Epaper 19 october 2013

DAMIAN LEWIS’ KIDS NOT ALLOWED TO WATCH HOMELAND Actor Damian Lewis, who plays an integral role in TV series Homeland, does not allow his children to watch the thriller as it has some gruesome scenes.

PG 25

THE STATISTICIAN WHO ROCKED THE NUMBERS, SET TO RELOAD

EMOTIONAL ATTYACHAR ON Abuse isn’t always physical.

An emotionally abusive relaPG 20 tionship is equally damaging.

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

WEATHER: MOSTLY SUNNY; 31°C

Speaking to a packed house, Nate Silver urged journalists to be clear-eyed about their biases and put aside ‘insider thinking’ in favour of science and rigour, especially in matters as important as elections.

PG 12

Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

OCTOBER 19, 2013 HYDERABAD

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32 PAGES

ON SATURDAY

SPURNED

BY SPEAKER, SA MPs BRACE FOR A LAST DITCH BATTLE REPORT

ON PG3

Unfazed after their resignations were rejected by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Congress MPs from Seemandhra have decided to wage a war on the Central congress leadership by resubmitting their resignations soon. If not accepted, they will then vote against the T bill.

SMOKIN’ SKY

No; this is not a shot from a movie. This is how the sky in Australia looked after certain districts were hit by bushfires. Here are the rest of the best pics of the week.

PG 16 & 17

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PAGE TWO SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

FASHION FORWARD

Samahaara Weekend Theatre Workshop Find time only on the weekends and want to learn the basics of stagecraft, this workshop is ideal for you. Refresh yourself from your daily grind, learn something new and unique, meet like minded people and bring out the creative side in you.

Where: Lamakaan,Lane next to CBAY, Off Road No.1, Banjara Hills When: Until December 7 10am to 12pm, Saturday & Sunday Contact: (040) 6666 3939

Midnight Buffet

Students of the International Institute of Fashion Design showcased their designs and ensembles as part of the curtain raiser for the event Fashion Forward 2013.

Looking for an awesome midnight meal? Head to Viva at Vivanta by Taj and relish the best of culinary indulgences served at the midnight buffet Where: Vivanta By Taj Hotel,Mayuri Marg, Begumpet When: Until October 26, 11.30pm2.30am Contact: (040) 67252626

Beer Cocktails

Vishal-Shekhar Live You have heard them singing, and when they grab the mike, you may end up losing your voice the next moment! But you wouldn't mind as long as you can sing along just standing in front of them.

Where:Hitex Exhibition Ground Hitex Rd, Madhapur.

When:Saturday 19 October 2013, 07:00pm - 11:00pm Contact: 040-23112121/22/2

Octoberfest Specials Truffles Cafe has always something new to cheer you up! As a part of their Octoberfest, they will treat you with special potato soup with chicken sausage. This subtle and flavourful potato soup is slow cooked with sliced chicken sausage.

Where: Truffles Cafe, Plot No. 376, Jubilee-hills When: From Tuesday 15 October 2013 - 12:00pm To Sunday 20 October 2013 - 10:00pm Contact: 040 - 2355 0105

Lunch Specials If you are looking to stuff yourself during lunch, then the best place to head to is Nautanki Galli which offers an expansive lunch buffet.

Take a walk after if you don’t want to fall asleep when you get back to work.

Where: Nautanki Galli, Madhapur When: Everyday, 12:30 pm onwards Contact: 789301000

CINEMAS

2013, 12:00pm - 04:00pm

Enjoy some of the cocktails which will make your October a really interesting one! You can count on these cocktails - carbomb beer coctail which is a strong beer cocktail with a heady mix of beer, rum and vodka, the Brazillian beer cocktail Where: Truffles Cafe,Plot No. 376, Road No. 10, jubilee-hills When: From Tuesday 15 October, 12pm - 20 October, 08:00pm Contact: 040 - 2355 0105

World Burger Festival There is perhaps nothing more enticing than the thought of freshly flipped burger on a busy afternoon which will get your culinary tongues wagging.

Where:Encounters,Taj Krishna, Banjara Hills,Hyderabad.

When:Friday 18 October to 27th

Explorations - A Group Show

Kalakriti Art Gallery is hosting a group show of paintings and sculptures by Krishnakriti Scholarship.

Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery 468, Banjara-hills When:Saturday 19 October 2013, 11:00am - 07:00pm Contact: 040 - 6656 4466

Rags Shargi - Belly Dance Beat the Box- Fashion Show Stella G will be performing live and showcasing Haute Couture Indo Westers Collection by famous fashion designers Where: The Park, Somajiguda, Hyderababd.

When: October 19 2013, 7.40 pm

Furor Entertainment, in association with Meher Malik and the Banjara School of Dance brings quality, authentic Belly-dance to the city for three days.Only for women.

Where:Poecile Art Gallery, GUV Vivilash Chambers, Road no. 14, BN Reddy Colony When:From Tuesday 22 October 2013 - 07:30am to Thursday 24 October 2013 - 09:00pm Contact: 040 2355 0340

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, OCTOBER 19, 2013

Security guard hangs self

A

45-year-old man has committed suicide. The resident of Taranagar in Chanda Nagar hanged himself fromthe ceiling of his home, Police state that he worked as a security guard for an apartment building, and had done so for a few years.

Residents of the building suspected him of being behind a recent spate of burglaries and had lodged a complaint.

The Congress party in Delhi has a tricky situation on its hands arising out of the anguished Seemandhra MPs of the party.

Postnoon news

D

eciding to wage a war on the Central congress leadership, the Congress MPs from Seemandhra will submit their resignations to the Lok Sabha once again soon.

If not accepted they will vote against the T bill.

Resignations of the Congress MPs from Seemandhra region were rejected by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.

If accepted the party will be in trouble at the winter session.

Renowed writer passes away

R

HYDERABAD: A software engineer has approached the Human Rights Commission (HRC) with a complaint against her husband and in-laws. The woman claims that she has been harassed by them for more dowry and her life has been threatened.

The HRC has directed to the ACP of LB Nagar to protect her and her daughter while a detailed report will be submitted on or before November 21.

The 34-year-old complainant is a resident of Neredmet and married her husband seven years ago. They have a daughter.

The complainant claims that at the time of her wedding she gave her in-laws a dowry of 10 Lakh. A few months after they were married, her husband left for New Jersey, USA, to work on

T

he Ditchpally police have arrested a JCB. Police claim the 25year-old driver was responsible for attacking a forest officer and his team who attempted to stop him stealing sand from the Indulai forest in Nizamabad district. It is alleged that he used his JCB to damage the forest officer’s vehicle and then proceeded to attack them. on Thursday.

SA gear up MPs for a last ditch battle

Knowing full well the situation, the angry Seemandhra MPs have decided to push for their exit.

A Sai Prathap of the Congress said the MPs would meet in a couple of days for submitting the resignation letters in “Speaker format”.

“We will once again submit our resignations and if the Speaker again rejects them, we will vote against Telangana bill in parliament,” he said. Another Congressman M. Sreenivasalu Reddy said they still stand by the people of Seemandhra opposing the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

A staunch votary of the united Andhra and MP Lagdapati Rajagopal, has recently moved the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the Speaker to accept his resignation. He said he would again meet the Speaker on Monday to submit a fresh resignation letter on his own.

He asserted that the speaker appeared to have rejected the resignations on the ground that they were submitted on an emotional basis.

Techie harassed by in-laws for dowry Postnoon News

Driver arrested for assault

enowned Writer and India’s highest literary Jnanpith Award winner Ravuri Bharadwaja, 86, passed away in the city on Friday. Bharadwaja breathed his last at CARE Hospital where he was undergoing treatment for the last couple of days for various ailments. The writer fell sick a few days after returned from New Delhi where he received the Jnanpheet award.

a project. She followed soon after, but after she got pregnant, he recommended that she return to India to have the baby.

An she delivered her daughter, she alleges, that her in-laws started harassing her for more dowry, demanding 20 Lakh. Her husband alo began phoning her from the US and abusing her for not giving in to their demands.

She alleges that she was physically attacked by her inlaws on October 14, but she managed to escape and fled to her parents’ home and told them of her situation.

They then went to the Neredmet police station and lodged a complaint against her husband and in-laws. She, however, claims that the police refused to take any action and she then turned to the HRC for help.

The speaker had rejected the resignation of 13 MPs, including 10 from Congress party. Two MPs are from YSR Congress Party and one from Telugu Desam Party.

According to the statement from the speaker’s office: “No resignation has been accepted”.

The MPs whose resignations were rejected are: G.V. Harsha Kumar, K. Bapiraju, R. Sambasiva Rao, M. Sreenivasalu Reddy, S.P.Y. Reddy, A. Sai Prathap, L. Rajagopal, A.

ACCORDING TO THE STATEMENT FROM THE SPEAKER’S OFFICE: “NO RESIGNATION HAS BEEN ACCEPTED.” Venkatarami Reddy, V. Arun Kumar and Sabbam Hari (all Congress), Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy and Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy (both YSRCP) and K. Narayana (TDP).

Seven of them had personally appeared before the speaker, urging her to accept the resignations.

Meanwhile, Rajamohan Reddy said they had submitted the resignations in “speaker format”. He also added that he was not aware of the reasons for the speaker rejecting the resignations.

He said that the party would discuss and take a decision on whether to challenge the speaker’s action in court.

Couple held for raping neighbour Mohammed Subhan

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he Malkajgiri police have arrested a husband and wife suspected of raping a woman. The husband, a mechanical engineer and his wife, who runs a chit fund business, have been accused of slipping the victim sleeping pills before sexually assaulting her. The victim, a 35 year old woman, lives with her son in the same apartment building in Malkajgiri as the accused.

Police state that the wife employed 20 women in her business and was close to the victim. The police also claim that the husband had

made sexual advances on the victim in the past, but had been rebuffed on each occasion. It was then that he conspired with his wife to

rape the victim.

The next time the victim visited the couple in their flat they slipped the pills into her soft drink, and raped her once she had succumbed to their effects.

Police claim that when the victim came around she realised what had happened but refrained from telling the police. It was only after the accused attempted to rape hare again that she fled the flat and reported the incident to the police.

The women was sento a hospital to undergo a medical examination, while the police booked a case against the couple. The accused are currently behind bars.

4

CITY SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013 NEW DELHI: Demand for chocolates as a gift item has increased by almost 40 per cent with the advent of the festive season already and is likely to rise further as dry fruit prices have increased substantially by about 25-30 per cent, apex industry body ASSOCHAM said today.

“Adulteration in traditional sweets eroding consumers’ confidence along with dry fruit prices going through the roof and other significant multiple factors like growing acceptance of chocolates amid varied Indian palates, attractive packaging, consistency in quality, growing gifting culture, rising urban affluence amid youth with high disposable incomes and a crazy sweet tooth together with other related factors are driving the demand for chocolates,” according to a survey conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India(ASSOCHAM) to ascertain the gifting trends this festive season.

ASSOCHAM under the aegis of its social development foundation interacted with about 1,000 consumers, traditional sweet shopkeepers, kirana stores, wholesale dry fruit traders and shopkeepers during the course of past fortnight in 10 cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai.

Most of the consumers said that dry fruits would be the last thing on their minds as a gifting option this festive season as its prices have already skyrocketed and will rise further as Diwali draws closer.

Besides, majority of these also said they preferred chocolates over sweets as a gift option considering the factors like longevity, health related benefits, attractive packaging and others.

Almost all the retails stores selling chocolate gift hampers said they are being sold like hot cakes and considering the massive rise in demand for the same they have booked orders in advance as Diwali draws closer.

Another significant factor that is fuelling chocolate demand during festive season in India is that it can be easily ordered online and its timely delivery at the desired destination highlighted the ASSOCHAM survey.

Most of the dry fruit traders and shopkeepers said that recent rupee depreciation against major currencies had lead to an escalation of about 10-15 per cent in wholesale markets and the retail shoppers would have to cough up about 20-25 per cent more money.

Almost all the sweet shop owners conceded that demand

Ethnic sweets lose to Chocó

and preference for sweets as a gifting option during the festive season has plummeted significantly between 35-40 per cent more so due to fear of adulteration though most of them also attributed it to negative publicity propaganda being channelized by the chocolate industry, highlighted the ASSOCHAM survey.

“Chocolate confectionary

makers have also increased prices and reduced pack sizes owing to sky-rocketing input costs as prices for major ingredients like cocoa, milk and sugar have soared in both domestic/global markets and this will only lead to consumers tightening their purse strings further,” said Mr Rawat.

Growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 25 per cent, India’s chocolate industry size is currently worth about Rs 5,000 crore and is likely to cross Rs 7,500 crore mark in the next couple of years while globally the chocolate industry is worth over $85 billion. Besides, India’s percapita chocolate consumption is hovering at about 100 grams

and urban centres comprise 35 per cent of the chocolate consumption in the country. Cadbury is leading the pack with about 70 per cent market share followed

by Nestle, Amul, Ferrero Rocher, Toblerone and others.

“Though lower penetration levels provide large scope for expansion of chocolate industry across India but there is a lack of interest amid regional confectionary players to enter the chocolate market as firstly, it requires huge capital investment for production and brand promotion and secondly, facing established global players ruling the market is another tough task,” said Mr Rawat.

Chocolate demand soars by 40% amid growing concerns of adulterated sweets and high dry-fruit prices this festive season, says a survey

Numbers Game India’s chocolate industry size is currently worth Rs 5,000 crore. n It is likely to cross Rs 7,500 crore in the next couple of years. n India’s per-capita chocolate consumption is 100 grams and urban centres comprise 35 per cent of the chocolate consumption in the country. n Cadbury is leading the pack with about 70 per cent market share. n

5

NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

Soldier sets wife ablaze

Rajasthan chief secy on leave

NEW DELHI: A soldier, home on

WASHINGTON: The Rajasthan govern-

leave, was arrested after he poured kerosene on his wife and set her ablaze following a heated argument over a "petty issue" Friday, police said.

The woman who sustained 80 percent burns is in a critical condition. The incident was reported from east Delhi's Jafarabad area. Rukhsana was taken to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.

Probe: CBI to get Italy help NEW DELHI: The CBI is planning to approach Italy for details about the ongoing probe in the `3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper deal case even as Swiss authorities arrested Guido Ralph Haschke, an alleged middleman in the deal.Central Bureau of Investigation sources said that sending Letters Rogatory (LR), requesting evidence and judicial help, was being planned even before Haschke’s arrest.

Haschke, who is among the 13 accused booked by CBI in connection with the corruption case, was arrested in Switzerland on the request of Italian authorities probing allegations of bribery in the contract for 12 VVIP helicopters and will be extradited to Italy next week.

According to the CBI FIR, Haschke and Carlo Gerosa managed to send 5.6 million euros through Mohali-based IDS Infotech and Chandigarh-based Aeromatrix Info Solutions Private Ltd to India.

ment Friday accepted Chief Secretary CK Mathew's request of two month's leave after opposition BJP accused the IAS officer of favouring the ruling Congress ahead of the assembly elections, officials said.

Mathew sent a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Wednesday, requesting he be allowed to go on leave till the assembly elections are held in Rajasthan.

Woman held for murder LIMA: The wife of a librarian employed with an English daily was Friday booked for murder and attempt to murder after she killed a builder's wife and her own son the previous day, police said. "We have registered a case under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC against Sudesh," said a police officer.

Build policy on culture, economy, security: Modi

Modi said the foreign policy should be drawn up with inputs from states and wondered why not give each state a foreign country to develop better ties with.

CHENNAI: Bharatiya Janata

Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Friday said India’s foreign policy should be built on the foundation of our culture, tradition, strength, economy, trade, strategy and security.

Delivering the Nani Palkhivala memorial lecture here on “India and the World”, Modi stressed that the foreign policy should be drawn up with inputs from states and wondered why not give each Indian state one foreign country to develop better relationship with.

He said India’s freedom struggle was not just about get-

ting independence from British rule but a global anti-colonial movement and these principles should shape up our foreign policy.Paying glowing tributes to Palkhivala, Modi said the late lawyer as India’s ambassador to the US was able to generate respect for India.

According to Modi, the other aspects of India’s foreign policy should be based on security and strategy which Atal Bihari Vajpayee showed when he was the prime minister.Many nations would have been scared of such sanctions. But Vajpayee’s political will enabled the country carry out another test two days

Today, rupee is in ICU (intensive care unit). I do not know why Tamil people sent people like him to Delhi.

Narendra Modi, Gujarat CM, about P Chidambaram later showing the way of “shanti” (peace) and “shakti” (power), Modi said.

According to him, Vajpayee could do that because he had the

nation’s confidence and the people’s trust.Despite the sanctions, the economy or the rupee did not suffer.

“Today, rupee is in ICU (intensive care unit). I do not know why Tamil people sent people like him to Delhi,” Modi obliquely referred to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, without naming him.

Referring to the terror attacks that India suffered, Modi said Vajpayee made terrorism a global issue and the world was divided into two — countries that were anti-terrorism and nations that supported IANS terrorism.

Lahiri joins race for US honour WASHINGTON: After losing out

on the Man Booker Prize, Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri has made it to the finals of the 2013 US National Book Award in fiction for her new novel, “The Lowland”. Pulitzer Prize winning Lahiri’s tale of two brothers set in Kolkata of the 1960s figures in the finals with four other works in the fiction category.

These are: “The Flamethrowers” by Rachel Kushner (Scribner); “The Good Lord Bird” by James McBride (Riverhead); “Bleeding Edge”

by Thomas Pynchon (Penguin) and “Tenth of December” by George Saunders (Random House).“The premise of her new novel, ‘The Lowland,’ in contrast, is startlingly operatic,” the influential US daily said calling it “certainly Ms. Lahiri’s most ambitious undertaking yet”, that “eventually opens out into a moving family story”.

Born in London, 46-year-old Lahiri, who lives in New York’s Brooklyn, is the daughter of immigrants from West Bengal.

Her debut collection of stories, “Interpreter of Maladies”, won

the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Hemingway Award.

Her novel “The Namesake” was a New York Times Notable Book and was selected as one of the best books of the year by USA Today and Entertainment Weekly, among other publications and was also adapted into a film by acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair.

The judges considered more than 1,400 submissions for this year’s prizes. To be eligible, a book must have been written by a US citizen and published in the US between Dec 1, 2012, and Nov 30, 2013

The Contenders n “The Flamethrowers”

by Rachel Kushner (Scribner). n “The Good Lord Bird”

by James McBride (Riverhead). n “Bleeding Edge” by

Thomas Pynchon (Penguin). n “Tenth of December”

by George Saunders (Random House).

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WORLD SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

Blast hits Damascus DAMASCUS: Deadly blast struck a pro-regime suburb of Damascus with a majority Christian population on Saturday, Syria’s state-run Syrian Arab news agency news agency reported.

The attack was carried out by “terrorists” at the entrance to Jaramana which lies adjacent to the rebelheld town of Mleha, the agency said.

Survivor search ends

Russia disagrees with US

BOHOL: Philippine rescuers on

BEIRUT: Russia said Saturday that a

Saturday called off the search for survivors after a powerful earthquake on the tourist island of Bohol that killed at least 180 people. “The rescue operations have ended and instead we are now conducting recovery operations,” said disaster chief Eduardo del Rosario. “We are still looking for 13 others,” officials said.

proposal by US Secretary of State John Kerry to remove Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons by ship was premature. The Russian Foreign Ministry issued the remarks in response to Kerry’s comment to National Public Radio on Thursday. The deal says that Syria must destroy all its chemical weapons by the first half of next year.

Singh on Russian mission

Singh will look to clinch energy, defence and other economic deals with Russia and China. He will also look to resolve border disputes with China.

NEW DELHI: India’s Manmohan Singh embarks Sunday on one of his last major foreign trips as prime minister, heading to Russia and China to strengthen trade ties and address a long-running border dispute.

The 81-year-old, who is expected to stand down after elections next year, will look to clinch energy, defence and other economic deals in both countries as New Delhi tries to boost trade and investment to kick-start sluggish growth.

Singh will also seek a breakthrough on the border dispute

with China that has soured ties for decades, after the leaders of the two Asian giants pledged earlier this year to build up trust.

“Maintenance of peace, tranquility and stability on our border is an important factor in our bilateral ties (with China) and it is expected that this would be an important aspect of the discussions,” Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said at a briefing Friday on the four-day trip.

Singh, who arrives in Moscow on Sunday night, will meet President Vladimir Putin the following day with the focus

Pak accuses India of unprovoked firing ISLAMABAD: Pakistan accused Indian military forces of killing a civilian and wounding two others in “unprovoked firing” across the border Saturday in the latest frontier flare-up between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

A spate of cross-border skirmishes this year have raised tensions between India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.

The violence has been focused on Muslim-majority Kashmir, the divided Himalayan territory claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, which has witnessed some of the worst clashes between the two sides in a decade.

A Pakistani military official said a civilian was killed and two others were

injured “due to unprovoked firing of heavy weapons including mortars by Indian Border Security Forces” near the eastern city of Sialkot in eastern Punjab province.

On Thursday, Pakistan accused India of killing a paramilitary soldier in “unprovoked firing” across the border in the same region. The incident comes just weeks after the prime ministers of the two countries pledged to restore calm along the Line of Control (LoC), the heavily militarised de facto border in Kashmir, at a meeting in New York.

A deadly flare-up along the LoC in January stalled peace talks that had only just resumed following a threeyear hiatus sparked by the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, which killed 166 people.

on strengthening supply of weapons and military hardware to New Delhi.

“Russia is a key partner for us in the field of defence,” the foreign secretary said in New Delhi.

India, which is spending billions of dollars upgrading its military hardware, has been Russia’s top arms customer for years, but relations have frayed over delays and cost-overruns.

Both countries will be looking to seal accords on the next phase of a Russian-built nuclear power project on India’s southAFP ern coast.

7

WORLD SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

4 more held in drug bust

Cheney’s anti-terror implant

CARACAS: Venezuelan authorities

WASHINGTON: Dick Cheney, former

arrested four more people Friday linked to a foiled attempt to smuggle 1.3 tons of cocaine into Paris from Caracas on an Air France jet. The latest arrests raised to 28 the number of people taken into custody in Venezuela since French authorities seized the shipment last month, the largest bust ever on French soil.

Peru slaughters dolphins LIMA: Peru has increased its sales of

president George W Bush’s right-hand man in the “war on terror,” has revealed that his heart implant was altered to prevent terrorists from hacking into it. The former VP called his current health a “miracle” in excerpts of an interview with CBS television’s 60 Minutes program released Friday.

shark fins to Asia, triggering the slaughter of about 15,000 dolphins a year used as bait. Shark fin is viewed as a delicacy and is often served as a soup at expensive Chinese banquets.

Most of Peru’s shark fin exports, which jumped 10 per cent in recent years, go to Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and other Asian Nations.

Saudi Arabia’s withdrawal stuns UN Security Council

TIM WITCHER

UNITED NATIONS: Saudi Arabia angrily rejected a UN Security Council seat, accusing the UN body of “double standards” over the Syria war and other trouble spots in an unprecedented diplomatic broadside.

The Saudi snub sparked disarray at the Security Council. The oil-rich Gulf monarchy had only won the seat on Thursday at a UN General Assembly election.

Russia criticised the Saudis’ “strange” decision but the conservative kingdom got a more understanding reaction from its western allies. UN leader Ban Kimoon said Saudi Arabia did not immediately send notification of its decision to reject the term due to start on January 1.

But senior UN envoys said they did not expect the Saudi government to reverse the decision, which was announced in an outspoken foreign ministry statement.

“Work mechanisms and double-standards on the Security Council prevent it from carrying out its duties and assuming its responsibilities in keeping world peace,” the ministry said.

Saudi Arabia “has no other option but to turn down Security Council membership until it is reformed and given the means to accomplish its duties and assume its responsiblities in preserving the world’s peace and security”.

The government said “allowing the ruling regime in Syria to

If Saudi Arabia maintains its stance, the Asia-Pacific group of nations would have to propose a new candidate for the UN General Assembly to vote on. kill and burn its people” with chemical weapons is “irrefutable evidence and proof of the inability of the Security Council to carry out its duties and responsibilities”.

Diplomats and analysts said the Saudi gesture was mainly directed at the US, which first threatened a military strike against Syria then backed down and which has started a dialogue with Riyadh’s arch-foe Iran.

“It is hard not to think that Riyadh’s decision reflects an overall cooling of the US-Saudi

relationship,” Charles Dunbar, a professor at Boston University and former US ambassador in the Middle East and UN envoy on the Western Sahara conflict.

“Syria and Iran would seem to be the two most prominent reasons for the downturn in relations,” he added.

“It is a cry of exasperation with Washington,” said a UN diplomat.

The US shrugged off the decision by its key ally. “That’s a decision they have to make, of course,” State Department

spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

“I understand different countries will have different responses, but we’ll continue to work with them on issues that we share of mutual concern.”

Saudi Arabia was one of five nations elected by the UN General Assembly to a two-year Security Council term. The others were Chad, Chile, Lithuania and Nigeria. All had stood unopposed.

No country has ever won a council seat and then refused to take it up.

Saudi Arabia’s UN ambassador, Abdullah Al-Mouallimi, gave several press interviews hailing the election after the result was announced. But the celebrations had barely finished when the Saudi foreign ministry announced the withdrawal.

Diplomats highlighted how Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal refused to speak or even hand out a copy of his speech at the UN General Assembly in September, in a show of anger over the international handling of the Syria conflict. If Saudi Arabia maintains its stance, the Asia-Pacific group of nations would have to propose a new candidate for the UN General Assembly to vote on.

“We are surprised by Saudi Arabia’s unprecedented decision,” said a Russian foreign ministry statement. “In this way, Saudi Arabia has excluded itself from collective work within the Security Council to support international peace and security.”

It added: “The kingdom’s arguments arouse bewilderment, and the criticism of the UN Security Council in the context of the Syrian conflict is particularly strange.”

However, France said several countries share Saudi Arabia’s frustration. “We think that Saudi Arabia would have brought a very positive contribution to the Security Council, but we do also understand the frustration of Saudi Arabia,” France’s UN ambassador Gerard Araud said.

Scout ‘vandals’ get death threats

Kidnapped Lebanese pilgrims in Syria freed

Maldives vote postponed

LOS ANGELES: Two US Boy Scout leaders said they

BEIRUT: Nine Lebanese Shiite pilgrims kidnapped by rebels in Syria last year have been released amid signs that two Turkish pilots abducted in Lebanon also may soon be freed, officials said Friday.

“The nine Lebanese held in Syria are on their way to Turkey,” Lebanon’s Interior Minister Marwan Charbal told AFP. The country’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati added that the former hostages were “in a secure place and are ready to enter Lebanon”. The release comes after a senior Lebanese security official travelled to Damascus to discuss a prisoner exchange deal to free the group, who were abducted in Syria’s northern Aleppo province in May 2012 as their families said they were returning from a pilgrimage to Iran.

MALÉ: Presidential elections in the Maldives due to take place Saturday were postponed at the last minute after police said the vote in the Indian Ocean nation was illegal.

“We continued with preparations for voting, but the Maldives Police Service have said no documents connected to the election can leave the commission’s offices,” the independent Elections Commission said in a statement. “A new date for elections will be informed later.”

The supreme court last week annulled the first round of voting on September 7, citing irregularities — even though international observers said the polls were free and fair 1 and ordered a re-run.

have received death threats after a video of them toppling an age-old rock formation in the western state of Utah went viral online.

Nearly two million people have watched the video of Glenn Taylor pushing a massive 170 million-yearold red rock over in Goblin Valley State Park, filmed by his fellow Scout leader Dave Hall.

The pair, who celebrated by doing high fives after the rock fell, insisted they pushed it because it was loose and they feared it could topple onto a visitor. But facing possible felony charges, they admitted they probably should have found a park ranger before taking action themselves, whether filmed or not.

8

COMMENT SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

EDITORIALS FICTION, NON-FICTION:

Which is better?

Noel Gallagher says reading fiction is a %*&^#*@ waste of time. Well, there would be many like him who would find that true. There are many too who would find it otherwise. Now, if fiction is not as important as Gallagher says then what explains the millions of novels and short stories that have been written and will yet go on coming up? The key thing is to read.

Just read…as much as you can till that point of momentary satiety where you are filled with images of what you have read.

When you have processed it and feel fine, begin reading again.

Yes, fiction has the ‘dubious’ distinction of being someone’s cooked up version of things.

Most of the things written, many may think, has no chance of ever happening at all. But it has happened. When one reads “the Portrait of Dorian Gray” one does not just read the lines and follow the story and forget. It’s place in the pantheon of classics is cemented by the sheer class it has, the elegent prose and the truths it lays bare about our most deep and dark feelings, our fears, our inabilities and our hopes. This is not a paean for Oscar Wilde or one of his seminal works, but the story of Dorian Gray is our story, or at least could have been. We live a life without actually living it, going through all the characters go through in the book and when we finish, we feel a sense of completion that comes only when we feel when our time is up. And this feeling is not restricted to fiction or non-fiction; both can give that sense.

Gallagher is free to have his opinion. Here’s a better one: there are no bad books or good books, morally, immorally, amorally: only well-written or badly-written books.

WHY WE LOVE

Kim Kardashian This time we love you for the revealing picture of yours on Twitter. Please carry on the good job. You had distorted many little girls’ ideas about the real world by your outrageously inane takes on life and success.

The purpose of your tell-tale picture of post-baby body, we don’t know. But for the many jobless, it will accord cheap thrills.

Little master’s big plans Soul Curry SUMAA TEKUR

H

e knew this day was coming. The world knew this day was coming. Even then, when Sachin Tendulkar, one of the greatest cricketers in the world decided to retire from professional cricket, it still left his fans, admirers and also those who don’t care that much for cricket, quite numb.

The media is celebrating his legacy with column after column about Sachin Tendulkar.

Sporting celebrities and film stars are showering praises on him. These get published in the newspapers. Millions of others are using social media to get their word out. The day Tendulkar announced his retirement, personal timelines of most social networking sites were filled with a combination of smart-alecky-type comments

and emotional notes.

The nature of having a career in sports is such that the retirement age is determined by nature and the body’s fitness levels. In Tendulkar’s case, he surpassed all expectations and played many years more than most sportsmen. With this opportunity that the combination of luck, talent, support and resources that nature bestowed on him, he crossed milestone after milestone. Most of his fans speak equally about Sachin, the person as they do of Sachin, the cricketer. His humility and his ability to keep his ego in check (which, in a position like his, is all too easy to be carried away by) endeared him to one and all even more.

His last match in Mumbai in November will be his salute to the cricketing world and everything that it gave him. But that’s where the story starts. How will Tendulkar, who takes to the pitch like fish to water, cope with the post-retirement life? His apprehension was clear in his statement when he announced retirement: “It's hard for me to

MOST OF TENDULKAR’S FANS SPEAK EQUALLY ABOUT SACHIN, THE PERSON AS THEY DO OF SACHIN, THE CRICKETER. HIS HUMILITY AND HIS ABILITY TO KEEP HIS EGO IN CHECK ENDEARED HIM TO ONE AND ALL EVEN MORE. imagine a life without playing cricket because it's all I have ever done since I was 11 years old.”

He may have many plans for the future. Those who know him well feel that he sure has many plans, considering how organized he is about his life. Yet, the change is bound to be unsettling for some time. For 24 years, he has done one thing and done it fantastically well. Now, to watch from the sidelines and to tell others how to walk that path would

require a big shift in his thinking.

It’s not much unlike a man who has spent all his life serving in one office, and coming home to retirement. He doesn’t have an office to go to the next morning onwards. His life has to change. He has to begin tending to his garden or participating in his neighbourhood committee meetings all the while reminiscing the good old days when there was more action. The good news for Tendulkar is that he’s way too young. He has a choice to be creative and reinvent himself for the good of the sport that he shaped so much. He has an option to rise even much more in his retirement as he did in his heyday.

It all boils down to the choices he makes. Being a celebrity, believed by many to be a living legend, Tendulkar’s responsibilities are higher. He’s never too far away from the watchful eyes of the public in this cricketcrazy country. It’s a wait and watch to see what he does next.

This little master now has a bigger task ahead of him.

9

COMMENT SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

That ‘Indian’ thing we do Quirky-side-Up ARPITA BHAWAL

I

ndia’s DNA has changed, someone pointed out last week. From a country struggling to bridge the social and cultural disparities (brought in by British Rule), to embracing the American Dream casually seeded into our lives through Indian migrants to the US, India has become a virtually sophisticated country. If we throw in languages, diversity, secularism and democracy, it transforms into a dazzling symbol of the Asian Renaissance.

Some things we have adopted from the West, like using hand sanitizers, walking into a room with our shoes on, using ‘z’ instead of ‘s’ in the word ‘organized’, saying ‘hi’ instead of ‘Namaste’.

Some things we have discarded like barging into our neighbour’s home to ask about the weather, digging snot from our nose in public, learning that burping in public is worse than farting. Given that western cultures have such a wide range of acceptability in the world, we have positively reached a stage where we constantly ‘wow’ other countries.

Hold that thought! It’s true that many of us have adopted a western lifestyle, and after a cou-

ple of trips abroad, we are perfectly capable of holding our own.

When we travel we don’t do ‘our thing’ anymore, like ignore the queue and sidle up to the hotel reception desk, tip miserly knowing we aren’t coming back, putting elbows on the table. We are the picture of perfection: Wait to be served, smile to be accepted, and keep our eyes down while traveling. We are global citizens who don’t stare, don’t burp and don’t disrespect anyone or anything.

Curiously, the opposite of

this truth is closer to home.

Two weeks ago in Bangalore, I went to a lunch buffet at the Marriot with a friend.

It was a national holiday, so naturally the turnout was huge.

We had to wait 30 minutes before we were given a table at the coffee shop. Nearly at the end of our hearty meal (they do serve a scrumptious spread on all days for lunch and dinner), a family of four adults came around 3pm and ordered a la Carte.

The order was delayed for the mother, but the sons were almost finished and the father was half-

way into his roast chicken.

Mother fastidiously refused morsels from her family, while waiting. Suddenly, father gestures and yells across to the manager at entrance who gestures back (which makes for an ugly repartee). Father pushes back his plate; Sons begin to hail stewards and managers from all directions. Mother continues the tirade, and cancels her order.

More chaos follows, a retinue of staff form a circle around the table, all panicking, placating, apologizing until the Chef comes himself, stooping low (literally)

in apology with the food. All this happens within a matter of 15 minutes, manager refuses to let them pay and the family barges out.

The family is justified in getting upset about the poor service.

But weigh the facts: Late arrival, ordering a la Carte during a buffet where the order will obviously be executed by the same kitchen replenishing buffet food, sending the ready order back even after profuse apologies, and then, triumphantly not having to pay!

This is exactly that thing we do in our own country with our own people that’s appalling.

Do we have to do this ‘outraged’ thing in a restaurant, in a movie theater, in a shopping mall or in a club, making everyone look like losers?

Those precious ‘etiquette’ lessons of the West don’t seem to stick with us during these histrionic times. It is not even a matter of perspective (angry one!) because those seem to be pretty balanced and tolerant when we deal with such events abroad.

We seem to value money more than dignity since Independence; everything revolves around having a right to say, do and behave in any manner we wish because we are paying. Would it hurt very much to display that ‘global citizen’ quality that we’ve apparently acquired?

India’s DNA has not changed, but it’s about time we did.

Nairobi’s Norway connection Norweigan Wood PIERRE-HENRY DESHAYES

T

he suspected involvement of a Norwegian in last month’s Nairobi mall bloodbath is bringing into focus Scandinavia’s large Somali diaspora, which is believed to have supplied dozens of fighters in recent years.

Dozens of Somali-born Scandinavians have returned to their homeland to join the jihad in recent years, observers said, as suspicion fell on a Norwegian man over last month’s Nairobi mall bloodbath. Between 20 and 30 people have departed from Norway to join Somalia’s Al Qaeda-linked Shebab, some of them to hold leadership roles, according to Stig Jarle Hansen, an independent Norwegian Somalia specialist.

“We’re not talking mass recruitment, but some of these

recruits are to be taken very seriously,” Hansen said.

The BBC said that one member of the Westgate mall commando caught by the security cameras was Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, a 23-year-old Norwegian citizen who emigrated from Somalia as a child in 1999. An unidentified relative of Dhuhulow told the Norwegian public service broadcaster NRK that he was not the person on the security camera images.

Officials at the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) did not confirm the BBC report but reiterated they were investigating the possible implication of a Norwegian of Somali origin, who is likely to be Dhuhulow.

“Based on the information that we have uncovered this far in the investigation... the suspicion of his involvement has been strengthened,” it said Friday.

The massacre, which lasted from September 21 to 24 and was carried out by a small group of attackers, left 67 dead and 23 missing, according to the Kenyan authorities.

DOZENS OF SOMALI-BORN SCANDINAVIANS HAVE RETURNED TO THEIR HOMELAND TO JOIN THE JIHAD IN RECENT YEARS, OBSERVERS SAID, AS SUSPICION FELL ON A NORWEGIAN MAN OVER LAST MONTH’S NAIROBI MALL BLOODBATH. Two PST investigators have travelled to Nairobi and are currently working on the case there.

“One aspect of the investigations consists of determining if [the Norwegian suspect] is dead or alive,” PST spokesman Martin Bernsen said.

The Norwegian police are concerned about the increasing number of people who have left the country to take part in conflicts or to join training camps and “terrorist networks”.

Abdulkadir Mohamed Adbulkadir, a Somali-born Kenyan who is known as “Ikrima” and lived in Norway between 2004 and 2008, is also believed to be on the police radar. According to the US, Ikrima has links with Al-Qaeda members responsible for the

1998 attacks against the US embassy in Nairobi and was the target of a US Special Operations Forces raid against a Shebab stronghold in southern Somalia earlier this month.

His name has also been linked to the Westgate massacre, but without an official confirmation from Oslo.

Scandinavian countries are home to Europe’s largest Somali diasporas after Britain and Hansen said it was not particularly surprising that the Westgate investigation should lead to Norway.

Some 33,000 people with Somali origin or citizenship currently reside in Norway, according to data, which makes them one of the Nordic country’s main non-Western minorities.

“We now have the same problems as all the other countries with a large Somali community, Britain, Denmark, Sweden and Kenya, for example,” said Hansen, who this year published a book considered an authority on the Shebab.

Individuals from both Denmark and the US have carried out suicide attacks for the Shebab in the past and one of the organisation’s top leaders, Fuad Mohamed Khalaf “Shangole”, holds Swedish citizenship. Only a tiny fraction of Norway’s Somali community actually go abroad to fight, and when they do so, they are channelled through an organised network.

“The Shebab are very picky with whom they choose, and successful candidates always must have others who can vouch for them,” Hansen said. The most famous case in Norway so far was that of a young man who was enrolled in the Shebab just after leaving the prestigious Norwegian Royal Guard. He was later killed in Somalia.

10

BUSINESS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

Argentina braces for crisis BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s biodiesel industry warned it faces collapse if Europe makes good on a threat to impose stiff duties on their product next month. The European Commission earlier moved to raise duties on Argentine and Indonesian biofuels in response to alleged dumping. The increases would be on top of temporary duties the EC imposed.

US goes back to the old ways WASHINGTON: The US Treasury moved quickly to feed the country’s appetite for borrowing after an 11th hour political deal lifted the debt ceiling to avoid default, data showed Friday.

Treasury figures showed the government went to the markets for an additional $300 million almost as soon as the $16.7 trillion cap was removed with the signature of President Barack Obama in the wee hours of Thursday morning.

By the end of Thursday, the country’s debt had risen to $17.03 trillion, Treasury data showed.

At least part of the rise came with the resumption of the sale of state and local government series securities, which were

$4bn fine for JPMorgan

Boeing to cut 747 numbers

NEW YORK CITY: JPMorgan Chase

WASHINGTON: Boeing said it would

will pay $4 billion to settle allegations that it sold billions of dollars worth of bottom-quality mortgages to state housing finance companies, the Wall Street Journal said. The deal would be less than the $6 billion originally sought by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

cut production of its 747-8 jumbo aircraft for a second time this year, citing weaker demand for big aircraft. The Chicago-based aerospace giant said 747-8 production rate would be reduced from 1.75 airplanes per month to 1.5 airplanes per month “because of lower market demand for large passenger and freighter airplanes.”

Google shares rise 13%, soar past $1,000 mark The earnings demonstrated that Google was smoothly building its presence in the mobile area while advertising earnings rose all around, with particular help from Google’s YouTube website.

TREASURY FIGURES SHOWED THE GOVT WENT TO THE MARKETS FOR AN ADDITIONAL $300 MILLION ALMOST AS SOON AS THE $16.7 TRILLION CAP WAS REMOVED WITH THE PRESIDENT’S SIGNATURE. suspended on May 17 after the $16.7 trillion ceiling was set and the Treasury needed to juggle operations to remain beneath it for as long as possible.

The US needs to borrow increasingly more to bridge a monthly deficit averaging around $60 billion.

But refusal by congressional Republicans to raise the ceiling in order to extract political concessions from their Democratic rivals and the White House almost forced the Treasury into a position of being cash short and defaulting on its obligations, including the debt.

A last-minute political deal late Wednesday averted that possibility, but it stipulated that a fresh cap be instituted on February 7, 2014, leaving room for a new battle of brinksman-

NEW YORK CITY: Shares of Internet search and advertising titan Google soared more than 13 percent to pass the $1,000 mark for the first time Friday after a strong earnings report.

The earnings demonstrated that Google was smoothly building its presence in the mobile area while advertising earnings rose all around, with particular help from Google’s YouTube website.

Ad volume growth accelerated to 26 percent year-on-year, Morgan Stanley pointed out, showing that Google was well on top of the evolution of the market beyond personal computers to smartphones and tablets.

“Rather than struggling with a mobile transition, Google is benefitting from increased screen fragmentation,” the broker said.

Google reported its earnings

GOOGLE’S SUCCESS HELPED PULL SHARES OF OTHER TECH FIRMS UP AS WELL, WITH SOCIAL NETWORKING LEADER FACEBOOK RISING 3.8 PER CENT, ONLINE RETAIL POWER AMAZON UP 5.8 PER CENT, AND YAHOO 2.0 PER CENT. after trade closed Thursday.

The shares soared beyond the $1,000 barrier in early trade Friday, topping $1,015 before settling at the close at $1,011.41, up 13.8 percent for the day.

The surge helped push the S&P 500 well beyond Thursday’s all-time closing high to a fresh

record of 1,744.50, up 0.7 percent for the day.

Google’s success helped pull shares of other tech firms up as well, with social networking leader Facebook rising 3.8 percent, online retail power Amazon up 5.8 percent, and Yahoo 2.0 percent.

Together they helped drive the Nasdaq Composite index to a 1.3 percent gain to 3,914.28, its highest level since September 2000.

Google reported Thursday a 36 percent jump in its thirdquarter net profit to $2.97 billion, or $8.75 a share. Revenues also beat forecasts with a 12 percent jump year-on-year.

Analysts said it was doing well in all areas of business, and had proven its ability to build business on its Android smartphone platform.

“We are closing in on our

goal of a beautiful, simple, and intuitive experience regardless of your device,” Google chief Larry Page told analysts.

Pivotal Research Group warned of eventual erosion of the company’s still-healthy margins, but added: “Longer term, we remain optimistic about Google’s continued success as the leading seller of displaybased media and ad tech, and as the dominant provider of paid search advertising.”

At the $1,011 mark, Google shares were up 43 percent from the beginning of the year, and the company’s market value reached $337 billion, still shy of leader Apple’s $462 billion.

Google was the second company on the S&P 500 list to top $1,000. Online travel firm Priceline was the first past the post in September, soaring to $1,074; it closed at $1,048 Friday.

11

FOCUS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

An Indian policeman who got lost as a child at a crowded railway station has been reunited with his family after 24 years — thanks to a tattoo on his arm.

G

His tattoo brought him home... after 24 years

anesh Raghunath Dhangade was separated from his parents in 1989 aged just six when they were boarding a train. He ended up on his own in Mumbai, where he was cared for by a fisherman and then at two orphanages.

A car accident later left him unconscious for four months, struggling to remember details of his family or home, and he spent years rummaging through

missing person records at police stations — before joining the force himself in 2011.

“I had not given up on finding my family,” Dhangade told AFP on Thursday.

He pressed on with his search using the only clue he had: a tattoo of his mother’s name, Manda, on his right arm.

Another piece of the puzzle — forgotten after his car crash — came from records at his first orphanage, where he had given

GANESH WAS SEPARATED FROM HIS PARENTS IN 1989 AGED JUST SIX WHEN THEY WERE BOARDING A TRAIN. HE ENDED UP ON HIS OWN IN MUMBAI, WHERE HE WAS CARED FOR BY A FISHERMAN.

Pick

his home place as “Mama Bhanja”, a forested area in a district neighbouring Mumbai.

Earlier this month, Dhangade went back to the area with his police colleagues asking for Manda, and he was directed to the hut of an old lady who had been staying in the hills there for years.

“She recounted that she had lost her son years earlier. Asked if he had any identification marks, she said he had a tattoo

at the

on his arm. I showed it to her and she immediately recognised it,” Dhangade said.

“We were silent for minutes, then we both just hugged and kept on crying.”

Dhangade now ensures he spends as much lost time as he can with his mother, two brothers and sister. “I still cannot believe what has happened in recent weeks,” he said.

“It’s really God’s wish. A miracle.”

airport,

-

12

TECHNOLOGY & MEDIA SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

Apple’s tech patent upheld

IBM making computers like brain

Nexus 5 for $349

US: One of Apple’s broad patents

ZURICH: IBM Research is working on “inter-

SAN FRANCISCO: After weeks of

covering touch-screen technology has been upheld by the US Patent and Trademark Office, a decision that could have a serious impact on cases involving Google and Samsung.It was the second such Apple patent to be deemed completely invalid following a re-examination by the Patent.

layer cooling,” in which water is pumped through tiny tubes penetrating chips are piggypacked using high-speed communication technology called through-silicon vias.

IBM’s approach is designed to deal with overheating problems that otherwise severely limit chip stacking. The protruding pipe fittings are for connecting water-cooling tubes.

rumors about the specs, price, and release date of the Nexus 5, it appears that Google’s new Nexus Android smartphone is being listed on the Google Play store.The smartphone pops up on Google Play next to the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. Also online: several cases in stock at the end of October and claiming to be tailored for the Nexus 5.

The statistician who rocked the numbers, set to reload Speaking to a packed house at the Online News Association conference, Nate Silver urged journalists to be clear-eyed about their biases and put aside ‘insider thinking’ in favour of science and rigour, especially in matters as important as elections.

MAGAN CRANE

ATLANTA: Rock star statistician Nate Silver, who made numbers cool by giving near-perfect predictions of US votes in 2008 and 2012, will soon relaunch his website in a new home, just in time for the next election cycle.

Speaking to a packed house at the Online News Association conference in Atlanta, Silver urged journalists to be cleareyed about their biases and put aside “insider thinking” in favor of science and rigor, especially in matters as important as elections.

Just a few years out of college, Silver rose to become America’s most followed political prognosticator just as Barack Obama’s star was also rising.

By weighing available polling data and demographics, he correctly predicted the outcome of the 2008 presidential

election in 49 of 50 states, better than veteran analysts.

And he ruffled feathers by dismissing their “gut-feeling” predictions as no more accurate than random chance.

By 2012, his website, fivethirtyeight.com, which is named for the number of electoral college votes in the White House race, had been incorporated into the venerable New York Times and his profile had risen enough to irk professional pundits and politicians alike.

Silver’s models accurately predicted Obama’s easy cruise to re-election last year, despite being dismissed by supporters of his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, as biased and partisan.

Silver also forecast Senate and House races with uncanny accuracy, largely by focussing on voter demographics.

All this from a young man who had previously used his

SILVER’S MODELS ACCURATELY PREDICTED OBAMA’S CRUISE TO RE-ELECTION LAST YEAR, DESPITE BEING DISMISSED

BY SUPPORTERS OF MITT ROMNEY. SILVER ALSO FORECAST SENATE AND HOUSE RACES WITH UNCANNY ACCURACY, LARGELY BY FOCUSSING ON VOTER DEMOGRAPHICS. skills to predict baseball player performance and earn a living playing poker.

Earlier this year, 35-year-old Silver sold his website and

brand to espn.com and will relaunch the site early next year with a focus on politics and sports, just in time for the 2014 election cycle.

He said the content will consist of “three buckets that are about equal in size” — politics, sports and “everything else.” It will remain free for readers and they will eventually branch into video coverage.

“The core challenge is identifying writers and journalists who have the right critical thinking ability. You can train people in methods, you can train people to some extent in writing technique and reporting skill.

But do you have that critical ability to look at a data set and ask good questions?”

In an interview with AFP after the speech, Silver was realistic about the challenges in translating his skills and models to outside the United States, say-

ing that predictions are only as strong as the data used to make them.

“Everything in the world, at least from our vantage point, exists in shades of gray, right?

Like sports for example. Some sports, like baseball, are easier to model and predict than others, like soccer. But that doesn’t mean you can’t predict absolutely everything in one and get nowhere at all in the other.

“If you have Brazil against Suriname, you would probably bet on Brazil, right?”

He said trying to predict an election in a country without an infrastructure for polling, a strong party system, or a tradition of free voting, would be difficult.

“That is more of the soccer side of the spectrum,” he said.

“I wouldn’t want to try to predict the elections in Iran, for example.”

13

ANIMAL KINGDOM SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

PET NEWS Indesctructible dog

L

Dog predicts fit

indsey Wolko designed an indestructible dog. Two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars later, her nonprofit Center for Pet Safety in Reston, Va., has a set of crash-test dog dummies that were used to test several car-safety restraints.

T

he Lynch family from Ireland has said that their pet dog, a Great Dane, is helping to protect their three-year-old daughter by warning them 20 minutes before she is about to have an epileptic seizure, which she acquired at birth.

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Rescuing the dog

W

dorking collie Chip was rescued from a crevice by a helpfully slim local vet, after he fell while herding sheep on Mount Snowdown located in Wales. The dog was found stuck at the bottom of a rocky crevice in Clogwyn Mawr.

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

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

YOUR PET: THE NORTH STAR

Owning a pet may be a daunting task but pet lovers swear that it’s their pets at home that help them maintain a positive attitude.

Roshni Donny

feedback@postnoon.com

H

Having a pet in the house, be it a dog, cat or even fish, is always a positive vibe. You may have friends who genuinely seem happy when their pet is around or the sheer mention of their pet and they radiate with happiness.

This glow makes you feel that you are ready to become a pet owner, but are you?

Being a pet owner is not only about feeding your pet, there are a whole lot of other factors that are involved and you must be completely positive about this step.

The first step is accepting the responsibility. The minute you bring a pet home the responsibility of the pet’s life is now in your hands. The daily norms of life like feeding, caring, bathing etc of the pet are now your responsibili-

ty. Your home is now its home, so whatever pet you decide to bring home should be well adapt and happy. It may take a few days to settle in but the pet should be happy living with you as you are happy with it. Time allotment is very crucial, as all pet demand a certain amount of your time daily, whether it is training the dog, or brushing the cat or even talking to the goldfish. Every pet needs some one on one time and gradually this allotted time becomes part of your routine.

You may not notice it immediately but over the period spending time with your pet naturally destresses. Another factor to consider is your travel schedule. If you travel a lot and spend most of your time away from home, then having a pet isn’t actually your cup of tea. If it’s merely just family vacations then plan your vacation in hotels and destinations

that are pet friendly. Choosing a vet is also important, as many just opt for the one closest to them. Always keep in mind your pet shouldn’t be afraid of the doctor. While travelling make sure you carry your pet’s medical certificates as well as all necessary licenses required by the local authorities.

Michelle Pharel, an enthusiastic pet owner says, “Over the years we’ve had collectively around 6 dogs at home and now life without a dog is just incomplete. We’ve even had fish and turtles as well. But I have had the most joy spending time with the dog.”

You may be living alone or have family with two kids. You may be in a live in relationship or just retired from work. No matter what phase in life you are, a pet can always be your North Star, guiding you through.

14

BOOKS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

SHORT READS Title: Presence Author: Arthur Miller Publisher: Penguin A posthumous gathering of his last published stories, he reveals the same profound insight, humanism and empathy that characterised his great dramatic works. The six stories included here have all appeared in major publications and each displays all the assuredness of an artist in his autumnal prime.

Title: The Debriefing Author: Robert Littell Publisher: Penguin Stone is the head of an elite arm of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - and a master of the psychologically sophisticated art of debriefing. When Oleg Kulakov defects from Russia, handcuffed to a sealed diplomatic pouch, it’s Stone’s job to find out if he’s genuine. As Stone uncovers Kulakov’s darkest secrets, he penetrates Russia itself.

Title: Smart Words Author: Mim Harrison Publisher: Penguin Whoever said sounding smart had to be painful? It’s all in how you acquire the “ten dollar words” of English. Smart Words makes fast and smooth learning of words such as prelapsarian, sedulous, sybaritic, and draconian.

How? By sticking to ultra-simple definitions, then offering a memorable- and often- funny description of when or why to use the word.

Title: The Good Lord Bird Author: James McBride Publisher: Penguin Henry Shackleford is young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1857, when the region is a battleground between anti- and proslavery forces. When John Brown, the legendary abolitionist, arrives in the area, an argument between Brown and Henry’s master quickly turns violent. Henry is forced to leave town-with Brown, who believes he’s a girl.

THE FEARLESS ONE

Rima Karan

rima.k@postnoon.com

A

ll of us, irrespective of our age, caste, and creed are aware of Malala’s horrifying, yet brave story. We either have read about her in the newspapers, or have seen her on TV or have heard about her from our friends.

Malala, the 15-year old, who stood up for the right to Education and was shot by the Taliban! Today, she has become a symbol of peaceful protest and an inspiration for youngsters the world over.

I am Malala, is a memoir of fearlessness, resolution and vision.

She writes, “I was a girl in a land where rifles were fired in celebration of a son, while daughters were hidden behind a curtain, their role in life simply to cook and give birth to children.”

The account begins with Malala reminiscing about her beloved homeland, Pakistan (Swat valley), and her eternal love for the country. The book takes us through Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai’s life, the son of an Imam, who was taught to be just and thoughtful from a young age.

He possessed an unswerving sense of righteousness and harboured a deep love for acquiring knowledge, which he passed on to his daughter.

As the book progresses, the reader comes across serious issues that terror-stricken Pakistan has been facing and still is; restriction of women’s space in every sphere, beheadings, slaughters, rape stories, hunger and much more.

However, the bulk of the book is dedicated to Malala’s life and her upbringing in Swat, popularly known as “Pakistan’s Switzerland” and the historical crossroads through which invaders like Alexander the Great had once passed.

Though, in recent years, the remote region of Swat has seen the invasion of Afghanistan and the Taliban.

The chronicle details an explicit account of the way the extreme Islamic fundamentalist group handled detonating the region’s ancient Buddhist heritage and blowing up schools among other things.

Her angst against the terrorist group is clearly reflected when she says, “Sometimes I imagine I’m going along and the Taliban would

stop me. I would take my sandal and hit them on the face and say what you’re doing is wrong.”

The book is the incredible tale of a family that has been uprooted from their homeland by terrorism, of a fight for girls’ education, of a father who himself a school owner, supported and encouraged his daughter to write and attend

school, and of brave parents who have unconditional love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

The memoire will make you believe in the power of ‘one.’

It also forces you to change your outlook towards the world we live in and contribute towards a better life.

Name I am Malala Author Malala Yousafzai Pages 268 Publisher Bloomsbury

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BOOKS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

Giving a voice to the dead Those who set themselves on fire in protest at Chinese rule are the subject of a new booklet written by Tibetan poet Tsering Woeser.

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blogger, a taxi driver, a Communist Party official and a Buddhist monk. All of them Tibetan, and all of them driven to the desperate step of setting themselves on fire in protest at Chinese rule.

These and dozens of others are the subject of a new booklet written by Tsering Woeser, a famous Tibetan poet, essayist and fierce critic of the Chinese government’s rule over the sprawling Himalayan region.

Immolations in Tibet: The shame of the world — which so far is only being published in French and will be released in Paris on Thursday — is illustrated by Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei.

In it, Woeser — who lives under surveillance in Beijing but has an extensive network of contacts in Tibetan areas — tries to get to the root of why at least 120 Tibetans have set themselves alight in recent years, most in China but some outside the country. Many, but not all, have died.

“Hunger strikes are a method of protest universally accepted and respected, whilst self-immolation is often ignored, because such suffering goes beyond the limits of what most people can conceive, even in their imagination,” she writes.

“Self-immolation is the most hard-hitting thing that these isolated protesters can do while still respecting principles of non-violence.”

The first recorded self-immolation in China was in February 2009, but Tibetan areas have seen an explosion in this violent form of protest since March 2011 when a monk set himself on fire at the revered Kirti monastery and died, sparking riots.

Beijing has always strongly condemned the acts and blames them on exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama, saying he uses them to further a separatist agenda. It maintains that

Chinese rule has brought development and riches to the plateau.

But Tibetans say the selfimmolations are a response to increasing curbs on their religious and political freedoms, particularly since deadly 2008 riots in the Tibetan capital Lhasa that spread to neighbouring areas.

In the booklet, Woeser describes Tibetan regions as a “giant prison criss-crossed with armed soldiers and armoured vehicles”.

The reasons behind the protests, she adds, are diverse — authorities arresting people for

watching videos of the Dalai Lama’s teachings, nomads forced off their pasture land to make way for mines and dams, surveillance cameras in monasteries, and many more.

“They think we’re scared of military repression, they’re wrong” said Tenzin Phuntsok, one of the victims whose last words were cited in the booklet.

And while monks and nuns were the first to set themselves on fire, a growing number of laypeople have started using this desperate, last-ditch form of protest.

She cites “two schoolgirls, three students, three workers,

four retailers, one carpenter, a blogger, a tangka (traditional Tibetan painting) artist, a taxi driver, a retired Communist Party official.”

One 25-year-old farmer called Wangchen Norbu, Woeser says, went specifically to a photo studio to have his picture taken before he self-immolated.

‘Writing this kind of book is definitely dangerous’ Woeser, whose father was a half-Tibetan, half-Han Chinese army officer and whose mother was a Tibetan Communist official, is widely known for her blog — translated into English on highpeakspureearth.com — as

well as poems and essays.

As a result, she is under intense police scrutiny but unlike some other activists has so far avoided arrest and is still relatively free to move around the country.

But Woeser, who is in her late 40s, admits that a booklet published abroad could get her into trouble with Chinese authorities.

“For a long time, I have felt like I’m at the edge of a precipice, and I could fall at any time,” she said by email from her hometown of Lhasa, where she has been staying since June.

AFP

WHAT’S SELLING Amazon best in fiction

Amazon best in non-fiction

NY Times best in fiction

NY Times best in non-fiction

n House of Hades

by Rick Riordan

n Killing Jesus by Martin Dugard

n Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

n Allegiant by Veronica Roth

n I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

n The Longest Ride

by Nicholas Sparks

n Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard

n Sycamore Row

by John Grisham

n David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

n Gone by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

n Autobiography

by Morrissey

n The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gillbert

n Johnny Carson

by Henry Bushkin

n The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

n The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida n The Goldfinchby Donna Tartt

n David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell n Si-cology 1 by Si Robertson with Mark Schlabach n One Summer by Bill Bryson n The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida

18

WOMEN SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

WEBSITES OF THE WEEK BlogHer: The Web’s leading guide to the hottest news and trends among women in social media. A platform for sharing great voices, stories and ideas.

CafeMom: A community where moms come together to get advice and support on topics like pregnancy, health, fashion, food, entertainment, and more.

85Broads: A global women’s network whose mission is to generate exceptional professional, investing in each other’s success and social value for its members.

Tales of human trafficking on stage R aised by a grandmother who can hardly make ends meet, Anastasia sees no future for herself in struggling Moldova. When her friend Ion offers her a “once-in-a-lifetime” job abroad, she is desperate for it to be true.

“Everything is legal,” Ion promises as they meet in a club.

“The company pays for your visa. Someone will wait for you at the airport. The salary is $1,500 a month.”

Eager to leave Europe’s poorest country, Anastasia is too tempted to refuse. She accepts the offer — and finds herself forced into a prostitution ring in Italy.

Her tragic story could be all too real in Moldova, where a teacher earns less than $200 (150 euros) a month and much of the labour force works abroad for a better life.

But this time in the northern Moldovan town of Drochia, it is just a play performed by a group of young volunteers fighting to prevent human trafficking through “forum theatre”.

This method of participatory theatre, where spectators are asked to change the outcome of the play, was invented by Brazilian director Augusto Boal in the 1970s in a bid to give a voice to audiences.

A short play about a social problem is turned into a forum for discussion — the spectators suggest different solutions and even climb onstage to enact them.

The organisers of the event say they hope it can make a real contribution to combating the scourge of human trafficking in Moldova, which has become a notorious global hub for peoplesmuggling.

“It allows them to practice different behaviours in order to better react in real life,” said Oxana Buzovici, theatre practitioner for Young People for the Right to Live (TDV), an organisation based in the northern Moldovan city of Balti.

‘I

COULD BE VULNERABLE ’

Around 600,000 Moldovans out a population of about 3.5 million live abroad in search of a better life, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

More than one-third do so illegally due to labour and visa restrictions in the European Union and surrounding countries.

Traffickers use that red tape to their advantage, promising visas, work permits and good salaries.

Moldova is one of the main source countries in Europe for sex trafficking and forced labour.

The exact number of Moldovan victims is unknown, but the IOM helped more than 3,000 of them between 2000 and 2012.

“Russia, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Greece, the selfproclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Turkey are the main countries of destination,” Eduard Bulat, antihuman trafficking chief at the Moldovan prosecutor’s office, said.

In Drochia, despite the lack of heating in their high school, 70 pupils aged 15 to 17 spend two hours enthusiastically trying to change the outcome of the play for Anastasia, a character that could be them.

All raise their hands when asked if they plan to emigrate.

Many say they know cases of

trafficking victims among their acquaintances.

“She should have asked more information about her employer,” says one.

“But how can you really check when firms could present fake Internet sites and registration documents?” says another.

Buzovici gives the contact details of an anti-trafficking organisation that could help verify offers.

“Even if I do not want to leave Moldova, I could be vulnerable if I receive what seems like

a good job offer,” says 15-year-old Vlada Guila.

“But today I learned a lot, I will need to be very well informed,” she adds.

It sounds like a small victory for forum theatre actress Anna Sadovskaia, 24, who is also a social worker in a shelter for trafficking victims.

She herself was targeted by a human trafficker as she desperately looked for a job in Moldova’s capital Chisinau after graduating.

The job as a nanny turned out to be a front for a sex slavery ring. She avoided the trap.

“It was difficult because he was very persuasive. I was suspicious because of my studies, but other women could easily be trapped,” she says.

‘They now treat victims with respect’ Anna and TDV organise forum theatre in several schools with the help of France and the Moldovan authorities.

The US State Department

this year praised Moldova for its fight against human trafficking.

Moldova “is making significant efforts” to stop trafficking even if more needs to be done, it said.

In the first nine months of 2013, 118 cases of human trafficking were investigated, including 17 involving children, prosecutors said.

Anti-trafficking organisations have welcomed what they say is a change of mentality within the police and the judiciary.

“They now treat victims with respect. They finally understand they are not the guilty ones,” Lidia Gorceag, a psychologist at Chisinau Assistance and Protection Centre, said.

“Many survivors of trafficking suffer from post-traumatic stress. The challenge for them is to learn how to live with the trauma, the pain and the terrible flashbacks.”

Some find harmless ways to channel the negative energy.

AFP

19

SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013 1

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3

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5

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THEATRE TIME Members of Assocham Ladies League staged a play at Park Hyatt on Friday. Spotted at the do were Shalini, Poonam, Julie and others.

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1 Seema with a

friend 2 Gulshan 3 Sarita with a

friend 4 Shalini,

Poonam 5 Ranjana 6 Ravita 7 Vibha with a

friend 8 Julie, Kejeo 9 Anuradha

Reddy, Mala Pasha 10 Aparna,

Shalia

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WISHES GALORE A new dining hall at Hyderabad Public School was inaugurated amid much hype on the occasion of the school's 90th anniversary.

Minister S Jaipal Reddy was present at the do.

20

RELATIONSHIPS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

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I AM ALL EARS

'm 17 and he's 18. We've been together for almost a year and were best friends before this.

He’s not a virgin, but I am. He wants to have sex with me, but he respects my decision to wait and hasn't pressured me at all. I would really like to have sex with him, but I want to wait until marriage.

Dear Virgin Lady, The important thing to remember about your virginity is that once it’s gone, you can’t get it back.

So be sure and don’t do it unless you’re ready to do it. People who have sex for the first time due to pressure are more likely to forget about contraception and condoms, putting them at risk of catching a sexually transmitted infection.

So take your time. Sex is a wonderful thing when both people really like each other and feel ready.

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hat makes some people more prone to wedded bliss or sorrow than others? Researchers at UC Berkeley and Northwestern University have found a major clue in our DNA. A gene involved in the regulation of serotonin can predict how much our emotions affect our relationships, according to a new study that may be the first to link genetics, emotions, and marital satisfaction.

Source: Science Daily

EMOTIONAL ATTYACHAR

The number of domestic violence cases being reported has sky rocketed. But abuse isn’t always physical. An emotionally abusive relationship is equally damaging and traumatic.

Roshni Donny

feedback@postnoon.com

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n emotionally abusive relationship isn’t easy to spot and very often both the partners seem very happy on the outside. Point to be noted is the abuser in the relationship necessarily doesn’t always have to be a man, but is generally the one who is comparatively more dominant in the relationship.

Emotional abuse generally evolves over a period of time.

Like a slow poison, a person wouldn’t be even aware of that he/she is involved in an abusive relationship. Gradually, the signs and tells become prominent and the abuses worsen progressively if not stopped or paid heed to at an earlier stage. Below are listed a few characteristics of an emotional abusive relationship, which Dr. Phil shared recently: n Use of economic power to control: Whether you are

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financially independent or require your partner for funds, holding an economic power to control is no excuse. No matter what the need for money is, it should be solved amicably and both partners should be in unison on every monetary decision Emotionally degrading in private but charming in public: People are like chameleons when in public and go where the river flows.

But behind closed doors their true colors emerge.

Scaring by looks and gestures: Popping eyes, glaring looks and grinding of teeth are some examples of what gestures one may receive from an abuser in public.

Although it may be only a glance but the threat of the glance is felt by the receiver and unknowingly fear increase the heart rate.

Withholding approval, appreciation and affection as punishment: Like treating a dog after it obeys your

command, the relationship reaches a point where everything has to meet a certain approval. If satisfactory, then appreciation or even affection is showered, but if

not then it is all withheld until done right.

These are just some of the characteristics to begin with.

What people don’t realise is that such a relationship can cause

severe mental and physical health issues for the one being abused. A loss of self confidence and a growing doubt on self esteem leave the abused in a state where they are unable to make a decision on their own.

An anxiety or fear starts growing within them and they have the urge to run away and escape from reality.

A very recent example can be seen in the relationship between Jiah Khan (the actress from Nishabd and Ghajini) and Sooraj Pancholi (son of yesteryear actor Aditya Pancholi). Over a period of time the emotional abuse grew over her leading to depression and loss of self confidence. Though her suicide is still being speculated, the result of the relationship doesn’t change. She lost her life.

So if you are constantly being degraded and you think just because you aren’t being physically abused you are in the clear I think it’s high time you thought about it once again.

21

CINEMA SATURDAY OCTOBER 19, 2013

Big surprise for Prabhas fans P

rabhas is one of the most sought after actors in Telugu cinema and is currently busy shooting for S S Rajamouli’s Baahubali. With Prabhas’ birthday right around the corner, the unit of the film plans on surprising his fans with a special video. Check out this space for more.

SHAKING A LEG IN SPAIN Karthikeya shoot progresses

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ikhil Siddharta, whose last hit was Happy Days came back with a bang with Swamy Ra Ra. Nikhil wants to keep the success curve intact and is now busy shooting for the supernatural thriller, Karthikeya. A major part of the film was completed in Kumbakonam and surrounding areas of Tamil Nadu and the whole unit is now back in Hyderabad to complete the rest of the film. Karthikeya is being simultanaeously shot in Telugu and Tamil.

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ollywood ator Nithiin already has two back-toback hits with Ishq and Gunde Jaari Gallanthayindhe. The young actor is now busy shooting for Heart Attack in Spain. A song is being shot on the lead pair, debutante Adah Sharma and Nithiin and is touted to be the highlight of the film. Nithiin recently completed shooting for some comedy scenes with Brahmanandam.

Puri Jagan is producing and directing the film. Anoope Rubens is going to be composing the music for this film. It has been said that Nithiin is quite happy with the way the movie is progressing at such a brisk pace and expressed his delight on microblogging site, Twitter.

22

CINEMA SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

An august opening I for Mumbai film fest

n the presence of Bollywood celebrities such as Sonakshi Sinha, Tisca Chopra, Nandita Das and Divya Dutta, the 15th edition of Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) had a grand opening at the Liberty cinemas.

Actress Sonakshi Sinha, who was invited as the special chief guest of the evening lit the ceremonial lamp along with delegates from France and filmmaker Shyam Benegal, chairman of organising body Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI).

Other filmmakers from around the world who were part of the ceremony included Bruce Beresford, Siddiq Barmark, Deepa Mehta, Waris Hussein, Roger Garcia and Asghar Farhadi along with Indian actress Konkona Sen Sharma.

Presented by Reliance Entertainment, the eight-day extravaganza has a line up of over 200 films from across the world with special focus on Spanish cinema, Cambodian and French cinema.

This year, French filmmaker Costa-Gavras, known for politically astute films, was handed over the lifetime achievement award along with Indian actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan. While the former was presented the award by Shyam Benegal, Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan handed over the award to the latter.

“Awards like these give me the strength to continue making films,” said 80-year old Gavras, and added, “I would like to see more Indian films in France going forward. We are working towards it”.

Kamal Haasan, who received a standing ovation, dedicated the award to his mentor Tamil filmmaker K. Balachander.

“Many believe that Balachander discovered me, but I believe he invented me. It’s because of teachers like him I’m successful and I dedicate this award to him,” added Kamal.

Lee Daniel’s historical fictionaldrama The Butler starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, opened the festival. The closing ceremony on October 24 will screen Bill Condon’s IANS The Fifth Estate.

HUGH JACKMAN named Micromax brand ambassador

H

ollywood superstar Hugh Jackman has been chosen over a Bollywood star as the brand ambassador of Indian mobile handset brand Micromax. He says he is a “huge lover” of India.

“I am extremely thrilled and honoured to be part of the Micromax family. I am a huge lover of India as it is one of the most exciting countries in the world and we also share our love for cricket,” Jackman said in a statement.

Jackman is known for films like Les Miserables, The Wolverine and Prisoners.

His association with Micromax will start with its new smartphone Canvas Turbo, which will be launched in India soon.

“Phones are genuinely time saving devices that can help you live a better life while juggling around with different situations,” he said in a statement.

He is convinced about the features offered by the brand’s new Canvas range.

“The new Canvas phone from Micromax is a leap in innovation with great sense of fun and amazing features that helps me balance my work with all the different roles that I play in my everyday life,” added the 45-year-old.

The Micromax family believes Jackman “truly embodies the aspirational, reinventing and fearless IANS persona of the brand”.

Established actors come with baggage: RGV F

ilmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who has roped in fresh faces for his film Satya 2, says it’s easy to work with newcomers as established actors often come with baggage.

Satya 2 features newcomers Puneet Singh, Anaika Soti and Aradhna. It is releasing October 25.

“It’s easy to work with newcomers because it’s their debut film, so they work harder and give their 100 percent. By the time they come to the set, they are well prepared. Established actors come with some baggage and they take it for granted so to take them out of their image, and get them to fit in the character is much more difficult,” Varma said.

Asked if his comment is based on his personal experience, Verma said: “Nothing as such. Any actor who has worked before has an image.

Suddenly if you put him in a realistic situation, it becomes difficult to make it believable for him or her. I am saying so in that context.”

IANS

CINEMA SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

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CINEMA SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

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CINEMA SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

Kanye West finds marriage outdated

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apper Kanye West reportedly does not believe in the institution of marriage, and so, he may not wed girlfriend Kim Kardashian.

The couple is dating for almost a year and has a four-month-old daughter North West.

“Kanye is telling friends that he’ll never marry Kim. He has no need or desire to make their relationship official in the eyes of the law," radaronline.com quoted a source as saying.

“Kanye prefers the idea of them as partners. He sees marriage as outdated and he’s all about embracing the modern and the new." the source added. IANS

Damian Lewis’ kids not allowed to watch Homeland A

ctor Damian Lewis, who plays an integral role in TV series Homeland, does not allow his children to watch the thriller as it has some gruesome scenes. contactmusic.com reports that the actor was with British royal Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall at London’s Westminster Abbey to celebrate a special

harvest ceremony and admitted to her that he does not prefer his children watching his show.

“No, certainly not," Lewis said when he was asked by the Duchess if he would allow his daughter to watch the show.

Lewis has two children, daughter Manon, eight, and son Gulliver, seven, with his wife Helen McCrory. IANS

Tom helped Matt shed weight

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ctor Matthew McConaughey turned to actor Tom Hanks for advise on losing weight for his forthcoming movie Dallas Buyers Club.

McConaughey lost almost 21 kg to fit into the role of a real-life AIDS victim Ron Woodroof. “I actually called Tom and had a great conversation with him about what he learned about losing weight for ‘Philadelphia’ and ‘Cast Away'," femalefirst.co.uk quoted McConaughey as saying.

“And I consulted a nutritionist about the best way to do this," he added. Directed by JeanMarc Vallee, “Dallas Buyers Club” is expected to release later this year.

IANS

26

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

SUDOKU

THOUGHT OF THE DAY It doesn’t matter if you try and try and try again, and fail.

It does matter if you try and fail, and fail to try again.

-Charles Kettering

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 Wheelchair access 5 Computing customers 10 Good bit of whipped cream 14 One-time apple spray 15 Gymnastics legend Comaneci 16 Movie credit information 17 Fruit center 18 “That’ll Be the Day” singer 20 Pocket jinglers 21 Needing salt, perhaps 22 Oversized library volume 23 Country singer Chesney 25 Whispered call 27 Like mountains and lizards 29 Frontier bases 33 “According to” rules guy 34 Type of tangelo 35 Octagonal traffic sign 36 The Santa ___ winds 37 Greener around the gills 38 “Wanted” poster letters 39 Valentine’s Day offering 41 Singles 42 Word with “ear” or “tube” 44 Ant-eating burrowers 46 Words of warning 47 With the greatest of ___ 48 Reclusive Garbo 49 Entertainer’s advocate 52 ___ generis (of its own kind) 53 Sounds of disapproval 56 Pianist-singer known for long album titles 59 Club in a bag 60 Tutor in “The King and I” 61 Regular customer’s order (with “the”) 62 Wolfe following clues 63 Antarctic sea 64 Double-deckers in checkers 65 Like a fast-talking salesman

DOWN 1 15-ball cluster 2 Sunblock ingredient 3 Cosmetic company founder 4 Find a buyer beforehand 5 Free a prisoner, as from ropes 6 Smart-mouthed 7 Swirling effect 8 Make free of 9 “___ it, don’t spray it!”

10 Artificial caves 11 Goof off 12 Spicy stew 13 Ottoman Empire dignitaries 19 Briefcase fastener 24 “Born,” in some announcements 25 Cries in a thin voice 26 “___ Crazy” (Pryor film) 27 Execute an unwritten

agreement, in a way Colts Hall-of-Famer 28 Like a dunce cap Marchetti 29 Looks that lookers get 51 Forever, it seems 30 Half a legendary come- 52 Like cotton candy dy duo sugar and webs 31 Cigarette drags 54 Pop singer Amos 32 Bowling achievement 55 Hoity-toity type 34 Arm bones 57 Northern diving bird 37 They’re never free of 58 Letters on tires charge PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER 40 Brownish pigments 42 Feeling of fury 43 Bug protection 45 Numbers to crunch 46 Bay windows 48 Setting for Solzhenitsyn 49 A long way off 50 Baltimore

27

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Three of Cups

Judgement

Three of Swords

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ork – You may not be entirely happy with the results of a project, which you worked very hard on. Let it go and move on. Romance – Singles may be tempted to get into an unconventional relationship.

Stay away and don’t yield to temptation.

Health – Stop popping pills, no matter how good it makes you feel.

You need to get a proper medical check-up and go by the book. Money – Finances are in good shape. Be practical and don’t get too adventurous with investments.

Stick to long-term, traditional ones. Tarot message – This is not a great time for matters of the heart. You feel restless. Wait it out and don’t jump the gun.

ork- Work – Stop worrying. What’s the worst that could happen? You lose out on one project? Let it go and move on to the next thing. Romance – A third person may be knowingly or unknowingly interfering with your romance. Tell that person off. There’s never an easy way to do it.

Health – The heat may be getting to you. Keep your body cool with fruits, juices and plenty of water. Avoid heat-inducing foods. Money – The falling rupee against the dollar has you a bit worried. You want to save on your foreign trip but also want to have a good time.

Plan! Tarot message – This is a relatively easy time with no major changes.

ork – Watch out for matters of etiquette and the expected rules and regulations in a business environment. To grow, you need to follow theses. Romance – You have the urge to stay home and spend time doing homely things.

Take time off and just relax at home with no plans. Health – Nagging health issues may crop up if you haven’t taken care of them already.

Home remedies and alternative therapies work best. Money – Not a best time to move money around when you are unsure of where you’ll be next.

Tarot message – What you sow, you will reap.

But it should not stop you from following your gut feel.

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Cancer

Leo

Ten of Wands

Page of Pentacles

Six of Swords

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ork – Hard work and perseverance are required at the moment. It also means that you need to stick to a formula you know for sure works. Romance – Before sealing the deal on an important relationship, review your pros and cons. Ensure you know very well what you’re getting into.

Health – A family doctor may be annoying but he/she is also the one with the knowledge of your family history. Be patient and go with the familiar. Money – There is no dearth of anything for your needs. But don’t get greedy and try to maximize what you have.

Tarot message – Sharing is an important part of the spiritual growing process.

ork – You may be blocked access to something important.

Look at it this way. It also means, you are expected to concentrate on fewer jobs. Romance – You need to up the romance quotient in your life and for that you need to renew and refresh your attitude.

Make way for the new.

Health – Stomach upset or sore throat or something minor will be an irritant. Treat it immediately. It is also a sign that you should diet. Money – Shifting money around is not a good idea now.

Don’t shake up something which is stable just to bring some change.

Tarot message – Get adventurous but within limits. It should not upset your life.

SUMAA TEKUR tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

Libra

Scorpio

Knight of Cups

Three of Wands

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ork – It helps if you have a consensual attitude while working in large teams. Take the team members into confidence before launching plans. Romance – Your romantic life may be getting to theatric for your liking. Being a more practical person, you like to stick to reality. But let your partner enjoy this time. Health – When the rhythm of your daily routine is meddled with too many times, it leads to stress. Get back into the familiar and do things you enjoy to de-stress.

Money – There may be some missing links in the balance sheet and it’s important you figure it out. Tarot message – Be empathetic and open to other people’s views.

ork – Many new challenges are going to come your way.

It’s up to you whether to step up and show what you can do, or reject them and stay where you are. Romance – Feelings of positivity can wipe out that irritation you feel rising up towards your loved one. It may be because of spending too much time together.

Health – You need to pause and take a break if your body is feeling fatigued. It is sending you a signal that a break is in order. Money – Do some thorough background research before you decide to invest in a new fund. Tarot message – You can get a better deal with your current situation.

Sagittarius Queen of Swords

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ork –Beware of coming across as too snooty and difficult to approach. This may prevent your further growth within the company.

Romance – Legal issues between partners need to be sorted out. Singles should go out and meet potential partners.

Health – Discuss your health issues openly with your doctor. It may seem like an insignificant problem to you but your doctor will recognize trouble if there is. Money – No point accusing your tax advisor if you haven’t done your homework and checked on where your money is going. Tarot message-Communication is very important. Be frank and honest with people who matter.

Virgo

Date 20-10-2013

Capricorn

Aquarius

Nine of Pentacles

Five of Swords

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ork – Creativity will rid you of boredom at the work place.

Think of new ways to do the same old job and you won’t feel stuck in a rut.

Romance – If you have made some promises, it’s important you keep them. Maintaining this trust, at any cost, is the foundation of a strong relationship. Health – Go for a regular health checkup. You may be in for a few surprises but nothing that cannot be handled well. Consult a good doctor. Money – Knowing about a scheme first is one thing, acting on it fast is another.

Being there first will give you an advantage. Tarot message – It’s not easy to think out of the box.

But it is essential.

ork – There may be some imbalances at the work place, in terms of the number of hours you’re working or the expectations and resources at your disposal.

Talk to your boss.

Romance – Growth is indicated in a relationship where you and your partner decide to take it a notch higher. Health – If your exercise routine has not been giving you any results, it could be that your body is fatigued and needs a change. Money – There’s nothing to worry about money. If you have taken a home loan or any such high-interest-guzzling loan, think of ways to reduce the interest outflow. Tarot message – You are unique and should not compare to others.

W

ork –Good time to look at new avenues and opportunities. This is an ocean with a world of new chances. Look at the right places.

Romance – An overseas trip will get you in touch with interesting members of the opposite sex.

Enjoy the interactions and the new ideas.

Health – Your mind needs relaxation. Take a break and get out of the city for a few days. Leave your phone behind if that would help. Money – There are ways to keep track of your expenses only if you have the will to cut down and save for tomorrow. Get pen and paper and take note.

Tarot message – Be open to new ideas and exploration.

Pisces Strength

W

ork – Streamline your work processes so that you can produce better quality work.

By thinking of new ways to do the same old thing will take up time.

Romance – A travel plan to reignite the passion between you and your partner is a good idea.

Choose a location which you both will find things to discover. Health – A change may be needed in your diet or exercise to make the most of your current situation. .

Money – Money matters need attention. Pool all your resources together and think of ways to maximize what you have.

Tarot message – This is not the time to be aggressive. Get practical and do the best.

Vol: 3, No 87 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at # Plot no.550-A1,3rd floor, Road no-92, Jubilee hills, Hyderabad-500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon. com and for subscription, please call 040-23541412,

28

THE SATURDAY QUIZ SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

IN THE NEWS

9. What World War II operation was code named Dynamo?

10. What would a tailor do with his hot plonker?

11. How many old pennies were there in a Groat?

12. In the song “The 12 days of Christmas”, what are the 6 geese a-doing?

13. In cricket, where would you

find the chain?

14. If you happened to be plaining and pearling, what would you be doing?

15. What female name is also used to describe a female donkey?

16. Name the fruit which earned its name from the way it hung in bunches like grapes?

Answers

4. Traditionally, what type of wood does Rolls Royce use on the dashboards of their cars?

5. What is the National Emblem of Canada?

6. Are gorillas carnivores, omnivores, or herbivores?

7. Free Willy was a film based on which animal?

8. Can pigs swim?

1. Harold 2. Polo 3.10 days 4.Walnut 5. Maple Leaf 6. Herbivores 7. Killer Whale 8. Yes 9.

Evacuation of Dunkirk 10. Iron cloth 11. Four; 12. Laying; 13. Between the wickets 14.

Knitting; 15.Jenny; 16. Grapefruit

1. Name the king who failed to keep an eye on things at the Battle of Hastings?

2. In which sport would you use a chucker?

3. If a snail climbed up a 12ft wall at a steady rate of 3 feet a day, but slipped down 2ft every night, how many days would it take him to reach the top?

TEST YOURSELF

IDENTIFY THESE POPES

CURRENT AFFAIRS 1

1 2 3 4 5

2

Al Qaida suicide car bomber killed 15 soldiers this week in a country?

Which is it?

How much do you know about fruits?

1 2 3

Pumpkin is vegetable or a fruit?

A Dutch coach is all set to be hired as Chief Coordinator and High Performance Director (HPD) for Indian hockey. Who is it?

Which is world's largest herb?

Two countries will play a friendly football match at London's Wembley Stadium. Which are the countries?

Which country has emerged first among Arab countries, and 14th globally, in terms of human rights?

Which fruit drink can be substituted for blood plasma in an emergency since it possesses the perfect PH level and is also sterile?

4

Which fruit has a museum dedicated to it in Belgium?

A Chinese distance runner has been suspended for two years for a doping offence. Who is she?

4

3

1. Yemen 2. Roelant Oltmans 3. Chile and England 4. United Arab Emirates (UAE) 5. Sun Juan

Answers

KNOW YOUR COUNTRY

How many people can you see in this picture?

WHO AM I? I have broken two of Virender Sehwag’s records in one incredible game of cricket. I have also been credited with the tag, the fastest ODI hundred by an Indian.

Who am I?

Answer : Virat Kohli

Answer for 88:

A film celebrity's house in Juhu was looted earlier this week.

Who is the celebrity?

with Santosh Ghule

If you look closely you can see an elephant..

3

PICTURE PUZZLE 89

Answers:

2

The Uttar Pradesh government has put a ban on short messaging services in a city. Which is the city?

Answers:1 Pope Francis; 2 Pope Benedict XVI; 3 Beatification John Paul II; 4 Servant of God John Paul I.

India in partnership with a country is working out a "technocommercial" agreement for the third and fourth reactors of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. Which is it?

1. Fruit 2. Banana 3. Coconut water 4. Strawberries Strawberry

1

1. Russia 2. Ayodhya 3. Shilpa Shetty

Answers

29

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

Lorenzo takes pole

Nico awaits Paneer Tikka

D

efending world champion Jorge Lorenzo shattered the Phillip Island lap record in claiming the pole position on Saturday for the Australian MotoGP. The Spanish Yamaha racer clocked a best lap of one minute and 27.899 seconds to beat championship leader Marc Marquez by 0.221secs.

‘Playing WC at right time’

S

I

auber driver Nico Hulkenberg is not a fan of the ‘spicy’ Indian food but Paneer Tikka is one dish that he looks forward to during the Formula 1 week in a country he finds ‘exotic’. Hulkenberg, who has impressed most by his showing in the second half of the year, is no stranger to India having spent two seasons with Force India.

ndia’s top table tennis player Sharath Kamal has many firsts, the latest being that he is the first Indian to qualify for the World Cup. The 31-yearold is ecstatic, though he feels the opportunity has come a tad late in his career and after a decade of hard grind at the highest level. He will make history when he plays his opening match in Verviers, Belgium, Oct 25.

Vettel eyes double delight GREATER NOIDA: Sebastian Vettel has

Lower tyre degradation was experienced at BIC in 2012, making Pirelli go for soft and medium tyre combination than soft and hard used last year.

Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber, who will say goodbye to F1 at the end of the season, had plenty to say about the India experience.

“It’s an extremely unique country for lots of different reasons, culturally there’s lots going on and you’ve got some pretty spectacular cities, busy cities. I’ve tried some of the local food and it’s really tasty, and obviously spicy, but I don’t mind that,” said Webber.

Webber compared the circuit to the ones in Turkey and Silverstone.

“The track is good. I think they’ve done a good job with the circuit, it’s a place where you can really put a Formula One car on the limit and it’s quick. It’s a very demanding track for the car and driver. It’s probably very similar to the old Turkey circuit, but the middle sector is very similar to Silverstone - it’s very, very fast, but has some undulations as well. The undulations are quite good and quite cute; they’ve put them in some IANS challenging areas for us,” he added.

cruised to victory in the first two editions of the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix. And it is no surprise that the Red Bull driver is confident of completing a hat-trick at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) here next weekend and seal the world title for the fourth year in a row.

“So far everything has always gone perfectly for us in India. There is also a very nice trophy at the end of the race - so it would be great to hold one again this year.

It’s a circuit that I like, in a country that is very, very impressive every time we go there,” Vettel, who won the races from pole position, said in a team preview Friday.

He just needs a top five finish to secure the championship.

Talking more about the 5.14-km track, the German said: “It is not an easy track, because of a few complicated rhythm- breakers that are in there. The most difficult part is the uphill entry to Turn Three, because seeing the apex is practically impossible. So to drive a perfect lap around the Buddh circuit, you need a good driving instinct.”

McLaren face 33-year low LONDON: McLaren chief Martin Whitmarsh has left the Formula One paddock in puzzled suspense by defending Mexican driver Sergio Perez as the storied team face a 33year low. With the Mexican Grand Prix returning to the F1 calendar in 2014, most observers expected to see the talented Perez confirmed in his seat alongside 2009 world champion Jenson Button.

Saina, Gurusaidutt ousted ODENSE (DENMARK): The Indian challenge came to an end at the $400,000 Denmark Open Super Series Premier here Friday after both Saina Nehwal and R.M.V. Gurusaidutt lost their respective quarterfinals.

Defending champion Saina lost a marathon women’s singles contest 21-13, 18-21, 19-21 in a thrilling one hour and six minute-battle against Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea while RMV Gurusaidutt lost 11-21, 19-21 in 46 minutes to Du Pengyu of China at the Odense Sports Park.

Ji overcame the Saina to bag her first win over the Hyderabadi in five IANS meetings.

Perez may have had a wild weekend at Suzuka in last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, but that, it was believed, was not going to be enough to jettison him from a team in desperate need of a podium finish.

Yet Whitmarsh appears to be hoping that a solution to his problems will materialize in the shape of an available star driver in the very near future.

Few close followers of the sport’s business and politics believe that and see only the highly-promising Nico Hulkenberg offering him any option to retaining the erratic Perez. McLaren are without a win or even a podium position this year and are heading towards finishing their worst season in modern times as the circus heads to India next weekend.

AFP

Ding pots Indian Open title NEW DELHI: Ding Junhui, the prodigiously talented 26-year old Chinese and World No.4, broke many a home heart with a clinical 5-0 demolition of Aditya Mehta in the final of the £300,000 inaugural Indian Open World Snooker ranking tournament here Friday.

Junhui, who had breaks of 52, 81, 107, 93 and 100 in the five frames, pocketed the winner’s cheque for 50,000 pounds and 5,000 ranking points, besides 2,000 pounds for the highest break in the final while 27-year old Mehta from Mumbai and ranked 72nd, went home richer by 25,000 pounds apart from 4,000 points.

In the process, Junhui, the Asian Games gold medallist in 2002 and 2006, became the first player since Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2003 to win back-to-back ranking tournaments, having annexed the Shanghai Masters title last month.

“I wasn’t at my best earlier

this season and so I tried to do better. I had watched Aditya before and knew he had a very good safety play. Only in the first frame I made mistakes. “I feel sorry for Aditya as he was playing his first final, but I am sure he will improve and play better,” said a shy Ding who would rather let his cue do the talking for him.

Despite the drubbing Mehta, winner of the Asian Championship and gold medalist at the World Games, can take heart from the fact that he created snooker history by becoming the

first Indian to play in professional ranking tournament final, an achievement that could be a forerunner to many more.

“I can’t even imagine that level of snooker and I learnt another lesson. We practice at the same academy in Sheffield and I hope to learn from him,” said Mehta. “I don’t see anyone playing better than him. His cue-ball control, break building, tactics were simply outstanding. He was in a league of his own.”

On reaching the final, Mehta said: “It is the greatest milestone I have achieved so far in my career. A few years ago, I couldn’t have imagined this, but if your heart is in it, nothing is impossible.”

Junhui was simply a class apart in the final with Mehta spending more time off the table, for such was the dominance of the Chinese who was also the youngest ever at 15 to win the IBSF World championship. IANS

Vasishta tennis touney results Results: Boys under-8: Final: Rohit Sai Charan bt Poorva Parikh 6-4 Boys under-10: Final: K Shashidhar bt J Yashwanth 7-3 Boys under-12: Semifinal: Rahul Chandana bt K Brihat 6-2, K Shashidhar bt Shaik Rehan 6-2 Boys under-14: Quarters: Uddhav Thakore bt Mohit Sai Kumar 6-1, Rahul Chandana bt Aditya 6-3, N Yashodhan bt Kushal 6-3, Akhilesh Reddy bt T Abhishek 6-0 Girls under-8: Final: Diy Reddy bt Vemuri Apurva 7-4 Girls under-10: Final: V Adithi bt Shaik Kamreen 7-4 Girls under-12: semifinal: Amulya bt Srujana 6-3, Nikitha Simhambatla bt G.Videeshi 6-0 Girls under-14: Final: Simhabatla Nikitha bt T Nikitha 7-4

League Cricket A division two days Charminar 408/8 (Abdul Rahman 166, Mohammed Saleh Amoodi 100no, Mohammed Younus Ali 81, Mickil Jaiswal 3/90) bt Sai Satya 134 (Manichandra 50, Mohammed Irfan Ullah Khan 3/25, Syed Ahmed 5/36) National CC 115 lost to Raju CC 119/2 (Preetam 47, Satish 38no) Zinda CC 364/8 bt Pasha Beedi 91(Faizan 40, Sharavan 3/27, Mannan 3/13) Venus Cybertech 169 bt Ours 105 (Vamshi Reddy 6/37, Naresh 3/32) Crown 160 drew with Vijay Hanuman 136/8 (Chandrasekhar 42, Prasanth 4/34) Budding Star 223 (Nikhil Parwani 54, Thushar Saklani 55, Uttam Kumar 3/40, Sanjeev 3/36) lost to P&T Colony 225/4 (Uttam Kumar 56, G Rana Pratap Reddy 87) Kosa Raju 162/6 (Rithwik 31, Nihal 32no) lost to Khalsa 166/7 (Melbinto 58, Raj Thakur 35) A division one day Hyderabad Panthers XI 292 (Hyder Mubeen 100, Syed Shajeel Ahmed 49, MA Waheed 36, Aditya 3/43, Sohail Khan 5/18) bt Imperial 236 (G Uttej 57, Kashap 35, Arpan 31, Pradumna 32, Syed Shajeel Ahmed 3/89, Zeeshan Ali Khan 5/42)

30

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

Simpson ahead in Vegas Webb Simpson, seeking his first US PGA Tour win since his 2012 US Open triumph, fired an eight-under 63 on Friday to take a four-shot halfway lead.

LAS VEGAS: Webb Simpson, seeking his first US PGA Tour win since his 2012 US Open triumph, fired an eight-under 63 on Friday to take a four-shot halfway lead in the Shriners’ Hospitals Open.

Webb had nine birdies and one bogey at TPC Summerlin, where his 15-under total of 127 put him four shots in front of a group of five players.

American JJ Henry, who held the first-round lead with a sparkling 60, carded an even-par 71 to join the bunch on 131, which also included Australian John Senden (66) and Americans Jeff Overton (68), Chesson Hadley (66) and Jason Bohn (64).

The defending champion in the $6 million event, Ryan Moore, matched Simpson for the low round of the day with a 63 that put him tied for seventh on 132 with Scotland’s Russell Knox, who posted a 65.

“I hit a couple of loose shots today, but just really managed to make putts and take advantage of the holes that you have to make birdie on,” Simpson said.

He has hit 32 of 36 greens in regulation over the first two rounds, and averaged just 1.53 putts per green. Henry followed up his course-record effort of Thursday with an even-par round that featured four birdies and four bogeys.

MADRID: World number

Webb Simpson hits his tee shot on the 16th hole during the second round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin on Friday in Las Vegas, Nevada.

AFP/SCOTT HALLERAN Hadley, the winner of the Web.com Tour Championship who is making only his fourth PGA Tour start — his second as a tour member — had eight birdies and three bogeys in his five-under round.

“It’s been a fantastic start to the week, and to have a chance going into the weekend is awesome,” Hadley said. “(I’m) just looking to manage the nerves

Repeat dose of Moscow misery MOSCOW: Australia’s Samantha Stosur handed out another Moscow defeat to Ana Ivanovic on Friday as the seventh seed reached the Kremlin Cup semifinals with a 7-5, 6-4 win.

Stosur, the champion in Osaka last week, had defeated Ivanovic, the fourth seed, in the semifinals in 2012 and she maintained her stranglehold over the Serb player with an 85-minute win.

“Probably having won here last year, I certainly had a few things in my head that I wanted to try to do today against her,” Stosur said. “And right from the start it was kind of working and my confidence kind of built, and I was able to keep going and play well till the end.”

Stosur will take on eighth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat second seed Roberta Vinci of Italy, 6-2, 6-3, for a place in the final.

“I’m pleased with my performance at the tourna-

Nadal withdraws from Swiss Indoors

ment as I’m playing better and better in every match here,” said Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam title winner.

The other semi-final will pit fifth seed Simona Halep of Romania against Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Halep experienced few troubles against Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova in a 6-1, 6-1 win while Pavlyuchenkova was in command against Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova, winAFP ning 6-0, 6-4.

tomorrow and just realize it’s just golf, and let’s just go have some fun.” Although Simpson didn’t post a win in 2013, he did qualify for the Tour Championship for the third straight year. His five top-10 finishes included a playoff loss to Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell at the Heritage.

A final-round 63 vaulted him to fourth in the season-ending

Tour Championship.

“I haven’t won this year, but my one goal every year is to get better, and I felt like I got better,” Simpson said.

The tournament is the second in the US PGA Tour’s newlook 2013-2014 program. Six tournaments are scheduled before January, offering FedEx Cup playoff points and a coveted Masters berth to the winner. AFP

one Rafael Nadal has pulled out of next week’s Swiss Indoors tournament in Basel, citing his tiring schedule in recent weeks for his decision.

“Hi all, sorry to announce that I won’t travel to Basel in Switzerland but after very exhausting weeks I have to regroup my fitness and my body,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

“I will do my best to come back to the Swiss Indoors next year.”

The Spaniard has had a remarkable year, winning 10 titles including the French and US Opens to reclaim his spot as the number one player in the world.

However, the first signs that his demanding season may be starting to take its toll came in his recent tour of China where he was beaten in the final of the China Open by Novak Djokovic and then comprehensively defeated by Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals of the Shanghai AFP Masters last week.

Tsonga struggles past Thiem VIENNA: French top seed JoWilfried Tsonga survived against hyped-up local wildcard Dominic Thiem to reach the Austrian Open semi-finals with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3) win Friday.

Tsonga, winner of the 2011 title, saw his 20-year-old opponent, ranked 149 in the world, save a match point in the third set.

The victory took nearly two and a quarter-hours as Tsonga stayed on course to secure one of the four remaining spots in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals next month.

Tsonga ended with 16 aces but had to save seven break points against Thiem, who was facing his first top 10 opponent.

“He was a young guy playing in front of his home crowd with nothing to lose,” said Tsonga.

“I had to fight and stay strong. My game was pretty poor from the baseline but I served well. I’m a top 10 player and it’s my job to win matches like this.

Experience made the difference at the end.”

Tsonga will Saturday play Dutchman Robin Haase, who recovered to beat third seed Fabio Fognini 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-1 as the colourful Italian faded away after winning a tight opening set.

Germany’s Tommy Haas also

France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga celebrates his victory over to Austria’s Dominic Thiem during their quarter finals match as part of the Vienna ATP tennis tournament held in Vienna on Friday.

AFP/ALEXANDER KLEIN reached the semis, beating one Czech Davis Cup player only to find himself facing a second one in the next round.

Second-seeded Haas, the 2001 champion, spent one and threequarter hours in holding off fifth seed Radek Stepanek, a member of his nation’s 2012 Davis Cup championship side, 76 (12/10), 6-3.

The 35-year-old Haas will next take on eighth-seeded Czech Lukas Rosol, who beat Belgian Ruben Bemelmans 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in his quarter-final. Haas, also

chasing a place in the World Tour Finals, stayed in touch on provisional 12th as he booked his place in the final four.

The one-time world number two won the 63-minute opening set against Stepanek only after saving four set points and converting on his own second chance.

With the opening set in the bag, Haas then got to work to finish off the job against his 34year-old opponent, breaking for 4-2 in the second set and advancing on his first match point. AFP

31

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

Big plans for Sachin at Eden Going all out to give a warm farewell to Tendulkar, who plays his penultimate Test at the Eden Gardens, CAB mandarins are planning novel ways to make the big occasion memorable.

KOLKATA: Sachin Tendulkar is likely to be greeted by thousands of spectators wearing his mask or the waving of placards with slogans eulogising the batting genius at the Eden Gardens gallery as he steps onto the iconic ground next month for one last time before hanging up his willow.

Going all out to give a warm farewell to the little master, who plays his 199th and penultimate Test match at the Eden Gardens against the West Indies from Nov 6, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) mandarins are burning the midnight oil to plan out novel ways to make the big occasion memorable to the cricketer as also the legions of his fans.

Tendulkar is set to bid adieu to cricket after the second Test the 200th of his glittering career - of the series at Mumbai’s Wankhede Grounds Nov 14-18.

While plans are afoot to release thousands of balloons bearing his pictures at the start of play on the opening day or subsequent days at the Eden

Gardens, the CAB is also toying with the idea of distributing vests bearing Tendulkar’s pictures among the spectators.

“This is no ordinary Test match. This is Sachin Test, Sachin fest. And we are leaving no stone unturned to celebrate it,” CAB treasurer Biswarup Dey told IANS. Since the time Tendulkar called up CAB chief Jagmohan Dalmiya and expressed his desire to play the match at Eden, the association officials have been holding daily discussions to implement a few of the large number of suggestions that have come up. “We need some more time to finalise things. We hope to firm up plans by the end of next week,” said Dey. One of the suggestions is to distribute Tendulkar masks among the likely full house of 70,000 on the ground.

“As he steps onto the ground, the spectators will don the masks and applaud Tendulkar.

In whichever direction the little master looks, he will see only Sachin Tendulkars in the

stands,” said a CAB official.

“We are also thinking of extending varied forms of welcome to Tendulkar on each of the match days. While one day he may be greeted by the placards, on another morning the

balloons will be released to fete him. The vests can mark another day,” said the official.

To make the match ticket itself a collector’s item, the CAB has decided to print tickets with Tendulkar’s picture on them.

“As per initial plans, different photos of Sachin will be printed on the tickets for each of the match days. We have also contacted artists Jogen Chowdhury and Sanatan Dinda.

We will be seeking permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), as photos of cricketers are generally not printed on tickets,” said Dey. A gala dinner to give Tendulkar a “magnificent felicitation” off the field is also in the scheme of things, but the CAB is first trying to ascertain whether the Anti-Corruption Unit of the BCCI would approve of it ahead of the match.

Regarding extending invitation to Tendulkar’s family members including his mother, Dey said: “We are in the process of sending the invites. We have to wait for the response.”

There was also move to invite former Indian stars as also West Indies legend Brian Lara for the historic match.

“We will take a final call on this in the next two days,” said IANS the CAB official.

Kumble, Srinath not to re-contest KSCA posts

BANGALORE: Former Indian captain Anil Kumble and pacer Javagal Srinath will not contest in the ensuing elections for the posts of president and secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) for which they were elected in 2010.

Elections to various managing committee posts of the association are due in November at its next annual general body meeting.

“We are not seeking re-election as we think a new team with fresh ideas will be good

for the state cricket,” Kumble and Srinath told reporters here at a function.

The ace leggie, Srinath and former medium pacer Venkatesh Prasad were elected as president, secretary and vice-president in the election held Nov 21, 2010 for a three-year term.

Denying that they were not seeking re-election due to criticism from some sections of the association, Kumble said after retiring from first class cricket, they contested for the posts only to promote the game across the state by providing

better infrastructure and encouragement to the younger generation to excel.

“We are not new to criticism, which is a part of life and more so in a game like cricket that is followed by millions religiously,” Kumble said.

Both, however, asserted that as life members of the association, they would continue to be involved for the betterment of the game and contribute to its promotion as in the past.

“As we are associated with cricket lifelong, we are not shirking away from responsibilities and rather will be available to contribute our mite to the game even without holding official posts,” Kumble said.

Echoing Kumble, Srinath said they decided not to seek another term as their intention was not to hold on to posts but be engaged with the game.

“After playing for the country so long, we held the posts only for the cause of cricket.

We did our best to improve the game. We are optimistic that the next committee will take the game forward,” he said.

The nearly 80-year-old association has about 2,000 members with 25 of them holding various posts on its committee, including two nominated. IANS

From zeros to heroes Shahid HASHMI

ABU DHABI: One day they lose to the bottom team in the rankings, the next they beat the top side in the world. This is the Pakistan cricket team, often regarded as their own worst enemy.

Widely castigated for a lack of unity and consistency after suffering an embarrassing defeat against minnows Zimbabwe in Harara a month ago, they were given little chance against Test number one team South Africa in Abu Dhabi.

All the more so because South Africa had drawn a twomatch series in the United Arab Emirates three years ago, blunting Pakistani’s spinners led by Saeed Ajmal.

Former greats and fans were calling for the sackings of Pakistan’s Australian coach Dav Whatmore and captain Misbah-

ul Haq. But Misbah’s men turned the tables on South Africa in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

They dominated the first Test, winning it by seven wickets, to take a 1-0 lead in the twomatch series and proving they are the most colourful and unpredictable team in the world.

Pakistan bowled out South Africa for 249 in the first innings, with debutant Zulfiqar Babar and lanky paceman Mohammad Irfan taking three wickets apiece.

Pakistan’s new opening pair then blunted South Africa’s fourpronged pace attack, putting together a 135-run stand.

Khurram Manzoor went on to make 146 and debutant Shan Masood scored 75. Misbah chipped in with a ton to continue anchoring the team’s fragile AFP batting.

32

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2013

Van Persie likely to miss clash

Steven GRIFFITHS

LONDON: Manchester United manager David Moyes has revealed star striker Robin van Persie is a doubt for Saturday’s Premier League clash against Southampton.

Van Persie suffered a calf injury while in action for Holland against Turkey in midweek after previously suffering a toe problem before the international break and he is not certain to recover in time for the champions’ meeting with inform Saints at Old Trafford.

“We have a few with knocks,” Moyes told MUTV. “The one we are more worried about is Robin van Persie.

“He got a kick on the calf and he came off in the second game (against Turkey). He has had problems with his toes as well. We will see how he is.”

Meanwhile, United’s England players will return to club duty with a spring in their step after the national team secured qualification for next year’s World Cup, but Old Trafford has not been a happy place in recent weeks.

With only two wins in their last six games, Moyes’s side trail early leaders Arsenal by six points and in Southampton they

Van Persie suffered a calf injury while in action against Turkey after previously suffering a toe problem, making him a doubtful starter in United’s game against Southampton. face a team who have climbed to fourth place following a run of three straight victories.

A brace from teenage winger Adnan Januzaj gave United a 2-1 win at Sunderland in their last outing but Southampton are likely to present formidable opposition, having gone four

games without conceding a goal.

Saints captain Adam Lallana has given Argentine manager Mauricio Pochettino the credit for their fine start to the campaign.

“We’ve had a full pre-season under him to get his tactics and methods across,” Lallana told

Argentina, Ecuador to clash in US friendly

Boggle

Argentine Football Association confirmed it will be bringing “its strongest side,” including such stars as Messi and Sergio Aguero.

OWL HAWK EAGLE VULTURE

Suduko

hosts Brazil taking on World Cup-bound Honduras on November 16 in Miami.

Promoters Relevant Sports said Friday that the

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Ghost goal helps Leverkusen to top spot BERLIN: Bayer Leverkusen snatched

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NEW YORK CITY: Lionel Messi’s Argentina will take on fellow World Cup qualifiers Ecuador and Bosnia-Herzegovina in friendly matches in the United States next month.

Argentina, who have pledged to bring their “strongest team” according to organizers, will take on Ecuador at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on November 15.

They’ll play BosniaHerzegovina — who this week booked their first ever World Cup berth — in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 18.

The matches are part of the Gillette International Soccer Series which also includes 2014 World Cup

local newspaper the Daily Echo.

“You’re starting to see all the rewards of our hard work under the manager.”

The top five clubs are in action on Saturday, with Arsenal hosting Norwich City, secondplaced Liverpool visiting Newcastle United, third-placed

Chelsea facing Cardiff City and Manchester City, who go into the weekend in fifth, travelling to West Ham United.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, whose side won 6-0 in the corresponding fixture against Newcastle last season, has revealed that he will have Glen Johnson, Joe Allen and Aly Cissokho available for selection again after injury for the trip to St James’ Park.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, says that club-record signing Mesut Ozil will undergo a fitness test on Friday after hurting his knee on international duty with Germany.

“He is alright. He came back with a knock on the knee but it was just a kick,” the Frenchman said.

“We’ll have a test (Friday) to see if he is fit enough for Saturday or not.”

Gus Poyet will take charge of his first match as a Premier League manager when bottom club Sunderland visit Swansea City.

The former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder was appointed successor to the sacked Paolo Di Canio prior to the international break.

top spot in the Bundesliga on Friday but only after a “ghost goal” allowed them to beat Hoffenheim 2-1.

Leverkusen striker Stefan Kiessling looked to have headed wide in the 70th minute and even thrust his arms into the air in frustration at his miss.

But the ball then crept through a small hole in the side netting of the Hoffenheim goal.

The referee awarded the goal despite the angry protests of Hoffenheim, who were already trailing 1-0 at the time to Sidney Sam’s 26th minute opener. Gonzalo Castro had created the goal for Sam, who now has seven for the season.

After Kiessling’s controversial goal, Hoffenheim’s sense of injustice deepened further when Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno saved a Roberto Firmino penalty in the 83rd minute.

Sven Schipplock headed home a consolation for Hoffenheim with two minutes remaining.

Kiessling is not the first player to score a goal that never was in Germany.

On April 23, 1994, Bayern Munich defender Thomas Helmer also benefitted despite the ball not going into

Players from Hoffenheim and Leverkusen go for the ball shot by Hoffenheim’s Sejad Salihovic during their first division Bundesliga match in Sinsheim, Germany, on Friday.

AFP/DANIEL ROLAND the goal in a 2-1 win over Nuremberg.

After Nuremburg lodged a complaint, the German federation ordered the match to be replayed — and Bayern won 5-0.

Hoffenheim coach Markus Gisdol believes the 1994 incident has set a precedent for a replay of Friday’s game.

“I think we are going to have to re-examine the TV pictures,” said Gisdol.

“You cannot replay a match just for Bayern and not for Hoffenheim.”

Kiessling admitted he had been left stunned by the incident.

“Everyone started rushing towards me. What could I do?” he told Sky. “Honestly, I couldn’t really judge what I saw but when Hoffenheim pointed to the hole in the net, I had an inkling.”

Referee Felix Brych stood-by his AFP decision.