Postnoon E-Paper for March 13th 2013 by Scribble Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 HYDERABAD

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WEATHER: A MIX OF CLOUDY AND CLEAR SKIES; 30°C

32 PAGES

HYDERABAD AIRPORT IS

WORLD’S 2nd BEST

Airports Council International (ACI), a global body of airports, has adjudged Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International airport (RGI) as the second best airport in the world for service quality in the category of five to 15 million passengers per annum (MPPA).

TRS GOES ON THE RAMPAGE IN ASSEMBLY HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

REPORT ON P5

YSRC SILENTLY MAKES INROADS

In a recent meeting of the TDP, it was decided that the Congress has lost its pre-eminence and their arch rival is YSRC. The party also believes that if the Congress does not take some drastic action against the fledgling party, it will end up at the third place at the next General Elections.

TAKING ONE STEP AT A TIME Madhura Sreedhar has directed two films so far and he says his upcoming film Backbench Student is a big leap for ward in his career. Postnoon gets talking to him.

P21

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

city events

MANDA HECCHULA KATHA (LET THE HERDS MULTIPLY)

An evening of folk theatre, with Kadem Sammayya, a Mandechchula Katha artiste, and his troupe from the hinterlands of Warangal district. It is a narrative performance set to rhythmic beats. The event is at Lamakaan on March 16, from 7pm.

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

30°C

22°C

29°C

37°C

A mix of cloudy and clear skies.

A mix of cloud and sun.

Mostly sunny.

New Delhi Mumbai Max 32 Max 33 Min 16 Min 24 Chance of storm.

Chennai Max 32 Min 24

Clear.

Bangalore Max 33 Min 21

Partly cloudy.

Clear.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES noon onwards Contact: (040) 6682 4422

FILMS

ART

DocuSplash! Barf, 1997 & Sita's Family, 2002, Delhi Mumbai Delhi, 2006 and Naach, 2008, will be screened. Where: Goethe-Zentrum, Hyderabad 20 Journalist Colony, Road no. 3, Banjara Hills When: March 24, 11am onwards Contact: gothe.de/hyderabad

Art for children A workshop is being held for children aged 4-6 years to improve their reading and comprehension skills. Where: Treasure House, Banjara Hills When: Every Wednesday and Friday, up to March 29 Contact: (040) 2355 0118

Ek Aurat A narration cum enactment of short stories written by Ismat Chughtai. These will be a selection of her wellknown stories such as Chui-Mui (Touch-Me-Not), Gharwaali (Homemaker), Ghoonghat (The Veil) and Saas (Mother-in-Law). Where: Lamakaan, Lane Adjacent to CBay, Opposite GVKOne, Road No 1, Banjara Hills When: March 13, 8pm onwards Contact: lamakaan.com/events/392

French heritage A photographic voyage of French heritage in India with Anay Mann, Gigi Scaria, Rishi Singhal, Serena Chopra, Isabel Saij along with JeanPierre Dubois. Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery, Banjara Hills When: March 16- March 21 11am to 7pm Contact: (040) 6656 4466 Passage Sowjanya L and Devi Santoshi K are organising a show aligning with International Women’s Day, where paintings and installations about social awareness and violence on woman will be displayed. Where: Rainbow Art Gallery , Paryatak Bhavan, Begumpet When: March 8-14

DINING Easter goodies Hot cross buns, Easter Bunnies, and Easter chocolates are part of the special Easter menu. Where: Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre When: March 25-31 Saturday sunset BBQ Bring your family and friends for a SECURITY ALERT: Police force near Charminar. fun barbeque evening with grilled specialties, a variety of Kebabs and a whole lot of Asian delights. Where: The Square When: Every Saturday, 7pm onwards

Commissioner & Spl Officer

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

198 155313

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

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

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

M ANIL KUMAR

St Patrick’s Day – Brunch Menu includes Irish soda bread, boxty and colcannon. Where: The Square, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre When: from March 17,

WATER SUPPLY Complaint Cell Sewerage Complaint Hyd. Water Supply HOSPITAL General Hospital, Sec-bad Niloufer Hospital, Red Hills NIMS, Director, Punjagutta Osmania General Hospital Railway Hospital, Lalaguda Apollo, Jubilee Hills Care Hospital, Banjara Hills Care Hospital, Nampally Care Hospital, Musheerabad Care Hospital, Sec-bad Kamineni Hospital, LB Nagar

155313 23307328 23313163

27505566 23314095 23390933 24600146 27001134 23607777 30418888 30417777 30419000 30416666 39879999

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

Women in Public Spaces About one month ago GoetheZentrum Hyderabad has called for applications for a group photography exhibition on ‘Women in Public Spaces.’ This is an exhibition of selected entries. Where: Goethe-Zentrum, Hyderabad When: March 15-24, 9.30am to 5.30pm Contact: (040) 2335 0443

SHOWS Imany World music- jazz and soul. Where: Hyderabad International Convention Centre Novotel & HICC complex When: March 15 Contact: (040) 2355 4486 The Justice Verma report To bring clarity to the public regarding Verma report on rape laws, Vasudha Nagaraj will give a lecture. Where: Goethe-Zentrum, Hyderabad When: March 13, 6pm onwards Contact: (040) 2335 0443

MISCELLANEOUS Girl Getaway package ‘Lavish Luxury package’ offers a minimum of two nights at lebua’s Tower Club, a five star hotel in Bangkok. Where: State Tower, Bangrak, Bangkok When: Valid till March 31 Contact: www.lebua.com The great Oxford sale Discounts on books, magazines, stationery and gift items. Where: Oxford Bookstore, Tresorie, The Park , 22 Raj Bhavan Road When: Up to March 31, Contact: (040) 31002959

Katharsis in Forbidden Zones Paintings, sculptures, installation and performance by Dimple B Shah, as part of Women’s March 2013.

27567892 23559555 23226624 27633087 27035588 27550238 30799999 30418296 30417445

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

Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery, Road no 10, Banjara Hills When: Up to March 13, 11am to 7pm Contact: (040) 2355 4485

Airport Director 27903785, 27906001 For Air India Flight Information Toll free (from any network) for IC Flights 18001801407 And for All Flights: 1800227722 Air India has revised its flight timings. For more information call (Toll free) 18001801407, 1800227722 from BSNL/MTNL 04023430334 from other lines and mobile Website; www.airindia.in TOURISM OFFICES AP Tourism, Hyd 23262152/53/54 Sec-bad 27893100 Dept of Tourism 23453110 India Tourism 23261360 AP Tourism information Centre (24x7) 23450444, 23455999 UK VISA OFFICE VFS India Pvt Ltd Building, 8-2-542/A, Sunil Chamber, Road No. 7

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

24523211 232431300/7641 24521029

Readers’ views

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

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

City

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

WILL THE TRS MOVE FOR A NO CONFIDENCE MOTION BRING DOWN THE KIRAN GOVERNMENT? 62%

YES (A)

38%

TODAY’S QUESTION

IS TDP’S INDECISIVENESS HELPING KIRAN KUMAR REDDY? A)

YES

NO (B)

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

BLAST CASE

Too many cooks spoil the broth The NIA has brought along with it a whole battalion and even the local police force has formed a special team to probe into the blasts case. Yet, nothing concrete has been found. Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com

t has never happened before, veteran police officers say. The whole battalion of National Investigation Agency apart, some 180 police officers and policemen are exclusively dedicated to probe the twin blasts on 21/02, but not a single valuable clue has come up. “It is not the strength of the terror that made this possible, it is the weakness of our investigating machinery,” remarked a retired superintendent of police, who swears the clue to the blasts lies in local hands. “Unless local helps are detected, no breakthrough can happen,” he said.

He doubts the police can crack the locals as they always find powerful people to defend. Though the NIA is given the investigation of the blasts case, City police commissioner Anurag Sharma had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) separately under the supervision of additional commissioner of police (crime). Accordingly, 10 teams were formed to come up with clues that could lead to the arrest of the suspects. Postnoon realised that apart from checking public phone booths, internet and mobile service providers, these teams have on hand no helpful evidence as of now. The bicycles used in the blasts were locally made and

they were assembled with parts from different companies. This is all the probing teams have come up with so far. Even this has given the police no new ideas, though Home Minister SK Shinde keeps saying vital clues have been found. Fearing police harassment, a few STD booths (there are not many now with widespread use of mobile phones) have closed their business. M Ganga Reddy from Malakpet said the policemen keep coming for callers’ lists that scare away the few custom he received. Police are also going into internet cafes and tightening the procedure which is not of much use in clinching evidence.

city WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

CIVIC

LAST YEAR... HERE

Illegal constructions flourish but...

Single and not happy

eing single in the City does not always mean fun. At least not for single parents. Last year we had reported how single parents in the City found it difﬁcult to get their children admitted into good schools. The reason — schools don’t process forms submitted by single parents. But we ask, why should schools judge parents’ personal choices?

MARCH 13, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

180

officers from NIA have been designated to investigate the Dilsukhnagar blasts case. City police too has formed a special team. Yet, nothing concrete has turned up so far.

KCR’s move is aimed taking advantage of the situation in the State. As a responsible opposition party, we do not need to react to the request made by them. Senior TDP leader See page 5

Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com

he weekly ‘prajavani’ (citizens’ grievances) programme of GHMC is increasingly becoming a popular ranting forum against widespread illegal constructions in the City. In the past four weeks, 60 formal complaints were received while oral complaints and unrecorded ones given over phone crosses twice the number. Hapless citizens are encouraged to voice against illegal buildings after the Kapra circle episode where officials were found merrily making money from illegal builders. The town planning department was reportedly found neck-deep in corruption of this sort. This followed a media expose but another media exposed how the enquiry officials had targeted the T officials by ‘selectively picking the T men.’ Now, many want to discuss the unbridled corruption in the town planning department in the next general body meeting.

Top brass in GHMC finds itself fighting a losing battle as illegal construction is the biggest source of easy money to many in town planning. After the Kapra circle issue, the c o m m i s s i o n e r, GHMC, MT Krishna Babu had transferred 10 officials to other Circles and Zones. But the commissioner seems to

THINGS WE 5LEARNT TODAY

M ANIL KUMAR

have caught the tail of the tiger as the enquiry team is questioned of its integrity while the transfer has already happened. Considering the nature of the case only top officials are handling the case. The vigilance wing, which is normally entrusted with this kind of investigation, is kept out of it. “The top officials are themselves taking care of the issue. We are not involved in this episode

yet,” says a vigilance official. The government had issued orders penalising three officials, an additional commissioner, assistant city planner and a section officer, for winking at unnauthorised constructions in the areas of Jummerath Bazaar in the Old City. After the allegations were proved, the maximum action government did was stopping their ‘annual increments’.

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

Expecting headway in blasts case? Don’t. It’s been a month since the twin blasts at Dilsukhnagar killed several citizens. Yet, the NIA nor the local police have been able to come up with anything substantial.

Corruption widespread in GHMC. Nothing new. Most people face problems with illegal buildings because they ﬁrst grease palms and then suffer anyway once the ofﬁcials backtrack. But there’s nothing new here.

TRS’s hopes to topple govt might not work. While the TRS has grand plans to move a no-conﬁdence motion against Congress, looks like they won’t have the TDP’s backing.

Hyderabad airport bags laurels. It has been voted one of the ﬁve best airports in the world. Reason to celebrate and keep up the image we say.

All you need is love fast turning to all you need is money. A man recently abandoned his wife of two years, taking along with him all her valuables.

NEWS BRIEFS CM promises more to solve water woes

J&K group visits EFLU, records statements

HMDA announces new budget

GAIL to supply to private power companies

round `1.13 crore has been earmarked for new projects for the proposed Regional Ring Road and another `150 crore towards protection and development of lakes by HMDA.New projects for which funds are sought, include the site services at Jawaharnagar, the Inter-City Bus Terminal at Miyapur, TransitOriented Development at Moosapet.

he Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy asked district collectors to constantly monitor the supply of drinking water during summer this year. He assured them of more funds after April 1, apart from the `3 crore already allotted to each district that was released for the summer water supply action plan.

single-member delegation representing the J&K Awami National Conference visited EFLU on Tuesday, and recorded the statements of students over the suicide of PhD scholar Mudasir Kamran’s suicide. Party senior vice-president Muzaffar Shah spoke to students and made notes on of their recollections about the incident.

he Gas Authority of India Limited has agreed to supply RLNG (Regasified liquified Natural Gas) to private power companies in the State. This will help the power plants generate 400 MW everyday. The agreement was reached by GAIL and APTransco officials on Tuesday. Fuel supply will begin from Wednesday.

city WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

POSTNOON SPECIAL

No-confidence vote: TDP chickens out?

TDP batted the NCM back to the bowler saying, as the main opposition party, it’s not subservient to the TRS. INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com

TRS goes on rampage Opposition ranks staged a walk-out on Day One. N SHIVA KUMAR

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

he budget session of AP Assembly today began on a stormy note with the TRS showering on Governor ESL Narasimhan the confetti of torn budget speeches. Soon, the entire Opposition ranks, including TDP, CPM, BJP and TRS, walked out of the House — all protesting various omissions and commissions of the government.

he TRS bomb has torn through the opposition ranks. As the Assembly began its budget session today, the topic of discussion among the MLAs was not the budget but the TRS proposal to move a no-confidence motion against the Kiran government. In not an unexpected development, the TDP leaders have indicated the direction their party leadership is going to take. Commenting on the open letter to all opposition parties written by TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao yesterday, beseeching their support to the plan to move an NCM this session, the Desham MLAs resented the TRS ‘nerve’ to assume leadership of the House and dictate terms to a ‘big’ political party like the TDP. “KCR’s move is aimed at leveraging political mileage. He wants to take advantage of the current political situation in the State. As a responsible

BUDGET SESSION

opposition party, we do not have any need to react to the request made by a sub-regional party like TRS. We know when to move the resolution. We will do it when we think it fit,” remarked a senior leader of the TDP.

NEW LEASE OF LIFE FOR CM

The happiest seems to be Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy. He is reportedly cheerful after learning of the differences in the opposition ranks with regard to the TRS proposal to move an NCM.

POLITICS

No problem with trust vote: Botsa

When the governor began reading his text at the budget session, TRS members tore copies of the speech and threw them in his direction. Even as Narasimhan began reading out from his 40-page prepared text, the TDP members were up on their feet protesting the governor’s ‘failure’ to dismiss corrupt ministers. The government, the members alleged, failed to address issues of public concern. The TRS members,

meanwhile, protested the nonmention of the demand for a separate Telangana state in the governor’s speech. Members of CPI and CPM found fault with the government for not distributing relief to farmers in the droughthit areas of the State. When the governor began reading his text at 9.30am in the joint session of Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, TRS members tore the copies and threw them in the direction of the governor. While they flung the paper missiles at him, security men ensured they

didn’t reach the governor. TRS members asked the governor to go back for not mentioning the demand for separate Telangana in his text and TDP members thronged the Speaker’s podium, raising slogans against the corrupt ministers. With no one caring for their protests, the Opposition members walked out the joint session midway through the governor’s speech and Narasimhan continued his speech later peacefully. The government will present the budget for the financial year 2012-13 on March 17.

NEEDS OF INDUSTRIES A Classified Display Feature

PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana has said the Congress government will face no problem even if the Opposition moved a no-confidence motion in the Assembly. Speaking to the media at Pandirivalasa village under Garividi mandal on Tuesday, Botsa exuded confidence that the Congress government would continue in office till the 2014 elections. He claimed that the government had the numerical strength to continue in office. The PCC chief launched the Revenue Sadassu at the village. He also launched the sixth phase of land distribution and handed over pattas to the beneficiaries. Speaking on the occasion, Botsa said the government had so far distributed 6.8 lakh acres of land to the poor. District collector Veera Brahmaiah, joint collector Shobha and other officials participated in the programme. NSS

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city WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

ANALYSIS

YSRC silently makes inroads

Top TDP leaders have identified the fledgling party as its main competitor in the 2014 elections. PK SURENDRAN surendran.pk@postnoon.com

n a recent meeting of some bigwigs of the TDP, it was decided that the Congress has lost its pre-eminence and the Desham’s Dushman No. 1 is YSRC. The party also believes that if the Congress does not take some drastic action (kill rather than hurt) against the fledgling party, it will end up at the third place at the next General Elections. Political parties’ major discussions in meetings are obviously their main rivals. And, if a main rival loses ground, it is not the party that comes to know of it first, it would be its rival. Watching the opponent camp is an essential strategy of electoral war. The TDP honchos’ conclusion is drawn from the fact that despite the Congress’s good show in the co-operative elections, a General Election is a different cake. The YSRC’s strength

FILE PHOTO

YSRC’s strength lies not just in YSR sentiment; it is rooted also in the Christian convert vote bank, which is a sizeable presence in coastal Andhra. is rooted in sentiment and sentiment defies reason. “If Jagan crosses 80 seats, he is going to bargain for the chief minister’s post,” a TDP leader, who is also a businessman, told his colleagues. His sources tell him that the Congress is honeymooning privately with the YSRC while denouncing it in public. The latest reading, however, is that the YSRC will not merge with the Congress. Rather, it will be a regional party which, these days, enjoys more powers than national parties. “Small is beautiful,” is the slogan in India’s highly fractured political terra firma

today. Look how five- to sixmember parties, like MIM, get more than their due while big parties suffer. Look, again, at AIADMK, JDU or any regional party, and it becomes clear that it

DANGEROUS HYDERABAD

M ANIL KUMAR

WRONG DIRECTION

hat Hyderabad’s citizens don’t pay much heed to personal road safety is an accepted fact. Few bikers wear helmets and seatbelts are considered only cosmetic additions in cars. But going so far as to endanger your own life by driving the wrong way down a oneway street? This, unfortunately, is a very common sight on Hyderabad roads. This particular biker was navigating the usually busy Abids to Koti route, happily going in the opposite direction on a oneway road. Not only is he a danger to himself, but he also endangers others

around him. By driving right in the middle of the road, no less, he could cause accidents and traffic snarls. There aren’t any traffic policemen nearby to penalise the errant rider either. When asked why they would make such risky moves, most motorists seem unconcerned that they are breaking the law and potentially endangering people. Unless a major accident occurs, most will continue to flout rules. Traffic cops cannot be expected to monitor every inch of the City’s vast road network. It is up to citizens to realise the need to follow these rules and do so.

is the age of the small parties, which can effectively arm-twist big brothers. However, the YSRC’s strength lies not just in YSR sentiment; it is rooted also in the

Christian convert vote bank which forms a sizeable voting population in the coastal Andhra belt. In 2009 elections too, YSR swept the Christian belt. But the YSRC is still very weak in Telangana and other parts of Seemandhra, though it is the undisputed leader in Rayalaseema. In these areas, the YSRC hopes to go for a strategic tie-up at the micro level. Its secret strength is the long line of beneficiaries during YSR’s regime, who want a YSR heir to protect their new-found wealth. Both the bigwigs, the Congress and the TDP, are bound to suffer in the event of the YSRC making an uninterrupted march. While the Congress has its assured grassroots support to fall back on, the TDP lacks even that. Hence, the Desham leaders are privately frowning at Chandrababu Naidu and his efforts to make Lokesh do an Akhilesh, point out political observers.

city WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

SURVEY

City airport in world’s top 5 Airports of Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad are among the top five in the world providing international standard services.

irports Council International (ACI), a global body of airports, has adjudged Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport as second best after Seoul’s Incheon airport in the category of airports handling 25-40 million passengers per annum (MPPA) for their service quality for the year 2012. Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport was adjudged the third best in this category, an ACI statement said. Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International airport (RGI) has bagged the second position for their service quality in the category of five to 15 MPPA. Japan’s Nagoya airport was adjudged the best in this category. In the Asia-Pacific region, Delhi airport was adjudged as

fourth in the ‘Best Airports by Region’ across all categories. Seoul’s Incheon ranked first, Singapore’s Changi second and Beijing was placed at the third spot. The annual service quality passenger survey undertaken by ACI, an autonomous and independent body, measures customer feedback on a range of service delivery parameters that track the customer experience at an airport from the moment of arrival to the departure gate. Analysis of this “real-time” data, recorded on the day of travel, serves as a guide for better aligning service provision with customer expectations. The ASQ Awards have become the world’s leading airport passenger satisfaction benchmark. PTI

CRIME

POLITICS

Pyar, vyar mast hai but money must hai! So sang the husband as he bolted with cash and one kilogram of gold when his wife, who trusted him for life, was asleep. Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com

The husband was jobless and the wife’s father had given her a huge amount of cash, gold and a bike to help him set up a business.

arry in hurry and regret in leisure is what Shireen Daniel is doing now. The young woman who had a “love marriage” with Imran Khan against the wishes of her parents now finds herself left alone sans all her ornaments, cash and other valuables. Khan has escaped with all of it, leaving the memory of the old song Kishore Kumar sung, that goes, “Love is okay but money is essential to love.” The Tukaramgate police now have the sad case of Shireen, who said how much she had trusted this man, though her parents had warned her against marrying out of the community. The man, after a marital life of two

years, left one night with all she had while she was asleep. She told the police how she suffered all rebukes and abuses for his sake and yet this happened. Shireen, a resident of Secunderabad, had fallen in

love with young Imran, who had a glib tongue and a loveable manner that could deceive anybody. After a few years of swearing on love, the two decided to marry two years ago. She gave birth to a

child too. After the child was born, Shireen’s parents relented. Her father, J Daniel, a businessman, accepted her back. He had given 1 kilogram of gold to her, a bike, and a huge amount of cash to help her husband set up a business. Khan was jobless. He is a resident of Secunderabad but nothing much is known about him. Shireen now says if only she had listened to her parents, this tragedy could have been averted.

Scrap VAT on textiles or face music: KCR warns govt T

RS president K Chandrasekhara Rao here on Tuesday warned the State government that it would face severe consequences if it failed to withdraw VAT on textiles forthwith. The TRS supremo has turned up at the dharna camp organised by the cloth merchants associations at Indira Park and expressed his solidarity with the striking cloth merchants in the State. Speaking on the occasion, KCR said that industries were being shut down due to the acute power cuts that are severely affecting the livelihood of industrial workers. He said the Congress government in the State was solely responsible for all the ills, due to its gross inefficiency and lack of foresightedness. Expressing surprise over the Andhra Pradesh government alone imposing VAT on textiles in the entire country, he said his party would take the government to task on the floor of the House. The TRS president also demanded that the ministers in the Kiran Kumar Reddy cabinet exert pressure on the chief minister to scrap VAT on textiles. NSS

AGE OF WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

A PAGE DEDICATED TO THE TRIUMPHS AND TRIBULATIONS OF GEN Z

Of kith and kin

They bring us up. They know all our secrets; the embarrassing ones; the disturbing ones. They know us like no one else does. Postnoon finds out what family means to Gen Z. KANCHAN AGARWAL

kanchan.a@postnoon.com

hen I spoke to Gen Z, I realised there was no way to speak in general of how it sees family. On one hand, they come from very closely knit families, where they are given all the space that they need. On the other hand, they are the indispensable band aids of their broken families. Those who come from happy families can hardly imagine lives without parents and siblings. “I can’t imagine how it would have been without my family. Such a thought has never crossed my mind. They have been with me since my birth. And we will be together till the last minute,” says Pavithra Reddy, who is closest to his father and feels free to share anything and everything with him. It is not out of compulsion that families are spending quality time. No matter how busy each member is, it is made sure that time is taken out for each other and done full justice to. “After graduation, I ventured into the business of supermarkets. I own and run a supermarket which keeps me very busy. When I work through the week, I only work. But my weekends are absolutely for my

family. I am very close to them,” says Amitesh Sharma, a Gen Z entrepreneur. Lives between Gen Z and their parents are transparent in a healthy way. Children share because they want to and also

feel comfortable enough to. “My parents know everything about me. I am close to my brother also, although he has been living abroad. I like it that way,” says Nikita Shah, 20, a student. Not only are they sharing information and feelings, a lot of trust is placed in family members. “If there is something that I really want to do but my family does not agree with me, we try and find a middle ground. I trust

that they will stand by me in all my aspirations and doings. If there is conflict, I would put my point across. And if they still can’t agree with me, I know that they have seen the world more than me and all they are trying to do is protect me,” she adds. This observed, there are many in Gen Z who have grown up in violent families, where blame game is the rule of the day. “For a long

time as a teenager, I did seek and wait for their approval. But there was always a great absence of their will to listen and understand. But I have had my things to do and I could not afford to stop my life because someone else could not agree with me,” says Naina Sharma, 21, a student. “In my family, there is hardly any interaction. We all live our own private lives. We don’t even eat together. I love them but I love me more. I won’t abandon my family in times of crisis, but I won’t stop looking out for myself independently either,” says Naina. When you are forced to live together like this, awkwardness is always prevalent, giving one a strong reason to move out. “My moving out should not mean I am breaking bonds with them. It would call for happier daily lives for each of us with all the space we can acquire,” explains Naina. But there are other reasons too. “If I move out, nothing can replace the emotional bond I have with my family. I just want to see life on my own, travel, earn and take care of myself financially,” says Nikita Shah.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

focus

NO RESPITE FOR TIPPLERS

In 1933, when Washington repealed Prohibition, the federal law allowed state and local governments latitude on how they wanted to regulate the issue. Haddonfield passed a resolution to remain dry. They’re not alone: dozens of cities and hundreds of counties across the US — especially in the so-called “Bible Belt” in the South, where fundamentalist Christians hold sway — have remained “dry."

SOCIETIES

Prohibition lives on in New Jersey town

RAPHAELLE PICARD feedback@postnoon.com HADDONFIELD: Anyone who wants a beer in Haddonfield, New Jersey had better be ready for a drive: buying or selling alcohol anywhere within city limits is punishable with jail time. Since long before Prohibition — the 13-year national ban on alcohol that started in 1920 — Haddonfield has been a “dry town." And the borough, just a stone’s throw away from the big city of Philadelphia, has kept the laws on the books ever since. Downtown in this burg of 11,500 people, founded by Quakers, a visitor will find a juice bar, rococo tea salons and cafes serving hot chocolate. But at the end of the two main roads leading out of town — exactly where the next town’s border starts — he’ll find a bar, a wine shop, and yet another bar, in a country club. At Nero’s Cigars, a smoking club and Haddonfield institution, customers puff their Cubans while sipping on cappuccinos. “It is an old archaic rule and a religious thing that should be changed," lamented Michael Di Placido, lounging in a massive leather chair.

His friend, Michael Pav, agreed, saying a bar would be a place “to have a nice drink after your work.” “It is just where people get together, have fun and meet a lot of different people of all different ages. It is better for the society," he said. But the only bar in town, The Indian Tavern, has been transformed into a museum. There, you learn that the last pint of cider was served in 1873, which was when Haddonfield, strongly influenced by temperance leagues run mainly by Methodists, put the kibosh on hooch.

“DRY” COUNTIES “New Jersey was a place full of gin drinkers," recounts Bill Reynolds, former mayor of Haddonfield. “Fighting against alcohol and its vices was the moral battle of Methodists. For them, it was the drink of the devil." In 1933, when Washington repealed Prohibition, the federal law allowed state and local governments latitude on how they wanted to regulate the issue. Haddonfield “wasted no time and passed a resolution to remain dry," explained Dough Rauschenberger, former curator at the main library.

Since long before Prohibition — the 13-year national ban on alcohol that started in 1920 — Haddonfield has been a “dry town." They’re not alone: dozens of cities and hundreds of counties across the US — especially in the so-called “Bible Belt” in the South, where fundamentalist

The Indian Tavern is is now a museum but formerly a bar, historians record the last mug of cider was served in 1873.

Christians hold sway — have remained “dry." In Haddonfield, the law was last debated in 1976, when a restaurant owner lobbied for a vote. “There was a referendum and it failed four to one," recalled mayor Tish Colombi. “The message is loud and clear that people like their community the way it is." “Not having an alcohol store in town does send a strong message to our children about how this community feels about that," she emphasized. “They know that we try to make their childhood better and safer, so I do believe it makes a difference." Bunny Galladora, vice president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, one of the groups behind the original prohibition movement, insisted that, despite the popular conception: “I do believe Prohibition was a success." “We have tons of documents claiming that police department crime fell down, jails were closing because of lack of crimes, all kinds of problems that disappeared, kidney institutions shut down, all kind of hospitals shut down because it was better," she insisted. That’s a sharp contrast to most historical accounts, which indicate that liquor consumption

soared along with organized crime, which raced to meet the demand for under the counter liquor created during Prohibition. But in picturesque Haddonfield, “people here are pretty satisfied with the way things are” without alcohol, said Reynolds. After all, for anyone who wants a tipple, “they are surrounded by liquor outlets” in nearby towns, “and our restaurants are BYOB which allows people to bring whatever alcohol they want." That’s the system at the Italian restaurant “Tre Famiglia," and owner Robert Cipollone said it works better for everyone. “They have a bigger selection, lower costs," without paying the standard three or four times mark up for a restaurant bottle of wine, he said. And “we don’t have to pay the licenses and the insurance liabilities that are outrageous." Not everyone agrees with him, at least outside of Haddonfield. In Damascus, one of the last “dry” cities in Maryland, two restaurants fought against liquor ban, sparking a referendum that resulted, last month, in their customers getting their first legal taste of beer. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

People walk past a juice bar on a street in Haddonfield, New Jersey. AFP

AFP / RAPHAELLE PICARD

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

Business

DOWNTURN THREATENS EU'S LIFE EXPECTANCY GAINS Gains in life expectancy across Europe could be reversed if cash-strapped governments cut health budgets, the World Health Organisation warned in a report on Wednesday.

PRECIOUS INVESTMENT

GOOGLE FINED $7 MILLION

Platinum holds promise Traditional preference to gold has kept platinum consumption low in the Indian market, despite its investment potential.

PRUDHVI RAJU K prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

ith recent labour unrest in South Africa obstructing mining, it is affecting the overall supply and has pushed up the value of platinum. Many investors were betting on this metal for short-term investments. However, low awareness about the metal and Indians traditional interest on gold is keeping the consumption levels low as a jewellery. “Globally overall demand for platinum is very low compared to gold. This can be judged from the fact that average platinum global consumption between 2007-2011 stood around 240 MT whereas global Gold demand during the same period stood nearly 3800 MT, more than 15 times the demand for the former,” says Tapan Trivedi, senior research analyst, Inditrade, JRG Securities. Talking about demand drivers, he says, “Platinum is a

metal whose demand is mostly depended on the growth in automobile sector along with other industrial usage with less dependence on Jewellery and Investment. Lately the metal has been recording decent uptick with returns of over 10 per cent in 2012 as compared to 7 per cent in gold and 9 per cent in silver in terms of international spot prices. High gains in the commodity have been led by the fact that metal is witnessing very high constraints with regards to supply. “Out of the total supply of platinum, nearly 80 per cent is coming from mining while the balance comes from recycling of the metal. Out of total mined supply, nearly threefourth comes

Though the metal might not show any significant movement in the short-term, we are bullish on the long-term (1-2 years) movement in the metal which can hit sub $1900 mark from the current rate around $1600 per ounce.” “India forms a very small market for platinum globally. While, India’s fancy of gold is well known fact, Indians are still broadly reluctant to accept platinum a part of their jewellery due low awareness about the metal, lack of

easy buying and selling point for the metal, its low availability and knowledge about the pricing of the metal,” he says. Talking about medium and long returns, he says, “Platinum is a metal, which provides a mix of both precious metal and industrial metal. The global economy is not in its best of shapes currently. Once the economy starts improving, demand for the metal would enhance though supply can’t see very high increase in medium term due to the fact that it mines are highly concentrated to some regions globally, namely South Africa, Russia and North America. Fundamentally, Platinum has traded at a premium to gold and we feel same course to be maintained in once global economy improves. Platinum can form small part of an individual’s portfolio both as an investment and jewellery.

Usage in segments Auto-catalysts (40%) Industrial (25%) Jewellery (30%) Investment (5%)

INDUSTRIAL USAGE Catalytic converter in automobile engines Electrodes Anticancer drugs Oxygen sensors Spark plugs

TOP USERS Japan Europe China

from South Africa where the situation is completely out of shape lately owing to labour unrest in the region,” he says. He adds, “We feel issues over supply mainly from SA and moderate uptick in global industrial demand is expected to keep the overall demandsupply situation tight in 2013.

Google agreed to pay a $7 million ﬁne in the US on Tuesday for stealthily collecting data from private Wi-Fi hotspots in a mapping service slip that irked an array of countries. In a legal settlement with attorneys general in 38 states, the Internet giant also agreed to ramp up employee training about data privacy and back a nationwide campaign to teach people about securing wireless networks. Word that vehicles snapping panoramic photos in neighborhoods for Street View images in Google's online maps were grabbing data from unsecured hotspots triggered investigations in at least a dozen countries, according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center. At least nine countries have found Google violated local laws.

NUMEROLOGY

6,500

vehicles are being recalled by Ford from North America due to faulty child safety mechanism.

FAA CLEARS BOEING FIX US air-safety regulators on Tuesday approved Boeing's plan to fix 787 batteries for testing, a major step forward to get the planes, grounded worldwide, flying again. "The Federal Aviation Administration today approved the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company's certification plan for the redesigned 787 battery system... and the company's plan to demonstrate that the system will meet FAA requirements," the agency said in a statement. The FAA said it had given the green light after "thoroughly reviewing" the plan Boeing proposed on February 22 to address risks after lithium-ion batteries short circuited on two 787 Dreamliner aircraft in mid-January, with a fire erupting on one.

THUS SPAKE My goal is not to chase a balanced budget just for the sake of balance. My goal is how do we grow the economy, put people back to work, and if we do that we are going to be bringing in more revenue BARACK OBAMA US PRESIDENT

10g GOLD `29,800 10g GOLD`31,100 1kg `60,100 1kg SILVER `55,200

24C

for for for for

DOLLAR `53.79 `54.16 `85.15 POUND `80.90

BSE 6,057.70 5,877.85 NSE

20,025.67 19,453.19 44.10 110.96 9.20 36.25

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

nation

MAN SETS WIFE ON FIRE A woman was allegedly set on fire by her husband over dispute related to second marriage in Jaithara area, police sources said here today. Shivpal, along with his family members, set ablaze his wife Bhoori in Bhalaul village last night, they said, adding that they later escaped from the spot.

DSP MURDER

INSPIRED

CBI probe team attacked The team’s vehicle was pelted with stones, leaving the driver injured. LUCKNOW: The CBI team probing the triple murder at Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh village in which former state minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiyya is an accused, was attacked by unidentified assailants late Tuesday. The team’s vehicle was pelted with stones near Manikpur late night, leaving its windscreen smashed and the driver of the vehicle injured, police said. Police officials rushed to the spot and combed the area, but the attackers had fled by then. A case was later registered against unknown people and the circle officer of Kunda has been handed over its probe. At the time of the attack, Deputy Superintendent of Police (CBI) Surendra Singh and three other sleuths were inside the car. The CBI team has been camping in the area for the last five days. It is trying to recreate the scene of the crime, interrogate witnesses and zero in on call details of Rajiv and Guddu Singh — close accomplices of Raja Bhaiyya. CBI sources told IANS that while it “was too early to conclude anything as of now, the probe was in the right direction”.

The official explained that investigators were trying to understand the sequence that involved the firing that killed Suresh Yadav, brother of the village headman, the arrival of the police team, and the manner in which slain circle officer Zia-ul-

At the time of the attack, deputy superintendent of police (CBI) Surendra Singh and three other sleuths were inside the car. Haq was abandoned by the police team to face the irate mob alone. The CBI team has also tried to locate the bullet which pierced through the rib cage of Haq and exited from the chest. The circle officer’s service revolver has been missing, and there is speculation that the shot may have been fired from it. Telephone records of the accused in the four FIRs are also being looked into to verify their location when the killings occurred. IANS

US nationals participate in a recreation of Dandi Yatra at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Tuesday AFP/SAM PANTHAKY

VVIP CHOPPER SCAM Ex-IAF chief Tyagi named in FIR, raided NEW DELHI: CBI on Wednesday registered FIR against former IAF chief SP Tyagi and others in VVIP chopper scam. Satish Bagrodia, brother of former Union Minister Santosh Bagrodia, has also been named in the FIR. A CBI team conducted raids at 12 places in Delhi, Gurgaon

NEWS BRIEFS

and Chandigarh, along with Tyagi’s residence in connection with the probe in the scam. The former IAF chief’s name was mentioned by Italian investigators when they arrested top executives of AgustaWestland’s Italy-based parent company Finmeccanica in February for paying bribes

through Gerosa and Haschkhe to swing the deal in their favour. A probe by Italian prosecutors claims that Tyagi and other Indian officials tweaked the tenders in 2006 so that AgustaWestland would beat other competing manufacturers. PTI

KASHMIR MILITANCY

Police havildar arrested along with illegal drugs

50 children rescued from illegal home in Jaipur

IMPHAL: A Manipur police havildar has been arrested after illegal drugs worth around Rs three lakh were allegedly found in his possession in Imphal East district, police said today. Acting on a tip-off, commandos of Imphal East district police searched Hatta area in the district and arrested Havildar Md Nazimuddin, 29, attached to Imphal west district police commando unit, along with 12,034 illegal pseudoephedrine SP tablets while it was being unloaded from a vehicle yesterday. They said the tablets were brought from Guwahati and the driver of the truck identiﬁed as Md Hasim was also arrested by the commandos. During interrogation, Nazimuddin allegedly confessed to the police that he had smuggled illegal tablets to Manipur on two previous occasions, they said, adding that both were still in police custody for further interrogation.

JAIPUR: Nearly 50 children, who were kept in two illegal children’s home here for months with little food amid pathetic living conditions, have been rescued by a team of Rajasthan Commission for Protection of Child Rights, police said today. On a tip off from Delhi, the team led by the Commission Chairperson Deepak Kalra raided a home in Mansarover area last night where 27 girls and two boys, aged between 5 and 17, were found. They were lodged in an illegal children’s home run by one Jacob John. The children are from various states like Punjab, Manipur, Nagaland, Jharkhand and were in the house for several months. Empty liquor bottles, stale food and fungus covered vegetables were found in the home, police said. The children’s home was running without permission, the police said.

Five CRPF men killed SRINAGAR: In the first suicide attack in Kashmir in three years, militants today stormed a CRPF camp in Bemina area of the city, killing five jawans and injuring seven others. The two militants, who carried out the attack, were also killed. “Five jawans have been martyred and seven have been injured,” a senior police officer told reporters at the spot. He said it was not clear whether there were two or three militants who hurled grenades and opened indiscriminate firing at the CRPF camp. “Two fidayeen (suicide militants) were neutralised and searches are going on,” the officer said. PTI

PICK YOUR

Across Stores

ities Twin C

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

World

SOROLLA PAINTING TO BE AUCTIONED The summer scene that Spain's Joaquin Sorolla (1863-1923) captured in the oil painting "Ninos en la Playa" (Children on the Beach) will be auctioned off in May in London for a sum estimated at between $2.6 million and $3.7 million, Sotheby's said.

SYRIAN CRISIS

PABLO EXHUMATION

2 million children victims of civil war

Two million children in Syria have become the victims of the bloody conflict, with many swept up in violence, and suffering from trauma, malnutrition and disease.

he catastrophic war in Syria has caused a "collapse in childhood", Save the Children warned on Wednesday. It cited research revealing that one in three children reported having been hit, kicked or shot at, as fighting between rebels and soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad engulfed the entire country. The report, Childhood Under Fire, was launched to coincide with the second anniversary of Syria's antiAssad uprising. It paints a grim picture of how children have been targeted in the war and shows that many are struggling to find enough to eat. Others are living in barns, parks or caves. Few are able to go to school. Teachers have fled and school buildings are under fire. Sanitation systems have been damaged, forcing some youngsters to defecate in the street. The research, by Bahcesehir University in Turkey, includes harrowing testimony from refugee children, some of whom have seen their parents arrested, beaten and killed by regime forces. One, Nidal, said: "They shot at us near my foot so I jumped. I was scared, very scared, and my friend too. We were surrounded by walls. So we jumped over walls and ran away." Nidal recalled how his father was sleeping, and his mother doing chores, when

They shot at us near my foot so I jumped. I was scared, very scared, and my friend too. We were surrounded by walls. So we jumped over walls and ran away. Syrian refugee children play outside their shanty rented by their parents in a poor neighbourhood at the entrance of the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on March 7, 2013. AFP PHOTO/JOSEPH EID

The horror of war

he report suggests the conflict has had a disastrous effect on youngsters. It says armed militias are using boys as porters, runners and human shields, and bringing them to the frontline. Girls are being married off by their parents early to "protect" them from the widely perceived threat of sexual violence.

government soldiers burst in. "They entered and beat my father. They started to beat him with sticks. All of them were beating him. One of them was kicking him. I was hiding in the

room so they wouldn't take me." A mother, Um Ali, who escaped across the border to Turkey, added: "We couldn't leave our house at all. The snipers would shoot us straight away. They were on the roofs. We could see children falling dead. This is why we fled, because of the heavy shelling." She added: "The children were terrified." The report suggests the conflict has had a disastrous effect on youngsters. It says armed militias are using boys as porters, runners and human shields, and bringing them to the frontline. Girls are being married off by their parents early to "protect" them from the

Nidal A Syrian boy about regime forces’ violence widely perceived threat of sexual violence. "I know that men are hunting women. We could not protect her, so we had to marry her. We needed her to have a protector," Um Ali explained. A universal problem faced by children and their parents in Syria has been hunger, with malnutrition growing. The military has targeted bakeries in many opposition-controlled areas. The price of basic foodstuffs, fuel and cooking oil has rocketed by up to 500%. Asked why he fled his home Rami, a father of three, replied: "Hunger. Food. There was none. No bread. If I stayed my children would have died from hunger." AGENCIES

NEWS BRIEFS Japan seeks stronger ties with Asean nations

21 killed in China coal mine accident

Inter-Korean military hotline open: South

China says it can help US in combating hacking

TOKYO: Japan on Wednesday called for stronger security ties with Southeast Asia as Tokyo looks to boost alliances at a time of growing territorial tensions with China. Vice-minister level representatives from Japan and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were beginning a two-day gathering at a Tokyo hotel.

BEIJING: Twenty-one miners were killed while four went missing when a coal and gas outburst took place in a mine in China's Guizhou province Tuesday, authorities said. At least 58 of the total 83 miners, working underground at the time of accident, managed to reach the ground safely, Xinhua reported.

SEOUL: A military hotline between North and South Korea is still operating, a South ofﬁcial said Wednesday after Pyongyang cut a separate government link amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula. In protest at the launch of a joint South Korea-US military exercise, North Korea on Monday severed the Red Cross hotline used.

BEIJING: China has expressed a willingness to cooperate with the United States and others to combat hacking, after a top US ofﬁcial warned the international community was losing patience with Beijing. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing was in favour of global cooperation on the issue.

The remains of Chilean Nobel prize winning poet Pablo Neruda will be exhumed on April 8 to determine if he died of cancer or was poisoned, a judicial source told AFP. The leftist, who died 12 days after the 1973 military coup that ousted socialist president Salvador Allende and brought General Augusto Pinochet to power, was long believed to have died of prostate cancer. But ofﬁcials in 2011 started looking into the possibility he was poisoned.

NUMEROLOGY

5916

pigs

The Shanghai municipal government said that 5,916 swine carcasses had been retrieved from the Huangpu River by 3 pm Tuesday, but that the city water remained safe.

LIFE ON MARS? Mars could have harboured life, according to the analysis of a rock sample collected by the robot probe Curiosity, NASA reported. Scientists identiﬁed sulphur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon in the sample, all of which are essential chemical ingredients for life as we know it. "A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment," Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, said Tuesday.

What is necessary in cyberspace is not war, but rather regulation and cooperation. China in it’s response to the US asking Beijing that it must take steps to investigate and stop cybercrime.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

Technology GADGETS

LAUNCH DAY

Adobe goes cloud

It’s on element14 website every 15 minutes when it launched the B Board

Born: Early 2006

officially released for sale

Small wonder Raspberry Pi, the $25 computer that is set to revolutionise the world has turned one.

Adobe Systems, on Tuesday, launched Creative Cloud, a subscription-based model, for accessing its software and products in India, and expects the move to help expand revenues. It is also hoping that it will check the piracy rate of its products. The company is moving away from ‘selling software in a box’ model and is instead changing its focus to subscription-based services. Users will get access to products such as Photoshop Lightroom. The Creative Cloud for SMBS is available at a promotional price of `34,620 per user annually. In contrast, the suite of creative desktop applications alone costs `1,76,000 a year.

Eye-tracking for all Samsung won’t be the only ﬁrm that gets a fancy eye-tracking feature. A start-up company called uMoove, which has been developing this technology for three years, says it will offer eye- and headtracking to anyone, including device makers like Apple and software developers who make mobile apps. Based in Israel, uMoove has been working on a technology for smartphones and tablets to track eye and head movements using a device’s front-facing camera. It said on Tuesday that very soon it would offer a software tool kit to apply its technology to applications.

eBay’s deals

7,281,294

total minutes of Pi-related content consumed on element14 community

Number of element14 numbers active on the raspberry pi community

from Cambridge, UK to Christchurch NZ

9.2

page views of pi-related content

eBay India has launched a Way Too Fab (WTF) sale to celebrate its 8th anniversary. The eight day sale started on March 12 and will go on till Tuesday and offers consumers great deals on popular gadget and lifestyle categories. However Twitter users were quick to point out that some of the discounted prices of items were more than the retail price, like in the case of Samsung Galaxy S III. eBay is also giving away a shopping spree for the ﬁrst 800 customers at 8am & 8pm daily throughout the period of the sale. There are also Flash Sales on 8 popular products every day.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

Comment Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

NATIONAL POLITICS

THE HUMAN CONDITION Dean Williams

ast night on the Comedy Central channel, which airs on most Indian DTH networks, satirical talk show host, Jon Stewart poked fun at the Vatican and the process of electing a new Pope. It wasn’t harmless banter; it was charged with innuendo that expressly covered the sex abuse scandal that has enveloped the church, and made no bones about the fact that he considered most cardinals to be nothing more than child-molesters. Whether you agree with his statements or not is beside the point. The point being that there was nary hue nor strangled cry from the Roman Catholic community in India, or anywhere else for that matter. Imagine a talk show host making similar comments about Hinduism or Islam, there would be hell to pay, literally. So what is it about Catholics that make them such ‘soft’ targets? Is it because they believe explicitly in freedom of expression? Or is it because they understand the gravity of the crimes committed by certain members of the church? The answer is yes, and yes. The sex abuse scandal has riven the Catholic church to the point where it will take generations to repair. But it is the fact that the church, apart from the Vatican, has allowed itself to be scrutinised, that has seen the skeletons tumble out. The cupboard is hardly bare, but at least now there’s an opportunity for a good spring cleaning. Maybe it’s time other religions did the same. The writer is an atheist and bears no affiliation to any religion.

Pak bad, Uddhav good for Ajmer Shrine Diwan FUSILLADE

George Orwell Writer

Joking about the Pope

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS What a match! What a comeback! One cannot praise enough that boy with the golden feet, Messi. Barca was pure Barca against AC Milan. Pique’s words were nothing but fact, that they have one of the best teams in the world.

Arun Koshy Philip

s a reward to his ‘patriotic’ boycott of visiting Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, a Shiv Sena delegation honoured Ajmer Dargah diwan Zainul Abedin Ali Khan. After receiving a sword and a shawl as token of respect, the holy man reportedly spoke to Uddhav Thackeray on phone and invited him to the Dargah. What puzzles me is that someone who claimed moral high ground to protest a single atrocity of Pakistan has no qualms in hobnobbing with a right-wing outfit that has used hatred and violence throughout its growth. Wonder what migrants from his state who were beaten up by Shiv Sena, and later MNS, goons for hurting job prospects of Marathi manoos. Uddhav-Diwan bonhomie brings up some disturbing examples of politics of religion. It is an open secret that several human gods and goddesses and their ‘charitable’ business are the biggest centres of money laundering. There have been several incidents of powerful godmen, who ran their empires

for decades with total impunity from laws of the land, suddenly becoming targets for criminal investigations when they fall out with their political benefactors. People who issues fatwas at the drop of a hat and instigate mobs to burn vehicles for insult to their religion in the US maintain deafening silence of barbaric social evils prevalent in the community under the guise of personal law — abuse of women being the most prominent. However, they find friends in politicians of all hues who endorse their ‘leadership’ in return for en masse votes.

Then there are the self-proclaimed ‘super patriots’ who will drive master artists to exile for insulting gods by making their nude paintings. No... they are not aware of thousands of sculptures that have been in existence for centuries that show gods in the nude. Their splinter organisations disrupt fashion shows for denigrating women by parading them in skimpy clothes. However, when it comes to dealing with sexual violence against women, they go into denial mode. Oops... my bad. The RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat did say rapes occur in the country. Rapes take

place in India and not in Bharat, the saffron knight said. May be the rapes that take place in villages are part of an ISI conspiracy. Our leaders were ‘shocked and outraged’ when Yasin Malik shared dais with Hafiz Sayeed in Pakistan, but why is there no similar anger or reaction when Sikh terrorists are conferred honours and declared martyrs by top religious bodies. Beant Singh’s killers have been on the death row for ever now but we don’t see any hurried hushhush hanging. To conclude let’s go to, ironically, God’s Own Country. A prominent Christian denomination’s top leader couldn’t stop speaking out in support of PJ Kurien, who is in the eye of a storm over the latest revelations by the Suryanelli rape case victim. There were also media reports of the victim’s church asking the family to stop coming to the church. Kerala’s swearing-by-god Congress and swearing-by-Marx CPI(M) try to outdo each other in pleasing religious leaders to secure vote banks. We might call ourselves secular and democratic in the Constitution’s preamble. However, the toxic cocktail of politics and religion has reduced adherence to its principles to mere lip service, and we stand failed as a nation.

EDITORIALS You owe an answer and an apology, Jayaji

ny keen follower of happenings in the political world knows that to have such notions is absurd. It’s no more news when a person who had been in a party for a good part of his life quits and joins another one if his new party’s offer and promises are better. Examples are numerous. Not that there had been no instances where good men left and joined others when they could no more condone nonsense and bad policies of his original party. But that as is the case about anything good has been rare. So why is Jayaprada miffed with a reporter who asked her about her ties with Samajwadi Party that had expelled her over charges of sabotaging the party’s ideals? She threatened to slap him. This is how a PTI report quotes her as saying: “Kya sawal puch rahe hain aap? Ek lafa dungi (What kind of question is this? I will slap you).” Jaya Prada is the independent Lok Sabha MP from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. Now let’s consider why it is

READERS’ VIEWS

important that we the people know about her political affiliations. Jayaprada’s entry into politics started as a Telegu Desam activist after she was invited to join by NT Rama Rao. She did not take up key posts, but contended herself with electioneering. After the great coup led by N Chandrababu Naidu, she joined him and when she developed differences with him, quit and joined the Samajwadi Party on whose ticket she won from Rampur Lok Sabha constituency seat with a majority of 80,000 (impressive, eh?). She was re-elected for another term but her majority dropped drastically to 30,000 (not very impressive, aye). That speaks a lot, does it not, Jayaji? And you can’t slap people for asking you questions. The question asked was about your political affiliation, not about your private life or your acting career. The people have a right to know where you stand. If you find the question questionable, then politics is not for you.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

Cinema

ASHTON KUTCHER SWATTER ADMITS GUILT

Prosecutors say that a 12-year-old boy has admitted to placing a fake 911 call to lure police to Ashton Kutcher's home. The Southern California boy, who was arrested in December, has admitted to making a false bomb threat and computer intrusion, the Associated Press reports.

THE MASTER

SCREEN POOPERS

A cut above the rest

Is it reasonable to call a six-film-old director one of the greatest directors in contemporary cinema? Paul Thomas Anderson, director of The Master and There Will be Blood, has achieved just that and left many surprised. HEMANTH KUMAR hemanth.k@postnoon.com

ne doesn’t hear or read much about Paul Thomas Anderson, as much as his contemporaries like Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher or Christopher Nolan, but there’s a whole legion of cinephiles who worship him for the kind of unflinching, complex and awe inspiring films he makes. He still believes in old school filmmaking and is yet to jump on to the bandwagon of digital cinema, VFX and the so called new wave of cinema where films are no longer made but manufactured for mass consumption. In his career spanning nearly 20 years, Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) has made six feature films including Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood and The Master. Each of his works have been quite distinct from each other and many a times, he has found inspiration from real stories and literature. Boogie Nights, which was Paul’s breakout film, was inspired from the life of John Holmes, a prominent porn star in the 70s and Punch Drunk Love was partly inspired from the real story of David Phillips, an American civil engineer who kept accumulating frequent flyer miles. Both Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999), which had a huge ensemble cast, put him firmly onto Hollywood’s map and a prominent studio like New Line Cinema even greenlit his project without lis-

tening to the script. Despite the royalty with which he has been treated over the years, Paul Thomas Anderson has remained unaffected by one of the most frequent problems which haunts filmmakers these days — banality. That’s one term which doesn’t exist in his filmography. For a filmmaker who is obsessed with themes like dysfunctional families, alienation, regret, greed, loneliness and destiny, the contrast between the films couldn’t have been more obvious. Boogie Nights transported us into the world of porn industry whereas Magnolia dealt with relationships between the characters who inhabit the San Fernando Valley. He made even Adam

Sandler act! Punch Drunk Love, which released in 2002, fetched Adam Sandler a Golden Globe nomination. There’s an undeniable magic in the way the camera moves in Paul’s films. Take for instance There Will Be Blood, a gruesome tale of an oilman set in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The camera is transfixed on everything Daniel Day Lewis does, so much that one cannot take away one’s eyes even as we are introduced to what a

greedy and cold character he is in the film. In another stunning sequence in There Will Be Blood, Daniel’s son is hurt when an oil rig explodes, but Daniel is more concerned about the oil rather than his son. The entire sequence is shot in a single take with a steady-cam and there’s never an awkward movement which would distract us. His recent work The Master is loosely based on the origins of Scientology and its founder L Ron Hubbard. Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams were nominated for Oscars for their roles in the film. So what makes Paul Thomas Anderson’s films so timeless? Because they are cerebral testing our endurance for pure emotion something we have become numb to over the years. Will he manage to stay like this forever? Only PTA knows.

No art, no fart! Bipasha Basu recently had her foot in her mouth when she said she won't do art films because "nobody watches them". After a rant about how she had spent some time doing art films and how hard she worked towards it, the actress was asked why she thinks nobody watches such films. She replied, “The divide between art and mainstream cinema was shrinking.” Maybe nobody watches art films that star you, Ms Bips!

Retire respectfully For International Women's Day, SRK said that the names of his leading ladies would appear before his in the credits of his two upcoming movies. Wow! That's what pity feels like, doesn't it? Not only does his gesture imply that women can only take the lead if he allows it, but it also means that even though he's the lead, they are being credited ﬁrst. To be fair, raising their arms isn't the only thing heroines do!

TRENDING...

Resul Pookutty has refuted rumours that he is doing any ﬁlm with southern superstar Rajinikanth. However, he says he has shared his script with Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan. "It's all rubbish news. I don't understand where this news came from. I am glad now I got an opportunity to clear these rumours,” he said.

Last month Emma Watson was linked to new live-action fairy tale remakes: Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. Playing both Belle and Cinderella is probably too much for any one actress, so Watson has understandably ruled out one project. Variety's Marc Graser tweeted, "Emma Watson has decided Not to star in Disney's Cinderella."

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

spotlight

FUN NIGHT

DJ Soumya and Umar will be spinning the latest hip hop and commercial remixes at Rain tonight.

PARTY ON MY MIND

MIDWEEK

MADNESS

It being a Tuesday did not stop party peeps from heading to Cuba Libre and letting their hair down. Spotted were Priya, Meghna and others. 3

1 Tina 2 Priya 3 Trisha,

Priya 4 Riya 5 Azra 6 Sreeram,

Bhavya with a friend 7 Lida 8 Meghna

GAME ON

Ladies made a beeline to Hyderabad Golf Club where Birdies, an all-women golf group was launched. Guests were seen bonding over drinks and snacks. Pinky Reddy, Saroja and Rekha were a few seen at the do. 4

1 Dr Nandini 2 Farah 3 Indrani, Saroja 4 Keerthi Reddy 5 Raksha, Rekha 6 Pinky Reddy

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

health

TECHNOLOGY TO DETECT ALZHEIMER'S TAKES SXSW PRIZE

Technology capable of diagnosing Alzheimer's disease long before its symptoms appear won a coveted honour for innovation Tuesday at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. Neurotrack, which uses eye tracking to achieve a claimed 100 per cent success rate, took the health technologies category in the SXSW Accelerator competition.

WALKING CORPSE SYNDROME

The walking dead? Ever come across a person who thought he was dead? Cotard’s syndrome or the walking corpse syndrome is a form of delusion where the patient firmly believes that he/she is dead. DEEPASHRI V

deepashri.v@postnoon.com

n the 1880s, Jules Cotard, a neurologist, was treating a patient, who eventually starved herself to death. The patient felt many of her internal organs were missing, and then went on to believe there was no need for her to eat and that she could never die naturally. The Cotard delusion or ‘Walking Corpse syndrome’ was named after him. It could be a result of depression, psy-

chosis (a mental condition where a person loses touch with reality) or even schizophrenia, said Dr Minhaj Nasirabadi, consultant psychiatrist at Apollo Hospital. “I have treated 10-20 patients with this disorder in my career. Sometimes a patient thinks he is out of his body and can see his body from outer space. Another is derealisation. Some patients think the whole world around them is unreal and that everything is staged,” he said. According to a case study of Cotard’s syndrome published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, a Scandinavian

ANEWS PP-LYBRIEFS YOURSELF

medical journal, at onlinelibrary.wiley.com, the authors concluded that the syndrome seemed to have three stages — germination, blooming and chronic — with symptoms changing according to each stage. Though the woman under study did not respond to pharmacotherapies, she improved with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Another website thetartan.org describes how some patients think they do not have blood, while others believe they died or lost their soul. Patients think parts of their body are missing. Some patients have known to have

HOUSECALL

starved themselves to death, believing they do not have a stomach. Dr K Siva Prasad, consultant psychiatrist at Vivekananda hospital, Begumpet, and professor of psychiatry at Osmania Medical College, said such cases are seldom seen isolated; they are accompanied by severe depression, delusion, or some other mental condition. Some patients are negative to the extent that nothing seems worthwhile to them, and they feel the entire universe is not there. They then deny their own existence. “Anti-psychotics and anti-

DID YOU KNOW?

depressants are given,” Dr Nasirabadi said, “some symptoms (in the patients he treated) are gone. Sometimes behavioural therapy is given. They are made to understand that their body is real, and that they can feel pain.” Sometimes patients may not respond to therapy in severe cases of delusion, Dr Prasad said, and may not be ready to listen to any logical explanation that is given. In such cases, they are first given ECT or medications till they improve to some extent, he said, adding that treatment depends on the underlying cause.

PIONEERS

Fertility Friend Mobile

Parkinson’s disease

Eyes beat the telescope

William S Halsted

Fertility Friend Mobile is an advanced and comprehensive monitor of your menstrual cycle for trying to conceive or health purposes. It includes extensive educational resources to give you the knowledge you need to feel conﬁdent and empowered. Fertility Friend Mobile is a menstrual calendar, period tracker and an ovulation chart.

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. The motor symptoms of Parkinson's result from the death of dopamine-generating cells in the substantia nigra, a region of the midbrain; the cause of this cell death is unknown. Early in the course of the disease, the most obvious symptoms are movement-related; these include shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and difﬁculty with walking.

As you focus on this sentence, your eyes swing 100 times a second. The eyes can perceive more than 1 million simultaneous visual impressions, are able to discriminate among nearly 8 million gradations of colour, can distinguish about 500 shades of gray, and take in more information than the world’s largest telescope.

In 1885, William S Halsted developed conduction anaesthesia by injecting his own nerve trunks with cocaine, a substance to which he subsequently became addicted (though later cured). At Johns Hopkins University he established the ﬁrst surgical school in the US and introduced the use of thin rubber gloves in surgery (1890). He also originated the practice of hospital surgical residencies.

health WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

STUDY

RESEARCH

LESS SLEEP LEADS to more eating, weight gain Findings show that, while staying awake longer did indeed require more energy, the extra calories burned were more than offset by the amount of food the participants consumed. WASHINGTON: Sleeping a mere five hours a night during a workweek with unlimited access to snacks isn't good for your waistline, according to findings released Monday. The study, led by the University of Colorado at Boulder, found that participants gained nearly two pounds (about 1 kilogram) when put in such a situation. Previous studies have shown that a lack of shut-eye can lead to the packing on of pounds but the reasons for the extra weight were unclear, according to the authors of the latest research. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the newest findings

show that, while staying awake longer did indeed require more energy, the extra calories burned were more than offset by the amount of food the study participants consumed. "Just getting less sleep, by itself, is not going to lead to weight gain," said Kenneth Wright, director of CUBoulder's Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory that lead the study. "But when people get insufficient sleep, it leads them to eat more than they actually need." The researchers monitored 16 young, lean and healthy men and women who lived for two weeks at the University of Colorado Hospital, which has a "sleep suite."

They measured how much energy participants used by keeping tabs on the amount of oxygen they breathed in and the amount of carbon dioxide they exhaled. After all participants spent the first three days with the opportunity to sleep nine hours a night and eating controlled meals meant to maintain their weight, they were split into two groups. The first group then spent five days with only five hours during which to sleep, while the other group spent those days with nine hours during which to rest. After the first five days, the groups switched. In both groups, participants were

offered larger meals and access to snacks that included ice cream and potato chips but also healthier options such as fruit and yoghurt. On average, those who slept for up to five hours a night burned five percent more energy than those who snoozed up to nine hours. However, those with less shut-eye also consumed six percent more calories. Those getting less rest tended to eat smaller breakfasts but binged on after-dinner snacks, according to the researchers. In fact, the late-night food intake totaled more in calories than individual meals, they said. AFP

Disrupted sleep may be early sign of Alzheimer's WASHINGTON: Sleep loss may be an early symptom of Alzheimer's disease, a new study has warned. Sleep is disrupted in people who likely have early Alzheimer's disease but do not yet have the memory loss or other cognitive problems characteristic of full-blown disease, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have found. The finding confirms earlier observations by some of the same researchers. Those studies showed a link in mice between sleep loss and brain plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Early evidence tentatively suggests the connection may work in both directions: Alzheimer's plaques disrupt sleep, and lack of sleep promotes Alzheimer's plaques. "This link may provide us with an easily detectable sign of Alzheimer's pathology," said senior author David M Holtzman, the Andrew B and Gretchen P Jones Professor and head of Washington University's Department of Neurology. "As we start to treat people who have markers of early Alzheimer's, changes in sleep in response to treatments may serve as an indicator of whether the new treatments are succeeding," Holtzman said. The new paper in journal JAMA Neurology is among the first to connect early Alzheimer's disease and sleep disruption in humans. As a part of other research at the center, scientists already had analysed samples of the volunteers' spinal fluids for markers of Alzheimer's disease. The samples showed that 32 participants had preclinical Alzheimer's disease, meaning they were likely to have amyloid plaques present in their brains but were not yet cognitively impaired. PTI

FINDING

Aspirin could lower skin cancer risk

WASHINGTON: A US study has found the women consuming aspirin reduce their risk of developing melanoma, a type of dangerous skin cancer, and the longer they take the medicine, the lower risk they have. The findings suggest that aspirin's anti-inflammatory effects may help protect against this type of skin cancer. The study was published early online Monday in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal

of the American Cancer Society, Xinhua reported. In the Women's Health Initiative, researchers observed the US women, aged 50 to 79, for an average of 12 years and the individuals developing cancer were noted. At the beginning of the study, the women were

asked which medications they took, what they ate, and what activities they performed. When Jean Tang of Stanford

University School of Medicine and her colleagues analysed available data from 59,806 Caucasian women in the study, they found the women who took more aspirin were less likely to develop melanoma skin cancer during the 12 years of follow-up. Overall, women who used aspirin had a 21-per cent lower risk of melanoma relative to non-users. IANS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

Entertainment LIFE STORIES

TAKING ONE STEP AT A TIME Madhura Sreedhar has directed two films so far and he says his upcoming film Backbench Student is a big leap forward in his career. Postnoon gets talking to this soft-spoken director as he talks about his films and what he aspires to do in future.

CINE BYTES

Mouna Guru’s remake in Telugu

n untitled film starring Nara Rohit and Regina, which went on floors in February, is reportedly the remake of a Tamil film titled Mouna Guru which had Arulnithi and Iniya in lead roles. Mouna Guru, a crime thriller, was one of most critically acclaimed films of 2011 and it went on to become a sleeper hit. Tatineni Satya is directing the Telugu version.

re films a reflection of a filmmaker’s personality in real life? Not really, but Madhura Sreedhar certainly fits the bill, without an iota of doubt. His earlier films Sneha Geetham and It’s My Love Story showed us a glimpse of the director’s thought process as he tried to encapsulate the aspirations of the current generation and how they deal with issues relating to love and career. Backbench Student, Madhura Sreedhar’s latest film, uses a similar genre. “Most of the youngsters who watch Telugu films in first week are in the age group 16-30 and 90 % of them think about only two issues — love and career. I make small budget films, so it’s imperative that I chose fresh stories, inspired from real life, so that people connect with them easily,” Madhura Sreedhar says. The film is inspired from a real life story of a guy named Karthik who had met the director a year ago. “Ever since I came back from US, I have been giving career guidance to several youngsters. Even today, I meet students at a park opposite my house on weekends and suggest what they should do to get a job among other things. After the release of It’s My Love Story, I met Karthik who told me that he had failed 16 subjects in college and because of that his girlfriend broke up with him. When his parents got to know about his poor performance in college, they stopped giving him pocket money. He had lost all his hope; however, he told me that he loved AutoCAD and I suggested that he open a training centre. He’s quite successful today and my film is inspired from his life,” he reveals. Mahat Raghavendra, who played a supporting role in Ajith, Trisha starrer Mankatha, was roped in to play the lead role after Madhura Sreedhar spotted him in an interview. “I was looking for someone who looked natural and had the energy to carry off this role. Mahat has done a very good job and I am quite impressed with the way Piaa Bajpai and Archana Kavi have essayed their roles. Backbench Student, much like my earlier films, is going to be a no-nonsense film with clean entertainment,” he reveals. So is there anything he aspires to achieve as a director, apart from making profitable films? “I think I know my creative levels quite well. So far, I have never run behind stars or producers for films. The only thing I do is present a proposal which describes what the story is going to be and how much budget it would need. I don’t know till how long I’ll keep making films, but I would like to produce films at a later point of time,” he says. His next film tentatively titled Dana Karna is a remake of Vicky Donor. What’s next? “As a writer and director, I am quite spontaneous and whatever inspires me, I make a film on that subject,” he signs off.

Yami Gautam goes to London

ami Gautam is in London these days where she’s shooting for her upcoming film Aman Ki Aasha. E Niwas is directing the film and Neeraj Pandey is producing this film. Ali Zafar is playing the lead role. In Telugu, Yami Gautam will soon be seen in Gauravam and Courier Boy Kalyan.

Chandamama Lo Amrutham goes on floors

unnam Gangaraju is all set to adapt the popular sitcom Amrutham as a feature film. He had written the TV series more than a decade ago and it was a rage on small screen. Now, some of the actors who had acted in Amrutham are teaming up for a film titled Chandamama Lo Amrutham. The film’s shooting has already begun at the Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad.

Entertainment WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

MAKING WISE DECISIONS

CINE BYTES

ctress Amrita Rao, best known for her portrayals in Ishq Vishk, Main Hoon Na and Vivah, says one’s filmy career is a very precarious one as one cannot plan out things. Amrita made her acting debut in 2002 with Ab Ke Baras alongside Arya Babbar. But it was her third film Ishq Vishk opposite Shahid Kapoor which brought her fame. She followed this up with Masti and Main Hoon Na with Vivek Oberoi, and Shahrukh Khan. Now she would be seen next in Jolly LLB alongside Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani, Prakash Jha’s Satyagrah and Singh Saheb The Great with Sunny Deol. “I think this (acting) is a very precarious career as I feel you can’t plan things for yourself. When you plan it, things go haywire. It is unintentional that I will do less films it just happened that way. Like in 2000, I had a line of films signed but it all went for a toss. The films never got made... It just happens," Amrita said. “Life surprises you. It happens to the best of actors, we have good and bad phases. In the last two years I have had a record of one film a year. It is unplanned. Also I did not plan that I would have three films in 2013," she added. It was in 2002 when Amrita entered filmdom and now as she has completed ten years in the industry. “I feel satisfied with my journey in the film industry. If Satyagrah was supposed to be my last film I would look back and say it was a happy portfolio. But there is a feeling that I wish I could have done something better," she said.

PTI

Jolly LLB borrows from Alistair Pereira case?

ubhash Kapoor’s Jolly LLB seeks its starting-point from the Alistair Pereira hit-and-run case which hit headlines in 2006, but no one is willing to go on record to admit it. The ﬁlm, in fact, opens with a sequence showing a hit-and-run incident whose details seem uncannily similar to the Pereira case. IANS

Bike stunt in Keemat most memorable

a s i s g n iou s i t c r a A ec , say r er p e y r r a e c v

a t i r m A

o a R

ollywood star actor Akshay Kumar Monday said that he did his best bike stunt was in Hindi movie Keemat, which was released in 1998. “I have performed too many action roles with motorcycles but a stunt scene in Keemat will always be memorable," Akshay, who was launched Honda’s new 150cc bike — CB Trigger— told reporters at the venue. IANS

Alisha Chinai to croon for Priyanka Chopra again

riyanka Chopra has always idolised Alisha Chinai, who has been roped in to sing for the actress in Krrish 3. Alisha had sang for Priyanka in 2005 ﬁlm Karam and the song Tinka tinka became synonymous with the actress’ sizzling femme fatale image. Eight years after the Tinka tinka song, Alisha has been persuaded out of self-exile by composer Rajesh Roshan to croon for Priyanka for his brother Rakesh Roshan’s Krissh 3. IANS

Entertainment WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

THE BEST DATE YET?

CINE BYTES

Hewitt’s wish for insurance

ctress Jennifer Love Hewitt would love it if someone offers insurance for her body parts. “I need like, an insurance invitation. If somebody was like, Hey, you know what? We would like to insure your breasts for $2.5 million dollars,' I’d be like, ‘Do it. Love it! Why not?," thesun.co.uk quoted Love, 34, as saying. IANS

BRANGELINA’S wedding date may clash with Aniston’s

ctress Jennifer Aniston Justin Theroux’s wedding date is likely to clash with Brad PittAngelina Jolie’s. Pitt, who was married to Aniston in the past, will reportedly obtain a marriage licence by end of this month, which will entitle him to marry within 90 days and this can be close to Aniston’s wedding date, which is yet to be announced. “Brad and Angelina left themselves short of time to sort out their wedding because of the licence deadline. A few months is nothing when you’re planning a wedding especially one as major as theirs," thesun.co.uk quoted a source as saying.

“Everything points to them getting married in May just after the Cannes Film Festival ends, because they’ve got their hearts set on tying the knot in France," the source added. If the wedding dates clash, there can be a split in Hollywood celebrities attending the two big weddings. “All that goodwill would go out the window if Brad’s wedding date comes close to hers. Jennifer will see it as an attempt to upstage her and there will be a battle over Hollywood guests," a source said. “She knows they will be judged on who had the better wedding by pulling in the biggest stars," the source added. IANS

Danny Boyle plans Trainspotting sequel

ilmmaker Danny Boyle is hoping to release the Trainspotting sequel, Porno, in 2016 to mark the 20th anniversary of the first film. Trainspotting was based on a novel by Irvine Welsh and the Slumdog Millionaire director’s new film would loosely adapt his follow-up novel, Porno, reported Contactmusic. PTI

Tina Fey bans daughter from show business

omedian-actress Tina Fey has banned her daughter from following in her footsteps over fears she is too young to enter showbiz. The funnywoman gave Alice, seven, a cameo role in one of the ﬁnal episodes of her hit Tv series 30 Rock, but insisted she has no intention of letting the youngster pursue a full-time career in Hollywood, reported People magazine. PTI

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you. Walt Whitman

KAKURO

QUICK CROSSWORD

SUDOKU How to play kakuro Kakuro is a popular game similar to sudoku in some ways. But is also suitably different. The key question: ‘How do you play kakuro?’, well here are the rules of kakuro. The answer: The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers. However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number. Within each collection of cells — called a run — any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once. Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on... So, how do you work out the actual combination? Well, this is done through elimination and cross-referencing. For instance, as you work out the answers for other kakuro clues, this will naturally limit the valid combinations, and hence the answer for this particular run. Note the second cell in row two — it contains two numbers, 30 and 11. The 30 refers to the vertical run underneath the number 30 and the 11 refers to the two cells to the right, horizontally, of the number 11.

ACROSS

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

SCRIBBLING PAD

1 Water container before indoor plumbing 5 Capital of Italy, to Italians 9 More than want 14 Record 15 Burden or responsibility 16 Bow application 17 Stadium snacks 19 Vaulted church recesses 20 A little force? 21 Feudal flunky 23 Vocalist DiFranco 24 Night before 26 One in a stroller 28 Jewel mounting 30 Bess’ follower in the White House 32 Kick out 34 ___ Bator (Mongolia’s capital) 35 Bees’ weapons 37 Little handful 39 Stadium snacks 42 Be on the side of caution? 43 White wine grape 46 Not fully closed 49 “Meet Me ___ Louis” 51 Bashful buddy 52 Sour cherry 54 Pay a visit to 56 Stitcher’s edge 57 Tire gauge reading (Abbr.) 58 Redgrave or Swann 60 Kind of tropical palm 62 Helmsley who had hotels 64 Stadium snacks 68 ___ salts (bath water additive) 69 Shivering fit 70 Far from fictitious 71 Sitcom starring Valerie Harper 72 Pressure unit 73 Stream swirl

DOWN

1 List abbr. 2 Crybaby’s sound 3 Widespread outbreak 4 Depend (on) 5 Event with ropers and riders 6 Inspiration for Lennon’s “Woman” 7 Makes faces 8 Determine the value of property 9 Carpentry or bookbinding, e.g. 10 Sales ___ (company agent) 11 Verbally assault 12 Capital on the Danube 13 Naval rank 18 Prime candidate? 22 Hang it up, so to speak 24 Modem ends? 25 Huge wine container 27 High, rocky hills 29 Elvis’ birthplace 31 “Psst!” follower, sometimes 33 Selfish folks 36 Mysteriously 38 Improper distribution of cards 40 Goes on like a glove 41 Drew from a tank, as gas 44 Maiden-name word 45 Place for barbells and treadmills 46 More spacious 47 Mary’s husband 48 Melodious composition 50 Dieter’s request 53 Guanaco’s kin 55 Chlorophyll or oil of wintergreen 59 Cape Canaveral cancellation 61 “An Inconvenient Truth” creator 63 Bobblehead movement 65 “... ___ flag was still ...” 66 Go aimlessly 67 Like some grins

Chai Time WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 14-3-2013

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Businessmen will be able to face the competition and win over them. Employees might be overburdened and wanderings also likely. Artists will have a good time. There would be ups and downs but that must not put you down.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

Legal issues might bring you depression as they will not go in the way as you expected. Employees will feel happy as promotion or pay hike expected by them will get implemented. Expenses for vehicle maintenance are to go up.

Employees will have a favorable trend at the work place and also their promotion and pay hike will be approved by the management. Efforts to change the residence might get delayed. Friends in powerful positions will help you.

Avoid taking hasty decisions in purchase of land or house. Some have bright chance to go abroad. New efforts undertaken by businessmen will be successful and yield better results. Children will understand and co-operate with you very well.

Employees might face the ire of superiors and more responsibilities will increase their work burden. Completing the duties successfully will get them good recognition. All the long pending wishes will get fulfilled. You will undertake a jolly trip.

Though employees are faced with overburden and wandering, they will get good sops too. Businessmen will find new customers and increase the volume. All your thoughts will take a shape and get implemented successfully.

You will fulfill long pending wishes of your children and make them cheerful. Sister’s marriage will be performed in a grand manner. Women need to keep patience as they might face worrying situations.

Pregnant women need to be careful. Expenses might increase due to blood relatives which might upset you. Debt issues will be under control. You will purchase new electronic household gadgets which will make your spouse very happy.

Employees’ will be cheerful as their long pending demands will be fulfilled by the management and also expected transfer will be approved for some. Businessmen will see a favorable time and profits are likely to jump.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Seven of Cups Material comfort is your focus at the moment and you’ve almost achieved what you planned to, but feel unemotional about the path.

LEO:

The Emperor - You’re in control of all aspects of your life and you’re admired by your peers for these very qualities. Your leadership skills are put to the test.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Four of Cups - A surprise job offer springs up and you’re left wondering how that happened. It will open up your life and nothing ever seems difficult.

SAGITTARIUS:

The Fool You’re being a bit immature in managing something important, be it relationships or job. You’re refusing to see the circumstances around you.

TAURUS:

Six of Cups Memories are what life is made up of. You bump into someone from your past and you sit to ponder about how simple life was back then.

CANCER:

Page of Cups You’re being impulsive. Stop, step back, and take a good look at the big picture. Do you really want to go down that road?

VIRGO:

Nine of Pentacles If you’ve left a hobby you really liked, it’s a good time to get back to it. It may be playing an instrument or cooking or writing.

SCORPIO:

Ten of Swords All the efficiency that you’re known for may not be helping you at this point. Your bosses expect something else.

CAPRICORN:

Queen of Swords - You’re feeling lonely and this may be because you have moved on and the others around you haven’t.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

The Devil - You’re tempted to go all the way when it comes to the money. Hold back, especially when it comes to big ticket investments, like real estate.

NUMBER GAME

King of Swords - There are no free lunches, and you have to work hard to get everything you need. You realize this more than anyone, being self-made.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS:

POOCH CAFE

Newly married can get ready to welcome their offspring soon. Mother’s health may be a cause for concern, need to take good care of her. Employees need to be cordial with colleagues to avoid future problems.

for 14-3-2013

Three of Pentacles - You’re stuck with your mobile phone all day. Have you added some new apps and are totally thrilled with it? Play on!

NON SEQUITUR

Expense for children will increase. Those staying in abroad are likely to visit their native place. Litigations existed in ancestral property will be over. Tension and expenses are likely but things will change for the better.

SUDUKO

Newly married can be cheerful as their offspring is about to arrive soon. Good news regarding son’s job will make you cheerful. Long pending wishes will become a reality now. Drastic changes and upward swing in your status is certain.

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Entertainment WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

Natalie gets Jude Law as co-actor

FASSBENDER MOVES OUT

CINE BYTES

atalie Portman’s Jane might have gotten a gun. But she’s lost him just as quickly, the careless woman. Yes, Michael Fassbender is officially out of Western drama Jane Got A Gun. But never fear! Joel Edgerton has stepped into the breach, and Jude Law is also signing on. It’s something of a musical chairs situation for the film, which Lynne Ramsey will direct. See, Portman is starring as the titular Jane, whose outlaw husband returns home laden with lead after getting double crossed by his gang. When the criminals — now led by Law — turn up to finish the job of shooting her hubby dead, Jane reaches out to a former lover for help defending the homestead. Fassbender was to have played the exswain with a sharpshooter’s aim, but thanks to shifting schedules on Jane, which is now set to start filming next month, he has to drop out to work on XMen: Days Of Future Past in Montreal with Bryan Singer. So, in a quick switch, Edgerton, who had been playing the gang leader, will now be the heroic flame and Law will be the baddie. He’ll report to New Mexico in April. Law can currently be seen on screen in Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects, while Fassbender will next show up in Twelve Years A Slave and The Counselor.

John Malkovich gets Blackbeard role

scar nominee John Malkovich is taking to the high seas, starring as the pirate Blackbeard in NBC's new drama Crossbones. He will take the role in the series written by Luther creator Neil Cross. Crossbones will portray an 18th century pirate society more civilised than the British Empire, NBC said when it announced the series last May.

Macpherson engaged to Jeffrey Soffer

ere comes the supermodel bride! Elle Macpherson and her billionaire boyfriend, Miamibased real estate developer Jeffrey Soffer, are engaged, a source conﬁrms to People. Macpherson, 49, and Soffer reportedly dated for two years before breaking up a last March. But they've clearly worked things out. There is no word on when they will walk down the aisle.

The Great Gatsby to open film festival

he Great Gatsby will open the 66th Festival de Cannes, organisers said early Tuesday local time. Leonardo DiCaprio stars in Baz Luhrmann-directed ﬁlm, adapted from the novel by Francis Scott Fitzgerald. The movie will screen May 15 at the Grand Theatre Lumiere of the Palais des Festivals, out of competition in the Ofﬁcial Selection.

sports

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

INDIAN WELLS

DJOKOVIC GRINDS PAST DIMITROV Djokovic, unbeaten in the 2013 campaign, was on the ropes in the opening set. REBECCA BRYAN Agence France-Presse INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA: Novak Djokovic admitted it wasn’t pretty, but the world No. 1 got the job done Tuesday with a 7-6 (7/4) 6-1 thirdround victory over Grigor Dimitrov at Indian Wells.

Djokovic, unbeaten in a 2013 campaign that so far includes a fourth Australian Open title and an ATP triumph in Dubai, was on the ropes in the opening set against the 21-year-old Bulgarian, who raced to a 4-1 lead and served for the set at 5-3. But Dimitrov served up four double faults in the ninth game and was broken, and that was the only opening that Djokovic needed. “It was not really a beautiful match to watch,” Djokovic said. “There were a lot of unforced errors, and we both looked quite sluggish on the court, very slow. “In these kind of matches, where both of us don’t feel so dynamic on the court, I knew that experience will kick in and can be decisive. “That’s actually what happened. He made four double faults which is very unusual to see in men’s tennis nowadays, but, look, that’s tennis. Turned it around, and from then on I felt a little bit better.”

The Serbian star battled back to win in 67 minutes. He raced to a 5-0 lead en route to winning the firstset tiebreaker and didn’t face a break point in the second frame. Djokovic improved to 15-0 in 2013 and 20-0 since October 31 — when he lost to American Sam Querrey in the Paris Masters. He’ll get a chance to avenge that defeat in a fourth-round meeting with Querrey, who edged Australian Marinko Matosevic 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (7/9), 7-5.

Andy Murray, playing his first tournament since losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open final in January, got past Lu Yen-Hsun 6-3, 6-2. World No. 3 Andy Murray, playing his first tournament since losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open final in January, got past tenacious Taiwanese Lu Yen-Hsun 6-3, 6-2. Murray gained a 3-2 lead in the opening set with a break in the fifth game, but he was under pressure on his serve and had to fend off five break points in the opening frame. Two of those came in the eighth game, but he finished it off with

two aces to lead 5-3 and broke Lu a second time to pocket the set. “I didn’t serve particularly well to get myself into those situations, and then I served well to get myself out of some tough situations,” Murray said. The Scot next faces Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Japan’s Kei Nishikori. Eighth-seeded Frenchman JoWilfried Tsonga and Canadian Milos Raonic set up a rematch of their record-breaking London Olympics clash, when Tsonga outlasted Raonic 6-3, 3-6, 25-23 in the second round. The 48-game final set was the longest single set in Olympic history. Tsonga held off American Mardy Fish 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/0) while Raonic rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 63 victory over Croatian Marin Cilic. Germany’s Tommy Haas saved a match point en route to a 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/2) victory over Spain’s Nicolas Almagro. His reward is a fourth-round match against seventh-seeded Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro, who beat German Bjorn Phau 6-2, 7-5. Top seed and defending champion Victoria Azarenka and secondseeded Maria Sharapova led the way into the women’s quarterfinals.

NBA Heat rout the Hawks

Bobcats snap streak

Lakers too hot for Magic

MIAMI: Dwyane Wade scored 23 points while LeBron James added 15 to spark the defending NBA champion Miami Heat to their 19th consecutive victory in a 99-81 rout of the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. The Heat matched the fourth-longest single-season win streak in league history, trailing only the 20 in a row by Milwaukee in 1970-71, Houston’s 22 in a row in 2007-08 and the Los Angeles Lakers’ record run of 33 from 1971-72. Miami also matched the record for the longest win streak by a defending NBA champion, a 19game run by Boston in the 2008-09 campaign. Wade contributed six assists and five steals while James added seven assists and seven rebounds on a night when he made only 3-of-11 shots from the field as the Heat won a 15th home game in a row, improving to 30-3 at home this season. “Leading with our defense has been the key for us,” Wade said.

CHARLOTTE: Gerald Henderson scored a careerhigh 35 points, going 12-of-12 in free throw attempts, as the Charlotte Bobcats snapped a 10game losing streak on Tuesday by beating Boston 100-74. Ben Gordon added 17 points and Josh McRoberts contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds for Charlotte, which had not won since February 19. Jeff Green and Jordan Crawford each netted 14 points for the Celtics while Brandon Bass and Avery Bradley each added 10 points. The Celtics, who rested playmaker Paul Pierce for the night and had only five points from star big man Kevin Garnett, have lost two of three meetings with the Bobcats this season. The Bobcats, who had the worst season winning percentage in NBA history last season, also have the worst record in the NBA this season, at 14-50. The Celtics fell to 34-29.

ORLANDO: Dwight Howard scored a season-high 39 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Lakers over the Orlando Magic 106-97 in a homecoming game Tuesday against his former NBA club. Howard also matched his own NBA record for free throw attempts in a game with 39, sinking 25 of them while hitting 7-of-13 shots from the field as the Lakers improved to 34-31 in their fight for a Western Conference playoff berth. “I just wanted to come out and have a great game,” Howard said. “It was a great atmosphere. I could just get my mind away and play.” Magic supporters who once cheered Howard booed him throughout the game as Orlando players deliberately fouled him at times, sending Howard to the free throw line where his success rate is lackluster at best. “I want to thank everyone in Orlando who supported me for those eight years,” Howard said.

sports

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

HOMEWORKGATE

WI VS ZIMBABWE

Watson denies ‘rift’ There have been persistent rumblings that Shane Watson and Michael Clarke do not see eye to eye, but the all-rounder said it was nonsense. SYDNEY: Australian vice-captain Shane Watson has denied any rift with skipper Michael Clarke and strongly rejected suggestions he is not a team player after being axed for one Test for indiscipline. The 31-year-old returned to Sydney late Tuesday from the tour of India after he was dropped for failing to prepare feedback on how the team could improve and deliver it to management. Three other players received the same punishment. There have been persistent rumblings that Watson and Clarke do not see eye to eye, but the all-rounder said it was nonsense. “I’ve been playing cricket against and with Michael Clarke since I was 12, so we’ve got a lot of history as people,” he said. “Obviously we are quite different people in certain ways and we’re very similar in a lot of ways as well. “Like you do in every rela-

tionship, it goes up and down and things are going really well at the moment with me and Michael.” Cricket Australia general manager Pat Howard has made it clear Watson must start toeing the team line if he is to continue playing Test cricket and implied he was not always a team player. But Watson denied this and said Howard, who comes from a rugby background, did not know him well enough to make such allegations. Howard, a former Wallaby, has only been involved in cricket for 18 months. “Just go round and ask every person that I’ve played cricket with and that will give you the best indication of whether I’m a team man or not,” Watson said. In announcing that Watson, James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson had been suspended, Clarke said the decision was the culmination of a general slide in attitudes.

Arthur talks of a ‘defining moment’ SYDNEY: Australia coach Mickey Arthur on Wednesday said a team culture including unacceptable “back-chat” and “attitude” forced him to controversially axe four players for the next Test in India. The move to suspend Shane Watson, James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson has polarised opinion in Australia, with commentators calling it one of the most sensational decisions in decades. Arthur said it was the cul-

The move to suspend Shane Watson, James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson has polarised opinion in Australia.

mination of “lots of small minor indiscretions that have built up to now” and would be looked back on in years to come as a “defining moment” for Australian cricket. “When we sat down as a leadership group and made these tough decisions I knew it would polarise public opinion, but internally I certainly know we’ve made the absolute right decision,” he said on the Cricket Australia website. “This is a line in the sand

moment — a point we’ll look back on in a couple of years’ time when we’re back to number one in the world and say was a defining moment.” In justifying the shock axings, skipper Michael Clarke on Tuesday said the players had shown a lack of respect for Arthur, with a general slide in attitudes on the Indian tour. With Australia due to play two Ashes series this year, Arthur said the attitude issues had to be nipped in the bud.

Jarvis pegs back Windies It was the first time in 60 years that spinners had taken so many wickets in the first innings of a Barbados Test. BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS: Two wickets from Kyle Jarvis gave Zimbabwe a boost on a tough opening day in the first Test saw them all out for 211 before restricting the West Indies to 18 for two at stumps here at the Kensington Oval. Despite a battling topscore of 50 from opening batsman Tino Mawoyo, none of the other Zimbabwe batsmen managed an innings of note to justify their captain Brendan Taylor’s surprising decision to bat first on winning the toss. Taylor’s call caught many unawares, especially in the context of a West Indies team playing three frontline fast bowlers and given that this was the tourists’ first test match for almost 14 months. Yet it was spin, or at least slow bowling that accounted for the bulk of the Zimbabwean wickets, Marlon Samuels claiming four for 13 - his best-ever test innings figures - and Shane Shillingford marking his return to the test side with three for 58. It was the first time in 60 years that spinners had taken as many as seven wickets in the first innings of a test at Kensington Oval.

ENGLAND IN NEW ZEALAND

Time to shackle ‘genius’ Cook

WELLINGTON: New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum on Wednesday praised the “genius” Alastair Cook, saying that England’s free-scoring captain was second only to Australian legend Don Bradman on current form. Ahead of the second Test in Wellington, McCullum said the Black Caps were keen to maintain momentum after the drawn first match in Dunedin. The English tourists escaped with a draw after more than a day’s play was lost to rain.

Ahead of the second Test in Wellington, McCullum said they were keen to maintain momentum after the drawn first match in Dunedin.

The pitch for the Wellington Test starting on Thursday is expected to offer more early bounce than the lifeless Dunedin wicket, and McCullum said he would probably make England bat first if he won the toss at the Basin Reserve. “I think if there’s any advantage it’s normally on day one... you’re trying to look to gain some ascendancy early in the Test match and hence that’s why we’re looking at bowling first,” he told reporters.

McCullum said Cook, who scored a second-innings century in Dunedin to help England deny New Zealand a victory, was a daunting obstacle at the top of the batting order. “I thought we bowled reasonably well to Cookie the other day, obviously he’s a genius batsman,” he said. “His record is testament to that, where he’s at in his career at the moment is as good as anyone who has played the game probably, barring Bradman.”

sports

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The Master

Galatasaray win thriller to go through Galatasaray go into the last eight, while Schalke failed to join rivals Dortmund in the quarter-finals. GELSENKIRCHEN: Galatasaray reached the Champions League’s quarter-finals for the first time since 2001 on Tuesday as a last-minute goal from Turkey forward Umut Bulut sealed a 3-2 win at Schalke 04. With the German defence at full stretch and time almost up, Bulut provided the killer blow with the 95th-minute second-leg winner which put the Turkish league leaders through 4-3 on aggregate over the two legs of the last 16 tie. Galatasaray go into Friday’s draw for the last eight, while Schalke failed in their bid to join Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals. “We showed we deserve to be in the quarter-finals, but it was a close game and both teams had their chances,” said Galatasaray midfielder Hamit Altintop. “Perhaps we had a bit of luck at the end, but I’ll take that. “We responded well to fight back after conceding the early goal.” Having scored Galatasaray’s first goal the ex-Schalke midfielder asked for the home fans’ forgiveness.

A masterclass by Lionel Messi saw Barcelona overturn a 2-0 deficit to thrash AC Milan 4-0 In the second leg at Camp Nou

TIM HANLON Agence France-Presse BARCELONA: Lionel Messi produced an inspired performance as Barcelona progressed to the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Tuesday, beating AC Milan 4-0 to overturn a 2-0 first-leg defeat. Messi’s form had been questioned by some after Barcelona were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Real Madrid and looked demoralised in going down to Milan at the San Siro, but the criticism seemed to spur

him on as he tore the Italians apart from the start. He scored at the beginning and end of the first half, while David Villa hit a special goal for himself 10 minutes into the second period after a long run of bad luck with injury and form. That put the Catalans ahead for the first time, before Jordi Alba netted in injury-time to seal a 4-2 aggregate win and a place in Friday’s quarter-final draw. On a personal level, Messi’s brace saw him reach yet another landmark in an incredible career. He now

has 58 Champions League goals, two more than Ruud van Nistelrooy, and his target now is Raul’s all-time best of 71. “If there was anyone not sure about Messi then this was the perfect response as he took charge of the game with two goals and showed again that he is an extraordinary player, out of this world,” said Barca assistant coach Jordi Roura. “Before we weren’t so poor and now we are not so great and I wouldn’t describe ourselves as favourites for the competition.”

Wenger believes in Arsenal comeback Hosts Bayern are overwhelming favourites for the second leg at Munich’s Allianz Arena after their comfortable win at Emirates Stadium three weeks ago. RYLAND JAMES Agence France-Presse MUNICH: Arsene Wenger has said Arsenal must draw on all their European experience in their bid to over-turn a 3-1 firstleg deficit and beat Bayern Munich in Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 clash. Hosts Bayern are overwhelming favourites for the second leg at Munich’s Allianz Arena after their comfortable win at Emirates Stadium three weeks ago. Wenger’s side arrive in Munich needing to score at three times and are bidding to avoid losing in the Round of 16 of the Champions League for the third year running. Their task has been made more difficult without goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, star midfielder Jack Wilshere and defender Bacary Sagna. Wilshire is out for the next three weeks with an ankle injury and the Gunners will miss his midfield creativity. “It’s difficult, yes, but impossible, no," said Wenger. “It’s hard to say what percentage of a chance we have, but the important thing is we have a vast experience in the Champions League and Europe. “That means we have the right to believe.”

EUROPA LEAGUE

Spurs, Chelsea look to impress Europe

Both London sides will be seeking to book quarter-final berths — even if Chelsea will have to do things the hard way. CHRIS WRIGHT Agence France-Presse PARIS: Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea have their hearts set on higher things than the Europa League next season as both target Champions League qualification via top four finishes in the English Premier League. But both London sides will

nevertheless be seeking to book quarter-final berths on Thursday - even if Chelsea will have to do things the hard way after a first leg defeat at Steaua Bucharest. Rafael Benitez’s men lost 1-0 in Romania but, having recovered from two goals down at Old Trafford to earn an FA Cup replay at the weekend, they will be hoping for a sinmilar come-

Benitez’s men lost 1-0 in Romania but, having recovered from two goals down at Old Trafford , they will be hoping for a similar comeback at the Bridge.

back at Stamford Bridge. That would keep alive Benitez’s ambition of putting at least one trophy on the sideboard before leaving in the summer after a difficult time of it as interim coach. Spurs, on the other hand, appear bound for the last eight after whipping a pale Inter Milan side 3-0 at White Hart Lane. Tottenham coach Andre Vill-

as-Boas knows only too well how poisoned is the Chelsea chalice having supped from it himself, only to be fired midway through last season. But the Portuguese has clearly learned from the experience by bouncing back on the other side of London. Under his guidance, Spurs have managed to date to keep the Blues at arm’s length.