making a throat-slashing gesture in a game against the Golden State Warriors, the Oklahoman newspaper reported Friday. The NBA’s disciplinary officials levied the fine for what they called a “menacing gesture” that occurred in the match.

Winners pose with their booty at the conclusion of the RR District Chess Championship 2013 held at Rao’s High School in the City on Friday.

Thousands protest in Bahrain ahead of Grand Prix DUBAI: Thousands of Bahrainis demonstrated near Manama on Friday urging democratic reforms, part of a series of protests planned by the political opposition ahead of next week’s Formula One Grand Prix.

Under the banner “Democracy is our right,” the crowds marched in the Shiite area of Aali south of the capital, waving Bahraini flags and chanting anti-monarchy slogans.

Bahrain’s mainly-Shiite opposition organised the protest as part of demonstrations due to take place from April 12-22 to coincide with the April 19-22 Grand Prix.

Sheikh Ali Salman, head of the main Shiite opposition

Man Utd won’t pull plug on Bahrain school LONDON: Man United will go ahead with a coaching school in Bahrain hosted by their legendary striker Denis Law despite the volatile political situation in the Gulf State, according to a report on Friday.

The Guardian newspaper reported that United’s football school will take place this weekend against a backdrop of protests over Formula One’s decision to go ahead with the race.

grouping Al-Wefaq who was at the protest, said the action was intended to support “demands for democratic transition”.

“We do not want to hold up the race, but we are trying to benefit from the increased media presence,” he said.

Salman called on his supporters to attend a demonstration planned for April 19, as the event kicks off on the Sakhir circuit south of the capital.

A second opposition group, the February 14 Movement, organised another protest on Thursday night in the village of Khamis that was broken up by police. Thursday night’s demonstration came as a report by AFP Human Rights Watch.

30

SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

Jason Day in the lead

Jim Slater

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA: A Masters second round that tested how top golfers handle adversity Friday saw Tiger Woods stumble, Jason Day take the lead and teen Guan Tianlang make the cut despite a rare slow-play penalty.

Day, hoping to be Australia’s first Masters champion, shot a four-under par 68 to stand on six-under 138 and take a one-stroke lead over countryman Marc Leishman and Fred Couples, trying at 53 to become the oldest major winner.

“It’s a hard course out there,” Couples said. “They put most of the pins in, I thought, really hard spots.”

Breaking Australia’s Masters jinx, a hex best known by the frustrations of Greg Norman’s near-misses, weighs on Day’s mind as he looks down on the rest of his rivals as the weekend looms.

“Obviously there’s a lot of pressure on my shoulders, being from Australia and no Australian has ever won the event,” he said. “They have been very, very close, but I’ve just got to try to get that out of my mind and just plug away.”

Top-ranked Woods took a share of the lead late before a demoralizing setback at the par-5 15th when his ball hit the flagstick and went into a water hazard. He shot a 71 to stand on 141, among 26 sub-par players within five of the lead.

“I thought I played really well, a round that should have been in the 60s,” Woods said. “I played really well.”

Woods, a 14-time major champion chasing the all-time record of 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, seeks his first major title since the 2008 US Open and first Masters victory since capturing his fourth green jacket in 2005.

Guan Tianlang, the 14-yearold Chinese schoolboy who became the youngest player in Masters history, became the first player in a major to be

Jason Day of Australia during the second round of the 77th Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on Friday in Augusta, Georgia.

AFP/JIM WATSON assessed a slow-play penalty since France’s Gregory Bourdy at the 2010 PGA Championship.

“I respect the decision they make,” Guan said. “This still is a wonderful experience for me.

I have enjoyed playing in the Masters and I think I did a pretty good job.”

After being warned and having his pace timed, Guan was given the penalty stroke for a bogey at 17, putting him on the eventual cut line and forcing him to wait until the last group finished to know if he would play on the weekend.

Guan finished on 75 in the second round and on four-over 148 for 36 holes, right on the limit that included 61 players within 10 strokes of the lead.

“Today is pretty hard because if you’re timed only 40 seconds, it’s pretty hard because you need to make the decision,” Guan said. “The wind switched a lot.”

A day after 45 players fired

THE SECOND ROUND SAW TIGER WOODS STUMBLE, JASON DAY TAKE THE LEAD AND TEEN GUAN TIANLANG MAKE THE CUT DESPITE A RARE SLOW-PLAY PENALTY. par or better, wind and tougher pin positions over the 7,435yard layout kept the world’s top golfers struggling simply to hold their positions.

“It was tough. There were a few pins tucked away,” Leishman said. “A few of the easy holes were made tough because of the wind. I was pleased at the way I was able to fight back.” Couples, the 1992 Masters champion, has teased age history at the Masters before in recent years, leading after the first round in 2010

only to finish sixth and leading after the second round last year only to share 12th.

The oldest champion in major golf history was Julius Boros, who was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship.

The oldest winner in Masters history was Jack Nicklaus, who won his 18th and final major crown at age 46 at the 1986 Masters. Argentina’s Angel Cabrera, the 2009 Masters winner, birdied five of the last six holes to fire a 69 and stand two off the pace at 140 alongside Americans Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker.

At 15, Woods struck the flagstick with his third shot and saw it roll into the water.

“I thought it was a good one,” Woods said. “I was pretty pissed.” After a penalty stroke, he repeated the shot and then made a tap-in bogey. “From making birdie there, I’ve got to struggle just to lose two shots,” AFP he said.

Saturday’s pairings 9:25 a.m.: Bubba Watson 9:35: John Peterson, Ryo Ishikawa 9:45: Lucas Glover, Branden Grace 9:55: Thorbjorn Olesen , Guan Tianlang 10:05: Peter Hanson, John Huh 10:15: Martin Kaymer , Robert Garrigus 10:25: Nick Watney , Phil Mickelson 10:35: Stewart Cink , D.A. Points 10:45: Tim Clark (RSA), Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP) 10:55: Kevin Na , Carl Pettersson (SWE) 11:05: Keegan Bradley , Brian Gay 11:15: OPEN 11:25: Henrik Stenson (SWE), Vijay Singh (FIJ) 11:35: Paul Lawrie (SCO), Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 11:45: Richard Sterne (RSA), Zach Johnson 11:55: Fredrik Jacobson (SWE), Sandy Lyle (SCO) 12:05 p.m.: Ernie Els (RSA), Bo Van Pelt 12:15: Scott Piercy , Rickie Fowler 12:25: David Toms , Michael Thompson 12:35: Ryan Moore , Luke Donald (ENG) 12:45: Matt Kuchar , Bill Haas 12:55: Steve Stricker , Dustin Johnson 1:05: OPEN 1:15: John Senden (AUS), Trevor Immelman (RSA) 1:25: Rory McIlroy (NIR), Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 1:35: Bernhard Langer (GER), Sergio Garcia (ESP) 1:45: Tiger Woods , Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP) 1:55: Justin Rose (ENG), K.J. Choi (KOR) 2:05: David Lynn (ENG), Lee Westwood (ENG) 2:15: Adam Scott (AUS), Jason Dufner 2:25: Jim Furyk , Brandt Snedeker 2:35: Marc Leishman (AUS), Angel Cabrera (ARG) 2:45: Jason Day (AUS), Fred Couples

Oz quartet target Masters jinx Allan Kelly

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA: The 77th Masters sees the smallest Australian representation in the tournament since 2002, but the four who did make it to Augusta National are well in the hunt at the halfway stage.

Jason Day leads at six-under par 138, Marc Leishman (left) is tied for second a shot back, Adam Scott is nicely poised at three-under and John Senden is in the mix at two-under.

What faces them at the weekend is finally putting to rest the Georgia jinx that has seen Australians come agonizingly close to winning the Masters several times in the past only to come up short at the death. Greg Norman suffered the greatest last-day collapse in major championship history at the 1996 Masters, leading by six over Nick Faldo only to lose by five to the Englishman.

Norman also finished with a bogey in the 1986 Masters to hand Jack Nicklaus his 18th

and last major title. In 1987, Norman lost a playoff when Augusta native Larry Mize holed a miraculous chip shot.

And in 2011, Scott and Day shared second, falling short when South African Charl Schwartzel became the first man to birdie the final four holes to win a major.

Australians have won every other major golf crown.

Day, who had the day’s best score of 68 to take the lead, passing Tiger Woods on the way, said he was aware of the expec-

tations placed on him by golf fans back home in Australia and wanted to avoid being worn down by this.

“Obviously there’s a lot of pressure on my shoulders, being from Australia and no Australian has ever won the event,” he said. “They have been very, very close, but I’ve just got to try to get that out of my mind and just plug away.

“It’s all how you look at it. If you look at it as pressure, you’re going to worry about it more.”

IPL 6

31

BATTLE OF THE TITANS

METRE

6 S 106

They [DD] have been a bit undercooked this season so we kind of knew that if we played our best cricket they would probably only give us about seventy percent competition.

Dale Steyn SRH player

Virat Kohli (RCB) 198 runs

Vinay Kumar (RCB) 7 wickets

Malik, Nazir dance to IPL's theme song

P

akistan cricketers Shoaib Malik and Imran Nazir today displayed their dancing skills as they grooved to the theme song of the Indian Premier League (IPL) choreographed by Farah Khan.

Shoaib Malik and Imran Nazir thrilled audiences while appearing in a television show for a special IPL transmission.

'Geo Super' is the only Pakistani channel broadcasting the IPL matches live.

Malik performed the 'Jumping Japhang' dance steps while also celebrating his third wedding anniversary with Indian tennis star, Sania Mirza. Nazir had done the same in an earlier show. Malik spoke about how he and his wife manage when they are not together on such occaPTI sions.

P

W

L

T PT

NR

RCB

4

3

1

0

6

0.575

SRH

4

3

1

0

6

0.139

MI

3

2

1

0

4

0.850

RR

3

2

1

0

4

0.186

KXIP

2

1

1

0

2

0.986

CSK

2

1

1

0

2

0.296

KKR

3

1

2

0

2 -0.524

PW

3

1

2

0

2 -1.106

DD

4

0

4

0

0 -0.836

P-played; W-win; L-lost; T-tie; NR-net run rate; PT-points

Chris Gayle (RCB)

14 4S 365

24

Virat Kohli (RCB)

HIGHEST SCORE

SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

93*

Virat Kohli (RCB)

BEST BOWLER

4-13

Sunil Narine (KKR)

RCB must fight host factor it will be the fact that CSK has proved to be its nemesis time and again in the past.

It would take a rampaging Chris Gayle, a commanding Virat Kohli, a solid AB de Villiers, and the rare local opening bowling attack of Vinay Kumar and RP Singh that has been successful of late to click together for the RCB to get the better of Dhoni’s Devils.

For they are up against the most valuable franchise of the IPL, as evaluated last year, and winners of its 2010 and 2011 editions.

SYED SHOAIB

shoaib.s@postnoon.com

L

overs of the game are in for a big treat today with two big matches lined up. While one is another episode in a longtime rivalry between the two south Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, both superpowers in cricket, the other will be a fight for supremacy between teams of Maharashtra’s two most important cities, Mumbai and Pune.

Here again, neighbourhood rivalry is going to add to the action.

Royal Challengers Bangalore may have dominated the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League thus far with two authoritative wins and a win and loss in two humdingers, but are sure to face sterner stuff when they take on Chennai Super Kings.

Not only has RCB won all the three matches it has played on its home ground, it has lost the only away game it has played so far. Also going against

CSK VS RCB AT 8PM ON SET MAX With Mahendra Singh Dhoni captaining Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, S Badrinath, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in its ranks, it could be the Indian team itself. Add to that list Albie Morkel, Dwayne Bravo and Dirk Nannes and the force sure is challenging.

Only students who have not written their annual exams yet, could (actually must) stay away from this contest.

Formidable MI face PWI

SCORECARD DELHI DAREDEVILS Vs SUNRISERS HYDERABAD Delhi Daredevils (20 overs) D Warner c Anand Rajan b Steyn 0(4) V Sehwag c White b Sharma

12(10)

Jayawardene* c Steyn b Sharma 12(14) MC Juneja c White b Mishra

15(22)

J Botha c Reddy b Anand Rajan 9(14) IK Pathan c Vihari b Perera

23(30)

KM Jadhav† not out

30(20)

Morkel c Ashish Reddy b Perera 0(1) S Nadeem b Steyn

0(1)

UT Yadav

6(5)

Extras

not out

(lb 2, w 4, nb 1)

7

Total (8 wickets; 20 overs) R

114

Bowling

O

M

W Econ

DW Steyn

4

1 11

2

2.75

I Sharma

4

0 35

2

8.75

NLTC Perera

4

0 31

2

7.75

Anand Rajan

4

0 20

1

5.00

A Mishra

4

0 15

1

3.75

Sunrisers Hyderabad innings (target : 115 runs from 20 overs) PA Reddy run out (Nadeem)

1(8)

PA Patel† c & b Nadeem

19(19)

KC Sangakkara* c Sehwag b Botha 28(28) GH Vihari c Botha b Morke

l7(23)

CL White st †Jadhav b Nadeem

4(8)

NLTC Perera c Botha b Pathan

2(3)

A Ashish Reddy b Morkel

16(9)

A Mishra not out

16(14)

DW Steyn not out

9(5)

Extras (lb 1, w 1, nb 1) Total

3

(7 wickets; 19.2 overs) R

115

Bowling

O

M

IK Pathan

3.2

0 19

W Econ 1

5.70

S Kaul

2

1

8

0

4.00

M Morkel

4

0 27

2

6.75

UT Yadav

3

0 32

0 10.66

J Botha

3

0 11

1

3.66

S Nadeem

4

0 17

2

4.25

Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 3 wickets

G APARNA SAI aparna.s@postnoon.com

M

umbai Indians take on a renewed Pune Warriors for the first time in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League.

Pune Warriors, who failed to post a victory in this season, fianlly opened their account when they defeated Rajasthan Royals on Thursday.

Considered as one of the under-dog teams, the Warriors will now look to tame the Mumbai Indians, who have had a dream run untill now in the current season of the IPL. The Mumbai team, after their first match in the present edition of the IPL, were termed as chockers as they failed

chocked in run-chase against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The match which went down to the last ball, saw Mumbai fall short by two runs. But since then, the MI side seems to have

MI VS PWI AT 4PM ON SET MAX this new-found confidence and determination which has helped them win their nest two matches — the first against CSK and the next against DD, where they won the match by 44 runs.

While Mumbai currently have the highest run rate at 0.850, Pune Warriors, who are staggering at the eight position on the points table, have the least run rate at -1.106.

32

SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

Dream Barça, Real final is a possibility The Champions League is heating up with Bayern Munich set to play Barcelona and Dortmund Real Madrid in the semis.

NYON: SWITZERLAND: The

In keeping with Benítez’s policy of rotation over a draining season, Chelsea could go into the match without their most successful captain, who presently plays centre back, John Terry (R).

FA Cup glory in sight for Chelsea

Tom WILLIAMS

LONDON: Manchester City and holders Chelsea will both seek to transform underwhelming domestic seasons when the two Premier League heavyweights clash in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

The pair have failed to keep pace with Manchester United in the league, and although Chelsea have also reached the last four in the Europa League, the FA Cup represents City’s only realistic chance of ending the season with some silverware. As an added incentive, the other semi-final features second-tier Millwall and peren-

ond time.

City won 2-0 when the sides last met, at the Etihad Stadium in late February, but Benitez says he has learnt his lessons from that encounter.

“We know it’ll be difficult, but it’s a semi-final in a massive competition,” said the Spaniard, an FA Cup-winner with Liverpool in 2006.

“We know what we did wrong against them in the league and we’ll make sure we don’t make the same mistakes.

“They’re a good team, with a strong squad. They have a manager with experience and they have confidence. We know we’ll have to do our best if we want to progress.”

MANCHESTER CITY ALSO ARE LOOKING GOOD BUOYED BY THEIR 2-1 VICTORY AT DERBY RIVALS UNITED IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE. nial Premier League relegation candidates Wigan Athletic, so whoever emerges victorious on Sunday will be overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy.

Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez and his City counterpart Roberto Mancini, meanwhile, would each dearly love to end difficult seasons by winning the FA Cup for a sec-

Maradona visits Chavez tomb icon Diego Maradona visited the tomb of his friend Hugo Chavez on Friday and urged Venezuelans to elect the late leftist leader’s designated successor in this weekend’s presidential election.

Wearing a white shirt and donning diamonds in each ear, Maradona called on Venezuelans to vote for acting President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday to continue the socialist leader’s legacy.

Boggle Number game

Scrabble

SOLUTIONS

“Continue the struggle,” Maradona said on state-run television after visiting the marble tomb in an old military barracks perched in a hillside Caracas neighbourhood.

“He’s not here physically but we will continue with Nicolas, and the legacy of not letting ourselves be trampled by anybody,” he said. “In the ballot box on Sunday, people must reaffirm AFP Chavez’s ideas through Nicolas.”

TROUT SHARK PERCH SMELT SNOOK

Suduko

CARACAS: Argentine football

prospect of a dream all-Spanish Champions League final between Barcelona and Real Madrid next month remains alive after Friday’s semi-final draw.

But Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund can also set up an all-German affair in the Wembley title showdown.

Last year’s beaten finalists Bayern, who have already secured the Bundesliga title, take on Spanish league leaders Barcelona in one semi-final.

Neutral fans were probably hoping for a Bayern v Barcelona final, promising a feast of football between arguably the continent’s top two teams of the moment.

The semi-final is given added piquancy in that former Barca coach Pep Guardiola is to take over the helm at Munich’s Allianz Arena next year.

But Jupp Heynckes, the man he is to replace, is not planning to ask the Catalan for advice.

“I don’t need anyone else to study the opposition,” he

In the other tie, Borussia will play Real Madrid, as representatives of Europe’s current dominant footballing powers go head-to-head. Remarkably, the four semi-finalists can boast a total of 18 European titles between them. Real lead the way with nine victories, although their last success dates back to 2002.

Their arch-rivals Barcelona and Bayern both have four and Borussia weigh in with their single victory in 1997 when they upset favourites Juventus 3-1 in the final.

snapped when asked if he’d seek out his successor’s thoughts.

“Have a bit of respect for me and my work. I have never consulted anyone for advice.”

Heynckes will no doubt also be hoping Real win through to the Wembley showdown, as a fitting way to bring down the curtain on his long and distinguished coaching career against the side he led to the European crown in 1998, when he brought the Madrid giants their first title in the competition in more than AFP 30 years.