Postnoon E-Paper for March 16th 2013

STEVEN SMITH

92

MA STARC

99

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STERLING REARGUARD HELPS AUSSIES TO 408

n reply to Australia's 408 all out, India were three for no loss at lunch on the third day of the third cricket Test. Steven Smith made 92 and, Mitchell Starc made 99; Ishant Sharma took 3/72, and Ravindra Jadeja 3/77.

Australia 408, India 3/0 PG 31

WEATHER: CLEAR. WINDY AT TIMES; 29°C

CONSENTING MINORS?

Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

MARCH 16, 2013 HYDERABAD

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32 PAGES

ON SATURDAY

When a group of Empowered Ministers of government led by P Chidambaram finalised changes to the anti-rape bill draft, their decision to reduce the age of consent for sex from 18 to 16 years caused a furore across the nation. We talked to women activists to find out what they thought.

PG 5

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

THE TALE OF REPORT ON PG 4

2 WOMEN AND

3 CHILDREN

Borabanda municipal ward that goes to the polls tomorrow throws up another curious case of a woman with more than two children, plus a whole lot more...

Dazed and confused Wine shops in Madhapur were doing brisk business on Friday evening. A kilometre away in Jubilee Hills, wine shops were closed. A kilometre further, shops and bars were open. If you’re confused, the you’re not alone. We set out to find the reason for this.

It was revealed that a municipal ward in Borabanda is going to the polls on Sunday, hence the model code of conduct is put in play which includes shutting down bars, wineshops and restaurants that serve alcohol.

And then the great confusion began.

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PAGE TWO SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

Easter goodies

RIDING INTO THE SUNSET

designers.

Where: Taj Khazana Taj Falaknuma Palace When: March 15-25 Contact: (040) 6629 8600

Hot cross buns, Easter Bunnies, and Easter chocolates are part of the special Easter menu.

Where: Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre When: March 25-31 Contact: (040) 6682 4422

Filmmaking workshop Yavanika Films is conducting a fourweekend workshop starting March 16. It will teach participants to write scripts and understand the concepts film-making and editing.

Each participant will make their own short film as part of the workshop.

When: Weekends starting March 16 Contact: 94901 00404

St Patrick’s Day – Brunch Menu includes Irish soda bread, boxty and colcannon.

Where: The Square, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre When: from March 17, noon onwards Contact: (040) 6682 4422

Thinking form and content

Saturday sunset BBQ Bring your family and friends for a fun barbecue evening with grilled specialties, a variety of Kebabs and a whole lot of Asian delights.

Where: The Square, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre When: Every Saturday, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 6682 4422

An exhibition of art work by Gopal Nayak.

Where: ICONART Gallery, Apollo Pharmacy, Road no. 12, Sri Ram Nagar Colony, Banjara Hills When: Preview on March 16 at 6.30 pm Up to March 30, from 11.30 am to 7 pm Contact: 9849 968797

Special lunch There is a special lunch buffet at Kailash Parbat. It includes chats, starters, soup, welcome drinks and desserts. There are special packages for kitty groups and big groups.

Where: Kailash Parbat, Above Ebony Gautier, second floor, Road no. 36, Jubilee Hills When: Ongoing Contact: (040) 2355 8856

Francophonie day 2013

DocuSplash!

Barf, 1997 & Sita’s Family, 2002, Delhi Mumbai Delhi, 2006 and Naach, 2008, will be screened.

Where: Goethe-Zentrum, Hyderabad 20 Journalist Colony, Road no. 3, Banjara Hills When: March 24, 11am onwards Contact: gothe.de/hyderabad

Sangeet Sandhya Aradhana Karhade presents an evening of Hindustani classical performances.

Where: Lamakaan, Lane Adjacent to CBay, Opposite GVKOne, Road No 1, Banjara Hills When: March 16, 7pm onwards Contact: 96427 31329

Art for children A workshop is being held for children aged 4-6 years to improve their reading and comprehension skills.

CINEMAS

A camel spotted at Necklace Road, Hyderabad.

Where: Treasure House, Banjara Hills When: Every Wednesday and Friday, Up to March 29 Contact: (040) 2355 0118

French heritage A photographic voyage of French heritage in India with Anay Mann, Gigi Scaria, Rishi Singhal, Serena Chopra, Isabel Saij along with JeanPierre Dubois.

Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery, Banjara Hills When: March 16-21 11am to 7pm Contact: (040) 6656 4466

Women in Public Spaces About one month ago GoetheZentrum Hyderabad has called for applications for a group photography exhibition on ‘Women in Public

M ANIL KUMAR

Spaces.’ This is an exhibition of selected entries.

Where: Goethe-Zentrum, Hyderabad When: March 15-24, 9.30am to 5.30pm Contact: (040) 2335 0443

The great Oxford sale Discounts on books, magazines, stationery and gift items.

Where: Oxford Bookstore, Tresorie, The Park, 22 Raj Bhavan Road When: Up to March 31 Contact: (040) 3100 2959

Spring Treasure sale There is a sale of up to 50 per cent off at Taj Khazana, which showcases artefacts as well as a selection of garments, stoles, shawls and accessories from various Indian

The open day includes free demo classes, crêpe tasting and a short film about France. Labcitoyen competition for young French speakers gives you a chance to win a trip to France in July. The evening events include performance by French speakers from different countries and other fun activities.

Where: Alliance Française, Plot n0. 4, Aurora Colony, Road no. 3, Banjara Hills When: March 20, Open day: 10am to 4pm Competition: 3pm Evening events: 6pm Contact: (040) 64603341

Daily treats Orange is the fruit of the month at The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace.

Dishes include orange blossom cheesecake, orange creme bluree and dark chocolate orange tart.

Where: Daily Treats The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace When: Up to March 31 Contact: (040) 6767 6818

It’s Easter!

There is a special Easter brunch.

Where: Seasonal Tastes, The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace When: March 31, noon to 4pm Contact: (040) 6767 6888

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, MARCH 16, 2013

CBI grills Janardhana

ID check drive at railways

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BI grilled former Karnataka minister G Janardhana Reddy and two of his associates in connection with an alleged iron ore export scam. Reddy, Mehfuz Ali Khan and Karapudi Mahesh were questioned separately for a few hours, said sources in CBI, whose action came a day after a CBI court here directed the agency to interrogate them.

Reddy’s Labs director dies

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he South Central Railway will conduct a week-long special drive from March 16 to check the identity proofs of passengers travelling in all classes of reserved coaches. During the drive, railway officials will thoroughly check whether passengers are carrying valid identity proofs in original, as per the norms.

he founder director of Reddy’s Labs, K Anji Reddy, died on Friday. He was 73 and is survived by a son and a daughter. He first started Uniloids in 1976 and then began Reddy’ Labs in 1984 as per international standards, which emerged as a pharma major. His NGO Nandi Foundation is the social corporate responsibility arm of Dr Reddy’s Labs.

TDP, Cong for action against dissident MLAs Inkeshaf Ahmed

ahmed.m@postnoon.com

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he fourth day of the 12th budget session of AP Assembly began this morning amid the uproar of rival TDP, TRS and other political parties.

Interestingly, the House commenced its business within

nine hours, as the discussion and voting undertaken by the speaker on the no-confidence motion (NCM) moved by YSRC, TRS, CPI, BJP parties on Friday continued till 1am today.

The marathon discussion had begun at 11.30am on Friday, after receiving the support of 45 MLAs for the NCM. While the joy of defeating the NCM

OU offers free coaching for its students The university recently inaugurated the Equal Opportunity Cell. Students from all colleges under OU can get training for competitive exams

ALEENA ALICE

aleena.t@postnoon.com

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oaching for competitive exams is usually an expensive affair, but Osmania University (OU) has come to the aid of its students by providing free training for competitive exams to nearly 2,000 students.

The university recently inaugurated the Equal Opportunity Cell (EOC) and students from all colleges under the Osmania University can get training for competitive exams like Group I, Group II, NET, bank entrance exams and other public examinations. “Following the directions of the University Grants Commission (UGC), which made it mandatory to have an EOC in all universities, OU now provides educational empowerment to students. This is one of the biggest training centres in Andhra Pradesh,” says arts college principal S Mallesham.

Since majority of the students in OU are from rural areas, spoken English training is also being offered to the students.

The training programme takes place between 6am and 9am and again from 3pm to 9pm.

“Most of us here come from rural areas and are from poor economic back-

grounds. We have to pay anything between `15,000 to `45,000 for coaching in other training centres, so this opportunity to learn within the university itself free of cost has come as a blessing,” says G Dayakar, who is perusing his MA and preparing for the Group I exam.

The spoken English classes are a boon for many students who earlier found it difficult to even frame a complete sentence. “I come from a Telugu medium school and prior to attending the spoken English classes I could not even frame a complete sentence. However, now I can speak English fluently. For any interview, communication skill is an important factor and now I am confident I will be able to ace any interview,” says E Roja, an MSc student.

OU authorities say that their aim is to not just see students clear their examinations, but also to provide all-round development. “We are not training students to just clear the competitive exams but also want them to be good individuals by building their character. To do this we have introduced personality development classes. Since pupils here study for long hours, we ensure that every student gets a counselling session so that his/her mind is free of stress,” says P Vishnudev, EOC coordinator.

To train the students, the university authorities have hired expert faculty from other institutions, apart from its own senior faculty. Nearly 60 per cent of the experts who train OU students are from other universities.

The UGC has granted `2 lakh for this programme and apart from this, OU has also pumped in money from various other schemes to ensure that all its students benefit from the training. Encouraged by the interest shown in the programme, the management hopes that majority of the achievers in various public examinations will be from Osmania University.

was clearly seen on the faces of Congress MLAs, TRS and YSRC leaders were disheartened.

ROUTINE SCENE

The uproar by opposition parties continued today too, following the rejection of adjournment motions given by rival political parties by speaker N Manohar. TRS and TDP mem-

bers forced Manohar to adjourn the House twice, for one hour each. TDP is planning to complain to the speaker against six of its dissident MLAs who had voted in favour of the NCM by violating that party whip. Congress too has a similar plan against nine of its MLAs, who went against the decision of the party.

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CITY SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

Dazed and confused

After 60 years of practicing democracy, we have a confused official machinery that groans and creaks, directing the lives and businesses of people in the event of a limited electoral process. Our Reporter captures a befuddling turn of events.

nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com

rahul.r@postnoon.com

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A DETAILED ACCOUNT 4.11pm: Chief electoral officer of Andhra Pradesh, Bhanwar Lal says, “ It is not actually our jurisdiction. Local body elections are undertaken by the State Election Commission, as they have separate rules. I suggest you go speak to them directly.”

04:17 PM: N Jayasimha Reddy, joint director ( Municipalities ) of the State Election Commission says, “ We have issued a notification that the entire GHMC area’s bar and restaurants, wine shops and places selling IML/IMFL should be shut for 48 hours from 5pm Friday to 5pm Sunday. This was the notification issued.”

On being informed about the joint director’s version that the entire GHMC area’s alcohol businesses were to be shut down: 4.19pm: Amit Garg, additional commissioner of police (law and order), says, “ We have always followed the procedure of shutting down places selling alcohol within the municipality where the elections are happening. I will, however, confirm this and

All comes down to children as Borabanda ward goes to polls tomorrow.

Md Nizamuddin

RAHUL RAMAKRISHNA

ine shops in Madhapur were doing usual business on Friday evening. A kilometre ahead, on the way to Jubilee Check Post, wine shops were found closed. A kilometre further, shops and bars were doing business. Curious about the situation, Postnoon set out to find what the reason was.

It was revealed that a municipal ward in Borabanda is going to polls on Sunday, hence the model code of conduct is put to play, which includes shutting down of bars, wineshops and restaurants that serve alcoholic drinks (an archaic law, of course, but here we are).

Then the great confusions began. A check with the electoral offices, excise wing, police and municipal authorities brought out conflicting views about the rule. Each official had his version, though finally it was cleared after a lot of talks back and forth with all those involved in the electoral process. It was the decided that in a limited election of a municipality, only those geographical areas marked as ‘under election process’ need to observe the ‘liquor bandh’ policy. Meanwhile, many bars and restaurants were comically pushing up and pushing down shutters, not knowing which side of the law is right!

Tale of 2 women

Police notification

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n exercise of the powers vested in me under section 2 of the AP Excise Act (Act No.6 of 1974), I, Ch D Tirumala Rao, IPS, commissioner of police, Cyberabad, cum addl. district magistrate (executive) of Cyberabad, do

get back to you soon.”

The dramatic turn of events comes to a climax when the additional commissioner called back for a clarification over this issue.

4.50pm: Amit Garg says, “ I have spoken to zonal commissioner Ronald Rose, who has, in-fact, consulted the chief electoral officer and has confirmed that the clamp down orders on wine shops and bars and restaurants is limited to the polling area. So, in effect, the businesses in Jubilee Hills and SR Nagar police station limits will be shut from 5pm Friday to 5pm Sunday.

All confusion has been cleared.”

At this point, it should not surprise the reader why Bhanwar Lal had decided to clear the doubts of the zonal commissioner, but had refused to clarify this issue with the press. And soon, the excise department too confirmed this order received from the City police.

4.57pm: Mohammad Abdul Ameed , IC, Commissionerate of Prohibition and Excise, says, “We received orders from the City police commissioner’s office to shut down bars and restaurants and wine shops from 5pm Friday, March 15, to 5pm Sunday, March 17.”

And finally at 5:16pm, the joint director (municipalities) of the State Election Commission confirms the order and apologises for the confusion. “ The order

hereby order that all the toddy and wine shops, including bars and restaurants (excluding bars in star hotels) shall remain closed from 17:00 hours on 15.03.2013 to 17:00 hours on 17.03.2013 in the jurisdiction of Borabanda of

For clarification, this is what the law says:

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he Model Code of Conduct, stipulated by the State Election Commission for local bodies election says in clause 3(B), “ When elections are notified to a limited number of casual or ordinary vacancies in the local bodies, otherwise than Statewide ordinary elections, the area of applicability or enforcement of Model Code of Conduct shall be as follows: Member of a municipality/nagar panchayat: When election is notified to the office of member of a municipality/nagar panchayat, the Model Code of Conduct shall be applicable for the entire area of that municipality or nagar panchayat.

Member of a municipal corporation: When election is notified to the office of member of a municipal corporation, the Model Code of Conduct shall be applicable for the entire area of that municipal corporation.

Sanathnagar PS Limits, of Cyberabad Police commissionerate, in connection with casual elections to 108 Borabanda ward of the GHMC to be held on 17.03.2013 in the interest of public peace and tranquility. has been restricted to the municipality area undergoing elections and not the entire GHMC area as it is a local body election.

If it were a general election, the entire GHMC area would shut its alcohol businesses down.

Sorry for the confusion. “ From this confusion, it is only clear that those responsible for conducting the elections are still not clear about their duties, or are extremely careless in their response to a public enquiry, which is evident from the trail of confusion created.

As to the logic of shutting down booze trade in the area of election, even Jayasimha Reddy agreed that it was quite frivolous. “This has always been a discussion, but this is how the system functions and this is what the rule stipulates. Yes, people can take advantage of the limited restriction applied and use alternative options, but such is the state of democracy moulded for our citizens. We need to follow what the law says.”

When asked why three, four and five-star hotels have been exempted from the prohibition on sale of liquor, D Tirumal Rao, commissioner of police, Cyberabad, said, “It is because they offer minimum security risk to the election process and it is common knowledge that the voting populous of the election municipality does not go to star hotels to consume alcohol normally.

arsing Rao, husband of Bhanumati, the MIM candidate, relaxes as the campaign ends for the Borabanda ward. For more than three years, he and his wife struggled hard to nail Congress candidate G Vanaja, who had won the elections three years ago, and now lost it because she has more than two children against the civic election rules.

Recently, BJP had won the Langer House ward against the MIM counselor on the same issue.

The cold war started between the two women immediately after Bhanumati lost by just a 1,000 votes in a ward of 27,000 voters. But the story climaxed three years later when Bhanumati won the battle in the court two months ago. Unlike the BJP candidate, the MIM candidate did not get the benefit of succeeding the disqualified Congress corporator. The result of tomorrow’s polls will have to be held till the High Court clears the matter.

Interestingly, the case against Vanaja was stoked by none other than her brotherin-law himself ! She has three school going children as against two the law permits.

WARD

PUNISHED s the winner was bound hands and foot in litigation, no development could take place.

“What development could she have done when we have been keeping her engaged all these three years,” says Narsing Rao. Residents of Banjara Nagar, near Congress office, complain of neglect of their locality during the last three years of Congress.

“The ward got nothing. The family of the former corporator has benefitted. In our ward, the number of liquor shops has only gone up,” says Mahboob Ali, a resident.

Though the ward is reserved for women, their husbands are on the driving seat.

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CITY SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

Consenting “I

Nidhi Bhushan

nidhi.b@postnoon.com

minors?

When a group of Empowered Ministers of government led by P Chidambaram finalised changes to the anti-rape bill draft, their decision to reduce the age of consent for sex from 18 to 16 years caused a furore across the nation.

Postnoon talks to women activists to find out what they think.

don’t agree with the decision,” says Jameela Nishat, founder of Shaheen Women Resource and Welfare Association. The woman, who gave up a secure government job to help voiceless Muslim women in the Old City 12 years ago, says that the decision will be good and bad depending on the India it will be applied to.

“For the urban part of the country, where awareness is in abundance and so is protection of women, the decision is progressive. It will take that part of the country forward. However, for the rural part of the country, where as it is, we are facing issues like child marriages, prostitution, etc, there will be more scope for misdemeanour. For instance, the decision will adversely affect minor girls in Old City. The decision will encourage paedophilia – a 70-year-old will have the law to back him if he wants to have sex with a 16-year-old,” explains Nishat.

A realistic

woman, who has dedicated her life to helping women in need, Nishat also feels that even now, it is the women who are blamed for being raped or sexually assaulted.

It is they who go through it all. “And, with this decision, it will be harder for them to prove who’s to blame,” she says.

Nishat adds that the bill draft should be well articulated so that it leads to holistic development and provides no scope for child abuse. For example, a 16year-old should be allowed to have sex with boys who belong to a similar age group as opposed to a man who’s much older. “Even proper sex education should be made mandatory in every school to ensure that minors are fully aware of their sexualities. A minor who’s unaware of the consequences of sex is more vulnerable to the act

than the one who has full knowledge of it,”says Nishat.

Rekha Abel, president of Shaheen Women Resource and Welfare Association, agrees with what Nishat has to say. “Since this draft is not changing the age to marry, it only further confuses the definition of a child,” she says. “There is a need to clearly define lines that separate consensual sex from child abuse. For instance, a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old might get together and want to have sex, but it should be worrisome if a person much older is involved.”

When asked to comment as a mother of a 14-year-old daughter, Rekha said, “If my daughter were to get along with someone her age, I wouldn’t have so much of a problem. However, if she is with a person much older than her, this decision will not allow me to hold him responsible and as a parent I would want to hold him accountable.”

Rekha adds that such a decision would only make it easier to traffic young girls.

“As it is, minor girls are being forced into prostitution and passed off as 18.

It’s much easier to pass them off as 16,” says Rekha.

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NATION SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

Intruder held in J&K camp

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Myanmarese national was tonight arrested when he tried to intrude an Army cantonment here. "At around 1930 hours, a civilian intruder was apprehended while trying to jump over the wall of the cantonment in Jammu," Defence PRO Col R K Palta said here. On being challenged, he could not give a satisfactory reply, he said.

Molested UP girl dies in Delhi hospital

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15-year-old girl who had set herself on fire after being sexually harassed by a boy in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad town died at a Delhi hospital Saturday, police said. The girl died at Safdarjung Hospital after infection spread to her vital organs owing to the burn injuries. Senior Superintendent of Police Neelabjo Chowdhary told IANS over telephone that a complaint was registered by the victim March 11 and three people were arrested the next day. Chowdhary said now an additional charge of abetment to suicide would be slapped against the accused.

Researcher murdered

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woman researcher's body with multiple wounds inflicted by a surgical blade was found in the laboratory of the Dayalbagh Educational Institute, a deemed university in Agra, police said. Police told IANS that they suspected some close associates for the murder. The body was discovered late Friday by the police when they broke open the lab.

After Akhilesh rap, UP cops on image makeover LUCKNOW: Facing brickbats over the soaring crime graph, the Uttar Pradesh Police is all set for an image makeover.

Police recently got a reprimand for poor response time even on heinous crimes from Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who asked them to improve their image, a senior official said. Following the missive, a meeting of senior officials was held and inputs were sought from the information and public relations department on ways to improve the image of the force.

According to officials, it has been decided to appoint a public relations official to train police personnel on ways to handle the public and the media.

An official told IANS that the name of the official had been finalised and within days he would be on the new assignment.

DGP AC Sharma and Additional DG Arun Kumar have also been roped in for

Swiss woman gang-raped in MP DATIA (MP): A Swiss woman was gang-raped by a group of eight unidentified persons in Datia district of Madhya Pradesh, police said today.

Minor girl raped in Giridih GIRIDIH (JHARKHAND): A 10year-old girl was allegedly raped by her distant cousin at Chat village, about 70 km from Giridih town, the police said today. Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Anil Kumar Verma said the girl had gone to fetch for something at the family's agriculture land last evening when her 17-yearold cousin allegedly raped her. The girl's family members took her to a nearby hospital where doctors treated her, the SDPO said, adding that the accused is absconding.

The incident took place near the town late last night when the woman along with her husband was touring the region on a bicycle as part of their India tour, Datia SP, CS Solanki told PTI. The couple was camping at a place on their way back from Orchha, where temples of Lord Ram are situated, and were proceeding to Agra when they were looted and the victim was allegedly gangraped in the presence of her husband, police said.

The woman has been admitted to Kamalaraje hospital in Gwalior and her medical tests have confirmed rape, police sources said.

Eight people have been rounded up on the basis of suspicion and are being questioned in connection with the case, the SP said.

"We are scouring the forest area in search of those involved in the crime," he said without giving more details.

PTI

5 held for kidnap

Jats threaten ‘water war’

MUMBAI: Five people were arrest-

GHAZIABAD: All India Jat

ed for allegedly kidnapping a 10-yearold boy from an affluent family in Vile Parle east this afternoon and demanding a ransom of `1 crore from his parents, police said. Vile Parle police said the kidnapping took place at around 2:30pm outside the victim's residence in Vile Parle East.

The victim was taken outside the building by the family's house maid Seema Dhadvey. From there, two accused pushed the boy into a car and drove away.

Reservation Committee threatened to cut off drinking water supply to Delhi by damaging the pipeline in Moradabad area of the district, even as their agitation for reservations in government jobs for their community entered tenth day today. Senior SP Nitin Tewari said that strict action will be taken against those who try to disturb law and order situation in the area. PAC personnel and police have been deployed to tighten security near the water regulator, he added.

the ambitious move. "It has been found that due to lack of communication between officials and the media and absence of authentic information, cases are misreported by the press," an official pointed out.

The public relations officers will be trained on how to write press releases, media communique, face television cameras, give sound bytes, and monitor reports.

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WORLD SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

Lil Wayne’s okay

Chavez laid to rest

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ate Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was laid to rest at a military museum on Friday after an emotional final journey through the streets of Caracas watched by hundreds of thousands. After more than a week lying in state, Chavez’s body was driven through the Venezuelan capital in a hearse, allowing his compatriots to bid a final farewell to him.

Bobby Ghosh is Time editor

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ecord executives dismissed Friday a report that Grammy-winning rapper Lil Wayne was in critical condition in hospital after a string of seizures. Amid conflicting information following the report by celebrity news website TMZ, a tweet from the hip hop star declared: “I’m good everybody. Thx for the prayers and love."

oted journalist Aparisim ‘Bobby’ Ghosh, an Indian national, has been named the editor of Time International. “Bobby, quite simply, is a magnificent journalist who has done the highest level of work that one can aspire to in our profession," the Time Inc. Editor-in-Chief Martha Nelson and Time Managing Editor Rick Stengel told staffers in an announcement.

US bolsters missile defence system over Kim threat WASHINGTON: The United States will bolster its defenses against a possible North Korean missile strike by deploying 14 more interceptors in Alaska, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday.

The new batteries will boost by almost half the 30 interceptors already deployed along the California and Alaska coastline and should be in place by 2017, as Pyongyang races to develop a nuclear-armed ballistic threat.

With North Korea having tested nuclear devices and launched a satellite, Hagel said the upgrade was designed to “stay ahead of the threat” as Kim Jong-Un’s pariah state attempts to marry its bombs to its missile technology.

“The United States has missile defense systems in place to protect us from limited ICBM attacks," Hagel said.

“But North Korea in particular has recently made advances in its capabilities and is engaged in a series of irresponsible and reckless provocations."

Hagel cited the North’s third nuclear test last month, the display of a suspected mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in April and the satellite launch as worrisome developments.

Apart from mobilizing the additional interceptors at Fort Greely, Alaska, Hagel also confirmed an announcement from last year that the United States

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspects the Jangjae Islet defence detachment and the Mu Islet defence detachment to guide a live shell firing drill at an unconfirmed location.

AFP

plans to deploy a second advanced radar to Japan.

Hagel said the Pentagon was conducting environmental impact studies to clear the way for a possible additional American site for a groundbased missile interceptor, but no location has been chosen.

The US missile defense program has been plagued by technical problems, with the interceptors often failing in test launches, but Hagel said that “the American people should be assured that our interceptors are effective."

The technical glitches meant

North Korea in particular has recently made advances in its capabilities and is engaged in a series of irresponsible and reckless provocations.

Chuck Hagel US Defence Secretary that more testing would be needed and the goal of deploy-

ing the interceptors by 2017 could be pushed back if the weapons failed to make the grade, said James Miller, undersecretary of defense for policy.

“We will continue to stick with our ‘fly before we buy’ approach," he told the same news conference.

The cost of the extra interceptors came to about $1 billion, he said.

North Korea has missiles that can strike South Korea and Japan but has yet to demonstrate it has the capability to fire long-range missiles that could reach the United States.

Officials worry, however, that the North has made progress on the ICBM front, having put a satellite into orbit, while Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program heightens concerns about the threat posed by the hermit nation.

Hagel stopped short of revealing Washington’s estimate as to when North Korea could secure long-range missiles that could hit American soil, but he said the United States would leave nothing to chance.

“One of the reasons, again, we are doing what we’re doing based on the intelligence we have is to assure that whatever their timelines are, that we’re not reacting to those timelines, that we’re ahead of any timelines of any potential threat," he said.

North Korea has issued a wave of drastic warnings in recent days and announced it has abandoned the 60-yearold armistice that ended the Korean War. The North’s military fired short-range missiles into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) on Friday, a day after Kim presided over a live-fire artillery drill near the disputed Yellow Sea border with South Korea.

Although the North’s dire threats have been mostly viewed as bluster, the United States and its allies are worried Pyongyang is poised to stage some form of military AFP provocation.

3 astronauts have safe return

Leader of Malaysia incursion has fled

Transplant patient dies of rabies

ARKALYK: Three astronauts returned safely to Earth from the International Space early Saturday, aboard a Russian capsule which landed on the freezing Kazakhstan steppe, mission control said. “There is landing!" flashed a Russian mission control centre message transmitted by NASA. Rescue teams rushed to recover the capsule carrying NASA US astronaut Kevin Ford and Russian flight engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin. “The crew felt normal through the descent and landing, their mood is good," Russian agencies quoted the Russian mission control official commentator. Saturday’s landing had been delayed by a day due to poor weather conditions.

KUALA LUMPUR: The leader of a band of Filipino militants whose incursion in Malaysia has left scores dead has reportedly fled even as his own family insist he is still in the country. More than 200 followers of a selfproclaimed Filipino sultan entered Sabah on Borneo island a month ago to resurrect long-dormant land claims by Jamalul Kiram III. Malaysian forces launched a military assault on March 5 against the group, sending them fleeing from a farming village where they had been holed up. Armed Forces chief Zulkifeli Zin said intelligence reports showed that Agbimuddin Kiram, whose family says is the crown prince of the Sulu sultanate, had managed to evade security forces and slip out of Malaysia.

WASHINGTON: A person in the northeastern state of Maryland who recently died of rabies was found to have contracted the illness from an organ transplant done over a year ago, US health officials said Friday. The patient died in early March. Subsequent tests on the deceased donor’s tissue and the organ transplant patient’s tissue confirmed that both had a type of rabies usually linked to raccoons. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said such cases are extremely rare — in the United States there are typically one to three cases of human rabies diagnosed yearly. “In the United States, only one other person is reported to have died from a raccoon-type rabies virus," the CDC said in a statement.

8

COMMENT SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

AFP PHOTO/OSSERVATORE ROMANO

EDITORIALS A COP FOR A FRIEND? Think again You should never make friends of cops. You never know when that buddy of yours may assume his khaki powers to have his way. At least this is what a poor factory worker in Punjab learned the other day. His friend, a constable with the Punjab Police, shoved his head into a tandoor because he refused to give him `900. The man was returning home with his salary of `8,000 that day when he stopped over to have a drink with his police pal at a dhaba.

They had a grand time till the copper asked him that he give him cash. When he refused, he was beaten up by the constable with considerable support from his friends and it is learned that he tried to kill him in the way aforementioned. The factory worker suffered burns and is said to be stable and is undergoing treatment. Incidents like these point to the supercilious attitude of policemen in our country. He makes damn sure if the person he’s dealing with cowers to him if he is in the wrong by a trifle of an offence.

That these gents are there to help us (dare not use the expression ‘serve us’ out of fear of what may follow) never crosses their minds. Ask any ordinary man, he would tell you he would think twice before approaching a cop if he had to report something over fears of harassment he may have to suffer if he did the right thing. Cops in America are trained to call citizens sirs and madams, which in a way inculcates the sense that their purpose is to serve the people and not bask in the glory of the immense power of that comes from the khaki armour. A code of conduct must be formulated that every man in uniform be a perfect gent or suffer consequences.

IS THERE AN END TO this ignominy?

A Swiss woman has been gang-raped by eight men in Madhya Pradesh. Huge protests, candlelight vigils, debates on social networking sites... nothing seems to have an effect on the psyche of some among us.

The incident happened when she and her husband were returning after a visit to a temple. Looks like even the gods have given up on India.

Of mystery and the pope Soul Curry SUMAA TEKUR

I

n the era of high-speed internet connectivity, white smoke from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel in Rome’s Vatican City became the main medium of communication on Wednesday. About 1.2 billion Roman Catholics from around the world, and millions more who were curious about the change in the Catholic faith, waited for white smoke to emerge from the Sistine Chapel as a signal that the new pope had been chosen.

The process for the selection of a new pope is full of rituals and ceremonies. It’s also a reminder that we respect a choice much more, especially if it went through a process of rituals, even if those rituals didn’t always have a logical explanation. The world may be changing and moving rapidly towards making human life easy and more convenient. But the rituals in the Roman Catholic Church, and for every other religion in the world for that matter, have stayed the same.

We find comfort in familiarity. Religious rites and rituals, on the surface, provide that familiarity by telling us that no matter what else changes or how our lives turn, religion will

be the one where we can always find solace. Go deeper and look beneath the surface of religious rites and they give out stories of why rituals offer peace and calm to followers. Some of these rituals may have a scientific explanation but the bigger idea of making these rituals mysterious is to uphold the structure of religion and to use this mystery as a magnet to keep faithful followers together.

Every major religion in the world works on this mystique to also perhaps tell followers that they will not know everything, all the time, in their lives. They have to be open to not knowing (most of the times) why something happened or what they did wrong, and be willing to accept this uncertainty – both

EVERY MAJOR RELIGION IN THE WORLD WORKS ON THIS MYSTIQUE TO ALSO PERHAPS TELL FOLLOWERS THAT THEY WILL NOT KNOW EVERYTHING, ALL THE TIME, IN THEIR LIVES. of the present and future.

About the centuries-old smoke ritual that is an integral part of the pope selection process, the Vatican spokesperson said that the Catholic faith has no intention of changing the tradition to suit the current-day communication speed. Rev Federico Lombardi said: “A lit-

tle suspense is good for all of us. Don’t expect Swiss watch precision.” A big part of this process is that the Holy Spirit guides the cardinals to vote for the right pope.

In ancient India, when political power and religious power were both held by the king, there was no separation of church and state. Public ritual played an important role in creating the ruler-subject relationship. A king had to use public rituals to prove to the people his strong relationship with his predecessors and also the Gods.

Almost always, kings were appointed as the high priest of religion and it was their duty to the people to carry out all the responsibilities of the high priest.

Today, this role takes on a more modern hue, and a complex one at that. The pope, while upholding the rituals and ceremonies that define the papal office must also reach out to the masses of followers to offer solutions to the modern world’s problems. If the papal office is unable to discharge its duties in the light of the modern expectations of followers, it would have less and less relevance. The mystery of the Catholic faith can be more charming only if it can provide simple spiritual solutions in line with modern-day needs. It’s a wait and watch to see how the new pope will deliver. He surely has the work cut out for him.

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COMMENT SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

A shame and sham Open Letter To Italy FROM S FAIZI

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our Excellency, I am writing this to you as an ordinary citizen working on multilateral treaties to convey that the Italian government’s decision not to fulfil the commitment it has made through you to the highest judiciary of India and your continued ill-reading of the UN Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS) represent a grave infraction of the rule of international laws and time-tested multilaterally accepted traditions. It is my fervent hope, your excellency, that your government has not returned to the creed of fascismo or the pervasive Italian mafia has not taken over the business of national governance.

I was puzzled by your statement that the crime committed by the gunmen could be addressed as per Article 100 of the UNCLOS. I seriously doubt if you have read the treaty before making such a claim. While Article 100 commits States to cooperate in the repression of piracy on the high seas and in areas beyond national jurisdiction, Article 101 defines what piracy is and here I quote it: ‘Article 101: Definition of piracy Piracy consists of any of the following acts: (a) Any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the pas-

Urban sketches VISWAPRASAD RAJU

sengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed: (i) On the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft; (ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State; (b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft; (c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b)’.

In case you made the proposal after reading the Article 101, you are obviously accusing the innocent victims who were fishing in India’s Territorial Waters as being pirates, and that Your Excellency is a crime in itself.

The whole series of argu-

ments your government has been making are perverted, and entirely misleading about the well-meaning international laws.

If the ship was not in the Territorial Waters as you have argued, then it was certainly in the Contiguous Zone. Under UNCOLS, a foreign vessel has only a right of ‘innocent passage’ through the Territorial Waters and the Contiguous Zone.

And as per Article 19 explaining the meaning of innocent passage the treaty stipulates that ‘any exercise or practice with weapons of any kind’ by a foreign ship shall be considered to be ‘prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State’ and hence shall not constitute innocent passage. And Article 27.1.a categorically states that the criminal jurisdiction of the coastal State prevails ‘if the consequences of the crime extend to the coastal State’. The

Heritage

simple and glaringly obvious fact that the coastal State jurisdiction does not apply to a crime happening entirely on board the ship, without affecting anyone outside, has been deliberately misread by your government to argue that Indian jurisdiction does not apply in this case. That was laughable if not ridiculous.

In the impossible event of this argument being validated, any country can send soldiers or terrorists to the coastal waters of Italy and shoot from their ship at all possible targets and Italy will have to nod to the jurisdiction of the flag State addressing this. Fortunately, international treaties are not framed to endanger national sovereignty in such manner, but indeed to protect it and that is what UNCLOS does too.

It was also interesting that you have raised the claim of protection of the gunmen under the Geneva Convention as PoW, which actually meant that their crime was an act of war.

Our government should actually have proceeded along those lines.

Even as you are venturing to go to unfortunate extents to protect the criminal gunmen, innocent Italians in India who have been visited by misfortune have been ignored by yourself and your government.

When Italian citizens Mr Bosusco Paola and Mr Claudio Colangelo were abducted in Orissa in March last year your government did virtually nothing, in comparison to the huge risks you are taking on behalf of the gunmen, to seek their release. An elderly Italian Mr

Sebastiano Roserio Contiguglia had to die in Cuttak city two months ago, as he could not afford to get adequate medical care. And remember, Your Excellency, it was the Indian National Human Rights Commission of India and the state High Court that have asked for reports on the death of this Italian, the same judicial system that you seek to dishonour.

Yourself, or your government, were nowhere to help this hapless Italian. Perhaps the tax-paying Italian public is not aware of your double standards in dealing with Italian citizens abroad.

We all believe that the accused gunmen should not have been allowed to leave the country, given the ridiculous manner in which you were trying to handle the issue.

I for one believed that the Italian government cannot be trusted and you proved me right.

Your act of refusal to return the accused to India is an act of subversion of international laws and multilateral norms upon which the community of civilised nations conduct business. I must say that this behaviour is not characteristic of a legitimately constituted government, and you must immediately reverse your erroneous decision and demonstrate your civility to the world.

Assuring you of my highest consideration to the office you hold, Yours Sincerely, S Faizi Chairman Indian Biodiversity Forum Delhi/Trivandrum

Global edits The Telegraph (UK)

Sensible drinking

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he Government’s decision to drop its proposals for the minimum pricing of alcohol in England and Wales is sensible on a number of levels. To begin with, there is no evidence that the strategy would achieve its main goal, which is to reduce the high levels of problem drinking that cause serious illness among a comparatively small number of abusers. Nor could anyone be confident that it would curb alcohol-fuelled violence in town centres at weekends, since most perpetrators buy their drinks in pubs and bars, which would not be affected by the price floor.

Doctors are understandably concerned about the health impact of heavy drinking and the trend towards greater consumption. Yet while there is undoubtedly a problem, there has never been a convincing case for the suggested remedy of minimum pricing. Even on health grounds, it is unrealistic to expect a modest price rise to make much difference to those whose addiction gives rise to medical prob-

lems. Moreover, it would penalise people who have no issue with alcohol misuse and who want to buy drinks from the supermarket at an affordable price. It would also set a worrying precedent: by the same rationale, minimum prices could be set for foods whose over-consumption causes health problems, such as burgers, chocolate, sugar and the like. There is also a philosophical objection: people have grown weary of the state punishing them for the sins of others.

Britain’s problem with alcohol is not due to price, but to a culture of excessive consumption. This afflicts many Scandinavian nations where alcohol is far more expensive than it is here; and yet it is far less prevalent in Mediterranean countries, where drink is cheaper. Despite a dearth of supporting evidence and the glaring unpopularity of the policy, David Cameron was its enthusiastic and consistent champion. He was persuaded that something had to be done – but failed to research thoroughly whether his chosen policy was an effective answer.

By killing the idea before it got further than the consultation stage, his own Cabinet ministers have done him a favour.

10

BUSINESS SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

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urozone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund struck a deal early Saturday to bail out Cyprus with aid of up to 10 billion euros, diplomats said after some 10 hours of talks. The debt rescue will involve “up to 10 billion euros,” said one diplomatic source, whereas the initial request from Nicosia last year was 17 billion euros.

Argentina’s debt rating cut

Dropbox buys email app startup

10bn euro Cyprus bailout

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nline storage firm Dropbox on Friday announced that it has bought Mailbox, a hot startup devoted to making it simpler to deal with email overloads.

Financial terms were not disclosed. “Like many of you, when we discovered Mailbox we fell in love — it was simple, delightful, and beautifully engineered,” Dropbox said in a blog posting. “Many have promised to help us with our overflowing inboxes, but the Mailbox team actually delivered.”

atings firm Moody’s on Friday downgraded Argentina’s foreign law bonds, citing an increased risk of default linked to the outcome of a US lawsuit filed by hedge funds. The bonds, the part of the country’s debt that was restructured after Argentina’s 2001 default, were cut from “B3” to “Caa1,” seven notches below investment grade.

Flip, read, desire, buy Whether it’s a chikankari salwar suit or a cardigan — everything looks glamorous in magazines. Now you can take your pick right out of the pages of limeroad’s digital magazine, which lets you sift and order online.

Fact file n Vendors: 100 n Investment: $5 million n Vendors exclusive to Limeoad.com: 50 n Future plans: To add 100 vendors every month; expand delivery to the UK and USA soon

PRUDHVI RAJU K

prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

H

ow about taking a stroll down Lucknow to shop for authentic chikankari tops without ever having to leave the comfort of your couch? Or even some pearl jewellery from our City, without having to argue with vendors or drive long distances? All you have to do now is flip through a digital magazine and pick from a range of both western and Indian products.

Limeroad.com, set up in October 2012, aims to change the Indian woman’s shopping experience by not just giving them the option to buy online but also revive the experience of travel shopping. The website has ethnic and regional vendors on board from various cities to make this possible with a simple a click of the mouse.

Her dream is to make Limeroad.com the biggest lifestyle platform from South Asia, an area which is already known as the manufacturing hub for global apparels.

Founder and CEO Suchi Mukherjee left her promising career in the UK to return home and build a world-class consumer technology product from India. Her dream is to make Limeroad.com the biggest lifestyle platform from South Asia, an area which is already known as the manufacturing hub for global apparels.

Suchi, an alumna from University of Cambridge and London School of Economics, spent 15 years working with various MNCs and played a key role in building and driving growth at three successful international online platforms — Skype, eBay and Gumtree. But despite her success, she says she always wanted to come back.

“Even though I built a 17-year career in the UK, I always wanted to come back to India and start a business that would be a real game changer. One day, I was a reading a magazine and came across a beautiful product. I wished that I could buy it; simply take it out of the pages. There is

nothing in the world that equates a shopping experience to that of reading a magazine,” says Suchi.

‘Buy it when you like it’ is her mantra and she says that as there is no consumer technology lifestyle product from India catering to global customers, Limeroad has become a path to achieve it.

But starting a business back home, after having been away for so long, wasn’t easy. Suchi wanted to test three things

before starting the venture — does the concept have resonance with consumers?

Could it attract world-class people to work and support the company? Would it have the vendor base that can sell on the platform? According to her, if she got these three things right, money would automatically follow.

Lightspeed Venture Partners and Matrix Partners India have invested $5 million in Limeroad.com. Suchi’s strong background along with her innovative business idea had attracted the investors much before the business gained traction.

Women love variety but just don’t have the time. According to Suchi, Limeroad.com gives this variety and at the right price, all the while giving the consumer a magazine-like experience. The business is also light on capital and can be easily scaled and catered to a global audience. Quiz her on the challenges of setting up a business when compared to doing the same in the UK and she simply says, “A world-class business can only be built by world-class people. My toughest challenge was to get the right people. I spent a lot of time interviewing hundreds of people and filtering them for senior roles. I faced a lot of trouble in setting up the business – from getting it registered to figuring out CAs and legal and procedural hassles. I do not understand why the government has to make things so difficult for entrepreneurs. The whole procedure can be simple and transparent. Entrepreneurs are here to create businesses and nurture local talent and not to waste time around legal procedures.”

Limeroad.com also relies heavily on social commerce in which users create scrapbooks in which one can make several combinations of apparels and accessories.

The most popular and trending collections made by users make it into the magazine.

It is also gives a national and global platform for local sellers from various cities and caters to consumers who like ethnic wear from different cities but do not have access to them.

India-US eco ties to grow WASHINGTON: Indian ambassador Nirupama Rao has expressed her “firm view” that India-US economic relationship would only become stronger over time despite concerns of businesses on both sides.

“Just as US businesses have some concerns, Indian industry has also highlighted its concerns,” she said Friday at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies’ (CSIS) Statesmen’s Forum — “US- India Economic Agenda in 2013”.

The Indian IT industry which employs over 100,000 in the US, and supports another 200,000 jobs including indirect ones, faces regulatory challenges in the US, Rao said citing a report by Nasscom, the premier organisation representing Indian software industry.

India “was also unable to even begin a dialogue with the US on a bilateral ‘Totalisation Agreement’” to eliminate dual Social Security taxation and facilitate return of Indian workers’ contributions once they go back to India, she said.

Hoping for an early meeting of the Ministerial Trade Policy Forum to address bilateral policy and regulatory concerns, Rao said “it is through regular dialogue that we can build common ground and address concerns in a well-reasoned, rational way.”

“Going forward, and in order to negotiate the global economic terrain better, India and the US perhaps also need to explore new trade and economic cooperation arrangements,” Rao said.

“This is where we need to move consciously and with momentum on the Bilateral Investment Treaty, as also train our sights on the exploration of the advantages, or otherwise, of any future bilateral economic partnership arrangements,” she said. The Indian economy has grown at an average of 8 per cent per annum over the last five years and India hoped to achieve a growth rate of over 8 per cent per annum over the next five years, Rao said.

Recent months have witnessed a flurry of measures designed to further open the economy, with FDI reforms having taken place in single and multi-brand retail, civil aviation and power exchanges, she said.

IANS

11

FOCUS SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

Never-ending ordeal for cancer patients With a budget accounting for barely 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product Romania’s health system is in a critical condition.

Mihaela Rodina Agence France-Presse

BUCHAREST: “Fighting cancer is a daily battle," says Camelia Dima, whose daughter suffers from a malignant tumour. But in Romania, long waiting lists and a shortage of drugs make the fight even harder.

“Europe is characterised by worrying inequalities in cancer control and care,” the European Commission recently warned.

With a 2013 budget accounting for barely 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product — less than half the European Union average — Romania’s health system is in a critical condition.

Thousands of doctors and nurses emigrate annually in search of better paid jobs in Western Europe, while cost-cutting measures have deprived cancer patients of access to therapies that could save their lives.

“We cannot afford to hand out caviar as long as, unfortunately, there is not enough bread to go round," deputy health minister Adrian Pana told AFP. Since 2006, some two dozen basic, inexpensive cancer medicines have gradually disappeared from drugstores and hospitals, forcing patients to ask relatives or friends to buy them when they travel abroad. Pana said the drugs were no longer available because producers or distributors thought it was not worth selling them as their profit margins were very low.

“The government cannot oppose their decision to give up selling a product," he stressed, blaming pharmaceutical companies for putting their “commercial interest” above everything else. The ministry is now seeking a way to import the missing drugs directly.

In the meantime though, some patients have to pay up to $4,000 for a month’s treatment, in a country where the average monthly wage is around $455.

As private health insurance is beyond the average Romanians’ means and does not cover major chronic diseases including cancer, a patient’s only option is often to pay for the drugs himself or to skip treatment. “This is a nightmare, cancer treatment should be free of charge but when they see how much they have to spend, many patients simply give up, because they don’t have enough money," said Cezar Irimia, head of the cancer patients’ association (FABC).

As desperate calls for help from patients and doctors has multiplied, the new centre-left government in January earmarked an additional 800,000 euros to import indispensable cancer drugs.

But some think this is little more than palliative.

“It’s not enough to supply hospitals with medicines for one or two months, we need a lasting solution so that patients no longer need to buy the drugs themselves," Olga Cridland, head of Pavel, a charity looking after children with cancer, told AFP. “Cancer will not wait, patients need treatment today, not tomorrow," Irimia stressed, adding that the authorities’ lack of action has killed many people who could have survived. “Will anyone be held

ROMANIA’S CANCER MORTALITY RATE IS 180 CASES PER 100,000 INHABITANTS, COMPARED TO THE EU AVERAGE OF 166.9, EUROSTAT FIGURES SHOW. responsible for these deaths that could have been avoided?"

A professor at the Craiova hospital in southern Romania and head of the Romanian oncologists’ society, Dr Florinel Badulescu said he felt “ashamed” he could not prevent such tragedies. “There are people who give up, who no longer have the strength to continue the struggle," he told AFP. Romania’s cancer mortality rate is 180 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to the EU average of 166.9, Eurostat figures show. Some 2.5 million new cancer cases are recorded annually in the EU, around 70,000 of them in Romania.

Camelia Dima devotes all of her energy to save her 22-year-old daughter. Florentina has been fighting cancer since she was 12.

Dima dreams of taking her daughter to a hospital in Turkey but the surgery there costs some 25,000 euros, which she does not have.

“Money is a major problem. As a mother I cannot help wondering if I have done everything possible for Florentina," she said. “A family with a child with cancer is in a tragic situation, but in Romania this is even worse, because a lot depends on their revenues," Cridland said.

Ana-Maria Busuioc (L) 10, a cancer suffering Romanian girl learns with a computer helped by psycho-pedagogue teacher at Pavel foundation headquarters inside the Fundeni oncologic hospital in Bucharest.

AFP PHOTO

“If they can afford it, they will send the child abroad for treatment, if not, they are left to their fate."

Cridland, whose son is a cancer survivor, has set up a charity to help patients and their families.

It provides free accommodation for people coming to Bucharest for treatment, counselling, classes for children who miss school while in hospital: all sorts of services the public health system neglects.

But there are things that volunteers like Cridland cannot do.

Patients who no longer respond to regular treatment need new, more efficient drugs, that have not yet been included on the reimbursed medicines list, mostly because they are too expensive.

Access to such potentially lifesaving therapy is decided by a commission which analyses patients on a case by case basis. Nearly 1,300 people are currently on the waiting list, praying to get the green light to start treatment.

Pana said his ministry faces a painful choice when it comes to deciding how to dole out its limited funds. “To me, even one extra minute that a patient gets to live is unparalleled... but a question of ethics arises here: can the public system afford to reimburse a drug that can only prolong a patient’s life by two weeks?" he said.

Pana said Romania should strive to “make more equitable a system where 80 per cent of the funds earmarked for cancer treatment go to barely 10 per cent of all

patients".

He stressed that a growing number of people, who are still in an early stage of cancer, should have access to inexpensive, basic medicines, while the more costly therapies should only go to patients in a more seri-

ous condition.

But Irimia said: “Patients have turned into mere numbers on a list.

Unfortunately in Romania the main criterion when talking about a person’s life is not humanitarian but financial."

PICK YOUR

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Across Stores

ities Twin C

12

TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK http://www.techrepublic.com/ wealth of user-submitted articles cover a wide range IT focused and more general technology topics. Analysis, howtos, and a strong and active social community of IT professionals make this a must for anyone working in IT.

A

MOBILE GAME REVIEW

APP OF THE WEEK

WATER POLO

Timbre

W

ant to see live music and find new bands? Timbre will find you shows in your area, and let you listen to stuff you’ve never heard from within the app, so you can sample sounds before you go. Free.

W

hile the animation of the swimmers is relatively decent considering the platform, the desaturated stadium bleacher backdrop looks like it’s been pulled from another game entirely. It feels like a rush job, like someone took the mechanics of another game.

OUCH THAT HURT!

I was punched hard in the gut by Google and I’m struggling to breathe.

I’m not around then.

However, after the launch of Google Plus, the company killed the sharing system in Reader, now readers could share with the new social network, but no one wanted to do that anymore.

Everyone read in their own silos, shared an occasional story on Twitter and this usage cycle led to a sharp decline in the number of people using the service.

Google had expected these people to share everything on Google Plus, but that never happened and finally on Wednesday the company made the decision to shutter the service.

A lot of other companies meanwhile have been using Reader’s awesome syncing APIs in their own apps, so it wasn’t just the users that were screwed over but also these apps. Digg (used to be a force to reckon with once upon a time) has now stepped forward saying they will build a Reader like service, but it doesn’t matter. It’s difficult to replace such a product for me

WHAT DIFFERENTIATED THE SHARING IN GOOGLE READER AND TWITTER WAS THAT READER WAS LIKE AN INBOX, IT’LL SHOW A LIST OF ALL SHARED STORIES.

NT BALANARAYAN

balanarayan.nt@postnoon.com

J

uggernaut is a massive, powerful and highly influential force, but when it decides to take a step forward it ends up killing a few faithful minions.

Such is the case with Google, the all-knowing search engine that also makes the most popular mobile operating system, handles one of the most popular email services, is building heads-up displays that’ll make your smartphones feel less smarter and is also working on cars that don’t need to be driven.

Yesterday this juggernaut

announced its decision to shutter Google Reader.

If you ask a layman what Google Reader is, you’ll get a blank look or they may just google it for you. Either way, chances of them being able to answer the question within five seconds is very low. If you ask me what a Google Reader is, I’ll also take more time to come up with an answer, but not because I don’t know what it is. It’s just that you can’t describe a tool so good and so useful, so fast. To put it bluntly, it’s an RSS reader, but if I put it that way, I’ll need to explain what an RSS is — no it’s got nothing to do with the political party, but it does use Orange (chhota bhai of saffron) in its logo.

Reader lets one read all the latest updates from various news websites and blog in one conve-

nient location, readers no longer had to visit each site and scroll through various hodge-podge UIs to read news. The updates came to you and they came via this awesome technology called Really Simple Syndication aka Rich Site Summary aka RSS. Google Reader was never that popular, mainly because people didn’t get the concept of RSS or Reader. Also, look how many words it took for me to explain the concept here, by the time I would start detailing what RSS is, people would be dozing off. Though it never became popular with the masses, it always had a huge fan following that was also very loud with its demands. According to Brian Shih, one of the former Product Managers of Google Reader, there was so much opposition against the product within the

company that they kept slowing down development work.

I started using the service in mid-2007, when I was a fresher out of college trying to figure out this whole journalism thing. It was a learning tool then, social web was still nascent in a way and around that time they added sharing features making it one of the most informative social networks around. This was at a time when Orkut was at its peak, but I received no ‘frandship requests’ (yes, even guys received those) instead my friends who shared common interests shared great stories, articles, photos, videos... now all of that goes on Twitter.

What differentiated the sharing in Google Reader and Twitter was that Reader was like an inbox, it’ll show me a list of all shared stories when I wake up, on Twitter I’ll miss the update if

and Google’s decision was a lowblow for many people like me.

What was ironic was the fact that ‘Google Reader’ was trending on Twitter and on Google Plus, despite the company’s claims that it was hardly used.

May be Reader users are loud, may be we are very influential, but shouldn’t that itself be a good reason to keep it awake?

These days I click on random links on Twitter only to be disappointed by most. There are a few alternatives out there, but most of them are still struggling to cope with the loads of Google Reader users that are migrating their content out of Google. So the information junkie that I am, is now sitting in front of a computer, hurt and struggling to cope with the demise of a beloved service. Google... You broke my heart.

13

MOTORING SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

Audi India sales surging

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Samsung’s S voice Drive

ith Audi India’s sales surging 63 per cent in 2012, the auto maker hopes India would be among the company’s top 10 markets by the end of the decade. Announcing record production and earnings numbers for the last year, Audi group said it sold over 1.4 million automobile units in 2012 and its revenue surged to 48.8 billion euros despite the debt crisis.

S

amsung offered up a Galaxy S4 voice command feature that connects drivers to their cars via Bluetooth.The Galaxy S Voice Drive kicks in when you get into your car, according to Ryan Bidan, Samsung’s director of product marketing. The company unveiled the feature during the launch of its Galaxy S4 smartphone in New York recently.

Volkswagen debuts e-up

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hough it took too long for Volkswagen to enter the electric vehicle market, but now it seems to catch up for its late entry. For after introducing its e-Co-Motion electric van concept and the revolutionary XL1 hybrid, the auto manufacturer has introduced its first electric production car called the “e-up!” that offers a range of up to 150 km on a single charge.

Reverse tailspin

Car sales in India’s once-booming passenger market plunged nearly 26 per cent in February, the biggest dive in 12 years, industry figures showed Monday, as a sharply slowing economy discouraged buyers.

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nalysts said the slide was far worse than expected and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said car sales were headed for their first full-year fall in a decade after initially projecting growth of 10 to 12 per cent.

“Discretionary spending on cars has pretty well come to a stop with the economy slowing — if people don’t need a car, they are holding back,” SIAM deputy director general Sugato Sen told reporters.

Passenger car sales, seen as an important guide to overall economic vitality, tumbled by 25.71 per cent to 158,513 units in February from the same month in 2012, industry body SIAM reported. Annual figures are expected to shrink for the first time since 2002-03 with sales down by 4.64 per cent from April to February, SIAM said.

“The weak economy, high inflation and high finance costs mean people at the bottom of the pyramid who buy smaller cars, which are the biggest part of the market, are not buying,” said Sen. Passenger car sales grew by 20 to 30 per cent annually in the

decade until 2010-11, prompting foreign automakers to invest in India to boost sales globally.

But the weakening economy and high interest rates to combat high inflation have weighed on demand. The economy is forecast to grow by just five per cent this year, its weakest rate in a decade. The fall in passenger car sales was the biggest since a 40 per cent slide in December 2000, SIAM said, and came as sales in China, the world’s largest car market, have been seen gaining traction. “These (February) numbers are bad — much worse than we expected,” Mahantesh Sabarad, analyst at Mumbai’s Fortune Equity Brokers, said.

The sales slowdown in India, the sixth-largest passenger car market worldwide, could last many months and possibly until after the next general election, which must be held by May 2014, analysts said.

“We don’t see anything on the horizon to lift sentiment.

People are waiting for the economy to stabilise,” Deepesh Rathore, Indiabased

expert for research consultancy IHS Automotive said.

Companies have been offering big discounts but have been unable to reverse the tailspin.

Most firms posted sales falls in February but Tata Motors, which makes the world’s cheapest car, the Nano, suffered most with sales down 70 per cent.

Total bus and truck sales— another important economic barometer — slumped by 35 per cent in India in February.

Longer term, analysts say

there is still big potential in the Indian market where ownership levels remain low.

Meanwhile auto sales in China, the world’s top car market, rose in the first two months of the year, an industry group said Monday, indicating strong demand as the country’s economy gradually recovers.

A total of 3.39 million vehicles were sold in the country over January and February, rising 14.7 per cent from the same period last year, the China Association of Automobile

Manufacturers (CAAM) said in a statement.

“The auto industry had a good start this year and the overall market demand for cars has remained strong,” said the statement. Giving the figure for the two months reduces seasonal distortions due to the Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in February this year but January in 2012. Total auto sales declined by around 14 per cent year-onyear to 1.35 million units in February, the CAAM said, blaming the week-long holiday for the drop. That came after sales surged 46.4 per cent year-on-year in January, setting a record for any month, thanks to a consumer tradition of spending annual bonuses before the holiday and a low comparative base in the first month of 2012.

Sales of passenger vehicles declined by 8.3 per cent year-onyear last month to 1.11 million units, the association said, but over the first two months of the year they jumped 19.5 per cent year-on-year to 2.84 million AFP units.

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BOOKS SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

SHORT READS Title: Until I Say Good-Bye Author: Susan SpencerWendel, Bret Witter Publisher: Harper usan Spencer-Wendel was a celebrated journalist working at the Palm Beach Post when she is diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Knowing that she has few days left to live, she makes it a point to live to the fullest.

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Title: Damascus Countdown Author: Joel C Rosenberg Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers he third book in the Twelfth Imam series, Damascus Countdown starts off with a full blown attack by Israel on Iran. Even while the world expresses its outrage, CIA operative David Shirazi discovers that two Iranian warheads have survived.

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Title: Wool Author: Hugh Howey Publisher: Simon & Schuster community has been living deep underground under a giant silo in the aftermath of a toxic fallout. In the strictly regimented society, rules are paramount, and when the sheriff breaks one of the most important rules, they have to find a replacement.

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Title: A Tale for the Time Being Author: Ruth Ozeki Publisher: Viking Adult girl decides to end her life.

But before she does, she documents the life of her greatgrandmother. Across the Pacific, Ruth, a novelist, finds a lunchbox filled with artefacts which has washed ashore on the island. How the two are connected forms the story.

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The power of a story The Storyteller is brilliant in some parts if you are willing to brave the long read to find them.

Because, for most part, it’s your average Jodi Picoult novel.

PADMINI C

padmini.c@postnoon.com

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hrough the hits and misses of her career, if there’s one thing that Jodi Picoult unfailingly manages to accomplish, it is this — picking hard hitters. Gay rights, school shootings, end-of-life care or in this case, the Holocaust, there’s really no subject or topic she’s afraid to take on.

Her 20th novel and latest bestseller, The Storyteller however, she says, has interesting roots.

The book is inspired by Simon Wiesenthal’s story The Sunflower. And in particular, from an incident when Wisenthal was a prisoner in a concentration camp, and he was brought to the bedside of an SS soldier who wanted to confess to and be forgiven by a Jew. In the introduction to her novel, Picoult writes, “The moral conundrum in which Wiesenthal found himself has been the starting point for many philosophical and moral analyses about the dynamics between victims of genocide and the perpetrators… and it got me thinking about what would happen if the same request was made, decades later, to a Jewish prisoner’s granddaughter,” Picoult follows the train of

thought and runs away with it.

Twenty-five-year-old baker Sage Singer is physically and emotionally scarred. To deal with the loss of her mother, she joins a grief group where she meets 95-year-old Josef Weber, a retired teacher she grows extraordinarily close to. Only to have Weber confess that he is a war criminal, an SS soldier to be sure, and now wants her to help

him die so he can find forgiveness, if not redemption.

Even if a self-proclaimed atheist, Sage is the descendent of Jewish survivors, neither willing to forgive or forget. Her own grandmother Minka is a living witness and (victim) of Nazi atrocities. Now, with the help of a federal agent/Nazi-hunter Leo Stein, Sage has to choose between forgiving the friend she

knows as Josef Weber or the SS soldier Reiner Hartmann, as he was then known.

In her trademark style Picoult employs multiple characters to tell her story for her.

While this works beautifully in some parts, it falls flat in some others. If the tale of the young and vivacious Minka, a budding writer, experiencing the horrors of Auschwitz is riveting; the

Name The Storyteller Author Jodi Picoult Pages 480 Publisher Atria day-to-day mundaness of Sage’s life on the other hand drags on for more pages than it’s worth.

Describing The Storyteller as either great or terrible is to do it injustice. Like the decadent chocolate and cinnamon rolls Sage bakes, the book too is largely flaky with sprinkles of gold tucked in between.

WHAT’S SELLING Walden’s best in fiction

Walden’s best in non-fiction

New York Times’ best in fiction

New York Times’ best in non-fiction

n Secret Of The Nagas by Amish Tripati

n Our Moon Has Blood Clots by Rahul Pandita

n My beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor

n 31 by Upendra Namburi

n Wisdom Of Ants

by Shankar Jaganathan

n A memory of light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

n Life Of Pi by Yann Martel n Memory Of Light

by Robert Jordan n Love Stories That Touched My Heart

by Ravinder Singh

n Leadership 2.0

by T Bradberry & J Greaves n Patriots & Partisans by Ramachandra Guha n Miracles Happen by Dr Brian Weiss

n Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

n Killing Kennedy

by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

n The Fifth Assassin

by Brad Meltzer

n Going Clear by Lawrence Wright

n Tenth of December by George Saunders

n No Easy Day by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer

n The Third Bullet by Stephen Hunter

n Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

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BOOKS SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

Click to read more The days of flipping through paperbacks in tiny neighbourhood circulating libraries are almost extinct. Readers now head online to browse through and rent books.

JYOTSNA NAMBIAR

jyotsna.n@postnoon.com

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ny bookworm can attest to the fact that browsing through books is almost as pleasurable as reading them. The joy of running your finger over the spines, flipping the smooth pages and inhaling that peculiar book smell is one that cannot be explained to nonbibliophiles.

For most of us, this pleasure was one we indulged in libraries.

Books were, and remain, too expensive for a reader to fuel his/her habit satisfactorily.

Libraries provided us our fix.

But with the entry of television and the Internet, neighbourhood circulating libraries slowly lost their clientele. The bigger ones struggled but survived; smaller libraries all but disappeared.

Luckily, it wasn't the end of library culture. They simply moved to a space that was infinite, cheaper and with greater connectivity — the Internet.

Since 2007, India has witnessed the blossoming of several online libraries in many cities, which provide books at reasonable rates to an eager client base.

Librarywala.com, which claims to be the first online library service in India, has its presence in three cities — Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore. One of the founders, Hiten Turakhia, explained that since they started in 2007, they have become the largest online library in India. “The three of us (founders) figured out that we couldn’t buy all the books we wanted because it was too expensive.

We also realised that people have no time to browse or buy

books. But if they have a book, they’re likely to read it.” The idea of making books accessible and affordable led to the trio setting up the library. “We conducted a survey before starting — would people read if they had books delivered, if there were no late fees, and so on.

We accordingly built our business on the three Cs — cost, convenience and collection.”

The library, which has 9,800 retail and 83 corporate clients, set up a business model wherein people could log on, choose their book from the catalogue, and get it delivered to their home or office. When a book was dropped off, the client had to return the one they finished reading. Several other libraries also operate on the same model of browse and deliver. It tapped into every book lover’s ultimate fantasy — having your books come to you without making the least bit of effort.

While most online libraries restrict their activities to one or two cities, JustBooks can be found in a whooping 10 cities, with several branches in each city. Rather than one organisation running the show, the libraries are franchises, with a central control in Bangalore.

Priyankita Sur, who is the franchisee of the Jubilee Hills branch, the newest in Hyderabad, says, “We have around 2,000-3,000 clients in Hyderabad, mostly kids and families. We have a central database of books, but each branch also has its

separate stock of books.”

And it’s not only new organisations going online. Some, who are known for their physical libraries, have shifted some or all of their business online. Book Me A Book, a New Delhi establishment, bolstered its circulation library credentials by going online. The British Council Library in Mumbai went completely online two years ago.

Abhishek Chandan, head, distributed library, British Council Mumbai, explains: “Mumbai being a linear city, people don’t have the time to

spend an hour each way to come to the library. And we witnessed a continuous drop in membership.”

After going online, the demographic of their clientele changed.

The number of younger readers (in the age group of 20-35) has increased, Chandan says, adding that earlier, 75 per cent of their customers were people who lived or worked near the library. “We now reach out to a larger and new audience in new territories that was previously out of bounds for the conventional library,” he said.

Book lovers are more than happy to ride the online library train. “Earlier, if I wanted to rent a book, I either had to travel

really far to get to the British Council library, or had to make do with bestsellers from a circulating library nearby. Once I joined an online library, I had access to a wide variety of books, and all I had to do was wait at home for the book to be delivered,” said Roshni N, a surgeon living in Mumbai. Shruti Shah, an advertising professional who works in Hyderabad, said, “I get to read all the latest bestsellers without having to buy any. I also get back issues of magazines and books you don't ordinarily find.”

Sure, the hours spent scanning the shelves for a book can never be replaced. But libraries live on, and that’s good enough for most avid readers.

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WOMEN SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

WEBSITES OF THE WEEK Attack of the Cute: This is a photo blog, where readers everywhere contribute pictures of their cute pet cats, dogs, ferrets, rabbits, or of cute animals they discovered at the zoo. This is absolutely a family-friendly and office-friendly website.

This is why I am broke: TIWIB is an electronic magazine dedicated to 'unique window-shopping' and unusual consumer products. Jet packs, unusual clothing, strange firearms, personal gadgets, odd kitchen utensils, and freaky furniture: these are interesting products guaranteed to pique your fancy.

PopCap Games: PopCap offers some of the most addictive free games on the Internet today. Many of these games involve slow-motion play, where you can stop playing to continue doing other things (like your daily job).

ON HER OWN TERMS HEMANTH KUMAR

hemanth.k@postnoon.com ou seem to be on cloud nine post the Gundello Godaari’s release, thanks to reviews and initial openings at the box office. What was going through your mind a day before the release?

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Lakshmi Manchu, who produced and acted in Gundello Godaari, gets talking about her travails as a producer and the most important thing she learnt after she decided to do everything on her own.

Gundello Godaari isn’t your first film as a producer. What was so different this time that makes you talk about travails of a producer?

So, is there one learning experience that you wouldn’t forget?

I have learnt to say ‘no’. I learnt doing that in personal life when I was in the US, but I have begun doing that now in my professional front too. Another important learning experience was writing contracts.

I never used to do that before.

I was equally nervous for my other films too, but this time, I raised money on my own. I didn’t know what would happen or where would I go if the film didn’t click at the box office. When I make films under the umbrella of my father (Mohan Babu), I realised that people were scared and hence more cautious about how they deal with me. But once I came out of it, everything had changed and people were like vultures. I had to push my boundaries since I had moved away from my comfort zone.

You are one of the few women producers in the Telugu film industry. Are you expected to be a man on the sets?

(Laughs) In a way, yes. People aren’t used to women calling the shots on film sets. For them, it’s really hard to accept that. It was difficult for me too. For example, I almost threw up on the sets because I couldn’t stand the body odour. In the end, I wanted to give everyone a deodorant each. (laughs)

You are an actor and producer, which is like treading on a double edged sword. Where do you draw the line when it comes to your influence on how the film is made?

Your character in the film, Chitra, is the most important among the four. Were you greedy that you have to take up the role at any cost, when you heard the story?

I was actually very nervous to take up the role. If I were not Lakshmi Manchu, it wouldn’t have been so complicated. Most heroines concentrate on just their looks. They don’t think about their dubbing among many other things. For me, I had a huge responsibility to get into the character because there aren’t many

In your recent interviews, you have spoken a lot about your insecurities. That seemed so unlike your otherwise candid approach to your work.

Everyone has insecurities, don’t they? (smiles). I know I am strong, intuitive and intelligent which masks my insecurities. I spent a lot of years in the US where I learnt to try something new, push my limits and open my mind to different things.

Everything I went through to ensure Gundello Godaari releases in theatres taught me a lot more than I can imagine.

I was tensed, excited, nervous, scared and every other adjective I can think of. It was an eye-opening experience and I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn a lot about filmmaking, which I wasn’t exposed to earlier.

For starters, I have to believe in the story if I have to greenlight the project. Anyone can tell a good story.

Even an assistant director who has worked on several films can come up with a very good script, but it’s a different ball game when it comes to executing it. Once I lock the script, my only concentration is on the budget. I don’t call the shots and tell the director what to do.

Kodathara Ulikki Padathara, when I played a 60-year-old woman nobody complained about that, so why is my age a matter of concern with respect to Gundello Godaari?

Your father, brother and you produce films under three different production banners. Is it because all three of you differ on what kind of films need to be made?

Telugu girls in the industry who take up lead roles or who are always criticised; which in my case is about my accent and looks.

Were you trying to prove something there that you can do anything?

I wasn’t trying to prove anything to anyone. Initially, we were thinking of a story which was set in a medical college and anyone could relate to it, but I couldn’t forgo Gundello Godaari once I heard the script.

You played a character which was not your age. A lot of people pointed it out in their reviews and also added that the second half doesn’t match the expectations set by the first half of the

film. Didn’t it seem risky in the first place when you took up the role?

We were indeed taking a risk. In case of Aadhi and Taapsee’s track in the film, it’s pure lust which determines how they behave whereas my subplot with Sundeep Kishan is love oriented. They never have chemistry like what one would have noticed it in Aadhi and Taapsee’s track. Chitra and Soori are enamoured and they behave like a married couple.

There’s a sense of entitlement that one day in future they would indeed get married. As far as the issue of age is concerned, I think it’s the media and critics who rake it up. I mean people expect women to be a certain way till a certain age. I am not what I do on screen. In Uu

Vishnu has been an entrepreneur since he was in class X. By the time, he was in college, he had his own office and then he started ThinkSmart and 24 Frames Factory.

He has always been enterprising that way. When I started producing my own TV shows, I was advised to do that under a different production banner and then Manoj convinced me to make films under Manchu Entertainment banner. No matter what films I make, it’ll be in association with my father’s Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures banner.

What’s next in line?

I am thrilled with the response Gundello Godaari has got. I hope people experiment more. It’s a risk one has to be willing to take.

For mature audiences All About Eve

JYOTSNA N

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ou can vote and drive at 18; if you’re a woman, you can even get married. But wait till you’re 21 till you take your first sip of alcohol; you’re obviously not mature enough to handle it. Oh but feel free to have sex at 16.

The government is very concerned about our private lives, you see. They spend a large part of their time worrying about how mature we are.

But the old men (and few women) who run our country can’t seem to make up their minds on where to draw the line. If it was truly up to them, I believe, they would suspend all our civil rights till we turned 30 (except for marriage.

We’re Indian, after all).

But how would that look in the eyes of the world? The government’s need to look cool while catering to its hardline conservative notions has led to major confusion for youngsters.

Most of us are not sure when we can call ourselves adults.

The government’s rationale for lowering the age of consent was that most countries have 16 as the standard; that teens are anyway having sex; and this would prevent young boys from being accused of rape even if it was a case of consensual sex.

But in India, ‘consensual sex’ is a tricky term. Someone powerful enough could coerce a vulnerable 16-year-old into sexual intercourse. The difference between 16 and 18 isn’t much, you might argue, but it could mean keeping a girl safe for two more years.

The age of consent is by and large 16 across the world.

True. But we do not live in the same kind of society. Women aren’t given free rein to express their sexuality. People are even against sex education in schools. How then will 16-yearolds make an informed choice about sex?

What is needed is more nuance. The age of consent can be 16, if the boy too is only up to four years older or younger.

Women should be free to explore their sexuality without fear of exploitation. Until this happens, we could end up doing more harm than good.

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SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013 S BALAKRISHNA

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JAZZY NIGHTS

Model-turned-singer Imany enthralled Hyderabad’s jazz lovers with her mesmerising voice and beautiful compositions. The concert was part of Bonjour India 2013, a festival organised by the French Embassy.

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1 Ranjani, Akle 2 Bina, Vanaja 3 Chaitanya, Pooja

N SHIVA KUMAR

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6

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4 Sneha, Shilpa 5 Vani, Berangere

7 Marshal 8 Chandana

6 Vrea

9 Cate

A new drive

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy launched two new ISUZU cars on Friday.

The Japanese car manufacturer, ISUZU, has signed an agreement with the AP government to start LCV manufacturing operations in India. The event was held at ITC Grand Kakatiya Hotel.

Fond farewell Students strutted their stuff at St Francis College at the farewell party held on Friday. After posing for many pictures, the girls enjoyed a cultural programme that had been put up by the juniors in their honour.

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RELATIONSHIPS SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

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I AM ALL EARS

am a 28-year-old woman and have been married for the past two years.My in-laws and husband asked me to stop working after marriage and hence I stopped. Now our financial situation is not so great and I want to work to add to add to the income. How do I convince my family?

Dear girl, The first thing you need to do is undo your mistake. Ask your own parents or relatives of your husband to step in and convince them that your decision of working is not one that is to spite them but to make the financial situation more comfortable. Once they see how you are contributing to making their son’s stress and load lighter, I think they will get the point. Make it all about the son... that’s a sneaky way to do it.

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here is no valid scientific basis for denying same-sex couples the right to legal marriage, or to deprive them of considerable benefits of the institution, according to legal briefs filed with the US Supreme Court by the American Psychological Association and other leading mental health associations.

Denying recognition to legally married samesex couples stigmatises them, according to the "friend of the court"

No expectations

In today’s urban and educated society, a significant percentage of women are sure they don’t want their well-established careers to be jeapordised by tiny feet running around on their comfortable apartment floors. Postnoon talks to a few who don’t want children — not now, not ever.

Fact check

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hether a woman enjoys any health benefits because of bearing children has been subject to debate for many years. Dr Sujata K puts an end to it. She says: "While it depends on individuals, medically speaking, a womb that has not borne children is more vulnerable to hormonal complications."

NIDHI BHUSHAN

nidhi.b@postnoon.com

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hat whole concept of women being instinctive nurturers has become passé in today’s almost equal society where ambitions are priority and being selfish isn’t a bad thing at all. More aware, more educated and more competent than ever before, the youth today aren’t willing to compromise their lives — even if it means bearing children. While many simply don’t have any maternal instincts, others are well too aware of the consequences that follow childbirth (drooling grins hardly take any time before turning into bloodcurdling screams).

“Ever since I was a teenager I was sure that I didn’t want children. Not that I hate children or anything, I just think they are too much of a responsibility,” says techie Kritika Rai*. “I am an ambitious person and I don’t want anything to come in my way — especially not kids.”

Kritika, who has been married for the past five years, has a husband who shares the same thoughts. “Both, my husband and I consider each other equals and none of us are willing to compromise with our careers for a baby. Even though there is immense family pressure on us, we are strong-headed enough to ignore the same,” adds Kritika, who had even undergone an abortion last year.

Though there are ways of permanent contraception like female sterilisation or tubal ligation and male sterilisation or vasectomy, not many opt for them. “Yes, there is a rise in the number of abortions as many think of it as a way out of an unplanned pregnancy after mar-

riage.

However, women and men generally don’t opt for permanent contraceptive methods. Even though, a significant number of women are sure they never want children, they don’t want to let go of that small window of opportunity just in case they change their minds,” says Dr Sujata K, consultant gynaecologist at Yashoda Hospital, who adds that the change in mindsets has a lot to do with the rising number of nuclear and double-income families.

When compared to earlier times, the 21st century that we

live in — at least the urban part of it — seems to be a little more forgiving in terms of pressurising women to become ‘complete’.

“In conservative societies, women are under pressure to provide evidence to society that they are indeed, women. Having children, for both men and women, was considered proof that there was nothing wrong with them,” says Clinical

Psychologist Dr Savita Date Menon. “In today’s urban setting, where men and women consider themselves equal, having children is construed as an inconvenience. Women are aware that their lives would undergo a complete change once they become mothers and their career will take the backseat. Moreover, young couples today don’t succumb to societal pressures because they are educated enough to not let it get to them.”

Yes, there are many women who do not want to have children ever, but there are also those who are willing to wait for

the right time.

“Nowadays, youngsters do not marry young (30 is the new 21). Because of this, many get pregnant at a later age which causes complications. However, they prefer that over having babies when they aren’t ready, ” says Dr Sujata.

Agreeing with the gynaecologist, Dr Menon adds: “Planning has now become crucial to having children, nobody wants to jump into anything. Especially, young couples who have recently tied the knot choose to spend a few years together before committing to a child.”

Shilpa Mohan*, who got married three years ago, had grown up thinking that she would never have children. “I have absolutely no maternal instincts and find it difficult to imagine raising a human being at all,” she says. However, Shilpa and her husband are poles apart when it comes to children. “He’s now convinced me to have a kid and I am willing to do the same because he really likes children.

Marriage does come with a lot of compromises and I’m willing to make this one for him.”

Another finding suggests that men are keener to have children than women today.

“Having children means leaving a part of yourself in this world.

Moreover, they are the ones who take your name forward,” says Rakesh Jayant*. (*Names changed)

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CINEMA SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

g n i r o b y l Painful Movie: Backbench Student Cast: Mahat Raghavendra, Piaa Bajpai, Archana Kavi Directed by: Madhura Sreedhar Rating:

Backbench Student hits every clichéd button in the textbook and it does so unapologetically that watching the film itself is a strenuous exercise.

HEMANTH KUMAR hemanth.k@postnoon.com

Biriyani to be dubbed in Telugu

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iriyani starring Karthi, Hansika, Mandy Takhar and Premgi Amaren is going to be dubbed in Telugu. Venkat Prabhu is directing the film and KE Gnanavel Raja is producing it. So far, 50 per cent of the film’s shooting has been wrapped up and the remaining part will be shot after Karthi wraps up the first schedule of M Rajesh’s All in All Azhagu Raja.

Yuvan Shankar Raja is scoring the music for this film which is about a guy whose life changes after he goes on a quest for Biriyani.

Meanwhile, Karthi, Anushka starrer Bad Boy is going to release across the state on March 22.

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ackbench Student is so incredulously boring that it makes you wonder if anyone has watched the film on the editing table. At least three people have been credited with screenplay for the film, but does a film based on the theme of break-up warrant a run time of close to 2:30 hours despite not a strong conflict between the characters? As if that wasn’t enough, we are made to bear a silly comedy track featuring Brahmanandam towards the climax. In the end, the film drains you out so much that you would rather pretend that you haven’t watched the film for the fear of living those dreadful moments again. The film is about Karthik (Mahat Raghavendra), a happy go lucky guy who doesn’t care about studies. He’s in love with Priyanka (Archana Kavi), who wants to go abroad to pursue her higher studies and when she finally reveals her dream, Karthik is shocked that he was kept in the dark. They break up and Karthik goes on a self discovery trip where he has to prove that he’s capable of achieving anything without his father’s help. We are told that he’s an expert at ethical hacking and it takes one girl Chitra (Piaa Bajpai) to get his life back on track.

The film’s basic plot might seem simple, but the

lack of drama in the narration, along with poor performances, makes it a tiresome watch. Mahat Raghavendra looks dazed and confused throughout the film and the laziness with which he carries himself throughout the film, even during emotional sequences, is quite evident.

Archana Kavi doesn’t have much to do except for sulk in most scenes whereas Piaa Bajpai is marginally better of the three. The film also has some bizarre supporting characters like a bespectacled guy who confesses his love for a girl who in turn is shocked to know that her boyfriend has been cheating on her or take for example the characterisations of Banerjee and Sharat Babu, which give a new definition to word stereotype. The stock answers are passed off as sermons and we are reminded time and again that it’s imperative to be a good citizen as a proof of reformation.

Directed by Madhura Sreedhar, the film is a colossal failure in terms of nearly everything. It’s neither entertaining nor does it have an interesting point of view worth pondering upon. Sunil Kashyap’s song are passable and both the songs sung by Simbu and Anirudh don’t make an impression. The message in the end is that a student, who fails in exams, doesn’t necessarily end up failing in life and a film on this concept couldn’t have been more painfully boring.

K

riti Kharbanda, who was last seen in Ongole Githa, is eagerly looking forward to the release of Om. Kalyan Ram has played the lead role in this 3D action film and Nikesha Patel is the other actress. “Shooting in 3D was a totally different experience for me. It’s been a long time since the film was announced, but trust me, it’s worth the wait. I’m sporting a different look and it was so much fun wearing leather pants. I didn’t know that I could look so hot,” she quips.

Om will be a great experience : Kriti Kharbanda

22

CINEMA SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

SONAM KAPOOR — INHERENTLY

A DELHI GIRL!

T

hough she was brought up in Mumbai, Sonam Kapoor loves to play a Delhi girl on celluloid and adds that she feels like one nowadays.

“I love Delhi — the people and the space. I think there is so much character in the city. Of course, every city has its negatives and positives. I love playing a Delhi girl because I feel inherently I am one,” Sonam told.

Delhi 6 saw her portraying a middle-class girl from old Delhi area, while in Aisha, she was seen as an uptown fashionista from high society of the capital.

Currently Sonam is shooting for Yash Raj Films’ untitled film with Ayushmann Khurrana.

Asked what she does for her security when in Delhi, Sonam said: “I have five security guards and I take them with me wherever I go.”

The 27-year-old loves to gorge on food.

“I just cannot miss the food in Delhi. I have to go to the Bengali Market and have chhole bhature and golgapaas. Also, I need to go to Parathe Wali Gali

‘Ok doing item number’

B

ollywood actress Kajol said that she will not mind doing an item number if its requirement is justified in the film.

“I love watching item numbers and any film that is entertaining. If the film demands it and if the item number is adding to the film, helping take the story forward, I don’t mind doing an item number,” she said when asked if she will be comfortable with it.

However, Kajol who said that motherhood has added a new dimension to the actress in her, is not comfortable if her children watch item numbers.

When asked if she would do a The Dirty Picture, she responded with a succinct “No”.

“I do not see myself pulling off a character like that,” she managed to add when pushed for a reason.

IANS

in Old Delhi. The most important thing for me when I come to Delhi is to eat,” she said and added that relatives of her father Anil Kapoor stay in Delhi.

“Since my dad’s side of family is from Delhi, I keep coming to Delhi,” she said.

Sonam made her acting debut opposite Ranbir Kapoor in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2007 film Saawariya.

Her last release was Players, while her forthcoming films are Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Raanjhana.

“I have just finished shooting Raanjhana with Dhanush and Abhay Deol. In the film, I play a JNU student and I have got a good response about the look I have in the film. I am not wearing makeup in the movie,” she said.

She is looking forward to the release of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra directed Bhaag Milkha Bhaag in which she will be seen opposite Farhan Akhtar, who plays ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh, the legendary athlete.

IANS

‘Walking ramp is unnerving’

F

ormer Miss India and Bollywood actress Gul Panag, who walked for designer Urvashi Kaur at the ongoing Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW), says that walking the ramp is something that she has never wanted to do.

“It was a bit unnerving to walk with big supermodels but thankfully music helped in soothing my nerves. Modelling requires lot of things and for me, it was a little difficult as I have never walked the ramp during my Miss India days,” Gul said.

Kaur showcased a collection titled Fez. Talking about choosing Gul as showstopper, the designer said that “she epitomises true Indian beauty”.

“She epitomises the woman of today. She is very intelligent, adventurous, a globetrotter and moreover she is beautiful inside IANS out,” said Kaur.

CINEMA SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

23

CINEMA SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

24

25

CINEMA SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

JUDE LAW focuses on work

A

ctor Jude Law says people “assume” he is a playboy even over seven years after he cheated on actress girlfriend Sienna Miller with his children’s nanny.

The 40-year-old actor has three children — Rafferty, 16, Iris, 12, and Rudy, 10, with ex-wife Sadie Frost and three-year-old daughter Sophia with model Samantha Burke. He earned the tag of being a lothario, especially after cheating on Miller.

“People assume that I’ll be like that. You have to separate it and say, ‘Well I know it’s not me.'

You learn to live with this dichotomy of who you are and who they’re say-

ing you are," Law said in an interview with ShortList magazine, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Recalling the frenzy that his love life caused in 2005 and thereafter, Law said: “That period was horrible. It was just boring.

Boring, shallow and infuriating.

I think it managed to (overshadow my acting) for a while, unfortunately. I was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the swamp, the mire.”

However, he believes his last few roles — including his portrayal of John Watson in the Sherlock Holmes franchise and his appearance in the critically acclaimed Anna Karenina, have allowed him to be taken seriously as an actor again.

“I realised quickly I’d have to keep my head down and hope that the work would win out. It seems to have worked so far," he IANS said.

MENDES avoids love scenes

A

ctress Eva Mendes says she is uncomfortable doing intimate scenes in movies and that she deliberately avoids them.

The 38-year-old says she politely urges filmmakers to avoid sex scenes as she feels they are of no use in a movie’s plot, reports dailystar.co.uk.

“Love scenes are always awkward. They’re awful. I’ve managed to really skip through them. When I read that my character has a love scene, I carefully

address it with the director: ‘Can we please cut this out? It’s gratuitous and there’s no need for it,' and thankfully that has happened," Mendes said.

“I try to avoid them whenever I can. I have done a couple of things that have been appropriate for the films I’ve been in, but I’ve never done a simulated sex scene because I feel like they’re rarely appropriate," she added.

IANS

Chris Pine to receive CinemaCon S tar Trek star Chris Pine is set to be honoured at CinemaCon next month.

Chris will receive the CinemaCon Male Star of the Year award at the event’s convention this April.

CinemaCon, which takes place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, hosts more than 5,000 industry motion picture professionals each year, celebrating the moviegoing experience and the cinema industry.

The actor will receive

his award on April 18 at the Colosseum.

“With this summer’s Star Trek Into Darkness, the eagerly anticipated follow-up to 2009’s Star Trek, and then at year-end, the release of Jack Ryan, without a doubt, 2013 is going to be Chris Pine’s year,” CinemaCon Managing Director Mitch Neuhauser said in a release. “Chris Pine has emerged as one of Hollywood’s hottest and most accomplished young actors,” he added.

26

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

SUDOKU

THOUGHT OF THE DAY A rusty nail placed near a faithful compass, will sway it from the truth, and wreck the argosy.

– Walter Scott

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 Before, in an old syllable 4 Liberty Bell flaw 9 Tropical nut or palm 14 Vote down 15 Historical record 16 Four-legged Andean 17 Start of an angler's lament (Part 1) 20 Bit of whipped cream 21 Egypt's ___ Canal 22 Etheridge of music 26 They're often near swings 31 Super Bowl revenue generators 32 Sink-stopper 34 Controversial school subject 35 New Zealand minority 37 Hindu royal 38 Start of an angler's lament (Part 2) 42 ___ Torino (old Ford model) 43 House for a horse 44 Hollow part of a bird 47 “Star Trek” phaser setting 48 ___ Rio, Texas 51 In the future 53 Law on the books 55 Gem with a play of colors 57 Voice agreement with 58 Start of an angler's lament (Part 3) 65 Sierra Nevada resort lake 66 Utilize school 67 What makes a drink clink 68 Enjoys a snowy slope 69 Haughty one 70 19th letter DOWN 1 Challenging riddle 2 Searched for booty 3 Praises lavishly 4 Ill-bred sort 5 Cell substance letters 6 Random selection

7 Calls in a field 8 Mann or Kinski 9 Jacket 10 Little toymaker 11 ___ chi (martial art form) 12 Dash sizes 13 “Well, ___-di-dah!”

18 Asian sash 19 Trickle (through) 23 Brief quarrel 24 At a snail's pace 25 Distinctive atmospheres 27 NCO, informally 28 Indian nanny 29 Left 30 ___ Lanka 33 Essential points 35 Pastor's home 36 Sings like Ella 38 The Three Tenors, e.g.

39 Maim

59 ___ segno (musical 40 Border (on) direction) 41 It has a humerus side 60 Common title word 42 Road trip necessity 61 Trough for mortar 45 Has a crush on 62 Way out in China?

46 Mafia boss 63 Sis' counterpart 48 Ernie the Muppet's 64 Fire or carpenter crearubber toy ture 49 Law school course 50 Freetown curPREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER rency units 52 Two-masted sailing vessels 54 Gumshoe, for short 56 Property claim for outstanding debt 58 Word with an incorrect apostrophe, often

27

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Five of Pentacles

Four of Wands

King of Pentacles

Five of Swords

Three of Wands

Seven of Cups

W

W

ork – Your subordinates respect you for your experience and confidence in decision making.

Romance – You come across as too cut and dried and totally out of touch with the romantic in you.

How about living in a fairytale world, at least for some time? Health – Health is looking good.

Just make sure to keep depression at bay. Undue anxiety and worry may be causing some stress on the body. Money – You have a single-minded focus on money, and want to secure yourself and your family financially before making any other decisions. Tarot message – You’re in a position of power and control. The way your life turns out from here will depend on how you use that power.

W

ork – Avoid any kind of conflict or confrontation. A coworker or a competitor may be angling for a fight.

Don’t give in to the temptation to prove yourself.

Romance – Things are not perfectly cosy at this time. Singles may come across a string of incompatible partners. And those involved find some rough spots. Health – Mental stress and anxiety are not good for your health. Take active measures to de-stress and relax. Money – Check and double check before you decide where to put your money. Choose a practical and wise consultant even if she/he is expensive. Tarot message – Keep a low profile and avoid all kinds of conflict for now.

W

W

W

ork –Your colleagues or business partners may not fully agree with you on certain points in an important contract. Don’t lose heart. Romance – The time is not great. You have to work harder on your relationship to keep it afloat. You’re attracted to having short-term flings. Health – Worry and anxiety are causing problems and this is showing on your physical health. Don’t let the tension get to you. Money – You may have forgotten about some important investments you made a few years ago. Review your investment portfolio again. Tarot message – You need inspiration and guidance to start over.

You’re tired and frustrated.

ork – Your work involves a physical move to another city or state to handle another project. It may be the result of a new job opportunity as well. Romance – Your commitment deepens. You have the important conversation about marriage, or, if married, having a baby. Health – You decide to take matters into your own hands and go the healthy way to create your own good health.

Think alternative lifestyles and organic food. Money – Think of how you’re going to invest all the money you’ve been making. Hire a good finance consultant to show you the way. Tarot message – Your firm beliefs and solid foundation in sound principles will take you a long way.

ork – The wait is over and you’re ready to put all your plans into action. You’ve been patient and it pays off. Romance – You will settle for nothing but the very best. This idealistic attitude may make you unhappy in your relationship. Loosen up a little. Health – Try a new diet and exercise routine.

It’s important to get rid of the boredom so you have the motivation to continue the routine.

Money – Consult a good finance advisor. The earlier you start planning, the better it is for your own portfolio. Don’t scrounge on paying a good consultant. Tarot message – There are many choices and what you do about them is how your life will go.

ork – There may be some confusion when it comes to what’s expected of you. You may have misunderstood something. Romance – You and your partner need to set realistic expectations of each other. There are times when you feel it’s not working out. Health – You feel restless and anxious about not knowing what the future holds.

You need some time to relax and de-stress.

Meditate. Money – Finances have been your concern for some time now and they are sorted out quite well. Tarot message – Don’t stress about having it all right now and knowing everything there is know.

There is joy in not knowing as well.

SUMAA TEKUR tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

Libra

Scorpio

The Devil

The Emperor

W

W

ork – You’re too tempted to take the unfamiliar road. If you don’t have the experience or knowledge, it’s best to stay away and stick to what you do best.

Romance – The relationship may have reached a point of boredom where you can even predict what your partner is going to say next. Rekindle the love.

Health – Health needs extra care. Stay away from anything that remotely suggests trouble for your health. Money – You may be tempted to move money around in unfamiliar investments and take bigger risks. It’s a not a good idea. Stay in familiar territory for now. Tarot message – This is the time to keep a low profile and not get too adventurous.

ork – A good idea is half the battle won.

You have good ideas but you also need the confidence to present them to your bosses with conviction. Romance – Love is in the air and you practically see roses everywhere you turn. The world seems like such a brighter place with love in it. Health – You’re feeling relaxed and tensionfree from within and this feeling is radiating to the outer world. Your body is also responding. Money – Finances are in good shape. There’s nothing to worry about at the moment except to protect the money that’s in the bank. Don’t overspend.

Tarot message – Love conquers all. You discover the power of this emotion.

Sagittarius The Wheel of Fortune

W

ork –Something at the work place stumps you. You may not have expected some behavior from a colleague. But it’s new learning. Romance – All may not be looking up on the romance front for you at the moment. But it will soon change. Singles won’t be single for long.

Health – You have the key to change your health situation and how your body responds to the various emotions within you.

Attend a weekend health retreat. Money – Don’t leave much to risk.

Protect a base amount of money against risk and use only some in the fluctuating markets. Tarot message – Not everything stays the same.

Date 17-3-2013

Capricorn

Aquarius

Page of Pentacles

King of Wands

W

W

ork – You might find a new project more demanding than you expected. Perhaps the client is just too difficult to please. Romance – Passion is taking your relationship to the next level. Though the chemistry is wonderful, there are other parts of life together that need attention. Health – Take up a running or jogging routine that’s both fun and will keep your interest alive.

Maybe exercising in groups will help? Money – Investment in real estate is a good idea. Start shopping around for the right property and you’re likely to hit upon the correct deal.

Tarot message – You need to take a break. Hit the sun and sands and rejuvenate all your senses.

ork – You have it in you to be a good boss with a heart. Your peers recognize the leader in you and urge you to aim higher. Romance – You may need to learn a few tricks to make a potential romance work in your favour. Being too idealistic may not work best. Health – You’re feeling cheerful and that is contributing a great deal to your health. You feel wonderful about the time and space you’re in now. Money – Finances are looking good. You have all the traits to secure yourself and be at a position of minimum risk at any time. Tarot message – You see life differently and realise that there may be a different world out there.

Pisces Nine of Cups

W

ork – You’re on a roll! All your ideas are being accepted.

What’s more, they work beautifully, too. You’re the centre of attention in the office. Romance – The love of your life enters your life. If you’re committed, you develop a new level of understanding with your partner.

Health – You may be getting a little overweight.

But it’s nothing to worry about. You’re doing absolutely fine, health wise.

Money – You make decisions based on gut feel and this is bringing in the profits. It’s like music between the head and heart. Tarot message – This is the wish card, and is one of those times when you make a connection between the spiritual and material.

Vol: 2, No 239 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon.com and for subscription, please call 040-40672222, Fax: 040-40672211

28

THE SATURDAY QUIZ SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

IN THE NEWS

8. From which animal does the domesticated dog originate?

9. Where was Jesus baptised?

10. Which continent does the island of Madagascar belong to?

11. Who is also known as Cassius Clay?

12. How many times did Paulo Coelho escape from a mental asylum?

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

14. How many players are there in a baseball team?

15. At what age did William Shakespeare die?

Answers

4. Which actor was the 38th Governor of California?

5. How many states make up the United States of America?

6. Which of Rihanna’s songs shares its name with a William Shakespeare play?

7. How many legs does a dragon fly have?

1. 1900 2. 1993 3. 1991 4. Arnold Schwarzenegger 5. 50 6. Romeo and Juliet 7. Six 8. Wolf 9. Jordan 10. Africa 11. Muhammad Ali 12. Three 13. 26 14. 9 15. 52

TEST YOURSELF

IDENTIFY THESE RACERS

CURRENT AFFAIRS 1

2

1

According to the United Nations Human Development Report 2013, which region has the highest growth index between 2000 and 2012?

1

Where does the name "Pope" come from and what is its meaning?

Which company from Bahrain is in talks with Reliance Communications to buy a stake in the Indian operator's enterprise business unit?

2 3

Where do Papal Elections take place?

Google recently announced that it will be shutting down one of its services. Which is it?

4

What is the colour of smoke that rises from the chapel's chimney once a new Pope has been chosen?

Who announced this week that Syria’s embattled president, Bashar Assad, is preparing to use chemical weapons?

4

3

6

1. South Asia 2. Bahrain Telecommunications Co (Batelco) 3. Google Reader 4. Israel’s military intelligence chief Maj Gen Aviv Kochavi 5. Ninety Nine Labels.

7

Traditionally, how is the Pope's death verified?

with Santosh Ghule How many legs can you see these bunnies having?

Answer for 57:

Which country squashed India's hopes of qualifying for the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament?

PICTURE PUZZLE 58

There is an eye in the middle of the picture.

3

A minister's 3D broadcasts of his speeches during the 2012 Assembly elections have entered the Guinness Book of World Records.

Who is he?

Answers: 1. Sebastian Vettel 2. Jenson Button 3. Michael Schumacher 4. Fernando Alonso

2

WHO AM I? I am a law and urban development minister of one of the states. I resigned this week on "moral grounds" after my daughter-in-law filed a dowry case against me. Who am I?

Answer

Answers India has demanded a country to speedily release 53 fishermen who are in their custody. Which is the country?

Who chooses the name for the newlyelected Pope?

What is the maximum number of Cardinal Electors permitted to elect the Pope?

KNOW YOUR COUNTRY

1

5

Raghunath Mohanty

Internet firm InfoEdge, which owns job portal Naukri.com, has announced that it will be writing off its `29.3 crore investment in an online retailing firm. Which is it?

At what age are Cardinals excluded from participating in the electoral process?

Answers:

2 3 4 5

How much do you know about the Pope?

1. Greek “pappas” meaning father 2. Sistine Chapel 3. 80 4. White 5. The Pope Himself 6. 120 7. Calling his name three times

1. In which year was the first film about the destruction of Pompeii made?

2. When did American composer and singer-songwriter Frank Zappa die?

3. When did the legendary German race car driver Michael Schumacher make his Formula 1 debut?

1. Sri Lanka 2. Narendra Modi 3. New Zealand

Answers

29

SPORTS SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

Heat stretch streak to 21

L

eBron James and Chris Bosh each scored 28 points and Dwyane Wade added 20 to spark defending NBA champion Miami to a 21st consecutive victory in a 107-94 rout of Milwaukee on Friday. The Heat have the third-longest win streak in NBA history and can match the second-best run, 22 in a row by the 2007-08 Houston Rockets, by winning Sunday at Toronto.

Saina storms into semis

Puerto Rico ousts US stars

A

N

ce Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal was on course for her third consecutive Swiss Open title as she stormed into the semifinals of the Grand Prix Gold tournament after thrashing Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei. The top seeded Indian outplayed her sixth seeded opponent 2111 21-12 in quarterfinal match that lasted just 29 minutes.

elson Figueroa pitched six shutout innings and Puerto Rico edged the United States 4-3 on Friday to claim the last semi-final berth in the World Baseball Classic. Figueroa, a 38-year-old for the Arizona Diamondbacks, silenced a US lineup of Major League Baseball’s best sluggers to secure Puerto Rico’s first berth in the final four of the global baseball showdown.

Vettel comes 12th

MELBOURNE: World cham-

pion Sebastian Vettel had hydraulic problems with his Red Bull car as rain upset all the teams’ plans in third practice ahead of qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Frenchman Romain Grosjean topped the session with a best lap time of one minute 26.929 seconds in his Lotus on dry tyres before rain swept in with threequarters of the session left.

All 22 cars swapped over to full wet weather tyres and Grosjean’s time stood as the best in the inconclusive final practice before qualifying later Saturday ahead of Sunday’s season-opening GP at Melbourne’s Albert Park street circuit.

Vettel failed to finish the session when he pulled off the circuit on his ninth lap and was told on team radio that his Red Bull had hydraulic issues and not to shift gears.

The German three-time

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany speeds out of his garage during the third practice session for the Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Saturday.

AFP/WILLIAM WEST

world champion clocked a best lap time of 1:29.808 well down on his times registered in Friday’s practice.

The Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were second and third quickest behind Grosjean before the rain hit.

Howard leads Lakers past Pacers INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: Dwight Howard scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Kobe Bryant went scoreless in limited minutes due to an ankle injury as the Los Angeles Lakers beat Indiana 99-93 on Friday.

The Lakers, battling with Utah for the last Western Conference playoff berth at 35-32, dropped the Central division-leading Pacers to 40-25 thanks to solid play from Howard, 18 points from Steve Blake and 17 from Antawn Jamison. But the main concern was Bryant’s condition as he tested a sprained left ankle.

AFP

Ankita, Barbara in finals Results: Women Singles Semifinals: Ankita Raina (IND) (3) bt Rishika Sunkara (IND) (1) - 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2 Barbara Luz (POR) bt Varunya Wongteanchai (THA) - 7-6 (1), 6-3 Women Doubles Finals Sharmada Balu (IND) (4) / Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND) bt Michaela Frlicka (GER) / Tereza Malikova (CZE) (3) – 7-5, 5-7, 10-8

Alonso clocked 1:27.000 and Brazilian teammate Massa 1:27.241 in the session.

There was still no joy for the troubled McLarens with last year’s Melbourne race winner Jenson Button trailing in 17th and teammate Sergio Perez 18th.

The wet weather prevented Lewis Hamilton from clocking an early fast lap in his Mercedes and he posted the slowest time of 1:47.246.

Rain was forecast to continue in qualifying amid tumbling temperatures and strengthening winds.

Third free practice timings 1. Romain Grosjean (FRA) Lotus 1:26.929, 2. Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 1:27.000 3. Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 1:27.241 4. Paul di Resta (GBR) Force India 1:27.533 5. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Lotus 1:27.625 6. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Toro Rosso 1:27.849 7. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA) Toro Rosso 1:27.860 8. Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 1:28.069 9. Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Sauber 1:28.253 10. Esteban Gutierrez (MEX) Sauber 1:28.253 11. Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes 1:28.486 12. Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull Racing 1:29.808 13. Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull Racing 1:30.073 14. Jules Bianchi (FRA) Marussia 1:30.388 15. Giedo van der Garde (NED) Caterham 1:30.598 16. Charles Pic (FRA) Caterham 1:30.959 17. Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren Mercedes 1:33.236 18. Sergio Perez (MEX) McLaren Mercedes 1:33.527 19. Pastor Maldonado (VEN) Williams 1:39.232 20. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Williams 1:39.779 21. Max Chilton (GBR) Marussia 1:42.872 22. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes 1:47.246

Chan claims third title Laurie Nealin Agence France-Presse

LONDON: Canada’s Patrick Chan won his third consecutive men’s title at the World Figure Skating Championships on Friday, even though it was Kazakhstan’s Denis Ten who captured the free skate final.

But Chan’s already rocky season came within an ice shaving of ending in disaster after he crashed twice.

Delighting a crowd of home-nation supporters, Chan took the overall crown with 267.78 points to edge unheralded Ten, who was second on 266.48.

Spain’s Javier Fernandez, the European men’s champion, had come in third with 249.06.

“It was a battle after I fell but I am going to take that and put it in my back pocket and learn from it for next season,” Chan said.

Chan dominated the short programme on Wednesday with Ten finishing second, but in the free skate performance,

Patrick Chan of Canada celebrates his gold medal in the Mens Free Skating Program during the 2013 ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Budweiser Gardens on Friday in London, Ontario, Canada.

AFP/DAVE SANDFORD it was Ten who was triumphant with 174.92 points to 169.41 for Chan and 169.05 for Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu.

“I can’t believe I won a medal. It’s like a dream I am still sleeping in,” said Ten, a descendant of Korean general Min Keung Ho. It was the seven-point

cushion that Chan enjoyed going into the free skate performance that enabled the Canadian to become the first to win three world men’s titles since Russian Alexei Yagudin from 1998-2000.

Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, runners-up at worlds the past two years, took

the pairs title by winning Friday’s free skate final, becoming the first Russian duo to claim the world pairs throne since 2005.

Chan opened his “La Boheme” routine with the same bravado he showed in setting a new points record two days earlier with his short programme.

He landed back-to-back, picture-perfect quadruple jumps but seconds later the programme began to unravel.

Chan first crashed on a triple lutz and then on his triple Axel.

The quads, however, scored 30 points and that, combined with his unmatched mastery of performance and the short-programme cushion, gave him the triumph.

“I’m a bit disappointed,” Chan said. “This is why it’s not easy to be an athlete. I just tried to make the best of it.

“It was a good beginning with two beautiful quads.”

Ten, who competed hurt much of the season due to various injuries, also opened with a quadruple toe loop.

30

SPORTS SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

Del Potro downs Murray

Del Potro, ranked seventh in the world, beat World No. 3 Andy Murray 67 (5/7), 6-3, 6-1 to book his semis berth in the Indian Wells Masters.

Rebecca Bryan

Agence France-Presse

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA:Juan Martin del Potro toppled Andy Murray on Friday to book a semi-final showdown with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Indian Wells Masters.

Del Potro, ranked seventh in the world and the seventh seed in this combined ATP and WTA tournament, beat World No. 3 Murray 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-1.

The 2009 US Open champion from Argentina didn't face a break point until the third set and benefitted from Murray's eight double faults -- the last coming on match point.

On Saturday, Del Potro will become the latest player to try ending Djokovic's impressive winning streak, which totals 22 matches dating to October 31 and includes 17 victories this year.

Djokovic dispatched eighthseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-3, 6-1.

Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina celebrates victory over Andy Murray of Great Britain on Friday in Indian Wells, California, during their quarterfinal match at the BNP Paribas Open. Del Potro upset Murray 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals.

AFP/FREDERIC J. BROWN

Lee fires 64 to edge Miyazato Jee Young Lee fired a bogey-free eight-under par 64 to seize a one-stroke lead over Ai.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Jee Young Lee fired a bogey-free eight-under par 64 on Friday to seize a one-stroke lead over Japan's Ai Miyazato after the second round of the $1.5 million LPGA Founders Cup. One day after Miyazato set a course-record with a 63 at Wildfire Golf Club, Lee shot the second-best round ever at the 6,583-yard layout to nudge her way atop the leaderboard past Miyazato with American Stacy Lewis third on 133.

Lee began her birdie binge at the par-5 fifth and then closed the front nine with

three birdies. She stretched her run to four in a row by starting the back nine the same way, needing only 12 strokes on four par-4 holes.

Lee then closed with birdies on three of the last four holes, although she failed to match her success of seven back-nine birdies from the opening round. Miyazato, who finished second in this event last year, birdied three of the first five holes but took her first bogey of the event at the par-3 six and even after backto-back birdies closed the front nine with another bogey. AFP

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA: Eighth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki out-lasted fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 on Friday to reach the women's final at Indian Wells for the third time in four years.

The Dane, formerly ranked No. 1 in the world, lifted the trophy in the California desert in 2011 and was runner-up in 2010.

She'll battle for the title on Sunday against the winner of the second semi-final between second-seeded Maria Sharapova and 13th-seeded Maria Kirilenko.

Sharapova is seeking a first title since her French Open triumph last year, which gave her a career Grand Slam. She is playing just her third tournament of the season after reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open and at Doha.

She, too, has one victory and one runner-up finish at Indian Wells, but in Kirilenko she was coming up against a player brimming with confidence after toppling third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova.

AFP

Djoker storms into semis World No.1 Novak Djokovic made short work of a lackluster JoWilfried Tsonga booking a semi-final spot with a 22nd straight victory.

Rebecca Bryan

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA: World No. 1 Novak Djokovic made short work of a lackluster Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday, booking his Indian Wells Masters semi-final spot with a 22nd straight victory.

The Serbian star, who followed up his fourth Australian Open title in January with an ATP triumph in Dubai, took just 54 minutes to beat eighth-seeded Tsonga 6-3, 6-1.

He awaits the winner of the day's other quarter-final between world No. 3 Andy Murray and seventh-seeded Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro.

Jee Young Lee (R) of South Korea hugs Victoria Elizabeth (C) on the 18th hole green following the second round of the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup at Wildfire Golf Club on Friday. AFP/CHRISTIAN PETERSEN

The departure of Murray, on the heels of defending champion Roger Federer's quarterfinal ouster by Rafael Nadal, leaves only two of the "big four" of men's tennis in the tournament, which was the first with all four playing since Wimbledon.

Nadal, playing his fourth tournament since a seven month injury layoff, will face sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in Saturday's semifinals while del Potro will tackle Djokovic.

Del Potro beat the Serbian in the bronze medal match at the London Olympics last year, but noted wryly that Djokovic has since beaten him four times -- most recently in the semifinals at Dubai.

"I need to play better," he said of his chances of beating the dominant player in men's tennis.

On the bright side, he called his performance against Murray his best match of the tournament.

Wozniacki in Indian Wells finals

AFP

Novak Djokovic of Serbia waits for a serve from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in their quarterfinal match of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Friday. AFP/ STEPHEN DUNN

Choi, Scott charge but Stefani keeps lead PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA: Australia's Adam Scott and South Korea's KJ Choi charged into contention on Friday at the US PGA Tampa Bay Championship, but US rookie Shawn Stefani (left) clung to the lead after 36 holes.

Choi opened with an eagle on his way to firing a four-under par 67 while Scott fired a bogey-free 66, but Stefani's 70 was enough to keep him ahead on seven-under par 135 after the second round at the $5.5 million event.

Scott and Choi shared second on 136 with Americans Brian

Harman, Harris English, Jason Dufner and Peter Tomasulo another stroke off the pace and Spain's Sergio Garcia and American Tag Ridings sharing eighth on 138.

Choi, who won the Tampa Bay title in 2002 and 2006, followed his stellar start with a birdie at the sixth but stumbled with a bogey at the par-3 eighth.

Birdies at the par-5 11th and par-3 13th and 15th holes lifted Choi into a share of the lead, but a bogey at the par-4 16th dropped AFP him back.

31

SPORTS SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

Australia back on top Scoreboard

SYED SHOIAB In Mohali

MOHALI:Australia managed a healthy 408 before being bowled out just before lunch on the third day of the third Test against India here on Saturday.

Overnight Australian not out batsmen Michael Starc and Steve Smith started the fourth morning at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium from where they had left last evening, showing the right blend of caution and quest for runs, scoring, as they did, without taking undue risks.

Introduction of the new ball in the fifth over of the day accelerated things, with the 300 coming up on the board in the second over bowled with it by Ishant Sharma. The outstanding straight-driven boundary from Smith also brought up 50 runs of the partnership.

As the ball got older providing the spinners better grip, the controls shifted from the batsmen to the bowlers, the batsmen surviving more by grit, and sometimes luck, than by their customary flair. The Australians put up 350 runs in the 125th at an average of nearly three runs

Virat Kohli runs up to congratulate an ecstatic Pragyan Ojha after claiming Steve Smith’s wicket on the third day of the third Test at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Mohali on Saturday.

SRINIVAS SETTY an over.

Pragyan Ojha drew first blood of the day for India when he drew the rock-solid Smith out of the crease with a delivery that was pitched along the off stump and spun sharply to evade the batsman's defensive blade.

Wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had dived full length to save byes in the previous over

by Ishant Sharma, flicked off the bails in a flash before breaking into a celebration run.

Smith got out for 92 runs,

eight short of what would have been a deserved century. It is, though, his highest score in Test cricket. Ninety-seven runs that Smith and Starc partnered in, is a record for the eighth wicket at Mohali.

Starc, the more aggressive of the two batsmen, reached his 50 with a wristy flick down the off side. Starc too bettered his previous highest in Tests, 64 against South Africa, soon after.

Starc became the third Aussie batsman to miss a centu-

Australia 1st innings Ed Cowan c Kohli b Ashwin 86 D Warner c Dhoni b Jadeja 71 MJ Clarke st Dhoni b Jadeja 0 Phillip Hughes c Dhoni b Ojha 2 Steven Smith st Dhoni b Ojha 92 Brad Haddin b Sharma 21 Moises Henriques b Sharma 0 Peter Siddle lbw b Jadeja 0 M Starc c Dhoni b Sharma 99 Nathan Lyon not out 9 Xavier Doherty lbw Ashwin 5 Extras (b 8, lb 12, nb3) 23 Total (all out, 141.5 overs) 408 Bowling: Kumar 9-0-44-0, Sharma 30-8-72-3, Ashwin 43.59-97-2, Ojha 28-5-98-2, Jadeja 31-7-77-3 India 1st innings M Vijay not out 3 S Dhawan not out 0 Extras 0 Total (0 wickets, one over) 3 Bowling: M Starc 1-0-3-0 ry that was there for the taking.

After playing and missing two Ishant Sharma deliveries, he got out caught by Dhoni when he edged one. His 99 is the highest by an Australian number 9 against India. The 400 came soon after.

Fletcher gets a year’s extension ‘Duncan lucky to get extension’

MUMBAI: Duncan Fletcher's contract as India's cricket coach was

extended by one more year despite a below-par track record, setting to rest the intense speculation on his future. The decision to renew Fletcher's two-year contract, which was due to end at the end of this month, wastaken by the BCCI's Working Committee which met here on Friday. "The Board has decided to extend his contract. But we have to discuss the terms. I can't tell you the deliberations of the Board. All I can tell you is what is the decision. We have decided to extend it," BCCI president N Srinivasan said after the meeting.

Speculation was rife about Fletcher's future after India lost 10 Test PTI matches including a home series against England recently.

NEW DELHI: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar feels that Duncan Fletcher is lucky to have been handed an extension as no Indian coach would have been able to survive after losing 10 Test matches. "If he were an Indian, probably he would not have got an extension. If you look at the past, everytime an Indian coach didn't do well in a series, he was removed," he said. "During his (Fletcher's) tenure, India suffered heavy losses in Australia and England. India also could not win the Asia Cup despite being the world champions. Well, India didn't win any title during his tenure.

India didn't even qualify for the knockout stage of T20 World cup," PTI Gavaskar told NDTV on Friday.

England enforce follow-on WELLINGTON: New Zealand

England's bowler Stuart Broad (R) appeals during the second Test against New Zealand.

AFP

were 77 for one in their second innings at stumps on the third day of the second Test against England, 134 runs in arrears after being forced to follow on.

Peter Fulton was not out 41 with Kane Williamson on 16.

Earlier, England paceman Stuart Broad destroyed New Zealand's batting with an impressive six-wicket haul, allowing the tourists to enforce the follow-on.

Broad finished with six for 51 from 17.2 overs of precision pace bowling as the home side collapsed to 254 all out, 211 runs short of England's first innings total of 465.

The last five New Zealand wickets fell for just 65 runs after a 100-run partnership between Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling threatened to build a

competitive total.

But when McCullum fell for 69 shortly after the lunch break - the first of two quick wickets

by Steven Finn -- the writing was on the wall.

Watling soldiered on to reach 60 while Bruce Martin produced a stubborn 21 but the rest of the New Zealand tail folded with little resistance.

The home side resumed on day three at 66 for three and progressed to 169-5 by lunch before wickets fell steadily throughout the middle session as Broad's lively deliveries tormented the batsmen.

While McCullum was able to keep Broad out he was undone

by Finn, edging the ball to the slips where Jonathan Trott made no mistake after earlier dropping Watling.

With the tail exposed, New

Zealand needed Watling to stay at the crease and he looked comfortable in reaching 60 before he nicked Broad to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

The Broad-Prior combination also accounted for Neil Wagner, who faced 13 balls without scoring, and Trent Boult, who contributed two as the last man.

Broad, who removed Hamish Rutherford and Ross Taylor in successive balls on Friday, took the first wicket of the day when he had Kane Williamson caught and bowled for 42.

Dean Brownlie followed three balls later when a Jimmy Anderson delivery nipped back and trapped him leg before wicket on 18, reducing New Zealand to 89-5 and bringing McCullum and Watling together.

AFP

Irfan leads Pakistan victory Colin Bryden Agence France-Presse

CENTURION, SOUTH AFRICA: Pakistan’s Mohammad Irfan took four wickets in a devastating opening spell to set up a six-wicket win in the second one-day international against South Africa on Friday. Irfan took a career-best four for 33 in seven overs as South Africa were bowled out for 191 in a match reduced to 44 overs a side.

Pakistan achieved victory with 4.4 overs to spare, captain Misbah-ulHaq anchoring his side's chase, making 57 not out.

The win levelled the fivematch series at 1-1 after South Africa had cruised to a 125-run win in Bloemfontein last weekend with the third game to be played in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Misbah said Irfan's bowling had been the key to the win on a pitch with some damp spots which caused uneven pace and bounce.

"We really needed this win. The batsmen are getting their confidence back," said Misbah.

South Africa crashed to 62 for five under Irfan's onslaught but recovered to reach 177 for seven after 38.4 overs when a violent thunderstorm struck the ground and caused a stoppage of almost two-and-ahalf hours. South Africa failed to see out the revised quota of 44 overs, losing their last three wickets for 12 runs to be bowled out with four balls AFP to spare.

Scoreboard England first innings 465 New Zealand, first innings P. Fulton c Cook b Anderson 1 H. Rutherford c Cook b Broad 23 K. Williamson c & b Broad 42 R. Taylor b Broad 0 D. Brownlie lbw Anderson 18 B. McCullum c Trott b Finn 69 B. Watling c Prior b Broad 60 T. Southee c Broad b Finn 3 B. Martin not out 21 N. Wagner c Prior b Broad 0 T. Boult c Prior b Broad 2 Extras (lb10, w2, nb3) 15 Total (all out, 89.2 overs) 254 Bowling: Anderson 25-6-68-2, Finn 20-2-72-2, Broad 17.2-2-51-6, Panesar 26-11-47-0, Root 1-0-6-0 New Zealand 2nd innings P. Fulton not out 41 H. Rutherford c Bell b Panesar 15 K. Williamson not out 16 Extras (w 5) 5 Total (one wkt; 33 overs) 77 Bowling: Anderson 5-1-15-0, Broad 7-3-14-0, Finn 7-1-30-0, Panesar 12-8-13-1, Trott 2-0-5-0