Epaper 14 september 2013

COMMEMORATING THE ROYAL GAME With the polo season around the corner, Muse Art Gallery in association with the Hyderabad Polo and Riding Club put together an exclusive photo exhibition.

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SEPTEMBER 14, 2013 HYDERABAD

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Uncertainty over status of City could hit Metro Rail project, say officials.

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PAGE TWO SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

GANPATTI BAPPA MORYA!

Confidence-building A two-day workshop for working women to acquire smart look and confidence Where: Colorama Printers, Begumpet When: Sept 14 and 15, 10am to 4.30pm Contact: 8008634949 / 8008885493

Robotics A robotics workshop is being organised.

Where: Kamala Nehru Polytechnic College, Nampally When: Sept 14 and 15, 10am Contact: 9849857584 / 9440508195

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

Where: The Blue Door, Road No. 45, Jubilee Hills When: Till Sept 19 Contact: 9908228822

A devotee immerses an idol of Lord Ganesha, the deity of prosperity, into the Hussain Sagar Lake SHIVA KUMAR

Musical evening Konkan association, Hyderabad on its 50th anniversary celebrations is organising famous musician Anup Jalota Nite.

Where: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, King Koti When: Sept 14, 7:30pm Contact: Deepak Kumta 9848136840, Vaman Rao 9848921573, Mohan Hemmadi 9346724422

When: Till Sept 19 Contact: (040) 27522556

Kashmiri food fest ITC Kakatiya is paying ode to the delectable Kashmiri cuisine Where: ITC, Begumpet When: Till Sept15 Contact: (040) 40081801

Lecture on Deccani Architecture Here’s an interesting chance to learn a little bit about architecture.

Professor S M Azmath Ali Khan is giving a lecture on Deccani Architecture.

Where: Salarjung Museum, Afzalgunj When: September 14, 11am Contact: (040) 23456789

Swarathma concert Play pursuits Barbareekudu, a play By Saudaaruna Theatre Group will be staged.

Where: NTR Auditorium, Nampally When: Sept 14, 6.30pm Contact: 23230641 / 23230435

Renowned Indian Folk Fusion Rock Group, Swarathma is coming to Hyderabadt Where: PBEL City Grounds, Near APPA Junction When: Sept 14, 7pm Contact: 66335533, 64646262

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

Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills When: Sept 14, 7:30pm Contact: 9959807901

Bring in the weekend fun with glasses of refreshing cocktail conconcoctions at the Seasons Bar Where: Taj Krishna When: Till Sept30, 11:30am to 11:30pm Contact: (040) 6666232

Band Night

Celebrating food Indian Tapas is on offer Where: Altitude Lounge Bar, Hyderabad Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre

CINEMAS

Refreshing Daiquiri’s

Forget the week that went by and usher in the weekend with some soulful music performed by Phoenix. Make sure to get your friends along!

Where: Aqua, The Park Hyderabad When: September 14, 8pm Contact: 23456789

USIEF-IIE Education Fair Planning to study abroad this year?

Then, don’t miss the USIEF-IIE Education Fair where reputed universities from USA are setting stall.

Where: Taj Deccan, Road No.1, Banjara Hills When: September 14, 10am Contact: (040) 6666-8435

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

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CITY SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

TITA to boos IT hopes HYDERABAD: The Telangana IT Association (TITA) is going to conduct an ‘Awareness Conference’ to ridicule Seemandhra leaders’ assertion that development of IT sector will be set back with the division of the State.

TITA founder president Sandeep Kumar said the conference would be held at Sundaraiah Vignana Kendram, Baghlingampally, on Sunday.

No going back on T

Prodigal politicos to return

HYDERABAD: Amid propaganda by

HYDERABAD: AP Congress

anti-T forces, the former APCC president D Srinivas said he met the Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi recently and found out that the party would not go back on its promise. A Cabinet note on Telangana is being readied and it will be presented to the Central cabinet and later to the Parliament, he claimed.

Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana claimed that those who quit the party to join the YSR Congress or other parties were eager to return.

Botsa said that Congress leaders who joined other parties were feeling suffocated. Before the general elections all of them would return to the parental fold, he said.

TDP vows to keep fighting The main opposition party in AP has been thrown a curve ball with Telangana. Its arch rival, the YSRC, swiftly claimed the opposition space. The TDP is now trying to salvage its pride by telling people the State’s division is solely aimed at defeating the TDP. Md Inkeshaf Ahmed

design. We will expose all this to the people of the State," senior TDP leader and Public Account Committee (PAC) chairman KE Krishnmurthy told Postnoon.

The party realised the need to cash in on the existing political situation during Naidu’s recent bus yatra in two coastal districts. The first leg of the bus yatra lasted 10 days and covered 10 Assembly constituencies.

However, reports from the districts reveal that people in Seemandhra are cold to the party and it has set alarm bells ringing in TDP headquarters.

The party president N Chandrababu Naidu’s decision to go to Delhi to represent the party before the government on Telangana also follows the realisation that people are angry with the TDP in Seemandhra.

However, leaders are putting up a brave front and denying that the party faces an election

ahmed.m@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: Pushed into a corner by the Congress and its offshoot, the YSRC, the TDP is making a desperate attempt to keep itself afloat in the political sea, with the new logic that the entire State division drama is to miff the TDP. Its leaders have decided to take a hard stance about the manner in which the Congress went ahead with the division of the State, without addressing serious issues of the Seemandhra regions.

"We will go to the people and tell them the secret designs of the ruling Congress party. It hatched a plan to defeat our party during the next general elections in collusion with the TRS and YSR Congress Parties.

The recent U-turn of the YSRCP over the division of the State was also part of this secret

Time to pay attention to rural areas HYDERABAD: B Ashok Reddy, Chairman, Confederation Indian Industry, AP met the members of 14th Finance Commission and discussed the need of various strategic initiatives for the development of Andhra Pradesh. In a CII memorandum submitted to the Finance commission he emphasised the need of creating more employment opportunities by focusing on reviving the economic growth through governance.

The CII also felt that there is a need to create more valueadded zones across the state to accelerate growth in various sectors. The statement also focused on the importance of rural industrialisation in AP by providing special incentive packages and support for setting up manufacturing units in rural areas.

Treaty on biosafety marks 10th year MONTREAL: Under the theme, 10 Years of Promoting Safety in the Use of Biotechnology, the international community is marking the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the international agreement governing the movement of living modified organisms (LMOs) across national borders - the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The Protocol entered into force on 11 September 2003 ninety days after 50 countries agreed to be bound by it.

As a supplementary treaty to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety aims to ensure the safe handling, transfer and use of LMOs resulting from modern biotechnology, commonly known as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that may have adverse effects on biologi-

cal diversity.

Modern biotechnology has potential to improve human wellbeing, for example through enhancing agricultural productivity, but there is concern about potential risks that LMOs may pose to biological diversity and human health.

The Cartagena Protocol is the global community's response to this concern. The Cartagena Protocol provides a framework that can enable us to derive maximum benefit from modern biotechnology without compromising the environment and human health.

Over the past 10 years, a lot of progress has been made towards the implementation of the Protocol.

Today, over 100 countries have developed national legal frameworks and administrative systems tailored to handle applications and facilitate deci-

sion-making regarding the export and import of LMOs. These systems require risk assessments to be conducted to inform any decisions on the imports of LMOs. Contracting Parties to the Cartagena Protocol have also developed systems to ensure that LMOs are handled, packaged and transported across borders under safe conditions.

At the international level, a robust information exchange mechanism on LMOs, the Biosafety Clearing-House, is fully functional and being used as an authoritative source of information on LMOs. Another notable achievement came in 2010 with the adoption by Parties to the Protocol of the Nagoya KualaLumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

blackout in Seemandhra.

"The entire State knows that the Congress’s sole agenda is to make Rahul Gandhi the PM. It announced the creation of Telangana to win the maximum number of seats in AP with the help of YSRCP and defeat TDP. We will not allow this to happen," party senior leader E Peddi Reddy said.

Naidu also seems to have tackled the problem of Telangana TDP Leaders. When the leaders confronted Naidu saying his comments that the TDP stopped the creation of Telangana state during the Vajpayee government created trouble for them, the TDP leader asked them to tell the people that the party supported a united AP but changed its stand after understanding the sentiment of the Telangana people. The TTDP leaders are planning to take this message across Telangana.

Man held for raping minor Mohd Subhan

HYDERABAD: The RGI police have arrested one K Srisailem, 22, on the charge of raping a minor in Shamshabad. The victim is said to be a relative of his. The parents of the girl who are vegetable vendors were out of the house. The eight-year-old was left alone to look after her grandmother.

Srisailem, it is alleged, used his familial relationship with the girl to gain access to the house, where he sexually assaulted her. On returning home, the parents found the victim terrified and injured.

On further questioning, she told the parents what had occurred.

Police swiftly dispatched a team to nab the rapist and he was soon arrested and brought back to the City.

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CITY SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

SERIOUS... AND ME!

Ace designer Tarun Tahiliani, who was in the City to showcase his Autumn Winter Collection 2013–14, The Kumbhback Collection, gets candid with Postnoon.

Arun Daniel Yellamaty arunyellamaty@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: For a man used to rave reviews, Tarun can’t stop beaming when he talks about the response he got in Hydearbad, where his Tarun Tahiliani Store just celebrated its first anniversary. “The response has been overwhelming. We have got a great response from people here.”

At the sidelines of his show at the Trident Hotel, Tarun condenses the life of a fashion icon that is always on the move. “I decided to make my life in India.

So, I decided to meet as many people as I can. I like to move to various cities and meet as many people as I can. So, I like coming here.”

Believe it or not, it was the austere sadhus at the Kumbh Mela that inspired the collection that made jaws drop. Tarun is in awe of the ascetics and says his view of life has changed since he returned.

“I had gone to Kumbh on the occasion of Makar Sakranti for two days and it was amazing. I think sadhus deserve to be loved and admired," he said of them.

"I like what they (sadhus) wear. They do not know anything about fashion, they are anti-fashion, they don’t care

about fashion. Yet there was such vibrancy to what they wore. They just tuck it around in rounds. And similarly, my clothes can be worn in the same manner,” Tarun describes his inspiration.

“I have always been inspired by their draping sense and wanted to bring it in my collection. I think we are losing the draping techniques gradually. I used various shades of saffron. I think it is the right time to do this collec-

IT WAS THE AUSTERE SADHUS AT THE KUMBH MELA THAT INSPIRED THE COLLECTION THAT MADE JAWS DROP. TARUN IS IN AWE OF THE ASCETICS AND SAYS HIS VIEW OF LIFE HAS CHANGED SINCE.

tion," he said.

“I clicked a picture of a sadhu with rudraksh beads and thought ‘had a designer like John Galliano witnessed Kumbh, he would surely come up with a design’. It’s time Indians took design to the next level,” Tarun gesticulates; there is no hiding his hunger for excellence.

On choosing Namrata Shirodkar as a showstopper, he said, “Namaratha is an old friend of mine. She is a great

model.” But it is the Prince that he can’t stop talking about. “I didn’t know Mahesh Babu as I don’t watch Telugu movies. But, I finally met him this time. He is such a sweet man. I would say he is very adorable. I also met their daughter Sitara Ghattamaneni.”

“Mahesh said, ‘I thought Tarun was very serious man’; for which I said, ‘I am the most chilled out person in the world’,” he narated.

On designing clothes for Mahesh, he said, “As of now, no plan. But, like she walks for me, I could do anything for her.

Namrata hasn’t changed at all.

She is the same person (he used to know her from her modelling days) though she is living in the palatial residence of Mahesh.”

Asked about plans of designing for films, he said, “I don’t do films.”

However, he shed light on the status of a different type of foray into the reel world: “I was planning to act in a film, but it got cancelled.”

About the City and its fashion appreciation, he said, “Hyderabad crowd is not jaded.

They are very simple,” adding, “I am married to a girl from Guntur. Sal is from here. I have a huge Andhra connection; not many people know that.”

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CITY SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

Bifurcation may put Metro on a track to nowhere The division of the State and the uncertain status of Hyderabad has thrown up clouds of uncertainty over the Metro Rail project, and the outcome is anyone’s guess.

Aleena Alice aleena.t@postnoon.com

What bifurcation brings to HMR

HYDERABAD:

n

Nobody seems hit as hard as HMR with the announcement of State bifurcation.

n

All its projections based on Hyderabad remaining AP’s capital now stand to be corrected downwards.

n

Advertisers, once jostling for advertising space have now run for the hills.

n

It may take double the estimated time for HMR to make a profit.

Officials at Hyderabad Metro Rail must be tearing their hair out in frustration. They are unsure if the financial estimate made for the project before the division of the State will hold good after bifurcation.

The first casualty is the number of commuters the project will service. With the division of the State, the number of passengers using the Metro train will reduce, thus making it difficult to achieve the profits as per the plan. Also, there will be an adverse effect on the advertising revenue from the HMR. In 2010, when the Metro Rail project was being finalised, officials estimated that by the time the first phase of the work was completed in 2015, Metro facilities would be used by approximately 13-14 lakh passengers a day.

Basing their estimation on the population, the increase in the number of vehicles per year, and the use of the public transport facilities, the officials estimated that by the time the entire Metro was completed there would be more than 25 lakh passengers using the Metro every day.

However, now with the impending bifurcation, officials state that those numbers would

fall drastically.

“Every year, on an average, around two lakh vehicles are being added to City roads. There are approximately 30 lakh motorised trips made in the City, per day. However, if there is a State bifurcation, there will be a slowdown in development and consequently the number of

vehicles will drop as will the number of trips. Which means our previous estimate will also come down drastically,” said an official in the HMR department.

Going by the estimate of number of passengers carried out, the HMR officials earlier announced that the frequency of Metro trains would be once every

three to five minutes during peak hours. This could now be revised to reduce the frequency.

“There could be some revision in the plan, for example, to reach their target revenue if the number of passengers reduce, there are chances of increasing the user fare,” said another senior official in the HMR.

It is also claimed that till a few months ago agencies that were falling over each other to land advertising space in Metro stations are no longer showing interest.

The GHMC and the Metro Rail developer Larsen & Toubro (L&T) have been sparring over the advertising rights along all Metro corridors. L&T has already started giving out advertising space to agencies.

However, the GHMC’s standing committee has been opposing this and demanding 50 per cent of the advertising revenue.

Death is not the answer, conviction rate is Talking point Dr REBECCA TAVARES

U

N Women takes note of the sentencing of the four accused found guilty in the ghastly attack on the 23-yearold Delhi Student in December 2012.

While the United Nations does not support capital punishment, perpetrators of crimes against women must be brought to justice. Evidence from across the world suggests that higher conviction rates serve as deterrents to violence. We therefore call on the Government of India to do everything in its power to ensure speedy justice for survivors of violence, especially those from marginalized communities.

The December attack was the tipping point that has brought attention to violence against women not only in India but globally. Many progressive reforms and changes have resulted – for example the historic Justice Verma Committee, which informed the subsequent approval by Parliament of the Criminal Amendment Act 2013.

The Act called for an end to impunity, and recognized a broad range of sexual crimes against women. The Law acknowledges that lesser crimes often escalate to graver ones – and deterrence is important.

The Indian criminal justice system is responding to the issue of crime in all its complexity.

Many aspects of the infrastructure of Indian traditional criminal justice policy are undergoing fundamental rethinking. The recent approaches to policing, adjudication, sentencing, imprisonment and community corrections are changing in significant

A 2010 STUDY BY THE GOVERNMENT OF DELHI, JAGORI AND UN WOMEN SHOWED THAT 54 PER CENT WOMEN AND 69 PER CENT MEN WHO SEE WOMEN GETTING HARASSED PREFER TO NOT GET INVOLVED. ways.

But laws by themselves are not the solution - their implementation also matters as does changing mindsets. Violence against women is preventable, not inevitable. Prevention is achievable because the majority of the factors associated with men’s use of violence can be changed. These facts have been reaffirmed by a recently published UN study entitled, ‘Why

Do Some Men Use Violence Against Women and How Can We Prevent It?’ in Asia-Pacific.

The study was conducted by Partners for Prevention in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea. Supported by UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA and UNV, the study found that men begin perpetrating violence at much younger ages than previously thought. Half of those who admitted to rape reported their first time was when they were teenagers; for example 23 per cent of men who raped in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, and 16 per cent in Cambodia were 14 years or younger when they first committed this crime.

A 2010 study by the Government of Delhi, JAGORI and UN Women showed that 54 per cent women and 69 per cent men who see women getting harassed prefer to not get involved. Public apathy needs to

be converted into public empathy. We need communities and individuals to be a part of this change in mindsets, attitudes and beliefs.

Violence against women should become unacceptable, for example through community mobilisation, school and sports based programmes and engagement with people who influence culture.

UN Women works with young people to champion positive role models for young men to end violence against women.

Violence against women is not a women’s issue but a human rights issue. UN Women joins the Government and people of India in recognizing that we need to take stronger action together to change the present reality. Every girl and woman has the right to a life free of violence.

The writer is Representative, UN Women’s Office for India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka

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NATION SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

US 'heartened' at verdict WASHINGTON: The US welcomed the verdict of the court in last December's gang rape and murder of a New Delhi woman. "We are heartened to see that the Indian justice system has spoken and the perpetrators of these heinous attacks have been convicted and sentenced in a court of law," State Department spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters on Friday.

Advani's UP rally postponed AGRA: A BJP rally scheduled to be addressed Sunday by senior leader LK Advani in Uttar Pradesh's Akola town has been postponed to Sep 29, citing security reasons. Agra Divisional Commissioner Pradip Bhatnagar and senior district officials late on Friday held a meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including local MP Ram Shankar Katheria.

14 Naxals killed in Odisha BHUBANESWAR: Fourteen Naxals have been killed in an encounter with police in Malkangiri district of Odisha.

The encounter took place near the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border. This is said to be the biggest casualty of Naxals so far in Odisha. Huge arms and ammunitions have been recovered from the Naxals in the encounter that occurred late Friday night.

No change in visa policy on Narendra Modi: US WASHINGTON: Even as the Indian opposition BJP nominated Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, the US has said that there is no change in its visa policy with regard to the BJP leader and that he was welcome to apply for the same.

“There is no change in our longstanding visa policy. With regard to the (Gujarat) chief minister, that he is welcome to apply for a visa and await a review like any other applicant.

“That review will be, of course, grounded in US law,”

A few voices of sanity in mayhem at Muzaffarnagar

Mohit Dubey

feedback@postnoon.com

MUZAFFARNAGAR/ LUCKNOW: Even as savagery and hatred blinded people in Muzaffarnagar and neighbouring districts over the last weekend, all does not seem to be lost. As two communities bayed for each others' blood, many examples of compassion, sane thinking and brotherhood stand out in the violence that killed 43, injured more than 90 and left a staggering 43,000 homeless.

In reports collected from the countryside of western Uttar Pradesh by the special task force (STF) and the local intelligence unit (LIU) of the police, there were many village seniors who prevailed upon the "young and the mad" that spilling blood was no solution to any problem.

A Jat family in violence-hit Fugna

village gave shelter to seven Muslim families in their home, despite overpowering protests by others, and asked its family members to keep a watch by positioning themselves on roof tops, armed with lathi's and axes. The family of village head Brijendra Singh Malik, police officials told IANS, protected 70 Muslims and warned rioters to keep off the men, women, children and elders who had taken refuge in their house.

And the examples of compassion and humanity did not end with the Hindu population as many Muslims too showed exemplary courage and doused the fires of communal rage that threatened to engulf the long-standing harmony in the area.

In Shahpur, Sanavar Mohammad responded to the pleas of a mechanic Devendra Singh, caught in the middle of a rioting mob of Muslims near a mobile tower and took him to safety.

Amid gutted shops, abruptly abandoned homes and the errie silence in these areas, in Badagaon on the Muzaffarnagar-Badhana road, the 80year-old village head ensured with the help of the madarsa staff that police reinforcements rushed to the village and the army was allowed in.

In Meeranpur, villagers of both communities took out a peace march and appealed to people to give up hatred and let life limp back to IANS normalcy.

State Department spokesperson Marie Harf, told reporters.

“And I just am not going to speculate about what the outcome of that review might be,” she said. Ms Harf said the US does not want to involve itself in the domestic Indian politics or for that of any other country.

“We’re not involved in domestic Indian politics. If Mr Modi would like to apply for a visa and await a review like any other applicant, he’s certainly free to do so,” she said.

“I just don’t have anything more for you on this. I’m not

going to comment on domestic Indian politics,” she said.

The US, in the past has opposed grant of visa ot Modi because of the “very serious” doubts that remain over his role in the “horrific” 2002 riots in the state. Katrina Lantos Swett, vice-chairwoman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom has gone one records saying, “Modi shall not be granted the privilege of US visa because of the very serious doubts that remain and that hang over Modi relative to his role in the horrific events of 2002 in Gujarat.”

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WORLD SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

Poland gears up for protests

4 dead in Colorado floods

4 charged in heist plot

WARSAW: Tens of thousands of Polish

LOS ANGELES: At least four people

LONDON: British police have charged

trade unionists are set to march through the capital on Saturday in the finale of a four-day protest against the unpopular and increasingly fragile centre-right government. The protest reflects widespread public gloom over this year’s sharp economic slowdown in Poland, which has been dragged down by the eurozone crisis.

are now confirmed dead in massive floods in Colorado, which is forcing thousands to evacuate, as well as cutting roads in large parts of the western US state. Some 80 people are also unaccounted for in Boulder County, the hardest hit by “biblical” flash floods which appear set to last for “several days”.

four men over a plot to remotely take control of a computer at a branch of Santander bank and steal millions of pounds. Police found a device fitted to a computer in a branch of the bank in London which would have enabled the suspects to download data from the desktop machine. Police arrested 12 men, aged between 23 and 50.

On Day 3, US-Russia talks crawl towards a stalemate Jo Biddle

GENEVA: The US and Russia were to hold a third day of complex talks, seeking to hammer out a deal on eliminating Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons, amid persistent differences.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon meanwhile accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of crimes against humanity as the talks aimed at dismantling Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal hit a pivotal point.

During their second day of talks in Geneva on Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov shuttled with their delegations in and out of talks, breaking up around 2am to allow the weary delegations to catch a few hours sleep.

Teams of experts have been poring over a last-minute Russian initiative which led US President Barack Obama to back away from planned military strikes in response to an August chemical attack near Damascus, which Washington blames on the regime and says killed about 1,400 people.

At the UN, Ban lashed out at Assad and said a UN inspectors’ report into the incident would provide “overwhelming” confirmation that chemical weapons were used.

The Syrian leader President Bashar al-Assad had “carried out many crimes against humanity,” Ban said, and insisted there had

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) arrives for the continuation of meetings with US Secretary of State John Kerry about the ongoing crisis in Syria, at a hotel in Geneva. to be “accountability” once Syria’s civil war is over.

The two sides “made progress in coming closer to agreement on the scope of the chemical weapons stockpile,” a senior US administration official said.

The US has estimated that Syria possesses around 1,000 metric tonnes of various chemical agents, including mustard and sarin gas, sulfur and VX. The Russian estimates had been initially much lower, the official said, without giving a figure.

“It’s the same questions of what is it, where is it, how do we track it down, can we account for it, those are all part of the discussions,” said a senior State Department official.

“We’re obviously at a pivotal point.”

Washington and Moscow were also “working hard to find common ground” to get peace talks going in Geneva that would bring together Assad’s regime and the opposition to end the war which erupted in March 2011, Kerry said Friday.

He will meet again with Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York later this month, with the hope of setting a date for the peace conference, he said.

Taking a breather from the intense diplomacy, Kerry set off on a brisk walk from his luxury hotel to Lake Geneva early Saturday, taking a few close aides and his security staff with him.

Arriving back at the hotel, he told reporters “we’re working hard” as he rushed through the lobby and back to his suite.

Following the Geneva talks, Kerry will fly to Israel to brief Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

As the diplomatic drive intensifies, he will then travel to Paris to meet French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and British Foreign Secretary William Hague as well as the Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal.

Syria has filed documents at the UN seeking to join the international convention banning chemical weapons and said it now considers itself a full member. But one of the issues still to be negotiated is the delay given to Syria to comply with the treaty’s conventions and declare its full stockpile.

A UN spokesman said Friday the organisation has asked Syria for more information about its application, but he declined to say what was missing from the documents filed.

Washington has warned the regime that further steps will also be needed before military action would be off the table.

Fuelling concerns about Assad’s sincerity, reports emerged Friday that a secret Syrian military unit was scattering the chemical weapons stockpile around the country.

The unit was given responsibility to shift the arsenal of poison gases and munitions to different locations across Syria, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US and Middle Eastern officials.

Kanye charged with battery

Court steps in to save ‘celebrity’ monkey

‘Rapping Jihadi’ is dead: US

LOS ANGELES:: Rapper Kanye West was charged

TORONTO: A Canadian judged refused Friday to order

with battery and attempted theft after he allegedly attacked a paparazzi photographer at Los Angeles International airport in July, officials said.

Cameraman Daniel Ramos, who filmed the incident in which West allegedly attacked him and tried to seize his camera, filed a lawsuit last month alleging assault, battery and negligence against the US rapper.

“When Kanye West attacked me, I was in complete shock,” Ramos told a news conference.

“All I had done was ask him a question. I was terrified when Kanye started to come at me. I backed up because I felt from the look in his eyes that he was going to attack me.”

the return of a woman’s pet monkey, which won global fame when it was found wandering an Ikea parking lot in a stylish jacket. Yasmin Nakhuda had gone to court to try to force a sanctuary to return the animal, which she described as being like a child to her. But Ontario Superior Court Judge Mary Vallee ruled against her.

“The monkey is not a child,” Vallee said in a 13-page decision. “The monkey is a wild animal,” she said. “Ms. Nakhuda lost ownership of the monkey when she lost possession.”

Darwin the Japanese snow macaque became an instant Internet celebrity last December when Nakhuda took the animal shopping to furniture giant Ikea.

WASHINGTON: Reports of the death of US-born ‘rapping jihadi’ Omar Hammami, who fought for years in Somalia and whose capture was worth $5 million to Washington, were “credible,” the US said Friday.

Witnesses said the Alabama-born Hammami — better known as Al-Amriki or “the American” — was killed Thursday in a shootout with militants with the Al-Qaeda-linked group Shebab, from which he had split.

“These reports appear to be credible, but we are not in a position at this time to confirm those reports, said deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf. On Thursday, Harf had said Washington was working to confirm reports of his death.

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COMMENT SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

EDITORIALS SUPREME COURT plugs loopholes Loopholes in law have always been exploited by the wily serial criminal. None does this better than the crafty politician; after all, “politics is the last resort for the scoundrel”.

To spot and plug the loophole, thus becomes the additional job of judiciary. The apex adjudicating body of the country does just that — in the interest of its citizens.

A candidate who hides facts or gives false information on his poll affidavit cannot contest, the Supreme Court has ruled, taking a big step towards transparency in elections.

Though the Centre opposed a case of wrong information entered being addressed by the court, saying that there is a legal remedy for filing false affidavits, the court treated it as a different case.

The candidates cannot leave any column on their affidavit blank, and must say 'Not applicable’ or ‘Not known’ and not ‘NIL’ or leave the column blank, the court has specifically ordered.

This has had to be done because in the current system, the poll panel cannot reject nominations even if the candidates lie in their affidavits or leave some columns blank.

Political parties have opposed two landmark rulings of the Supreme Court earlier; that of disqualifying convicted lawmakers, and banning jailed politicians from contesting elections.

For now the court has got smart to the tricky ways of the politician. How long it stays on the top is to be seen.

WHY WE LOVE...

Floyd Mayweather Some say he is the best pound-for-pound boxer in history, but others believe Floyd Mayweather has engineered his unbeaten record by fighting those who have no chance of beating him. Floyd did not deny that allegation, rather he said of it were so then he was happy, because it allowed him to make pots of money without being brutally injured.

Brutal honesty is what we like.

The tech pujari Soul Curry SUMAA TEKUR

I

spent the last few days trying to restore my mother’s prayer book. It was handed down to her from her mom, and has most of the Sanskrit shlokas that she uses for her prayers.

The decades-old book is in tatters, stained by kumkum and turmeric powder, some oil stains and by the sheer overuse of the pages.

I scanned all the pages and will be transferring them to her iPad. But she also wants a laminated paper version so that she doesn’t have to rely on only technology. We had a taste of how things can go wrong with technology on the Ganesha Chaturthi festival day. The CD player stopped working midway during the Gowri puja and frantic attempts to make it work weren’t successful. We’ve got much technology at home. But the CD was getting stuck in the laptop. It wasn’t possible to

WE MAY HAVE TAKEN THE INCONVENIENCES OUT OF THIS EQUATION, BUT IT HAS ONLY BECOME MORE CLINICAL. THE CHARM OF A PUJARI TAKING US THROUGH THE PRAYERS IS GONE. IN A SENSE, WE’VE BECOME SLAVES TO THE CD-PUJARI. transfer the files to the iPad, and the CD player continued to stubbornly stay mum. After multiple failed attempts, we played the rest of the shlokas on the CD player of the PC (at least, one thing of the many had to work!). Except, the PC was in the study room.

Therefore, we kept the volume at the loudest. In his inimitable style, my dad joked about how the neighbours can save electricity and perform their pujas, courtesy our shlokas coming from the PC. There’s always a workaround to every problem. But this situation took me back to the days when a pujari’s role was irreplaceable. For many years, my uncle who was proficient in Hindu scriptures and knew much more than anyone else in the family about reli-

gious rituals, would visit us on festival days and guide my parents through the pujas. It was a full-day event, almost. He would then stay for lunch, joke around with us, have a nap and leave late afternoon.

The festival season used to be rush hour for temple pujaris, who would go from house to house helping the devout perform the puja. It was just the more traditional thing to do.

Then, books made it possible for people to guide themselves through the rituals. Then, audio cassettes became popular, with cassettes available for every type of puja for every sect and sub-sect. These were far more impersonal, but were a practical solution to engaging a pujari, worrying about his not turning up, and then haggling with him about the rate.

We may have taken the inconveniences out of this equation, but it has only become more clinical. The charm of a pujari taking us through the prayers is gone. In a sense, we’ve become slaves to the CD-pujari, who instructs us to stand up and make a wish. We simply do as instructed. No questions asked.

No explanations given. The only break is the pause button, which gives us some time to prepare for the next ritual.

Technology has, since then, changed form and upgraded.

CDs are still popular. Tomorrow, it will be completely digital and tech-savvy devotees will be storing their prayer files on the cloud for easy retrieval during puja time.

It sounds all very fancy. But has this shift in perception brought about any changes in our level of devotion. I think not. Only the medium has changed. But the degree of devotion, and the way religious/ spiritual rituals and practices are observed, continue to be only as good as our faith. Either we believe in what we’re doing, or we don’t.

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COMMENT SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

Pakistan axes ‘immoral’ cell phone love chat The Inside Story

TWO OF PAKISTAN’S FIVE MOBILE PHONE COMPANIES SAID THEY HAD SHUT DOWN ROMANTIC CHAT ROOMS, BUT WOULD CONTINUE TO OFFER CALLING SERVICES THAT STICK TO GENERAL INTERESTS.

MASROOR GILANI

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akistan has cracked down on “immoral” love chat services offered by mobile phone companies, stifling hopes of illicit romance in the conservative Muslim country where dating is frowned upon.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said the ban was enforced last month due to protests from parents and lawmakers, but critics warn it is the latest attempt at creeping censorship.

PTA first pulled the plug on dirt-cheap chat rates and latenight discounts in November, but operators started offering the services under different names.

So the regulator tightened the ban late last month, ordering telecommunication companies to scrap immediately “all kinds of chat services, irrespective of the time of day”.

In a country, where parents keep young people on a tight leash and dating is considered inappropriate, late-night chatting over the phone or Internet can be a way to find love below the radar.

In Pakistan girls can be beaten or even killed by male rela-

Urban sketches VISWAPRASAD RAJU

tives if there is any hint they are having a relationship and parents like to strictly control the marriages of their offspring.

A 20-year-old university student who did not want to give his name told AFP that the ban had hit him hard as he is now unable to chat with random girls and find new dates.

“The cruel world has once again conspired against lovers and made it difficult for them to

communicate,” he told AFP. “It was so inexpensive and an easy way to find a date,” he added.

The 25-year-old manager of a boutique in Islamabad told AFP that he had found the “love of his life” through the service.

“I am going to marry her. We chatted, we exchanged numbers, we started talking and I was surprised to find out that she lived nearby,” he said.There is no pub-

lic data about how many people used the romantic chat, but of the 68.6 percent of the population with access to a mobile phone, it is likely to have been a small number.

Normal call charges are about two rupees ($0.02) a minute and 1.50 rupees for a text message, but chat services were offered at an hourly rate for a fraction of those rates.

A customer would dial a par-

ticular number after which a computer generated voice or text message guided subscribers through various options.

For example, if you want to chat to a girl press 1, a boy press 2, then you select your preferred age group before being connected to another caller by SMS conforming to your criteria.

Two of Pakistan’s five mobile phone companies said they had shut down romantic chat rooms, but would continue to offer calling services that stick to general interests such as hobbies.

Another company said they had shut down all chat rooms and two others were not reachable for comment. Saeeda Khan, a 45year-old mother of three, welcomed the ban. “I am worried as they’re busy all night on the phone with their friends and cousins,” she told AFP.

Global edits

Jai Ganesh

The New York Times

Big money to be made

E

very smart young woman should consider competing in the Miss America pageant.

Started in 1921 as a bathing beauty contest, Miss America quickly evolved to support brains more than beauty. In 1945, the first scholarship of $5,000 was given to the winner. When Miss America 2014 is crowned this weekend, she’ll earn more than $50,000 in scholarship money, which can also be used to repay college loans. Last year, the Miss America Organization awarded more than $45 million to the approximately 12,000 contestants who competed across the country.

In today’s climate — when advanced degrees are so important for employment and social mobility, but the costs of education are so high for young people coming of age in a recession — competing for money in the Miss America pageant is an even better option than it was in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Of course it’s easy to dismiss today’s event as anachronistic with women traipsing around in bikinis and high heels and promoting world peace.

But winners go on to shine in the

AS CONTESTANTS GATHER IN ATLANTIC CITY TO SEE WHO WILL BE CROWNED MISS AMERICA 2014, WE ARE REMINDED OF THE FAMOUS “BRA-BURNING” DEMONSTRATIONS, 45 YEARS AGO THIS MONTH, IN WHICH HUNDREDS OF WOMEN GATHERED ON THE BOARDWALK TO PROTEST THE PAGEANT, PROCLAIMING IT RACIST AND BAD FOR WOMEN. national news spotlight and even run for political office; Miss America 2003, Erika Harold, went on to graduate from Harvard Law School and is now running for the 13th Congressional District seat in Illinois.

I’m a Harvard graduate, but I’ve never competed in a beauty pageant. I did think about it before rejecting the idea, knowing I would never feel comfortable standing in front of millions of viewers in a swimsuit. But it is an option that can pay dividends for thousands.

10

BUSINESS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

Steel jobs in Italy under threat

Japan Display in $2 bn IPO

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apan Display, the world’s biggest maker of LCD screens for smartphones and tablets, plans to raise $2 billion in an IPO, reports said. The IPO would be the biggest on the Tokyo Stock Exchange so far this year after drinks giant Suntory’s food-andbeverage unit raised $3.9 billion. The IPO is expected during the fiscal year to March 2014.

I

talian steel giant Ilva said it was being forced to suspend operations at seven plants on Friday and send 1,400 workers home because of a long-running legal row. The Riva family that owns the company is under multiple investigations for fraud and toxic pollution at its main plant in Taranto in southern Italy. It said it had to close the other plants too because of a decision by prosecutors to freeze its assets and current accounts with 916 million euros ($1.2 billion).

Media could be $100-bn biz

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iven necessary policy regulations and improved, innovative content, the media and entertainment industry in India could make a giant leap and emerge as a $100 billion industry, stakeholders said Friday.

The media and entertainment industry in India, according to a 2012 estimate from PricewaterhouseCoopers, is worth approximately $17 billion.

Hong Kong’s hunt for homes threatens green spaces Hong Kong’s 7.1 million inhabitants are squeezed into only 30 per cent of the territory.

The remaining 70 per cent is woodland, wetland, barren land, and protected country parks.

HONG KONG: As one of the world’s most densely populated cities, Hong Kong is searching for more space to house thousands priced out of its sky-high property market — raising fears for its cherished nature reserves.

A government minister’s suggestion this week that developing the city’s green spaces should no longer be off limits drew scorn from environmentalists, adding to concerns that Hong Kong’s natural habitats are slowly being eroded by developers.

But the comments from development chief Paul Chan also illustrate the problem faced by a city whose 7.1 million inhabitants are squeezed into only 30 percent of the territory.

The remaining 70 percent is made up of woodland, wetland, barren land, and protected country parks. These parks alone make up 40 percent of the territory.

“Development of country parks has been unmentionable, if not a taboo. But should it be completely untouchable?” Chan wrote on his blog on Sunday.

Hong Kong’s unpopular Chief Executive Leung Chunying has made adequate afford-

able homes the central plank of government policy as he attempts to cool a soaring market driven by low interest rates and thin supply in the face of an influx of mainland Chinese immigrants.

Prices have roughly doubled since 2009, putting property ownership out of reach for many.

The average price of a small 400square-foot apartment is HK$4.92 million ($635,000).

The government has also sought to address a yawning gap between rich and poor in the city, and estimates that nearly 170,000 people are living in subdivided flats — tiny units partitioned off within already cramped residential units.

An official advisory body last week suggested that 470,000 residential units needed to be built in the next 10 years to meet demand, with 60 percent to be earmarked for public housing.

In an editorial this week the South China Morning Post cited lawmakers who suggested this was a conservative figure.

But despite the city’s space constraints, the idea of using designated green areas for potential sites for flats has triggered a backlash against what is

AN OFFICIAL ADVISORY BODY LAST WEEK SUGGESTED THAT 470,000 RESIDENTIAL UNITS NEEDED TO BE BUILT IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS TO MEET DEMAND, WITH 60 PER CENT TO BE EARMARKED FOR PUBLIC HOUSING. perceived as an onslaught of development and a disregard for heritage.

“If you are giving away one inch, you will give away one foot later. There will be serious intrusion (to green areas). It should not be even thought of,” Lam Chiu-ying, a former senior government official, said on a radio programme Tuesday.

Observers also pointed to recent controversies that have sparked debate over how to balance development with nature and heritage protection.

A law limiting the scope of reclamation was enacted in the 1990s following years of protests by conservationists against the

shrinking of the worldrenowned Victoria Harbour, with some voicing concern that the harbour would eventually resemble “a river” given the pace of development.

Yet the law has not prevented the demolition of heritage sites along the coastline to make way for redevelopment projects, such as the Queen’s Pier in 2008.

Victoria Park is the city’s largest urban park, but it has steadily shrunk and been concreted over. The latest portion to be sacrificed will make way for a slip road. A plan to convert Hong Kong’s northern Fanling golf course into public housing estates has also drawn ire and concerns that removing such a world-class facility would compromise the financial hub’s global appeal.

Hong Kong’s 24 country parks cover 40 percent of the 1,100-square-kilometre territory, and were set up in the colonial era with laws tracing back to the 1970s. Under the laws, country parks should be reserved for the purposes of education, recreation, and nature protection.

A green group said the authorities were “out of control” in their search for fresh land.

Roy Tam, chairman of nonprofit group Green Sense, told AFP that the government would quickly lose control if it started to allow incremental development on country parks.

Some critics say Hong Kong’s land supply issues are a myth and that the shortage is a result of years of mismanagement. They abundant areas that could become readily available sites for development — much of which are instead being used as storage or illegal dumping sites.

Large portions of land in the city’s New Territories are locked up by a colonial-era law that stipulates all indigenous male villagers receive a village house for free. Local media have estimated nearly 1,000 hectares of land is reserved for this purpose.

Sonny Lo, a social scientist, said the government is set to run into more problems as the community becomes increasingly environmentally conscious.

“From the sustainable development perspective, the government should not encroach upon green spaces now highly cherished by a community that is increasingly aware of the importance of sustainable developAFP ment,” he said.

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FOCUS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

Fight to save Orwell’s home A young Orwell, then known as Eric Blair, arrived in Burma — now called Myanmar — in 1922 and stayed for five years, working as a policeman in the country, which was under British rule at the time.

William Davies Agence France Presse

THE CAMPAIGNERS WANT

KATHA: Cobwebs cover its furni-

EUROPEAN COUNTRY CLUB TURNED INTO A MUSEUM,

ture and its rooms are long deserted, but a crumbling house in northern Myanmar is at the centre of a conservation battle by locals who say it was once home to George Orwell.

The remote trading post of Katha on the banks of the Irrawaddy —and the house lived in

by Orwell in the 1920s —were immortalised in the acclaimed British author’s first novel, “Burmese Days”.

Decades later, as the country emerges from nearly half a century of harsh military rule, a group of artists has launched a campaign to protect the legacy of one of literature’s most scathing critics of dictatorship.

“I am trying to do what I can to restore all the buildings in the book and to attract attention to the country and to the town,” said artist and Orwell fan Nyo Ko Naing.

The two-storey house stands abandoned in an overgrown tropical garden in the remote town which lies about 250 kilometres — or a 13hour train ride — north of Mandalay.

The campaigners want the home and nearby European country club turned into a museum, in a country where many colonial-era buildings have already fallen victim to the wrecking ball as investors flock to what they hope will be the region’s next hottest economy.

THE HOME AND NEARBY

IN A COUNTRY WHERE MANY COLONIAL-ERA BUILDINGS HAVE ALREADY FALLEN VICTIM TO THE WRECKING BALL AS INVESTORS FLOCK TO WHAT THEY HOPE WILL BE THE REGION’S NEXT HOTTEST ECONOMY. A young Orwell, then known as Eric Blair, arrived in Burma — now called Myanmar — in 1922 and stayed for five years, working as a policeman in the country, which was under British rule at the time.

In the novel, Katha is called Kyauktada, but everything else is the same.

“The Tennis Court, British Club, jail, the police station and the military cemetery are in the book and really exist in the town.” said Nyo Ko Naing.

The wooden and brick house has been empty for 16 years.

Some old pot plants have withered and died and the upstairs balconies are too unstable to stand on.

The empty rooms echo with Nyo Ko Naing’s footsteps, which leave prints in the dust that has built up over the years.

“Orwell took many raw materials for his book ‘Burmese Days’ from here,” Nyo Ko Naing said. “I think this house and all the other places in Orwell’s book should be turned into a museum.”

“Burmese Days” is a scathing critique of British colonial rule, with the European characters’ constant drinking and poor treatment of the Burmese locals a running theme.

The Burmese characters also come in for harsh criticism, with the magistrate portrayed as scheming, obese and corrupt.

Myanmar is now opening up and over the past couple of years more and more tourists have come to Katha, on the trail of Orwell.

“The country is open now. It is no longer isolated,” said Oo Khinmaung Lwin, the headmaster of the local school. “I will teach my students so that they know more about George Orwell.”

Although long thought to be Orwell’s home, there is some doubt whether a policeman would have lived in such a grand house.

Across the road from the house lies the tennis court, and beyond that the European club.

In “Burmese Days”, the club is described as “the real centre of the town... the spiritual citadel, the real seat of the British power.”

Today it is the offices for a local business cooperative, and the bar where the Europeans would have spent most of their time has closed.

The local Anglican church, the setting for the climax of the book,

still stands and is still in use. The local priest points where the book’s protagonist, John Flory, would have sat.

“People come here from Germany, Sweden, America,” Reverend Daniel Say Htan told AFP. “They come here to see the real places in the novel.”

Orwell’s time in Burma helped shape his future career —he became one of the 20th century’s most important writers, with novels such as “Animal Farm” and “1984” providing some of literature’s most biting criticism of authoritarianism.

But those who met him when he was in Burma would not have guessed at those feelings.

“The few accounts of people who met him whilst he was in Burma suggest

he was a perfectly conventional policeman,” D.J. Taylor, who wrote the award winning biography, “Orwell: The Life”, told AFP. “He actually went out to the East with standard beliefs. Half of him believed in the rights of the Burmese and the other half didn’t as he was often so sick of them,” he said.

But his time serving in the British Raj did begin a slow change in perspective.

“Burma provided the raw material for plenty of thoughts later” Taylor said.

“It is a crucial early step in his political development.”

The work of Orwell, who died in 1950, still resonates with readers today.

When the recent National Security Agency scandal broke after revelations by fugitive former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, sales of his novels raced up the best sellers charts.

Artist Nyo Ko Naing has read the book five times, in both English and Burmese, and says he will carry on doing all he can to preserve the places that form the basis for Orwell’s long road to greatness.

“We are trying collectively to maintain and restore everything related to George Orwell, Burmese Days and Katha town as we regard it as a precious legacy,” he said.

PICK YOUR

@

Across Stores

ities Twin C

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TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK Business of fashion he stack of breaking news content on the right side brings the fashion analysis and the articles provide a deep dive into a world of trends and tastemakers. And the biggest names in fashion speak out.

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MOBILE GAME REVIEW

APP OF THE WEEK Office Mobile for Office 365

BIRD HUNT

I

f you fulfil the necessary requirements, you'll be able to view and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, including email attachments. It is available in the US for Android smartphones.

Your aim is to pick up the requisite number of points to clear a stage. Bird Hunt is good fun, sure, but there isn't an awful lot here to keep you entertained beyond a short blast now and again when on the bus.

Twitter is crucial to modern society

NeoStem gets $1.2mn grant

In the seven years since its creation, the micro-blogging service, which has announced it is planning an IPO, has become the indispensable tool for lawmakers and leaders as they seek to shape their country's conversation.

The Vatican-backed US company researches alternatives to embryonic stem cells.

Michael Mathes KERRY SHERIDAN

WASHINGTON: Presidents and prime ministers, South American strongmen and nearly the entire US Congress have used Twitter to press their political platforms. But has the blue bird helped or muddled their message?

In the seven years since its creation, the micro-blogging service, which has announced it is planning an initial public stock offering, has become the indispensable tool for lawmakers and leaders as they seek to shape their country's conversation.

Through it, they hope to release their message on their own terms — often unfiltered.

When US President Barack Obama, the politician with a record 36.5 million followers, decided to end the suspense and declare re-election victory over rival Mitt Romney, he bypassed traditional media and tweeted his "four more years" claim to the world. It became the most retweeted post ever.

Lawmakers of all stripes are embracing the digital technology, sending the news cycle into hyperdrive as they tweet out their policy positions, reactions to breaking news, and "selfie" photos with constituents — all in 140 characters or less.

Twitter has become the crucial real-time media service for legislative drives and political campaigns, coming into its own during the 2012 White House race. Politicians "really don't have a choice, they have to engage on Twitter," said Marcus Messner, a communications professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Staying off Twitter means staying out of some of the most engaging political discourse with supporters, campaign strategists, other politicians and journalists.

Purely posting press releases

will likely get you nowhere, Messner stressed.

"It's important for politicians... to show a little bit of their personality."

That is why Senator Chuck Grassley tweeting a photo of the "biggest pig" at the Iowa State Fair last month was the right move. "It shows a human side," Messner said.

But the Twittersphere has rapidly dug some deep political trenches from which Democrats and Republicans are waging a fierce digital war.

US lawmakers are increasingly using Twitter to position themselves on issues like the debate over Syria, in which many expressed skepticism about Obama's plan for military strikes over the regime's apparent use of chemical weapons.

Republican media consultant Rick Wilson said a growing few

— notably freshman Senator Ted Cruz — are expertly framing their political image through Twitter. Cruz's pin-pointed feed is positioning him "as one of the leaders of the new conservative bloc in the Senate," Wilson said.

Cruz, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, is targeting his tweets at "highly active, highly motivated, highly engaged conservative activists and voters," Wilson said.

Twitter's political clout is growing internationally.

Turkey's President Abdullah Gul is one of the most followed politicians in the world, with 3.6 million followers.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, where Twitter use has surged, has 3.3 million followers, while Narendra Modi, who on Friday was named India's main opposition candidate, has more than

two million. They are all eclipsed however by Hugo Chavez, the verbose Venezuelan president who died in March with more than 4.1 million followers.

Twitter's rapid US rise has been adeptly embraced by lawmakers like Senator John McCain, who has the most followers of anyone in Congress.

But it also led him into a stumble. Early this year McCain drew fire when he compared Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a monkey that the Islamic republic launched into space.

But no lawmaker has crashed and burned as spectacularly as congressman Anthony Weiner, who resigned after tweeting photos of his crotch.

The widely ridiculed flameout became a cautionary tale for politicians eager to show their AFP personal side.

WASHINGTON: A Vaticanbacked US company that researches an alternative to embryonic stem cells on Friday received a $1.2 million dollar government grant, despite independent studies that question whether their product exists.

NeoStem, a New Jersey-headquartered company, is investigating very small embryonic-like (VSEL) cells found in adult bone marrow that they say may be able to regrow into different kinds of tissue.

The research has stirred controversy due to NeoStem's marketing partnership with the Vatican and because three independent studies have been unable to confirm the cells are even there.

The latest peer-reviewed grant, totaling $1,221,854, was provided by the US National Institutes of Health for research on an experimental drug that could regenerate bone tissue damaged by periodontitis, a serious gum disease.

The company, along with other partner institutions, has already received $4.5 million in government research grants, including from the Department of Defense and the NIH. "We are very excited about our progress towards the IND (investigational new drug) submission for what we expect to be the first human clinical study for our VSEL Technology and for the support of the NIH," said a statement by NeoStem chief executive Robin Smith.

The phase two trial could begin later this year or early next.

In July, scientists at Stanford University said in the journal Stem Cell Reports they could not replicate NeoStem's findings of VSELs in the bone marrow of lab mice.

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ANIMAL KINGDOM SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

PET NEWS Fan kills pet dog

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n obsessed admirer of the band One Direction allegedly broke her beloved pet Chihuahua’s neck after the stars of the British pop group didn’t follow her on Twitter.

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Insect with gears

Phone saves man

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he light from a cellphone startled a polar bear which was chasing a border agent hired by Canadian Customs in the small town of Churchill, Manitoba, which is also known as the polar bear capital of the world.

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mbedded in the back legs of a common jumping insect are rotating gear wheels that allow the tiny creatures to leap with astounding speed, researchers at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom said.

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

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

Finning – the brutal killing India has joined the list of countries that have banned shark finning at sea. Humane Society International/India that had called for this move sheds light on finning.

AMY ROSE THOMAS

amyrose.t@postnoon.com

I

ndia is once again in the global limelight and for a change not for the rampant rape cases but for joining the list of countries that have banned shark finning at sea. In spite of their reputation as dangerous predators, sharks are victimised all in the name of a delicacy, shark fin soup.

Unfortunately, the dish which is favoured in countries like China and Japan has now lead to the decimation of shark populations in the last decade. The delicacy in these countries is associated with wealth and status much like caviar and champagne are. It is served at Chinese weddings and banquets, often to put on display one's social standing.

“Shark finning is a cruel practice that involves the discarding of sharks back into the ocean once their fins have been harvested.

These sharks, once finned, are often still alive and

quickly sink to the bottom of the ocean where they die a slow and painful death,” C Samyukta, wildlife campaign manager for Humane Society International/India (HSI/India) says.

According to a report by the International wildlife trade monitoring agency TRAFFIC, India has been cited as the second largest shark catching nation in the world and also among the

biggest shark fin exporters.

However, Indian fishermen catch sharks only for meat and export the bones and fins. According to data from India's Marine Products Export Development Authority, Indian fishermen exported $4.8 million in shark fins to China, less than half the $11.3 million in 2010 exports despite steady demand. Thanks to the efforts of HSI/India, the

Ministry of Environment and Forests has issued a ‘fins naturally attached’ policy through which fishermen who are found with detached fins could face up to seven years in prison.

“Our campaign seeks to create awareness of how the wasteful practice of shark finning, fueled by the demand for an unnecessarily indulgent gastronomic experience, is affecting pop-

ulations of this highly important apex species the world over. It is mostly the foreign vessels who are illegally indulging in this practice in or just outside the Indian waters. They leave the sharks to die in the water because the meat is of no use to them as shark meat is not consumed in these countries. As part of the campaign, we spoke to the fishermen in different villages who have been supportive of the cause since,” Samyukta says.

SHARK

CATCHES

According to some estimates, up to 100 million sharks are killed each year around the world. Recent research on the fin markets of Hong Kong estimates that the fins from 26 - 73 million sharks are traded each year. Many of these sharks are unwanted, unintended “bycatch” by vessels fishing for high-value species such as swordfish and tuna. Sharks are, however, a target catch for their extremely valuable fins.

Every year, many millions of sharks have their fins cut off and are then thrown back into the water, dead or dying.

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BOOKS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

SHORT READS Title: Wethering the Storm Author: Samantha Towle Publisher: Music journalist Tru Bennett has done the impossible: capture the heart of rock-star bad boy Jake Wethers. Now they’re busy planning a wedding. Of course Tru misses London and her best friend, Simone, but living happily ever after with Jake in LA is going to be great… right?

Title: Shooting Scars Author: Karina Halle Publisher: When Ellie Watt made the ultimate sacrifice for Camden McQueen, she never thought it would be easy. But walking away with her ex-lover, Javier Bernal, in order to ensure Camden’s safety has brought a whole new set of dangers. Ellie must find a way to stay ahead of the game.

Title: Into the Deep Author: Samantha Young Publisher: Charley Redford was just an ordinary girl until Jake Caplin moved to her small town in Indiana and convinced her she was extraordinary. Almost from day one Jake pulled Charley into the deep and promised he was right there with her.

Title: Sometimes It Lasts Author: Abbi Glines Publisher: After waiting for his big break, bad boy Cage York is finally called up to prove his worth in the college baseball arena. But when Cage’s girlfriend, Eva, mourns the sudden loss of her father, it’s not Cage’s comforting arms she runs to, but those of her former fiancé’s twin brother, Jeremy.

FLEME VARKEY

fleme.v@postnoon.com

T

his one is truly for the film star worshippers and drama-loving junta. We as a nation are no stranger to scandals. Be it in the politics, sports or for that matter even the entertainment industry, scandals are common place. In fact, some people are believed to have understood that a scandal is the only way that they can achieve fame (read Poonam Pandey, Mallika Sherawat and the likes).

So what if your hands are going to get dirty, but when the spotlight's on you, you know that you have arrived.

Name Scandal Point Author Fahad Samar Pages 288 Publisher Harper Collins

THE STORY DEALS WITH TWO YOUNG RED-BLOODED MEN — RICKY KUMAR AND GAUTAM GOYAL. THE NOVEL IS ABOUT HOW SPARKS FLY WHEN THE LIVES OF THESE TWO INTERSECT. Open any national daily and take a look at Page 3, you have a collage of people, from pretty young things to men and women who refuse to accept that their seasons in the sun have ended.

There is also another group of people you might notice in them — the aspirants. Some aspire to enter a certain social circle, some crave for recognition and two minutes of fame and while some are looking for hosts to latch onto in order make their dreams successful.

This and more masala is guaranteed in Fahad's book. The story deals with two young red-blooded men — Ricky Kumar and Gautam Goyal. While Ricky is the son of a star and is waiting for his big break into Mayanagari.

Gautam is the coke-snort-

PLAYING THE PART

ing, arrogant flirt who comes into his NRI father's famous restaurant business. The novel is about how sparks fly when the lives of these two intersect.

Fahad in an interview to Vogue magazine explains the reasons for his choice of protagonists. He said, "I decided to frame the novel on protagonists who come from wealth and power. These two are as different as chalk and cheese, but ultimately, they're kindred spirits. It's about how their lives collide and how the media becomes a third player in this tumult."

The third player media, is the one that is the most important one. At least in Bollywood a major part of any star's success depends

Film-maker turned author Fahad Samar's latest project Scandal Point is one that works on our national obsession — scandal. His story is based on Bollywood industry and Page 3 circles.

on the role media plays. If a fledgling star gets on media's wrong side then it's curtains for him/her, and if the star plays to the gallery then the dizzying heights of success will be theirs to achieve.

Ricky Kumar knows he is living with a huge burden and to come out of his superstar dad's shadow, will take him all he has. Add to it, his father is the one who is launching him into film with a remake of his own yester years hit. On the other hand Gautam, the brash young man for whom girls are only a pastime and drugs the reason for living. Tired of his son's behaviour, Gautam's dad forces him to go to a rehab in Mumbai or else lose a share in property to his lesbian sister. Obviously

Gautam knows which side of his bread is buttered and so he follows his dad's instructions. But Gautam like every addict has set his network at the clinic to get him his supply of dope. Unknowingly, Ricky gets caught in this melee and the media spins a whole new story out of it. Ricky the handsome hunk became the shamed, tainted drug addict. In order to save his image he agrees to the charges laid on him and goes to the clinic to come out drug free. His publicist then spins a whole story throws in it some ambitious young starlets and you have a movie on your hands.

While reading this book, one is definitely reminded of the life and happenings of some star children and the NRI high-society. There are times when you think you know who Fahad is talking about and sometimes you are clueless.

It's nothing new or nothing spectacular but it is told in a very humorous, simple way and the masala elements are intact. It's a light read and is fast too.

For those who want Bollywood's masala, this one's right up your alley.

15

BOOKS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

THE COLOUR PURPLE, ALICE WALKER

S

et in the deep American south between the wars, this is the classic tale of Celie, a young poor black girl.

Raped repeatedly by her father, she loses two children and then is married off to a man who treats her no better than a slave. She is separated from her sister Nettie and dreams of becoming like the glamorous Shug Avery, a singer and rebellious black woman who has taken charge of her own destiny.

Gradually Celie discovers the support of women that enables her to leave the past behind and begin a new life.

THE GUERNSEY LITERARY SOCIETY, JULIET ASHTON

AND

POTATO PEEL PIE

I

f you haven’t read it already, we can’t recommend it more highly.

It is one of the most charming, heart-warming books you’re ever likely to read. It’s 1946 and author Juliet Ashton can’t think what to write next. Out of the blue, she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams of Guernsey — by chance, he’s acquired a book that once belonged to her — and, spurred on by their mutual love of reading, they begin a correspondence. When Dawsey reveals that he is a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, her curiosity is piqued and it’s not long before she begins to hear from other members. As letters fly back and forth with stories of life in Guernsey under the German Occupation, Juliet soon realises that the society is every bit as extraordinary as its name.

WE NEED TO TALK LIONEL SHRIVER

ionel Shriver’s resonant story of a mother’s unsettling quest to understand her teenage son’s deadly violence, her own ambivalence toward motherhood, and the explosive link between them reverberates with the haunting power of high hopes shattered by dark realities. Like Shriver’s charged and incisive later novels, including So Much for That and The PostBirthday World, We Need to Talk About Kevin is a piercing, unforgettable, and penetrating exploration of violence, family ties, and responsibility, a book that is impossible to put down.

Postnoon Team

feedback@postnoon.com Source: Amazon.com

Word is that the on-screen adaptation of the 2008 best-seller The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is due to release soon. But to make the wait a little easier, here are a few other epistolary novels that will warm your heart.

A

T

he Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story about what it’s like to travel that strange course through the uncharted territory of high school. The world of first dates, family dramas, and new friends. Of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Of those wild and poignant rollercoaster days known as growing up.

WALL-FLOWER,

DADDY LONG LEGS, JEAN WEBSTER

J

erusha Abbott has grown up in the John Grier Home for orphans. As the oldest, she is in charge of the younger children. An anonymous benefactor on the Board, “Mr. Smith,” decides to send her to college, as long as she writes to him faithfully detailing her education. Originally published in 1912, Jean Webster’s coming-ofage tale continues to be relevant to young women today. Actress Kate Forges shares these months and years, from freshman to senior in college. Through a series of letters Jerusha writes to Daddy-Long-Legs, a relationship filled with affection and respect develops, even though she is the only correspondent throughout the years. Although the narrative unfolds slowly, the language is sophisticated, highly descriptive, and witty. Her crisp elucidation, varied intonations, and enthusiasm for this character provide a first-rate reading. This tale will appeal to listeners who revel in rich, detailed imagery to present a character wholly believable and likeable.

KEVIN,

L

You’ve got mail THE PERKS OF BEING STEPHEN CHBOSKY

ABOUT

LAST DAYS

W

OF

Other favourites n Bridget Jones’ diary , Helen Fielding n Where rainbows end, Cecelia Ahern n Where’d You Go Bernadette, Maria Semple n Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn n 84, Charington Cross, Helene Hanff

SUMMER , STEVE KLUGER

ith Last Days of Summer, Kluger has virtually reinvented the epistolary in his picaresque coming-of-age fable of future sportswriter Joey Margolis and his improbable relationship with Giants rookie sensation, Charlie Banks. The place is Brooklyn, the time is the early ‘40s, and young baseball fanatic Joey needs a hero badly in his life. How that hero becomes Charlie — and ultimately Joey himself — forms the dimensions of the novel’s field, but it’s the way the game is played that’s so remarkable. The story’s told not through conventional narrative but by way of Joey’s abstract scrapbook: letters, postcards, news clippings, box scores, report cards, matchbook covers, dispatches from FDR, telegrams, even an invitation to Joey’s own Bar Mitzvah and the gift list from the affair.

WHAT’S SELLING Walden best in fiction

Walden best in non-fiction

New York Times’ best in fiction

New York Times’ best in non-fiction

n The Kill List by Frederick Forsyth

n Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

n How the Light Gets in, by Louise Penny

n The Liberty Amendments by Mark R Levin

n And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

n An Uncertain Glory by J Dreze & Amartya Sen

n The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

n Zealot by Reza Aslan

n Trust Works by Ken Blanchard

n Inferno by Dan Brown

n This Town by Mark Leibovich

n Elephant Catchers by Subroto Bagghi

n Mistress by James Patterson and David Ellis

n Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg with Nell Scovell

n My Journey by APJ Abdul Kalam

n And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

n Happy Happy Happy

by Phil Robertson with Mark Schlabach

n Asura by Anand Neelakantan n Empire Of The Moghul Serpent’s Tooth by Aex n Aleph by Paulo Coelho

18

WOMEN SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

WEBSITES OF THE WEEK SheKnows: She knows everything — entertainment, beauty, parenting, shopping, health and more. The entire busy woman’s lifestyle hub wrapped up into a slick, searchable website.

Tech Mamas: A tech blog for mamas, a mom blog for techies, this California-based site offers advice on software, hardware and marketing for the working-from-home set.

WAHM: An online magazine and resource for work-at-home mothers that includes features and advice on finding work, self-marketing and keeping the kids busy.

‘I am a proud feminist’ In an interview with Postnoon, artist Rekha Rodwittiya opens up about her paintings, treatment of women in the country and her views on feminism.

ARUN YELLAMATY

arunyellamaty@postnoon.com

A

rtist Rekha Rodwittiya renowned for her vibrant depictions of the human figure and her feminist interpretations was in town for a two day contemporary art exhibition titled First Edition. The exhibition was organised by Shalini and Dai Bhupal in collaboration with Sakshi Art Gallery and was on display at Taj Krishna. In an interview with Postnoon, Rekha opens up about her paintings, treatment of women in the country and her views on feminism.

What inspired you to become an artist?

The privilege of birth and the gift of education impacted itself upon me from a very young age. A much desired girl-child I have carried the legacies of a female history with a

conscious alertness. It has led me very early in my personal journey to a space of belonging that formulated both my ideology and the spirit of the deliverance of my energies.

What are your paintings trying to convey?

I have often described the territory of my ideas as being like a small garden patch, much loved and faithfully nurtured. This is because I hold a consistent desire to examine the feminine space of survival, the spirit of endurance and the empowerment of pride and self dignity that centuries of feminist oral histories are infused by; and which cast their shadows for me to find my resting space within.

My work is informed by the personal politics that governs my life and employs the use of metaphor and allegory to formulate its content.

How influenced is your art with daily life?

The world that we place ourselves central to becomes a tapestry patterned by incidents and histories that demand our participation willingly or otherwise. As artists we often become the chroniclers of larger nar-

ratives that hold both the particularity of our lives as well as a wider world of information. As an artist the most liberating lesson learnt is that ones own sense of belonging is held in multiple histories that form the stories of the world.

Would you call yourself a feminist?

My work celebrates the ideals of womanhood and explores the multiple avatars that a positioned stance of female empowerment embraces.

Though gender equality is far from the norm as a reality of this nation, there are nonetheless a multitude of voices that stridently call to attention the need to dispel the bigoted stereotype of gender bias, and seek to accommodate the changes that we know to be possible and real. It is to such collective concerns that I reaffirm my allegiance and remain proud to call myself a feminist.

Why is the female figure important to you as an artist?

The bodies of my female protagonists are the sites of retrieval of personal histories and the legacies of a female ancestry. Tall and erect these

guardian figures evoke the space of reflection and memories.

What do you think about the way women are treated in India?

Crimes against women are the frontpage news each day; the staple diet we feed to the adolescent boys of our country. The division of the sexes is a conservative mindset that needs to be abandoned in 21st century India. Men who parade sexist attitudes need to sit in the dunce’s corner. The new school of thought insists on demolishing gender hierarchies.

Women seek equal status as the logical platform in male-female associations

How is it to be part of the Sakshi Gallery?

My relationship as an artist with my gallery has been a conscious and considered choice right from the inception of my career in 1984 to be represented by only one gallery at any given time, and to stringently maintain an association of fidelity that is not contracted, but is positioned completely from my own values and ethics. Since 1990 I have been represented by Sakshi Gallery.

In maintaining this module of representation, art is then handled by informed professionals who create the appropriate contexts within which the art is then presented to an audience. The concern and the care with which Sakshi handles their artists is profoundly special, where the relationship does not become a space of imposed hierarchies and the flaunting of monetary lures, but holds care and consideration in quiet and unstated ways.

Tips and advice for future artists?

Mature art holds radical positions that are not about sensationalising for mere affect alone. Art is a space that strategises arguments, problematises as a method of introspection, is confrontational, is often used as a subversive tool, and is not a space that is designed to entertain the consent of another to validate its existence. This is what independent authorship and artistic autonomy must mean within a democratic space of a secular nation. Disciplined engagement with ones art practice is imperative for all artists if the art is to reflect the credibility that molded it.

19

SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

STYLING GEN Y

Little Big Things, a first of its kind exclusive exhibition is going to be in town on September 21 & 22, at the Park Hotel, Hyderabad

Twice the glitter Chennai-based GRT jewellers unveiled their second, exquisite showroom at Kukatpally. The showroom offers traditional and contemporary designs in gold, diamond, platinum, rubies, and silverware.

Shop till you drop!

Actress Alekhya inaugurated the Trendz Lifestyle Expo, a day and night bazaar, which was held at Taj Krishna.

You shall not bypass!

Supporting Shuttlers

Dr. Bimal Chhajer, MD, founder of SAAOL, a noninvasive cardiac center, inaugurated it’s 3rd branch in KPHB Colony in Kukatpally.

International chain Testa Rossa Caffe announced their decision to support select badminton players to encourage and promote the game in the country.

20

RELATIONSHIPS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

I

I AM ALL EARS

am 23 years old and have been in a relationship for the last three-years. My boyfriend and I have lately been fighting. This usually revolves around his coworkers who are mostly women.

He is usually alone with them late in the night and it bothers me.

Insecure girl

Dear insecure girl, First of all you need to stop fretting about such petty issues. We live in the 21st century where our work environment is as such that we tend to work in close proximity with men and women, both. You need to start trusting your boyfriend more than doubting him. If you are insecure about certain things, talk it out instead of assuming things. It will multiply in your head and ruin a perfectly healthy relationship. So talk!

F

ive common signs that a man may be the one cheating in a relationship are that he accuses his partner of cheating, he is extremely vague, he seems to be compensating by acting extra nice for no reason, he is usually, almost always at work, and his partner’s friend’s keep dropping hints.

Source: http://stangebuttru.blogspot.in/

The nosy neighbour All of us have had to deal with a next-door neighbour who knows more about your life than you do yourself. When is the right time to tell them to mind their own business? We find out.

Amy Rose Thomas

amyrose.t@postnoon.com

R

emember the creepy character Rose in Two and a Half Men, appearing from the least expected places at Charlie’s abode. While her character borders on serious stalking, all of us have had to deal with a next-door neighbour who knows more about your life than you do yourself at times. They are annoyingly well-versed with the time when your family gets back home, the new furniture and decorations installed at your place and all about the guy you are currently dating, down

to details like what car he drives, what his favorite cuisine is and much more. They are like a mine of information about you.

Your house ideally should be a haven where you don't get disapproving looks and aren’t judged. But with people like these around, you are sure to find them within earshot distance every time you have friends over, shamelessly listening to your private conversations. To say their nosiness is annoying is an understatement.

"Nosy neighbors are the most difficult people to handle.

They are there when you take your dog out for a walk questioning you about your life, while you are watering your plants. It’s as if they are waiting for you to get out of the house. I always get the feeling that the information that they get out of me is like a fodder for gossip,” Rekha K based in Hyderabad says.

Tips 1. Drop hints Try sending them an anonymous letter explaining that you do not appreciate the unwanted attention.

2. Ignore them The best way to deal with such people is to simply ignore them.

3. Block their view Put up a fence.

4. Confrontation You should only confront your neighbour as a last resort. If you have dropped several hints, yet it continues, confront them.

Source: http://jamestouleron. hubpages.com

There is a fine line between being friendly and being annoying. And unfortunately, Indians are notorious for crossing the line.

“The very reason I wanted to get out of the town I was born in was because of our neighbours. They need to know everything that is happening at my place. They never seem to get the message that we are not looking to make friends. They decide to come over unannounced especially when a friend is over just because they want to know about the relationship we share. They take up the role of a guardian and insist on giving advice. After I moved out, I ensure that I stay away from my neighbours,” Christy Samuel says.

You don’t have to deal with this behaviour and by following some simple tips you can get them off your back. First and foremost, you need to show them that their actions do not

affect you. Some people get pleasure from the fact that they could get under your skin. Not giving them this satisfaction can make your life boring for them to watch. Every time you know

they are watching, be elusive and disarming.

Wave at them and shout pleasantries, this will embarrass them surely and make them run for cover.

21

CINEMA SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

KAJAL’S

VERSATILITY

I

n the league of leading ladies in Tollywood, Kajal Agarwal seems to be taking the word busy to a whole new level. The doe-eyed actress hasn’t signed a Telugu film yet. She turned down One Nenokkadine opposite Mahesh Babu citing date issues. She is currently shooting for two Tamil films alongside Vijay and Karthi.

Kajal is of the opinion that commercial movies in which actresses are cast for item numbers are a thing of the past. And she is looking forward to acting in movies which has strong female characters. Kajal is quite happy with her stand and is becoming quite choosy when it comes to accepting roles. Let’s wait and see how her move pans out.

R

NAGESH RESURRECTED

emember the time we mocked Ekta Kapoor serials when she brought back the dead. Well, technology has become so advanced now that it’s actually possible to resurrect the dead.

The late comedian Nagesh, who was a dear friend of superstar Rajnikanth, has been brought back to life using advanced tech-

nology in the upcoming film Kochadaiiyaan. Soundarya Rajnikanth, who is directing Kochadaiiyaan is elated about this tribute to comedian Nagesh. She is confident that such advanced technology paves way for recreating many more important characters onscreen.

Warrant against

ANJALI A

ctress Anjali received a warrant from the Chennai city court on September 12 after she failed to appear for a court hearing. The actress had earlier filed a case against a popular director allegedly accusing him of harassing her. The director in return filed a criminal defamation case against her claiming that the allegations were false.

The actress was summoned to court on Thursday, September 12 but missed the hearing and was, therefore, issued a warrant.

The hearing of the case has been postponed to October 3, 2013.

22

CINEMA SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

JOHN DAY: TAUT, TENSE AND TERRIFIC

T Ban on films poses a lot problems: VIVEK OBEROI

A

ctor Vivek Oberoi says a ban or stay should not be imposed on a film once it is cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification because it translates into trouble for filmmakers as well as actors.

He was reacting to the Punjab and Haryana High Court stay on the release of his adult-comedy Grand Masti in the two states.

The film is slated for a Sept 13 release.

“I feel this should not happen. When you have censor board that gives certificate without objection, you should be allowed to release the film,” Vivek said.

“Since huge money is spent on the film, so posing problems at the last minute can create a lot of problems. We (actors) face a lot of problems,” he added.

“Either the censor board should censor the objectionable parts when it is shown to them, otherwise the film should be allowed to release,” added the actor.

Grand Masti, directed by Indra Kumar, is a sequel to 2004 film Masti and also features Riteish Deshmukh and Aftab Shivdasani among a host of other actors.

A lawyer filed a petition in the court claiming that the film contains vulgar dialogues and obscene content and that the proIANS mos degrade women.

his is no place for the weak. ter torn between self-abnegation and This world as we know it. And vendetta. this film, as we discover with In a way Randeep character plays a the thrill of chancing upon an mirror-image of Naseer’s banker gone unexpected little gem. amok. This is not the first time that Inspired from a Spanish film, is it?

India’s most vaunted actor has played I really don’t give a fig where writera wizened common man pushed to a director Ahishor Solomon got the raw corner by the monstrous corruption in material for this gripping cat-andout socio-political system. mouse tale. Does the kitchen where the Remember Neeraj Pathak’s A food on the table originates really Wednesday? Here In John Day the termean anything? What counts is the ror that Naseer’s character battles is quotient of curiosity and suspense far more personal, and hence in many simulated by the script. And there, ways, much more moving and comJohn Day ranks very high. pelling. His greatness as an actor doesNot for a while have we seen a film n’t come in the way of letting the charso steeped in espair, so swathed in acter of the common man have his say anxiety, so audaciously draped in in the most natural way possible. despair and yet it engages Some of the things that our senses without miring the characters do are unmisthe plot in morbidity. takably brutal. An innocent The story is not for the woman’s head is shattered squeamish. The two main by a hammer, a man’s characters are constantly tongue is bitten off and haunted by their irrevocably another man’s neck is also tragic parts. Naseeruddin bitten off. It’s a cold brutal Shah and Randeep Hooda, world with no comic relief, real-life guru and pupil, play at least none where you people who know no happilaugh out loud at the ironies ness. Incidents from their of life. past continue to shadow and John Day brings the chase their present. There is indomitable Naseeruddin scarcely a moment in the and the intriguing Randeep plot when John (Shah) and for a taut cat-and-mouse Movie: Gautam (Hooda) are happy chase that stays a step ahead John Day except when they are with of the audience right till the Cast: their beloved ‘Other’. shattering end-game.

But then Shernaz Patel, While the two principal Naseeruddin Shah, who plays Naseer’s wife and actors get under their charRandeep Hooda, the very beautiful foreigner acters’ skins, other actors Shernaz Elena Kazan who plays seem equally at home in this Patel, Elena Kazan inky kingdom of greed and Randeep girl are troubled by their own ghosts. So where gluttony. Vipin Sharma and Directed by: do we go for comfort?

Makrand Despande are very Ahishor Solomon What price, solace? engaging in their supporting Rating: John Day is a restless parts. They make doom edgy drama of the doomed seem anything but dull. But and the damned. This not the film’s third hero is the first time Randeep has played a Sandeep Chowta’s background score. It fugitive shadowed by his own past. But creates a world of emotions beyond the this is certainly his most layered charspoken words for Naseer and Randeep. acter which he performs with the kind Enemies are clobbered and of gravelly gusto that allows us to get butchered mercilessly. Not because only as close to the sullen character as they deserve to die. But because life is he wants us. Towards the end-game as randomly brutal as we make it for when the momentum gets frenzied ourselves. And cinema such as this beyond recuperation, Randeep’s charreminds us that moral values of good, acter’s softer side emerges. evil, justice and comeuppance mean He has a brilliantly written mononothing to those who have nothing to logue with a comatose character where lose. we get to know how much this brutal For a film about losers John Day man loves his woman. proves to be a paradoxically profitable Yup, this man can die for money movie-viewing experience for the audiand for love. It’s a dichotomous characence. IANS

Shahrukh Khan welcome on Bigg Boss: SALMAN KHAN

S

alman Khan, who will host the seventh season of reality show Bigg Boss, says Shahrukh Khan is welcome to come on the show and promote his films.

“Of course, he can come. If he is promoting his next film, he is more then welcome,” Salman said.

The two actors have been giving the cold shoulder to each other since five years now. But recently they were seen sharing a hug during an Iftaar party. Salman said that hugging Shah Rukh was the natural thing to do.

“I feel that it was Ramadan time...

This gesture should be done by everyone. It is a good thing to shake hands and hug,” he said.

He further added that if he has to fight, he can easily do that through their work.

“If we have to hit at each other, we will do so through our work. Aamir is also coming (with his film now) and there is Ranbir too,” he said. IANS

CINEMA SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

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CINEMA SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

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25

CINEMA SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

Nicole Kidman: ‘shaken up’ after being hit by bicycle

N

icole Kidman looked none the worse for wear, but we knew that today hadn't been the greatest for her.

"It was awful, but I got back up," she told E! News on the red carpet at a Calvin Klein party for New York Fashion Week about being knocked over by a paparazzo on a bicycleoutside The Carlyle hotel.

Asked if she planned to press charges, Kidman said that didn't know anything about the man who ran into her.

"I was shaken up and I'll deal with it later," she said. "I'm here for this now."

A source told us that Kidman had been on her way back to her hotel following Calvin Klein's runway show this afternoon when the accident occurred.

NYPD confirmed that a 19year-old man had struck a 49year-old woman with his bicycle and was later cited for reckless driving, riding a bicycle on the sidewalk and riding a bike without a helmet.

"I've lived with it for so long now," Kidman said, referring to going places with a near-constant paparazzi shadow.

But though she's used to such things, it can be "terrifying," she added. "And luckily I got up but there will be a time when someone does not."

B

Ben Affleck's Batman will be a 'tired and weary' guy B

efore we learned that Ben Affleck would play Batman in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel sequel, we knew only a couple things: This Dark Knight would spar with Superman, and he'd be "in the late 30s or around the 40 mark... established and rugged."

Now we know, per Warner Bros.

CEO Kevin Tsujihara, that this Batman is "kind of tired and weary and seasoned and been doing it for a while." It's not like Batman's ever been a happy-golucky superhero, but sure, this helps us picture Batman vs.

Superman a tiny bit better.

Benedict Cumberbatch talks being abducted enedict Cumberbatch had his own brush with darkness and lived to tell the

tale.

In an in-depth interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Star Trek Into Darkness actor opened up about an experience which is seared into his memory to this day — the time he found himself facing a foreboding fate after being abducted at gunpoint in South Africa.

Cumberbatch told the trade he was with two friends driving north of Durban on the way back to the set of the 2005 miniseries To the End of the Earth when their car had a flat.

"It was cold, and it was dark.

I felt rotten. We were wary because that's a notoriously dangerous place to drive. Then, poof, the front-right tire blows," said the 37-year-old Brit. "So we got the spare, but that meant getting all of our luggage out.

We were like sitting ducks, adverts for —not prosperity, necessarily, but materialism."

Unfortunately, his fears were proven justified as a group of six armed men came out of nowhere and buttonholed them.

"They were like: 'Look down!

Look down! Put your hands on your head! Look at the floor!

And they started frisking us and said: 'Where's your money?

Where's your drugs?" recounted

Cumberbatch. "And at that point, this adrenaline of fight or flight just exploded in my body. I was like, 'Oh f--k, we're f--ked."

Choking up, the thespian recalled how the men put them in a car and drove off with them and — after he complained that his bindings were too tight and he was losing feeling in his limbs — they then stuffed him in the trunk.

After some time, the vehicle stopped and his assailants dumped him on the ground, at which point Cumberbatch admitted to being his most terrified.

"I was scared, really scared.

I said: 'What are you going to do

with us? Are you going to kill us?' I was really worried that I was going to get raped or molested or just tortured or toyed with in some way, some act of control and savagery."

Fortunately, the kidnappers let him go and went on their way and he was eventually rescued by a stranger.

"I looked into this black man's face, and I cried with gratitude," remembered the Sherlock star, who also confessed his ordeal had a profound affect on him for the better.

"It really, really enriches your values in life," he remarked. "It's incredibly important."

26

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

SUDOKU

THOUGHT OF THE DAY A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

– Herm Albright

KAKURO

How to play kakuro

SCRIBBLING PAD

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

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

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

Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14.

This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on...

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

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

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Touch 5 Commuter plane trips 9 Woman in a ‘Paint Your Wagon’ song 14 Stand on hind legs 15 Jazzy Fitzgerald 16 One of the noble gases 17 Shrek or Fiona, eg 18 Breakfast dining area 19 Recurrently 20 Bowed tree 23 Little guy 24 Shortest month, in a way 25 ‘Get it while ___!’

28 Nosy Parker 30 Book of apostolic deeds 32 Worldwide workers’ assn 33 Annual book of facts 36 Norwegian king 37 A pure disgrace 39 Narrative writing 41 Everyday procedure 42 Certain piano piece 43 Party servers 44 Grind together 48 Yank in the Yucatan 50 Need a doctor’s care 52 ‘What am ___ think?’

53 What mourners shed 57 Muscleman’s quality 59 Zatopek of Olympic fame 60 Runaway GI 61 Designated PG-13, say 62 Covert transmitting device 63 Oscar winner for ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ 64 Musical melodrama 65 Proofreader’s notation 66 Ogled DOWN 1 Looks for prey, say 2 Crete’s sea 3 City on the Rio Grande

4 Get ready to perform surgery 5 Hair dye 6 ‘Method’ conclusion 7 Farm tool 8 Pseudonym of HH Munro 9 Sings hallelujah to 10 Building blocks 11 Before long 12 ‘... or ___ thought’ 13 ___ Arbor, Mich 21 Express indirectly 22 Brittle-shelled Chinese fruit (Var) 26 Ending for ‘Motor’ or ‘pay’ 27 ‘Mazel ___!’ (‘Congratulations!’)

29 Rowboat necessity 30 ‘Black’ cattle breed 31 Play mates?

tively fresh 34 ‘Snow White’ judge, of 50 Lit sorts 51 Cay 35 ‘Author unknown’ 54 Bastes or hems byline 55 Fail to mention 36 Prophetic sign 56 Track contest 37 Give a great deal of 57 Sis’ male sibling thought to 58 Blame 38 ___-Saxon 39 Unit of work PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER 40 Average score on the links 43 Lake George locale 45 Ventilation shaft 46 Curly or Larry 47 Laughed out loud and then some 49 Compara

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CHAI TIME SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Ten of Wands

Seven of Pentacles

Four of Cups

The Fool

The Wheel of Fortune

Five of Wands

W

W

ork – A job offer will confuse you more than sort things out. You may not be looking for a change yet. This offer will set new thinking in motion. Romance – You are not short of suitors.

However, this does not mean that you delay making a commitment when you have met someone whose principles match your own. Health – Seek out newer, alternative methods for treatment. If one route hasn’t worked, don’t hesitate to try another. Money – Park your money in different places and do what’s needed to safeguard your assets.

Tarot message – There will be many options. How you make use of them will determine how fruitful your life will be in the future.

W

ork – Don’t be scared of a new assignment handed over to you. You may not be able to avoid it. Just organise yourself and seek help from seniors.

Romance – There is every possibility that you partner is planning something wonderful for the weekend. Singles will get opportunities to mingle. Health – Do whatever is needed to protect yourself from ailments in the future.

Make health a lifestyle choice rather than a compulsion. Money – Try out new investment options.

Talk to a few people and plan your finances. Don’t hesitate to experiment with the new. Tarot message – You’re entering a phase of life where your desire for novelty takes over. Keep an open mind.

W

ork – If you’re going through a rough time, take comfort in the knowledge that it will not last forever. Situations change all the time. You will feel empowered soon.

Romance – Your needs and expectations from the relationship change. You will feel more open and communicate your concerns more freely. Health – There is no point worrying about your health.

Take proactive measures and get control over your body and mind. Money – Lock a significant amount of money away for a rainy day. It will be difficult for you initially, considering your lifestyle. But do it anyway. Tarot message – What goes around, comes around. Be prepared for some changes, and don’t be too overwhelmed by them.

W

W

ork – Expect some havoc on the work front. This will mostly be because of being unable to organise yourself.

Spend more time generating the to-do list.

Romance – A lot of what’s happening in your relationship now has to do with guesswork. You can only guess what your partner is thinking. Health – Keep a record of all your exercise and diet changes to see what impact it is having on you health. You cannot possibly remember every single detail.

Money – It may be a good idea to hack into someone else’s money-making idea and give it your own spin.

Good ideas already exist.

Just find them. Tarot message – No point beating around the bush. Get to the point.

ork – Make your office life more interesting with designer wear, new colours for your work space and accessories to pep you up. Romance – Spring a surprise on your significant other. Choose a venue he/she will love, and unveil a number of surprises. Health – Stay away from foods that do not suit your body. You can figure this out by making a list and keeping track of how you feel after you’ve eaten something. Money – Do not get defensive when someone advises you about money matters. You may think you’ve done your best. But listen in. Tarot message – Get into charity and give more than you have been till now. It will come back to you.

SUMAA TEKUR tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Eight of Cups

Queen of Cups

Eight of Pentacles

W

W

ork – Although everything seems to be in place and going well, there will be trouble when it comes to managing a particularly difficult team member.

Talk it out with your seniors. Romance – Something is missing in your relationship. The problem may be that you are expecting everything from one relationship. Health – There are solutions to your health issues if you look beyond the conventional routes. Try therapies. Money – You are content with the amount of money you’re making now.

Yet, you feel displeased. You want to be able to do more.

Tarot message – Not everything is going as planned.

But keep your hopes up and continue doing your work.

Time will change in your favour.

ork – You’re getting too emotional about what is happening on the work front.

Distance yourself from the situation to see things clearly. Romance – This is a great time for singles to meet someone interesting. There will be times when you want to plunge into a new romance but hold yourself back because you’re too scared. Health – Take care of the heart.

Exercise regularly. Do not drink or smoke.

Money – Money matters are stable. There is little you can do now to improve the situation.

Tarot message – You are thinking too much from the heart and not enough from the head.

Achieve a better balance.

W

ork –Take up a study course that will help you in the future in getting you better job opportunities. Education will never go waste. Romance – You and your partner have some common goals. It is interesting to see how these goals actually bring the two of you together.

Health – Take up massages or routine physiotherapy sessions to improve blood circulation. You need to nurse your body better. Money – There is no dearth of money. You will be in a good position to bargain for a better deal in your next job change.

Tarot message – Try to achieve better balance of all the aspects of your life.

Romance, career and money take up a lot of importance.

Capricorn

Date 15-9-2013

Aquarius

Ace of Swords

The High Priestess

W

ork – You’re pulling along at work even if you don’t enjoy it all that much. You will be in a better position to make a choice a few months later. Romance – Spend quality time together with your loved one. Even 10 minutes over a cup of coffee per day can do wonders to the relationship. Health – Listen to your body and do whatever you feel like. By being too rigid about a fitness or health routine, you may be doing more harm than good. Money – No worries here. Finances are settling into a stable position. Tarot message – Intuition plays a very important role at this time. You have to learn to listen to your heart more than your head.

ork – You tend to either like a person too much or hate him too much. Try to find the middle path and don’t have so many extremes in likes/dislikes. Romance – This is a very passionate time. You and your partner will discover each other even more and enjoy your time together. Health – You may be overdoing something. By spending too much time on one aspect, you are neglecting several others. Money – Money is looking good.

There is no need for you to worry about anything.

Take advice on taxes and investments when you have some free time. Tarot message – You’re either on one extreme end of the line or on the other. This is not good in the long run.

ork – As a manager, you are very tempted to clip the wings of those in your team. Be careful.

By doing this, you may actually also cut down their creativity. Romance – You and your partner stick with each other despite the difficulties.

This is commendable considering what all you’ve been through. Health – Time to shop healthy.

Start on your journey to good health by shopping for healthy foods and stocking your fridge with the right foods. Money – It may not be a good idea to talk too openly about your investment plans.

Be discreet about this and keep your financial plans to yourself. Tarot message – You are weighed down by societal expectations.

W

Pisces Five of Pentacles

W

ork – You tend to put people in brackets for your convenience.

But they may not be that way at all. Spend more time understanding colleagues. Romance – One person may be feeling superior to the other in the relationship. This is ruining your compatibility. Health – When taking on a diet program, make sure to eat at the right time. When you eat is also as important as what you eat. Money – You may come across some disadvantage on the investment front. You need to put in more effort to make it work. Tarot message – Take some time out and do things you really enjoy. Chill out and relax with family and friends.

Vol: 3, No 54 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at # Plot no.550-A1,3rd floor, Road no-92, Jubilee hills, Hyderabad-500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon. com and for subscription, please call 040-23541412,

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THE SATURDAY QUIZ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

IN THE NEWS

10. Hades was the ancient Greek god of what?

11. In which sport are nose clips used?

12. Which italian fashion desinger was shot dead on the steps of his Miami residence?

13. Where would you find the English Channel?

14. Which planet is closest to the

sun?

15. In which city do the Simpsons cartoon characters live?

16. Which country's currency is Yen? 17. How many white balls are there in a game of snooker?

18. How many stars are there on the flag of China?

19. What is the capital of Egypt?

Answers

5. How many official langauges are there in Sweden?

6. In which country was Albert Einstein born?

7. What is the colour of albino rabbits’ eyes?

8. What kind of animal is Jerry of the Tom and Jerry cartoons?

9. Who invented the saxophone in 1846?

1. Spain and Portugal 2. 1879 3. 800 4. 26 5. 1 6. Germany 7. Red/pink 8. Mouse 9. Adolph Sax 10. The underworld 11. Synchronised swimming 12. Gianni Versace 13. Western Europe 14. Mercury 15. Springfield 16. Japan 17. 1 18. 5 19. Cairo

1. Which two countries made a treaty to divide the world in half in 1494?

2. Name the year when the scientist Albert Einstein was born?

3. Approximately how many medium sixed eartquakes occur every year on earth?

4. How many academy awards did Walt Disney win in total?

TEST YOURSELF

IDENTIFY THESE SCULPTURES

CURRENT AFFAIRS 1

1 2 3 4 5

2

According to the latest UN report, which continent has seen the largest increase of international migrants this past decade?

1 2

Which is the best selling album of all time?

Who was named Entertainer of the Century in 2000?

Over 100 officials and diplomats from the UN and 33 countries are taking part in the sixth Beijing Forum. What is the forum on?

3

According to the latest research what is responsible for the extinction of the woolly mammoth?

Which is the first pop group to perform in China?

4

What is the world’s best-selling musical instrument?

France has announced the creation of what to fight the problem of suicides that every year claim 10,000 lives in the country?

Which spaceship landed with two cosmonauts and an astronaut on board this week after more than 165 days on board the International Space Station (ISS)?

How much do you know about music?

5 6

Which is the shortest national anthem?

3

4

Which album has the record of the maximum number of weeks on the chart of Billboard’s Hot 200 Album list?

7

At what age did Mozart write his first piece?

1. Asia 2. Human Rights 3. Climate change 4. National observatory 5. spaceship Soyuz

Answers with Santosh Ghule How many faces are looking up to the camouflaged lady?

Answer for 83:

India has extended a Line of Credit of how much money to Liberia in order to fund the power transmission and distribution project in the west African nation?

PICTURE PUZZLE 84

WHO AM I? I am a social activist who led movements to promote rural development and increase government transparency.

Who am I?

The face of a nun.

3 4

What is the current rank of badminton player Parupalli Kashyap?

Answer : Anna Hazare

Which Indian-American author's new novel The Lowland is shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker prize?

Answers:

When will India-Bangladesh border ceremony be held?

Answers: 1. Pieta 2. Savannah Bird Girl Statue 3. The Thinker 4. The Discus Thrower

1 2

1. Thriller, Michael Jackson 2. Frank Sinatra 3. Wham!

4. Harmonica 5. At only four lines long, the Japanese national anthem 6. Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon for 741 weeks 7. Five

KNOW YOUR COUNTRY

1. October 2 2. Jhumpa Lahiri 3. 13th 4. $144 million

Answers

29

SPORTS SATURDAY, JULY 13, 2013

Lara to travel with squad

W

‘Expect furious assault’

est Indies batting legend Brian Lara will travel with the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force to India for the upcoming Champions League T20 which begins next week. The former Windies captain will not be a formal part of the team management but is visiting India in a dual role as a tourism ambassador and Red Force mentor.

LEAGUE CRICKET A division two days Megacity 270/9 (Sreekar 132no, Avinash Sharma 3/53, Md Taquillah 3/91) bt P&T Colony 123 (V Abhishek 55, NV Nitish 6/27) Jai Bhagwathi 267 bt Pasha Beedi 112 (Mohammed Faizan 63, SS Bharath Kumar 5/32) National 146 lost to MCC 149/3 (Linford Rad 40) Ours 220 bt Sai Satya 136 (Prasanna 3/35) Gouds XI 179 (Harish Yenikipati 43, G Tarun Yadav 51, K Ramesh 5/33) bt New Blues 130 (Bhagath Pratap Goud 44, Radha Krishna Yadav 5/19) Inter district under-19 one day Adilabad 170 (V Sravan Kumar 79no, Ganesh K 4/34) bt Nalgonda 110 (Sadhan 4/19) Nizamabad 283/6 (Eshwar 87no, SK Sajid 53no, Sathyakhi 47, Vikram Naik 38) bt Warangal 107 (Aniketh Reddy 4/25, Surya Naik 4/26) Medak 181 (Vikram 57, Vishal Goud 32, Krishna Kumar 4/19, Haren 3/50, Shanawaz 3/28) lost to Karimnagar 182/9 (M Madhu 39) A division one day Victory CC 257/5 (Rajnikanth 38, Surya Karthik 108, G Srinivas 30, A Srinivas 32) drew with Future Star 14 for no loss (Match washed out due to rain) LNCC 169/9 (Jitesh 55) drew with Gaganmahal 55/2 (Atul Jolly 31) (Match washed out due to rain).

A

ustralia pace bowler Mitchell Johnson has warned England to expect another ferocious assault in Saturday’s fourth one-day international in Cardiff.

Johnson was not selected for the recent Ashes series which England won 3-0, but he has returned for the five limited overs matches and has already made quite an impact.

champion Jorge Lorenzo said he was back to full health going into this weekend’s San Marino MotoGP, as the Spaniard prepares himself for another run at the title.

Lorenzo, who suffered a broken collarbone at Assen in June, twice underwent surgery following his initial heavy crash in the Netherlands and a subsequent accident in Germany two weeks later. However, he said his injuries had finally healed and that he was back in proper physical shape. “I feel strong again like I was at Montmelo and Mugello before the crash,” said Lorenzo, referring to consecutive wins in Italy and Catalonia before his fall in the Netherlands.

J

ames Tredwell admits he is desperate to boost his chances of becoming England’s premier limited over spinner with a dominant display in Saturday’s fourth one-day international against Australia. Tredwell endured a disappointing spell in the second one-dayer last Sunday as the Australians hit him to all parts of Old Trafford in their 88-run victory.

Horner takes lead, Rodriguez stage America’s Chris Horner took the overall lead of the Tour of Spain while Katusha rider Rodriguez claimed the 19th stage of the event OVIEDO: American Chris Horner sneaked into the overall lead of the Tour of Spain with just two stages remaining as Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez produced a stunning final burst to win the 19th stage on Friday.

Katusha rider Rodriguez attacked with just over a kilometre of the 181km ride from San Vicente de la Barquera to Oviedo remaining to finish 11 seconds ahead of Italy’s Diego Ulissi and teammate Dani Moreno.

Forty-one-year-old Horner came in fifth, six seconds ahead of overnight leader Vincenzo Nibali, to move just three seconds ahead of the Giro d’Italia winner in the general classification.

“It’s always nice to have the red jersey again. I didn’t expect it today, I thought maybe tomorrow,” Horner told Spanish television station TVE afterwards.

“It’s a big surprise. The

Jorge Lorenzo ready for title tilt MISANO: Defending

Tredwell aims to prove worth

“Misano is a track I enjoy a lot and also the Yamaha is comfortable there. My next goal is to fight for the victory once more and think race by race, improving our pace step by step,” added the Spaniard, who has won the last two races at Misano.

Lorenzo halted Marc Marquez’s fourrace winning streak when he triumphed at Silverstone, but he is still 39 points adrift of his rookie compatriot in the riders’ standings with six races remaining.

Having seen title rivals Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa both struck down by injuries this season, Marquez himself dislocated his shoulder at Silverstone but he was confident it would not hamAFP per him at Misano.

Katusha Team’s Spanish rider Joaquin Rodriguez “Purito” celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the 19th stage of the Tour of France on Friday.

AFP/JAIME REINA climb was hard but not that hard. It was more a game of tactics. I had Nibali on my wheel when Rodriguez attacked so I let him go to force Nibali to chase.”

Despite his win, Rodriguez

didn’t move up any places in the general classification.

However, he reduced the gap on those in front of him and is now just 1min 57secs behind Horner and 51secs off compatriot Alejandro Valverde in

third.

“If we didn’t win today, tomorrow would be very difficult because Chris has shown that he is very strong. Today was our last chance,” said a relieved Rodriguez.

The penultimate stage of the race on Saturday is arguably the most daunting yet as the finish line is at the top of the Alto de l’Angliru, a 12.2km climb with an average gradient of over 10 percent.

And with such a demanding climb to come, Rodriguez believes he is now in with a chance of not only securing a place on the podium, but fighting for the overall victory.

“It is a beautiful finish (in Oviedo), for any climber to leave their mark on the top is very special and today has been an incredible confidence boost.

“I hope to be at my best and to also have the chance to win AFP tomorrow.”

HYDERABAD POLO SEASON

Players of SSC and Forces are seen in action during their match of the Chief Minister’s Cup of the Hyderabad Polo Season held at the Bison Polo Grounds in Secunderabad on Friday. SSC won the match with the score reading 11 goals to 3 ½. In another match, HPRC defeated DPRC 6 goals to 5.

30

SPORTS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

Canada level with Serbia BELGRADE: Canada ended the first day of their Davis Cup semi-final with Serbia level on 11 as Janko Tipsarevic failed to follow up Novak Djokovic’s opening win.

In the first rubber, it took only 100 minutes for world number one Djokovic to compellingly and confidently rout 41st-ranked Canadian Vasek Pospisil, giving Serbia an early lead.

Djokovic, who arrived in Belgrade on Wednesday after losing to Spain’s Rafael Nadal in the third of four consecutive bids to win the US Open final, only allowed Pospisil a total of six games, racking up a series of 13 in a row and easily winning 62, 6-0, 6-4.

“Playing for my country additionally inspires me and gives me an extra strength. I played extremely good and I am very happy to have brought a lead to Serbia,” Djokovic told reporters after the match.

Pospisil admitted he had no chance against Djokovic “playing the way he was playing”.

“I’m not going to put up any excuses. He’s the No. 1 in the world for a reason and I thought he played amazing,” Pospisil said.

But in the following rubber, Montenegro-born Canadian Milos Raonic, the world number 11, defeated the 23rd-ranked Janko Tipsarevic in a dramatic five-set match 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8.

This was Tipsarevic’s ninth singles five-setter while playing

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reacts after winning against Canada’s Vasek Pospisil during their Davis Cup semimatch on Friday.

AFP

Results Serbia 1 Canada 1: Novak Djokovic (SRB) bt Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 6-2, 6-0, 6-4 Milos Raonic (CAN) bt Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8.

Poland 0 Australia 1: Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) bt Lukasz Kubot(POL) 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 Bernard Tomic (AUS) bt Michal Przysiezny (POL) 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4.

Czech Republic 2 Argentina 0: Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Juan Monaco (ARG) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-2 Tomas Berdych (CZE) bt Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 6-4, 46, 6-3, 6-4 Netherlands 2 Austria 0: Robin Haase (NED) bt

Tiger Woods penalized for moving ball CHICAGO: Tiger Woods was having a pretty decent day on Friday until rules officials informed him after his second round was over that they were slapping him with a two-stroke penalty.

World number one Woods managed a oneover 72 in the second round of the BMW Championship to end in a share of 13th at fourunder 138.

But that included being hit with a two-shot penalty on the first hole, when he tried to move a tiny stick that also slightly shifted his golf ball. That changed his double bogey to a quadruple bogey. Rules officials said they were alerted to the infraction by a PGA Tour videographer.

The penalty leaves Woods in a group that was seven shots off the lead heading into Saturday’s third round. Woods said he thought the ball had only oscillated in place but officials ruled otherwise. The incident took place before he hit his third shot at the 363-yard, par-four hole.

The rules violation occurred after Woods hit his second shot over the green and onto some dirt and branches under a cluster of trees.

“He had a pretty large loose impediment behind his ball, which he moved, was no problem at all, and there was a little stick of some sort kind of obviously next to his ball, and when he rolled that, the ball in fact moved,” said Slugger White, the vice president of rules AFP and competition.

Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 Thiemo de Bakker (NED) bt Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 5-7, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 Belgium 1 Israel 2: Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (ISR) bt Steve Darcis/Olivier Rochus (BEL) 6-3, 5-7, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 Spain 2 Ukraine 0: Fernado Verdasco (ESP) bt Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 6-0, 6-0, 6-4 Germany 2 Brazil 0: Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) bt Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA) 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 Florian Mayer (GER) bt Tomaz Bellucci (BRA) 6-4, 6-1, 6-2

for Serbia in the Davis Cup. Tipsarevic twice took a lead in the four-hour match, but Raonic tied both times and in the exciting fifth set the two were levelled until 4-4.

Having won his fifth game, Tipsarevic managed to gain a match point on Raonic’s serve, but failed to capitalise and eventually lost the match in which Raonic served 35 aces in total, 11 of which came in the fifth set alone.

“It’s great to come back from 2-1 down. I was serving really well and that kept me alive,” Raonic said.

Serbia’s coach Bogdan Obradovic said, however: “Tipsarevic has nothing to regret”.

In the doubles on Saturday, Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac face Pospisil and his team-mate Daniel Nestor.

Zimonjic and Nestor are former doubles partners, who won Wimbledon twice (2008 and 2009) and the 2010 French Open.

The tie is being played on an indoor clay court before a sellout crowd of 15,000 at Belgrade Arena. The winner will advance to November’s final against either Argentina or the Czech Republic.

Serbia, eyeing Davis Cup glory after victory in 2010 against France, are without Viktor Troicki, who is serving an 18-month doping ban handed down by the International AFP Tennis Federation (ITF).

Nadal puts Spain on brink of victory PARIS: Rafael Nadal showed no hint of a US Open hangover as he crushed Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-0, 60, 6-4 to put Spain 2-0 up on Ukraine in their Davis Cup World Group play-off in Madrid on Friday.

Nadal returned to action less than four days after securing a second success at Flushing Meadows, and a 13th Grand Slam in total.

Yet he showed no signs of fatigue as he mastered his favourite clay surface and in so doing inflicted a humiliating defeat on the world 92nd ranked player who dumped Roger Federer out of Wimbledon in July.

Nadal reeled off the first 12 straight games before Stakhovsky finally held serve, and celebrated as if he’d won a Grand Slam final.

But his reprieve was brief as Nadal romped home for the loss of only four games.

Earlier, Fernando Verdasco had battled back from a set down to beat world number 40 Alexandr Dolgopolov 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to put Spain firmly in command. AFP

Furyk fires magical 59 CHICAGO: Jim Furyk became just the sixth player in US PGA Tour history to fire a 12under 59, his sizzling round lifting him into a share of the BMW Championship halfway lead. Furyk capped his round at the par-71 Conway Farms Golf Club with a three-foot birdie at the ninth hole, his last of the day.

He had 11 birdies, one eagle and one bogey and joined Brandt Snedeker atop the leaderboard. “There’s not much I could have improved on today,” said Furyk, who got off to a sizzling start with birdies at his first three holes, the 10th, 11th and 12th.

Another birdie at the par-five 14th was followed by an eagle at the par-four 15th, where he holed a wedge from 115 yards out in the fairway.

Birdies at 17 and 18 saw him make the turn in 28.

From there, the eight-time Ryder Cup player said, he tried to forget about his first nine holes and just focus on his inward run.

He birdied three in a row starting at the second before

his only miscue of the day, a bogey at the par-four fifth.

“It was a little hectic down the stretch,” admitted Furyk, who hit all 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens in regulation. “I had the three-putt at five and you could see the nerves at the sixth, leaving the putt short. “I got myself back on track at seven, then I was kind of between clubs at eight with a pretty good chance to make my birdie.”

Needing a birdie at nine to break 60, Furyk said he told himself “how many chances are you going to have in your life to do this again?” Furyk fired his approach right at the pin, and rolled the short putt into the heart of the cup to finish his 12-under round.

Furyk is the first US PGA Tour player to post a 59 since 2010, when both Paul Goydos and Australian Stuart Appleby achieved the feat.

David Duval, Chip Beck and Al Geiberger have also done it.

However, Furyk said he couldn’t afford to focus on

that achievement, with the final two days of the tournament looming.

“I’ll have to calm down later on tonight and realize that I’ve got myself in contention in a golf tournament where I was, whatever, nine back starting the day,” he said. “I still have a good weekend ahead of me.

I’m excited for that.”

Furyk, who opened with a one-over 72 on Thursday, is now tied with Snedeker (68) on 11-under 131 — although he said he had to ask someone in the scoring tent to confirm that he had grabbed a share of the lead.

He and Snedeker are three strokes in front of Zach Johnson, who carded a 70 for 134.

Jordan Spieth, whose 65 matched the second-lowest round of the day, led a group on 136 that also included Nick Watney (69), Kevin Streelman (70), South African Charl Schwartzel (70), and Ryan Moore (69).

AFP

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SPORTS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

Misbah stands firm as Pakistan stumble Set 264 to win, Pakistan were 158 for five at the close of play, with Misbahul-Haq unbeaten on 26, setting up a tense last day against Zimbabwe.

HARARE: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq stood firm as his side lost five wickets chasing victory on the fourth day of the second Test against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Friday.

Set 264 to win, Pakistan were 158 for five at the close of play, setting up a tense last day with Zimbabwe having a realistic chance of sharing the series and earning a rare victory against one of cricket’s major nations.

Misbah was unbeaten on 26 and will resume batting on Saturday with wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal (17 not out), with Pakistan needing another 106 runs to win.

Pakistan made an aggressive start to the chase after bowling out Zimbabwe for 199, breaking a trend of slow scoring on a wearing, cracked pitch. But they were forced to become more cautious as the Zimbabwe bowlers

Srinivasan at disciplinary meet, raises eyebrows NEW DELHI: Indian cricket board president N Srinivasan raised a few eyebrows as he chaired the meeting of the disciplinary committee that served life bans on cricketers S Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan here on Friday. The self-recused BCCI chief remained unfazed and told IANS: “I have chaired the meeting.” Asked if he was morally right to chair the meeting, Srinivasan said: “What more important is that we have taken some strict actions against the tainted cricketers. I am still the president of the BCCI and have the right to chair the meeting.” Srinivasan had stepped aside as the BCCI chief, handing over the affairs to Jagmohan Dalmiya, after his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested by Mumbai police for betting in the IPL. Srinivasan had also filed an affidavit in the Bombay High Court July 4 that he would return to the board chief ’s post only after the commission that was set up by the board comes up with a full and final decision against Gurunath and IANS India Cements.

Zimbabwe’s Prosper Utseya (R) rushes to celebrate a wicket with bowler Brian Vitori (C) on the fourth day of the second Test against Pakistan on Friday.

AFP/JEKESAI NJIKIZANA

struck at regular intervals.

First-change bowler Tendai Chatara made a crucial breakthrough when he dismissed Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali in quick succession to reduce Pakistan to 46 for two in the 12th over.

Opening batsman Manzoor Ahmed stroked his way to his second half-century of the match, hitting 11 fours in an innings of 54 before he was caught at short leg off off-spinner Prosper Utseya.

That brought Misbah in to join fellow veteran Younis Khan but Pakistan suffered a huge blow when Younis was bowled for 29, shaping to play left-armer Brian Vitori to leg and losing his leg stump.

Misbah might have given a difficult chance when he was on 14, with wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami diving far to his right but unable to hold on to a

low deflection.

But Mutumbami made no mistake when Asad Shafiq tried to cut Utseya and top-edged the ball into the wicketkeeper’s gloves. Chatara finished the day with two for 29 from 13 overs, while Utseya had two for 40 from 13 overs.

Earlier, left-arm opening bowler Rahat Ali took five for 52 as Zimbabwe were bowled out after adding only 78 runs to their overnight 121 for four.

Rahat made the first breakthrough of the day when he had Vusi Sibanda caught behind for 10 and he followed up with the key wicket of Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor, who made 27 off 83 balls, as well as tail-ender Chatara.

Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal claimed two wickets and left-arm fast bowler Junaid Khan one as Pakistan kept the Zimbabwe AFP batsmen under pressure.

SCORECARD Zimbabwe first innings 294 Pakistan first innings 230 Zimbabwe second innings (overnight 121-4) B. Taylor c Azhar Ali b Rahat Ali 27 V. Sibanda c A Akmal b Rahat Ali 10 M. Waller c K Manzoor b S Ajmal 3 E. Chigumbura c A Akmal b J Khan 3 R. Mutumbami c A Rehman b S Ajmal 29 T. Chatara c Adnan Akmal b Rahat Ali 1 B. Vitori not out 0 Extras (b3, lb11, w5) 19 Total (all out, 89.5 overs) 199 Bowling: Junaid Khan 19-6-37-1 (1w), Rahat Ali 24.5-5-52-5, Saeed Ajmal 22-7-56-2, Abdur Rehman 24-5-40-2 Pakistan second innings K Manzoor c Waller b Utseya 54 Md Hafeez c Vitori b Chatara 16 Azhar Ali b Chatara 0 Younis Khan b Vitori 29 Misbah-ul-Haq not out 26 Asad Shafiq c Mutumbami b Utseya 14 Adnan Akmal not out 17 Extras (nb1, w1) 2 Total (5 wkts, 49 overs) 158 Bowling: Panyangara 10-2-32-0, Vitori 12-2-55-1 (1w), Chatara 13-229-2 (1nb), Utseya 13-2-40-2, Masakadza 1-0-2-0

Sreesanth gets life ban Kuldip LAL

I have done no wrong: Sreesanth

Agence France-Presse

NEW DELHI: Test fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (in pic) has been banned from cricket for life after being found guilty of spot-fixing during the Indian Premier League, authorities said Friday.

Ankeet Chavan, a teammate of Sreesanth’s in the Rajasthan Royals team, was also handed a life ban following a probe by the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) anti-corruption chief Ravi Sawani.

“Sreesanth and Chavan have been banned for life from playing any representative cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates,” the board said in a statement. The BCCI’s threemember disciplinary committee, taking action on Sawani’s report, handed a five-year suspension to Amit Singh, who played in the IPL till last year, for his involvement in spot-fixing.

Rajasthan Royals’ Siddharth Trivedi was suspended for one year after being found guilty of the lesser charge of not informing officials about approaches made by bookmakers.

The case against Harmeet Singh, a 21-year-old spinner, who had also been suspected of hiding a bookmaker’s approach, was “closed in the absence of

THIRUVANANTHAPURA M: Sep 13 (IANS) Even as

SREESANTH, 30, IS THE ONLY ACCUSED PLAYER TO HAVE PLAYED FOR INDIA, HAVING TAKEN PART IN 27 TESTS, 53 ODIS AND 10 TWENTY20 MATCHES. evidence against him”, the BCCI statement said.

The BCCI did not announce any action against another Rajasthan Royals player, Ajit Chandila, who was also accused of spot-fixing by the anti-corruption officer.

The BCCI have not released Sawani’s report but the Indian

former Indian speedster S. Sreesanth claims he has done no wrong, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has bowled a beamer by slapping a life ban on the temperamental cricketer.

“You wait and see, the BCCI will soon cut a sorry figure because all what they did was to take out the Delhi police case version, as they ( BCCI) have a ‘zero tolerance policy’,” former Kerala Cricket Association secretary K. Ajith Kumar told the media here, after learning of the life ban imposed by the BCCI on Sreesanth.

“I have done no wrong,” was Sreesanth’s comment to the TV channels here. On May 16, the Delhi police took him into custody from Mumbai for his alleged spo- fixing in IPL matches featuring his team Rajasthan Royals.

IANS

Express newspaper said that Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan were found guilty on multiple accounts, including conceding a “pre-determined number of runs per over in exchange for bribes”.

Sreesanth, Chandila, Chavan and Singh are among 39 people who have also been charged separately in court by Delhi Police in the corruption scandal that rocked this year’s IPL. Sreesanth, 30, is the only one to have played for India, having taken part in 27 Tests, 53 one-day internationals and 10 Twenty20 matches. He was a member of India’s victorious teams in the World Twenty20 in 2007 and the World Cup in 2011.

The Indian Express quoted Sawani as saying in his report that he hoped the BCCI will “impose such sanctions as considered appropriate to send out a strong signal indicating the zero tolerance policy of the BCCI to any corruption in the sport.”

“Obviously, the anti-corruption education given to the players had no impact on the conduct. Therefore, the players deserve no leniency whatsoever,” he said in his report.

The players were arrested in May along with scores of bookies as part of a police investigation into the spot-fixing scandal, which had caused outrage among fans in the cricket-mad nation.

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SPORTS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

Moyes will not rush Rooney Rooney posted pictures of the cut online to prove his absence was fully justified and United boss Moyes is uncertain if the wound has healed enough to put the forward back in his team.

Steven GRIFFITHS

LONDON: David Moyes will wait until the last minute before deciding if Wayne Rooney can return from his head injury in Manchester United’s Premier League clash against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Rooney was forced to miss United’s defeat at Liverpool at the end of last month and England’s World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine after suffering a nasty head gash in an accidental training ground collision with Phil Jones. The 27year-old posted pictures of the cut online to prove his absence was fully justified and United boss Moyes is uncertain if the wound has healed enough to put the forward back in his team.

“He is in great physical shape,” Moyes said. “Obviously he has a cut right in the middle of his forehead which could split because the skin is very thin.

“But he has had his stitches out and it has knitted. We just have to see where the level of risk is with his injury.”

Meanwhile, Mesut Ozil and Willian could be among the players making their first Premier League appearances this weekend, while Tottenham Hotspur will begin life without Gareth Bale.

No sooner did the transfer window close on September 2 than the international break began, meaning that fans have had to wait close to two weeks for a first glimpse of their clubs’ new signings in action.

Arsenal’s capture of Ozil from Real Madrid in a clubrecord £42.4 million deal stole the deadline-day headlines, and he is expected to make his debut at Sunderland on Saturday.

The deal made Ozil the most expensive German footballer of all time, but the 24-year-old has played down the significance of his price tag.

“I would have come here without a fee. That would not be a problem,” he told reporters after being officially presented as an Arsenal player on Thursday. “Of course I am proud of this, but the most important thing is that the manager trusts me. That was crucial for me and that is why I came to Arsenal.”

The manager, Arsene Wenger, says there is a “possibility” that Ozil will start at the Stadium of Light, where Arsenal will be bidding to record a fifth consecutive win in all competitions.

Their last league outing saw them prevail 1-0 against north London rivals Tottenham, who host Norwich City on Saturday in the first game since Welsh for-

Hanover fired up for Bayern test BERLIN: Hanover 96 head to Europ-

successful.”

It has been nearly seven years since Hanover’s last win in Munich.

Since then, Bayern have recorded six straight wins in this fixture, scoring 25 goals in the process — an average of more than four per game. Slomka’s side take on a Bayern team in transition since Pep Guardiola took charge in June, but Hanover will be without Senegal striker Mame Diouf, who has an ankle injury.

Bayern dropped their first points in the league under Guardiola when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Freiburg and the Champions League holders face a taxing three weeks with seven games in 22 days.

Boggle Number game

Scrabble

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SHOE SOCK BOOT SNEAKER SANDAL

Suduko

ean champions Bayern Munich in buoyant mood following their best start to a Bundesliga season with coach Mirko Slomka anticipating an upset on Saturday.

“It’s a good opportunity for a surprise,” said Slomka, whose side have won three of their opening four league games and lie joint-third in the table with Bayer Leverkusen, one point behind second-placed Bayern. “Basically, every opponent finds it hard at the Allianz Arena — whether it’s Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Augsburg or Hanover.

“The key for us is to tick off the past and to develop a conviction as a team to get better and even more

ward Bale completed his move to Madrid for a reported worldrecord fee of around £86 million.

Spurs offset Bale’s departure by spending around £110 million on new players and could hand a debut to Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen against Norwich.

With the Bale saga finally at an end, coach Andre Villas-Boas has urged his players to refocus quickly.

“What we have to do is move on,” he said during Thursday’s pre-game press conference.

On Eriksen, he added: “I think what happened with Christian is a bit like that happened with Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart when they were at Ajax.

“We expect great things of Christian Eriksen and we want to develop him into becoming that sort of important player for us as well.”

United’s 1-0 loss to Liverpool before the international break left them five points behind their bitter rivals, who top the standings ahead of Monday’s visit to manager Brendan Rodgers’ former club Swansea City.

With Liverpool not in action over the weekend, second-place Chelsea can claim top spot in the nascent standings if they prevail AFP at Everton on Saturday.

Eto’o could make debut against Everton Eto’o, 32, moved to Stamford Bridge from Anzhi Makhachkala in the final week of the transfer window.

LONDON: Jose Mourinho is planning to hand Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o his Premier League debut when Chelsea visit Everton on Saturday. Eto’o, 32, moved to Stamford Bridge from Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala in the final week of the transfer window and will join Fernando Torres and Demba Ba in a three-way battle for the central striker role in the team. The Chelsea boss confirmed Eto’o will be in the match-day squad and can expect to feature at Goodison Park, although he stopped short of revealing if the former Barcelona star, who played under Mourinho at Inter Milan, would be in his starting line-up this weekend.

“He will be selected and when you are selected and you are a striker, normally you play. You start the game or finish the game,” Mourinho said on Friday.

“My attacking players, normally when I select them they play because it’s the area I make most changes in the match.

So normally he will play his first minutes for Chelsea in the Premier League.”

Despite being in the twilight of his illustrious career, Mourinho believes Eto’o will make an immediate impact in AFP his new surroundings.