WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013 HYDERABAD
WWW.POSTNOON.COM
Is Nathan Fillion set to be the new Batman? PG 25
WEATHER: A MIX OF CLOUDY AND CLEAR SKIES; 27°C Pg 19
32 PAGES
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The WHO has identified contamination of drinking water as a critical public health issue, affecting more than 98,000 children with diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases every year.
70%
PG 19 DISEASES IN HYDERABAD ARE WATER-BORNE: SURVEY
HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER
IS THE TDP HEADING FOR
CIVIL WAR? Harikrishna defied the party line and promised to fight for a united AP. All eyes are now on Naidu to see how he reacts to his statements.
FoBs make way for Metro rail With little concern for pedestrians, the HMR plans to dismantle and relocate six foot overbridges in the City.
PG 4
GANGS OF
MEXICO
in the land of guns, bullets and blow
Mexico is a country mired by violence perpetrated by different drug cartels. Every day reports about shootouts among these cartels emerge. Recently a leader of the Gulf Cartel was arrested. Mario Armando Ramirez Treviño, also known as ‘X-20’ and ‘El Pelon,’ or Baldy, and two other members were arrested. Let’s learn more about the drug cartels of Mexico.
REPORT ON P5
PG 16&17
2
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
city events
FLAVOURS TO SAVOUR
Unique flavours of Pondicherry. Where: Dakshin, ITC Kakatiya, Begumpet When: August 30 Contact: 789301 3000
Weather for Hyderabad
Evening
Overnight
Morning
Afternoon
25°C
21°C
25°C
30°C
A mix of cloudy and clear skies
Clear
A mix of cloud and sun
Cloudy at times
New Delhi Mumbai Max 32 Max 29 Min 25 Min 25 Cloudy with chances of shower
Chennai Max 34 Min 25
Thunderstorms likely
Cloudy
Bangalore Max 26 Min 20 Mostly cloudy
AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES WORKSHOPS
DINING Delectable fare Oriental food festival is on. Where: Zodiac Hall, Golkonda Hotel. When: 12 noon, Till August 31.
Rakshabandhan goodies Strengthen the knot of rakhi with a hamper from Godrej Nature’s Basket. Where: Godrej Nature’s Basket Contact: +91 8790432354 FESTIVAL FERVOUR: Girls of Akshara Vaagdevi International, Secundrabad tied rakhi on the wrists of their classmates and celebrated Rakshabandhan at the school. Dance workshop Odissi dance workshop by Jyoti Rout will be organised. Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills When: From August 21 , 6 pm to 8 pm Contact: Nayantara Nanda Kumar, at 90300-13344
Contact: +91-9711335505
Where: Poecile Art Gallery, Banjara Hills When: Till August 22, 11 am to 7 pm Contact: 2355-0340 / 99089-46958 Art show A solo show by Devangana Kumar, Pageants of the Raj will be held. Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery, Banjara Hills When: Till August 25, 11 am to 7 pm Contact: +9140.66564466
Story-telling workshop Creative story-telling workshop by Deepa Kiran will be held. Where: Shwaas - Centre for Inspired Learning, Jubilee Hills When: August 23, 10 am to 1 pm Contact: Salil, at 94405-00277 or Anita, at 99593-83947 Comicon workshop Comic Con India in association with The Coffee Cup presents a special workshop on Graphic Novel Project conducted by Jaideep Khare. Where: The Coffee Cup, Sainikpuri When: August 24, 1 pm till 3 pm
GAS BOOKING IVRS NO HP 9666023456 Indane 9848824365 BSNL Complaints HMWS & SB Complaints
198 155313
POLICE CONTROL ROOM Hyderabad 27852435 Traffic Control Room 27852482 DCP Traffic 23234065, 23243499F Pollution Control Board 23887500 ELECTRICITY General Complaints Breakdown Section
SHOWS State of the art Consortium "6" - Group exhibition of drawings and graphics is on.
Commissioner & Spl Officer
Helpline
155333 23431178 23431179
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
Performance time Lagori band will be putting up a performance. Where: Hard Rock Cafe, Banjara Hills When: August 22, 9 pm Contact: 6463-6375
23262266 24166666R ENC 23225267 Engineering 23220418 MCH Tankbund 23225397 Emergency MCH Circle I&II 24525842 MCH Circle III 24736912 MCH Circle IV 23326975 MCH Circle V 23326976 MCH Circle VI MCH Complaints 1100 Head Office 23225397 IVRS CUM MANUAL ENQUIRY PHONE NUMBERS (TRAIN & RESERVATION) RAILWAYS Rail Nilayam 27833169, 27824216 Railway Information 131 Reservations 135 Recorded Information 1345 Enquiry (IVRS) 1331, 1332, 1333
Art attack Works of artists like Anand Panchal,
WATER SUPPLY Complaint Cell Sewerage Complaint Hyd. Water Supply HOSPITAL General Hospital, Sec-bad Niloufer Hospital, Red Hills NIMS, Director, Punjagutta Osmania General Hospital Railway Hospital, Lalaguda Apollo, Jubilee Hills Care Hospital, Banjara Hills Care Hospital, Nampally Care Hospital, Musheerabad Care Hospital, Sec-bad Kamineni Hospital, LB Nagar
155313 23307328 23313163
27505566 23314095 23390933 24600146 27001134 23607777 30418888 30417777 30419000 30416666 39879999
BLOOD BANKS Blood Bank,Narayanguda Chiranjeevi Blood Bank Blood Bank Mediton Goal Red Cross, Vidyanagar ADRM Blood Bank Mythri Charitable Trust NTR Memorial Trust Care Banjara Hills
India on a Platter A culinary journey across the country at The Square. Where: The Square, Novotel Contact: 8686080577
Nagesh Goud, Laxman Aelay and others will be exhibited. Where: Aalankritha Art Gallery, Jubilee Hills When: Till August 22, 11 am to 7 pm Contact: +91-40-23113709; 40207171
27567892 23559555 23226624 27633087 27035588 27550238 30799999 30418296 30417445
AMBULANCES Apollo 23548888, 23607777 Kamineni 24022222 Medwin 23202902, 23204616 Smile Line Dental Hospital 23747979 Red Cross 27627973 Niloufer Hospital 23314095 Gandhi 23320332 AIRLINES
Tea flavours Try the tea flavours of Budlabeta, Hapjan, Khobong and Sessa. A portion of the proceeds will be contributed to WWF India's one-horned Rhino Conservation project in Assam. Where: Oxford Bookstore, The Park, 22 Rajbhavan Road When: Ongoing Contact: 8790432354
Sizzling South This food festival will focus on South Indian specialties and gourmet delicacies from interiors of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Where: Chill Restaurant and Terrace, Radisson Blue When: Till August 30 Contact: 7799917999
Airport Director 27903785, 27906001 For Air India Flight Information Toll free (from any network) for IC Flights 18001801407 And for All Flights: 1800227722 Air India has revised its flight timings. For more information call (Toll free) 18001801407, 1800227722 from BSNL/MTNL 04023430334 from other lines and mobile Website; www.airindia.in TOURISM OFFICES AP Tourism, Hyd 23262152/53/54 Sec-bad 27893100 Dept of Tourism 23453110 India Tourism 23261360 AP Tourism information Centre (24x7) 23450444, 23455999 UK VISA OFFICE VFS India Pvt Ltd Building, 8-2-542/A, Sunil Chamber, Road No. 7
Beside Meridian School, Banjara Hills34. Working hours are from 8 AM to 1 PM And 2 PM to 3PM. MUSEUMS Salar Jung Museum AP State Museum Nizams Museum
24523211 232431300/7641 24521029
Readers’ views
We invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to feedback@postnoon.com or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500 033 or even by way of a call on 4067 2222
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
news
YESTERDAY’S QUESTION
HYDERABAD SIRF HAMARA: CAN ANYONE RAISE THIS? 32% 68%
YES (A) NO (B)
TODAY’S QUESTION
WILL THIS FOOD SECURITY BILL BE EFFECTIVE? A)
YES
B)
NO
To vote visit www.postnoon.com
CRIME
3
Women thrown out of homes
In separate cases recently, three women were thrown out of their houses by their husbands and in-laws. Their crime? Not bringing in enough dowry. Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Three women were harassed and thrown out of their homes by their husbands and in-laws over dowry in separate incidents. All three had married for love. In the first incident, Swaroopa Rani, 30, a resident of Balamrai in Begumpet, lodged a complaint with the police over dowry harassment. She married a lecturer, Bhaskar, in September 2012. After a mere 15 days, her husband and her in-laws began harassing her for dowry. They started mentally torturing her, she alleged, and when she didn’t
fulfill their demands, Bhaskar threatened to bring home a second wife. Later, they threw her out of their home. In the second incident, a newlywed, Jyoti, was beaten up by her husband Rajesh and thrown out of his house. AROUND THE
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The 22-year-old victim is a resident of Customs Colony in Begumpet. She fell in love with Rajesh and wanted to marry him. However, her parents were against the match. On June 25, they eloped and got married in
Yadgirigutta temple. After marriage, the two went back to their own homes. They both started working as private employees. Meanwhile, Rajesh’s parents got wind of the marriage and convinced the couple to live in their home. However, after a few days, his parents started harassing her for dowry. They then coerced Rajesh into beating her and threw her out of the house. In the third incident, 33-yearold K Prema was harassed by her husband K Sunil and his family members for dowry. They recently threw her out of the house. When Prema married Sunil, her parents had given 15 tolas of
gold, `2 lakh in cash and a lot of silver items. They soon had a daughter. Sunil is unemployed and a habitual drinker, Prema said in her statement, and soon he, along with his family members, started harassing her for more dowry.
They asked for `5 lakh and when Prema’s parents were unable to fulfill their demands, they threw her out of their home. The women have registered separate complaints at Begumpet women’s police station. The police have started investigations.
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News WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
CIVIC
LAST YEAR... HERE Zoo gets a facelift
L
ast year we had reported how the Nehru Zoological Park was among the places in the City benefitting from the CoP-11. The zoo, a hub of biodiversity, was preparing itself with many new attractions for visitors. An auditorium, a natural history museum, and small cat enclosures were being planned. The existing infrastructure was also being spruced up.
CRIME
FoBs make way for Metro rail With little concern for pedestrians, the HMR plans to dismantle and relocate six foot overbridges in the City.
AUGUST 21, 2012
NUMEROLOGY
FILE PHOTO
3ft
Man held with `1cr gold at Hyd airport
The leaked summary said the IPCC believed a worst case scenario could see sea levels rising by as much as three feet by the year 2100.
You break down completely and get very scared. They didn’t use any physical violence against me but you can see that it was a fantastic use of psychological violence. David Miranda, detained Brazilian See page 8
THINGS WE 5LEARNT TODAY The column that teaches everyone something new about the way the world functions.
1
The rise and fall of Pakistan’s general. He may have seized power in 1999, but Pervez Musharraf has suffered the indignity of being confined to house arrest in his villa on the edge of Islamabad, cutting a lonely and powerless figure.
2
This is not a fight between cats and dogs. Traditional animal rivalries were set aside in New Zealand when a dog’s blood was used to save the life of a poisoned cat in a rare inter-species transfusion, .
3
Whistleblower will learn his fate today. S Army Private Bradley Manning will be sentenced Wednesday for handing a mass of data to WikiLeaks in the biggest breach of official secrets in American history.
4
Harikrishna’s united line has TDP worried. Harikrishna defied the party line. All eyes are now on Naidu to see how he reacts.
5
Dowry harassment continues unabated in City. Three women were thrown out by their husbands over dowry.
Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com
ALEENA ALICE aleena.t@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: As the Metro rail project gains pace, it is not only the vehicular traffic that is being affected, but also the pedestrians. As it is, the footpaths on the City roads seem to be vanishing. Now adding to the nightmare of pedestrians, six functional foot overbridges (FoBs) in various parts of the City will also be gone soon. The HMR officials have already started removing the FOBs. So far, the FOBs at Ameerpet and Khairatabad have been dismantled to facilitate the progress of the Metro rail project. The other FoBs set to be brought down are the ones at Rasoolpura, Begumpet, Secunderabad, and Dilsukhnagar. A notice placed at the FOBs states that they regret the inconvenience caused to pedestrians due to the removal of these bridges. Initially, the Metro rail authorities had
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A notice placed at the FoBs states that they regret the inconvenience caused due to the removal of these bridges. approached the GHMC about dismantling the various foot overbridges in the City and the civic body had sought `1 crore to dismantle each FoB. However, the Metro authorities later decided to dismantle the FOBs on their own and promised to relocate them to other sites. The GHMC officials seem to have no qualms about the proposal and approved of the new FoBs at Care Hospital, Banjara Hills, Mahveer Hospital, Koti Hospital, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Zoo
Park and Jubilee Hills Road No 45. The estimated cost of each of these FoBs would be around `6 crore each. Eight years ago, the FOBs in the City were built under the Build, Own and Transfer mode under the Fund Your City scheme. Ever since, it has been a great help for pedestrians. The FOBs at two prime locations — in Begumpet near Hyderabad Public School and the one in Secunderabad near St Ann’s high school — were especially of help for students. While the Metro and GHMC officials downplay the issue, it is the pedestrians who have to face the wrath of the erratic traffic. Commenting on how the government has no proper plan for the development of the City’s infrastructure, social activist C Ramchandraiah said, “Crores of rupees were spent for the construction of these FOBs. Now again public money is being spent in dismantling and relocating these FoBs.”
HYDERABAD: A man was arrested by Customs officials early on Wednesday at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport for trying to smuggle `1 crore-worth of gold bars and chains from Dubai. The gold bars and ornaments were seized from the accused, identified as Rasheed Ahmed, a resident of Old City in Hyderabad. AROUND THE
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Ahmed had recently gone to Dubai for a visit. After his visa expired, he headed back to India. On Wednesday morning, Rasheed landed at the Shamshabad airport on an Emirates flight. When he was going through Customs, officials found irregularities in his baggage while it was being scanned. When they checked, they found large amounts of gold in his possession. The officials said that the gold they seized was worth nearly `1 crore. Ahmed was taken into custody and the Customs officials have started investigations. So far, the police haven’t disclosed whether Ahmed was acting alone or whether more people were involved in this racket.
CITY BRIEFS Military man suspended for fake documents
Three arrested for attacking tehsildar
Two Class X girls go missing in Tarnaka
Medical technician course applications
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T
T
I
military man, A Shetty, has been suspended from the military wing by higher officials for submitting fake documents while seeking a job. Captain Amar Deep Singh lodged a complaint against him in Bollaram police station, where the police registered a cheating case. The higher officials in Delhi instructed the captain to suspend Shetty.
he Shamshabad police on Tuesday arrested three people for attacking the Shamshabad tehsildar. C Ananth Reddy, S Jangaiah and Veeraiah went to the office of N Lachi Reddy over a land issue four days ago. They quarreled with him and then attacked him. The accused are also involved in land grab cases, said the police.
wo Class X students have been missing since Tuesday morning. So far, both of them have not returned to their homes in Tarnaka and their parents have lodged a complaint with the Osmania University police, fearing they have been kidnapped. Both the girls are 15 and left for school as usual on Tuesday morning.
ndian Red Cross society has invited applications from eligible candidates for admission to the Diploma in Medical Lab Technician Course (DMLT) for 2013-14. Candidates who have passed Intermediate with Bi.PC group are eligible. Candidates of MPC group, and thereafter other groups may be given preference.
5
News WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013 PLASTIC BAN
POLITICS
Clash of the titans in TDP
Harikrishna defied the party line and promised to fight for a united AP. All eyes are now on Naidu to see how he reacts to his statements. Md INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com
GHMC backs down over corporate pressure POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Five days after the GHMC went out and created a buzz about customers not having to pay for plastic carry bags, the civic body seems to have gone back on their word. The civic body has now asked all the retailers to continue selling plastic carry bags. With regard to ban usage of plastic carry bags and to encourage usage of cloth and jute bags, GHMC commissioner MT AROUND THE
CITY
Krishna Babu had a meeting with major shop owners and retail dealers on Tuesday. The commissioner has directed all the major chains to display a board stating prices of plastic carry bags and the rates of incentives depending on the purchase at their cash counters by September 15. The GHMC has asked traders to provide incentives to customers who bring their own cloth/jute bags to promote the use of eco-friendly carry bags. According to the new instructions, customers who purchase items worth `500 should be given an incentive of `3 by duly deducting it from the main bill and for `1000 purchase, an amount of `5 should be given as an incentive.
HYDERABAD: The recent statement of TDP senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Nandamuri Harikrishna over the division of the State has rocked the entire party cadre. Harikrishna’s claims that he would fight till his last breath to keep the State of Andhra Pradesh united has created a problem for party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, who had already announced that he would not go back from supporting the creation of separate Telangana state at any cost. What is worrying the party cadres the most is that Harikrishna, who is also Chandrababu Naidu’s brotherin-law, is defying the party boss’ orders, an unimaginable act by any other party leader. “Nobody dare defy our party president’s orders. Whoever does it would face disciplinary action. But the case of Harikrishna is different. Apart from being the son of our party founder, he is also the relative of our boss. We don’t know
whether the party would take any action against him,” a senior TDP leader and party politburo member told Postnoon on Tuesday. Another important concern of these leaders is that many other leaders of the party would toe Harikrishna’s line and defy Naidu’s orders in coming days. “It appears to us that controversial comments made by the son of NTR would also force other leaders from Seemandhra to cross the party line and launch AROUND THE
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protests against the interests of the party. This would definitely affect the prospects of our party in Seemandhra region and benefit our rivals like ruling Congress and YSRC,” he felt.
HELPLESS A section of party leaders are already of the view that the party high command should take action against the MP as he crossed the party line. However, the party high command seems
to find itself helpless as any disciplinary action against Harikrishna would vertically split the party and weaken it in the State. “We cannot take any action against Harikrishna as it would lead to chaos in the party and split it too. He already floated a party in the past and shut it after failing miserably. He can do the same thing this time around. Keeping these factors in mind, party supremo Naidu
asserted that nobody is above him in the party and his decision is final on crucial issues while addressing a press conference. He also reiterated his decision of supporting a separate Telangana state and said that the party would not have any problem after the creation of separate state. He also said no Seemandhra resident would face any problem in the City after the creation of the new state,” said the senior leader.
Infant with ‘two heads’ gets new life AGARTALA: An eightmonth-old Tripura infant got a new lease of life after doctors in a Kolkata hospital successfully removed a second head growing on top of his head, a doctor said. “Tofajjal was born with a rare deformity. There was a second head maturing on top of his head. The second head with a parasitic twin weighed almost a kilo and had brain tissue within it,” neurosurgeon Sisir Das told reporters here Sunday evening. The surgery was conducted at Kolkata’s Apollo
Gleneagles Hospitals July 28. The healthy baby boy and his poor parents returned to Agartala Sunday. “I have never operated on such a big lesion. It was a very critical operation and slightest slip-up during the vital surgery might have ended the life of the baby,” said Das, who led the team of doctors. “Just to deliver the kid back to his young mother was a challenge as they came all the way from a remote village of Tripura,” he said. “The baby was distressed
There was a second head maturing on top of the baby’s head. The second head with a parasitic twin weighed almost a kilo, said doctors. by the rare disease called encephalomeningocele, found in one in 40,000-45,000 babies,” said the neurosurgeon. Tofajjal’s father Shah Alam Mia and mother Sabia Khatun, residents of
Machima village in western Tripura, 70 km west of Agartala, were also present with the doctors at the Agartala Press Club here. “After most of the doctors and relatives in Tripura told us that our baby would not be cured and he might die soon, we took him to Kolkata in a critical condition,” said Shah Alam Mia, who works as a driver on a private vehicle. Sabia Khatun said: “None said that my child would live. But with the blessings of Allah, I am taking him back home.” IANS
NATION BRIEFS Parties call for bandh over activist’s murder
India, US bank on PM visit to boost ties
DSP, team attacked by liquor smugglers
Indian prisoners from Pak to return Saturday
Ratan Tata comes to Supreme Court
PUNE: Political parties and social organisations have called for a bandh in the city today to protest the murder of anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar here. A protest march was taken out by students and citizens against the murder of the activist, who spearheaded the anti-superstition movement in Maharashtra.
WASHINGTON: Amid a perception that India-US relationship has plateaued of late, both countries are banking on a "very successful" visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here next month to take their ties to greater heights. As of now the plans include only a "very substantive" meeting with President Barack Obama.
GHAZIABAD: A Deputy Superintendent of Police was assaulted by armed liquor smugglers when he along with his team went to raid an illicit liquor shop in Pilkhuwa area here, police said today. DSP Amit Nagar sustained injuries on his head and hands in the attack. An excise inspector and three cops were also attacked.
MUMBAI: Pakistan will release 338 Indian prisoners, including eight juveniles, who are expected to cross into India from the WagahAttari border Saturday, an activist said here. The development is in compliance with the Pakistan government's decision to release the 330 Indian fishermen detained in District Prison Malir of Karachi.
NEW DELHI: Former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata today came to the SC to witness the hearing in the matter relating to taped conversation of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with leaders, politicians and others. The court is hearing a petition filed by Tata in which he had sought action against those involved in the leakage of tapes.
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News WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
CHILDHOOD TRAUMA
DADA PRESIDENT
Being bullied has long-lasting effects
President Pranab Mukherjee interacts with children during a Raksha Bandhan function at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. AFP/RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN
AYODHYA RITUAL
High security in UP over VHP yatra Boundaries of 6 adjoining districts sealed. 22 companies of security forces deployed. LUCKNOW: After the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) refused to shelve its plans to perform an "84 kosi parikrama" or 84-km procession in Ayodhya, the Uttar Pradesh government Wednesday heightened security there and sealed boundaries in six adjoining districts, officials said. The proposed 84-km yatra, to be undertaken by ascetics under the banner of the VHP, had earlier been banned by the state government. Officials of the home department said that under no circumstance would the yatra be allowed. "Other than deputing extra security forces in the region, barricading the routes is also an option we are exploring," a senior official told IANS. The government has also decided to deploy ten companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and 12 companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in the area. Inspector General of Police (Law and Orer) Raj Kumar Vishwakarma told IANS that orders have also been issued to prevent pilgrims and ascetics from other states from coming to Ayodhya.
Ascetics descending on the state to participate in the 84 kosi parikrama would be stopped at airports, railway and bus stations, officials said. An elaborate security plan is also being chalked out by the DGP headquarters in Lucknow for the yatra, set to begin August 25. The ascetics, however, upped the ante and said that there was no question of going back on the proposed yatra. Slamming the state government for the AROUND THE
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clampdown on Hindu religious people, Swamy Chinmayanand accused Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav of working under pressure from his party's Muslim leaders. He came down especially hard on the state's Urban Development Minister Mohammad Azam Khan, accusing him of "arm-twisting the Samajwadi Party leadership into banning the 84 kosi parikrama." IANS
8-year-old raped, murdered BHUBANESWAR: A 22-year-old man was arrested for raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl in Odisha capital Bhubaneswar, police said. Ashok Sahu approached the parents of the victim Tuesday to locate the address of a resident in the city's Salia Sahi slum.
The family sent the Class 4 student to lead him to the house, Anup Kumar Kanungo, inspector in charge of the Nayapalli police station in the area, told IANS. Instead of locating the house, Sahu allegedly took the girl to a secluded area of the slum and raped her. IANS
LONDON: Being bullied in childhood can have lasting negative impact such as poor social relationships, inability to keep a job and illnesses, among others, say scientists. It has long been acknowledged that bullying at a young age presents a problem for schools, parents and public policy-makers alike. Though children spend more time with their peers than their parents, there is relatively little work done on understanding the impact of these interactions on their life beyond school, reports Science Daily. The results of this research, published in Psychological Science, highlight the extent of which the risk of health, wealth and social problems is heightened by exposure to bullying; and in doing so is the first study to look into
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effects beyond just health. Dieter Wolke of the University of Warwick and William E Copeland of Duke University Medical Center led the team that looked beyond the study of victims and investigated the impact on all those affected — the victims, the
bullies themselves, and those who fall into both categories ie. ‘bully-victims’. Wolke said: “We cannot continue to dismiss bullying as a harmless, almost inevitable, part of growing up. We need to change this mindset and acknowledge this as a serious problem for both the individual and the country as a whole; the effects are long-lasting and significant.” IANS
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News WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
THINK TANK REPORT
EGYPT CRACKDOWN
US short on drone volunteers WASHINGTON: The US Air Force is unable to keep up with a growing demand for pilots capable of operating drones, partly due to a shortage of volunteers, according to a new study. Despite the importance placed on the burgeoning robotic fleet, drone operators face a lack of opportunities for promotion to higher ranks and the military has failed to identify and cultivate this new category of aviators, Air Force Colonel Bradley Hoagland wrote in the report published for the Brookings Institution
Drone operators face a lack of opportunities for promotion and the military has failed to identify and cultivate this new category of aviators.
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But the Air Force “was not able to meet its RPA (remotely piloted aircraft) training requirements since there were not enough volunteers," the report said. As of last year, the Air
think tank. In 2012, the Air Force had a goal to train 1,129 “traditional” pilots and 150 drone pilots to operate Predator, Reaper and Global Hawk robotic aircraft.
Force has 1,300 drone pilots, making up about 8.5 per cent of the force’s aviators, compared to 3.3 per cent four years later. The fleet of unmanned aircraft includes 152 Predators, 96 Reapers and 23 Global Hawks, which is large enough to fly 61 combat air patrols. One of the factors behind the shortfall is a high rate of attrition among the drone operators, which is three times higher than for traditional pilots, it said. Another factor is the intense tempo of operations for drone missions over the past decade. AFP
WIKILEAKS
Manning to be sentenced today Manning will have 1,293 days removed from his sentence, given his time in custody so far plus credit for a period spent at the US Marines Corps brig at Quantico. FORT MEADE: US Army Private Bradley Manning will be sentenced Wednesday for handing a mass of data to WikiLeaks in the biggest breach of official secrets in American history. The 25-year-old soldier was convicted of espionage and other crimes last month, having admitted being the source of hundreds of thousands of war reports from Afghanistan and Iraq and confidential US diplomatic cables. His sentencing, due at 10 am, is considered especially important as another leaker — the former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, currently in Russia — is wanted in the United States on espionage charges, having disclosed details of the National Security Agency’s secret electronic monitoring operations. Military prosecutors on Monday pressed for a 60-year prison term for Manning, arguing that the penalty would send a message to people contemplating the theft of classified
information. Lead defense attorney David Coombs, however, appealed for leniency for his client. He said Manning had expressed remorse, cooperated with the court and deserved a chance to have a family and one day walk free. Manning was a junior intelligence analyst at a US base near Baghdad when he handed over the data —about 700,000 reports and diplomatic cables — to WikiLeaks. AROUND THE
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Manning was arrested in Iraq in 2010 and has been in military custody since. The documents that he disclosed rankled American allies when WikiLeaks published them, prompting warnings from US officials that troops and intelligence sources had been jeopardised. The most notorious breach was a video and audio file, dubbed “Collateral
Murder” by WikiLeaks, showing graphic cockpit footage of two US Apache attack helicopters opening fire and killing 12 people in Baghdad in 2007. Manning, a hero to supporters who regard him as a whistleblower who lifted the lid on America’s foreign policy, was found guilty of 20 of the 22
charges leveled against him. He was, however, cleared of the most serious charge —"aiding the enemy," chiefly AlQaeda. More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for Manning’s nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize. Underlining the seriousness of the case, the US government painted him as a reckless traitor whose actions put his country at danger. Expert witnesses testified during the sentencing phase of Manning’s trial that the soldier was confused about his sexuality and under enormous psychological stress at the time he committed the leaks. Manning also apologised. “I’m sorry that my actions have hurt people and have hurt the United States," he told US military judge Colonel Denise Lind last week. Judge Lind has said that Manning will have 1,293 days removed from his eventual sentence, given his time in custody so far plus credit for a period spent in harsh conditions at the US Marines Corps brig at Quantico, Virginia. AFP
Cairo defiant despite US, EU warning CAIRO: Egypt’s interim prime minister said Tuesday his country could live without aid from the United States as Washington and the European Union review ties with Cairo amid a bloody crackdown on supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi. A defiant Hazem al-Beblawi told ABC news his country was heading in the “right direction” and he did “not fear civil war” despite the death of more than 900 people in a military-led campaign against Morsi backers. Earlier on Tuesday, authorities detained the head of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, stoking fears of fresh violence between security forces and Islamists protesting at the former president’s July 3 ouster by the army. An Egyptian court remanded Mohamed Badie in custody for 15 days on suspicion of inciting the murder of protesters, the first AROUND THE
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time since 1981 that a Brotherhood supreme guide has been arrested. The political party of the Brotherhood, reeling from the imprisonment and death of hundreds of its members, moved swiftly to replace Badie with Mahmoud Ezzat, a hawkish deputy in the organisation. Ezzat has been jailed repeatedly, and is often referred to as the organisation’s “iron man". The White House criticised Badie’s arrest, saying it was incompatible with the military’s pledge for an “inclusive political process” but denied reports it was halting its $1.3 billion annual aid package. On Wednesday, foreign ministers from the European Union, which has pledged nearly 5 billion euros ($6.7 billion) in aid for 2012-13, were set to meet in Brussels. AFP
WORLD BRIEFS Ammonia leak kills four in Mexico
Spain tells Britain to remove concrete blocks
New rains kill 21 more in Russia sells Vietnam 12 flood-hit China Sukhoi fighters: report
Japan upgrades Fukushima leak
OAXACA: An ammonia gas leak at a oil plant left four people dead and 15 injured and forced the evacuation of 1,500 in southern Mexico Tuesday, authorities said. Workers widening a road with heavy machinery accidentally hit a pipe belonging to the state run company Pemex and the gas spewed out, said the Oaxaca state civil protection chief, Manuel Maza.
MADRID: Spain told Britain on Tuesday it must remove a concrete reef laid in the waters off Gibraltar before Madrid will agree to dialogue in a row over the British outpost. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel GarciaMargallo sharply criticised Gibraltar’s laying of 70 concrete blocks to form the reef last month in disputed waters used by Spanish fishermen.
GENEVA: Heavy rains killed 21 construction workers as flooding spread to northwest China, state media said Wednesday, after severe weather in other parts of the country left more than 130 dead. Sudden rainstorms and hail battered Haixi in Qinghai province, “washing away” the workers on Tuesday evening, Xinhua news agency said.
TOKYO: Japan’s nuclear regulator on Wednesday upgraded its evaluation of a radioactive water leak at the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima to a level three “serious incident." The assessment, came after operator TEPCO said some 300 tonnes of radioactive water was believed to have leaked from a tank at the plant.
MOSCOW: Russia has signed an agreement to sell Vietnam a dozen Sukhoi-30 multirole combat aircraft for more than $600 million Russian news agency Interfax reported Tuesday. The fighters which can travel twice the speed of sound will be delivered in 2014 and 2015 under the deal signed last week, according to a militarydiplomatic source cited by Interfax.
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News WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
THE DAVID MIRANDA ISSUE
UK under fire, as Miranda launches legal action David Miranda, a Brazilian national who has been working with his boyfriend Glenn Greenwald on the US intelligence leaks, was held and questioned for almost nine hours at London Heathrow Airport. DANNY KEMP Agence France-Presse LONDON: The partner of the US journalist behind the Edward Snowden leaks launched legal action against Britain on Tuesday for holding him under anti-terror laws as the government admitted it was kept informed about his detention. David Miranda, a Brazilian national who has been working with his boyfriend Glenn Greenwald on the US intelligence leaks, was held and questioned for almost nine hours at London Heathrow Airport. The Guardian meanwhile said the British government had forced it to destroy files or face a court battle over its publication of US security secrets leaked by Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia. “David Miranda is taking a civil action over his material and the way that he was treated,” Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, whose newspaper has worked with Greenwald and Snowden, told the BBC. British police confiscated Miranda’s mobile phone, laptop, camera, memory sticks, DVDs and games consoles, according to The Guardian. “He wants that material back and he doesn’t want it copied,” Rusbridger said. The detention of Miranda, 28, has caused an international outcry and sparked protests from Brazil. He was travelling home to Rio de Janeiro from Berlin at the time and was held in a Heathrow transit lounge. The British government has
US takes a step back
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faced questions about its involvement after the White House said it had received a “heads up” that police were about to arrest Miranda. Britain’s interior minister, Home Secretary Theresa May, revealed she was briefed in advance of Miranda’s detention, but said it was not for her to tell the police whom they should or should not stop at airports. May said: “If it is believed that somebody has in their possession highly sensitive stolen information which could help terrorists, which could lead to a loss of lives, then it is right that the police act and that is what the law enables them to do.” Prime Minister David Cameron’s office also denied
A [person] is detained for nine hours in this way. You break down completely and get very scared. They didn’t use any physical violence against me but you can see that it was a fantastic use of psychological violence.” David Miranda Partner of Glenn Greenwald
T
he White House distanced itself from Britain’s handling of the leaked NSA documents when representatives said it would be difficult to imagine the US authorities following the example of Whitehall in demanding the destruction of media hard drives. The White House suggested it would be inappropriate for US authorities to enter a media organisation’s offices to oversee the destruction of hard drives. The White House – which on Monday distanced Washington from the detention of David Miranda – intervened for the second time in 24 hours after the Guardian revealed that senior Whitehall figures had demanded the destruction or surrender of hard drives containing some of the secret files leaked by Edward Snowden.
By doing it in this kind of stateless bit of Britain, a port or an airport transit lounge and calling it terror, they suspend all the normal rules and I think that is why people have got disturbed by what happened on Sunday. Alan Rusbridger Editor, The Guardian
any political involvement. “The detention was an operational matter for the police. Number 10 was kept informed in the usual way,” a Downing Street source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Greenwald told CNN he had no evidence that the US ordered the detention, but that he was “disturbed my government was aware of this foreign country’s intent to detain my foreign partner and did nothing to discourage it.” But he dismissed as “completely inaccurate” a quote attributed to him vowing to target the British government as revenge for the detention. In the same joint interview, Miranda spoke of his “relief” after finally arriving in Brazil. “I knew I would be protected here because I was in my country,” he explained.
We live in a country where those decisions as to whether or not to stop somebody are not for me as home secretary. They are for the police to take. They have their operational independence. Long may that continue. Theresa May British Home Secretary
The ambiguous Schedule 7 Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 gives British officials at ports, airports and railway stations up to nine hours to question suspects, and allows them to search the person. LONDON: The law under which British police detained David Miranda, the partner of US journalist Glenn Greenwald, gives broad powers to officials at ports and borders to question those they suspect of terrorism. Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 gives British officials at ports, airports and international railway stations up to nine hours to question suspects, and allows them to search the person and their possessions. Unlike British law in other cases, suspects held under Schedule 7 are committing an offence if they refuse to answer questions and police are also not required to have reasonable grounds to stop them. Under Schedule 7, an “examining officer” at British ports and borders “may question a person.... for the purpose of determining whether he appears to be a person falling within section 40(1)(b)”. That section involves someone who “is or has been concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.” The law says officers can question the person “whether or not he has grounds for suspecting that a person falls within” the section on terrorism. Anyone held under the law “must give the examining officer any information in his possession which the officer requests” and “give the examining officer on request any document which he has with him and which is of a kind specified by the officer.” The officer can also search the person and “anything which he has with him, or which belongs to him, and which is on a ship or aircraft”. If the suspect fails to comply with the officer’s orders they can face up to three months in jail.
News WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
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THE WALK OF FAITH Every year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims trek through treacherous mountains in Kashmir, along icy streams, glacier-fed lakes and frozen passes, to reach the Amarnath cave, located at an altitude of 3,857m, where a natural ice Shiva Lingam stands for worship.
AFP/TAUSEEF MUSTAFA
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News WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
MUSHARRAF INDICTMENT
Pakistan’s fallen strongman Pervez Musharraf has suffered the indignity of being confined to house arrest in his villa on the edge of Islamabad, cutting a lonely and powerless figure.
P
ervez Musharraf, the first former chief of Pakistan’s army to face criminal charges, is today a far cry from the go-getting general who seized power in 1999. A cigar-smoking, whiskydrinking moderate, he was a key US ally in the “war on terror” and escaped at least three AlQaeda assassination attempts during his nine years in office. But his life has lurched from one crisis to another since his disastrous return to Pakistan in March, ostensibly to run for election and “save” the country from militancy and economic ruin.
A cigar-smoking, whisky-drinking moderate, he escaped at least three Al-Qaeda assassination attempts during his nine years in office. After four years of selfimposed exile in Dubai and London, he was met not with a hero’s welcome but with apathy, ridicule, and a barrage of criminal cases. The Taliban threatened to kill him, local media mocked his ambitions and his plan to return to power was dashed when he was disqualified from running in the May election, won by Nawaz Sharif — the man he deposed in 1999.
He has suffered the indignity of being confined to house arrest in his villa on the edge of Islamabad, cutting a lonely and powerless figure as the tangle of cases against him moved through the courts. The Sharif government has said the 70-year-old should be tried for treason for seizing power and subverting the constitution. He is wanted over the death of a Baluchistan rebel leader during a military operation in 2006
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and was charged Tuesday with the murder of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who died in a gun and bomb attack in 2007 after herself returning home from exile. In his memoir “In the Line of Fire”, he quoted Napoleon and Richard Nixon as models for
leadership, men both known for their tenacity — and whose hubris contributed to their downfalls. Musharraf was born in Old Delhi on August 11, 1943, and his family moved to the newly created Pakistan shortly after independence four years later. He said he had his first brush with death falling out of a mango tree as a boy. He joined the Pakistan Military Academy at age 18 and
became a commando about five years later, rising through the ranks to reach the top when Sharif appointed him chief of staff in 1998. As army chief, Musharraf orchestrated the brief, high-altitude “Kargil conflict” in Kashmir that almost took Pakistan to war with its nuclear rival India. When he ousted Sharif in 1999 in a bloodless coup, many Pakistanis celebrated the end of a corrupt and economically disastrous administration. Musharraf won a five-year term as president in a 2002 referendum, but reneged on promises to quit as army chief until late 2007. He aligned with the United States after the September 11 attacks of 2001, earning international praise for trying to tackle Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants and for presiding over a period of record economic growth. He faced no serious challenges until he tried to sack the chief justice in March 2007, sparking nationwide protests and months of turmoil that led to the imposition of a state of emergency. After the December 2007 assassination of Bhutto, the national mood soured further and he was left isolated by the crushing losses suffered by his allies in February 2008 elections. In August 2008, he finally resigned in the face of impeachment proceedings by the new governing coalition, going into exile until his ill-starred homecoming in March this year. AFP
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News WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
TIME FOR GAMES
NEW ZEALAND
Oil boom kicks off Azerbaijan football
Canine’s blood saves cat
WELLINGTON: Traditional animal rivalries were set aside in New Zealand when a dog’s blood was used to save the life of a poisoned cat in a rare inter-species transfusion, reports said Wednesday. Cat owner Kim Edwards was frantic last Friday when her ginger tom Rory went limp after eating rat poison, rushing to her local veterinary clinic at Tauranga in the North Island for help. Vet Kate Heller said the feeble feline was fading fast and needed an immediate transfusion to survive, but there was not enough time to send a sample to the laboratory for testing to determine the cat’s blood type. Instead, she decided to take a gamble and AROUND THE
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use dog blood to try to save the animal, knowing it would die instantly if she gave it the wrong type. Edwards called up her friend Michelle Whitmore, who volunteered her black labrador Macy as a doggie blood donor in a last-ditch attempt to save Rory, a procedure Heller said she had never performed before and was very rare. “People are going to think it sounds pretty dodgy — and it is — but hey, we’ve been successful and it’s saved it’s life,” Heller told the New Zealand Herald. Edwards said the cat appeared to have come through its ordeal unscathed, seemingly without any canine side effects. AFP
EMIL GULIYEV Agence France-Presse
— Khazar Lankaran is one of the clubs leading the way.
BAKU: For a manager who has coached at Europe’s most successful club, signing up at a provincial Azerbaijani football team might not seem a likely career move. After a conversation with the billionaire owner of Azerbaijan’s Khazar Lankaran, however, former Real Madrid coach John Toshack says that he was convinced enough to take the plunge earlier this year. “I am the sort of person who is always ready for a new challenge and so I said, ‘why not?’” Toshack, who has also coached the Wales national team and played for Liverpool, told AFP. Few football fans outside the oil-rich former Soviet state would likely be able to point out on a map Lankaran — a town of just over 80,000 on the Caspian Sea — or know much about Azerbaijan and the state of the game in the country. Buoyed by billions of dollars in oil revenues, over the past decade Azerbaijan has seen an economic boom under the authoritarian rule of strongman President Ilham Aliyev that has seen ritzy skyscrapers shoot up in the capital city Baku and the country play host to events such as the Eurovision song contest. Now, football seems to be catching up. Owned by Azeri-Turkish shipping magnate Mubariz Mansimov — who served as a Soviet-era intelligence officer and is also known by his adopted Turkish surname Gurbanoglu
‘SURPRISED IN A GOOD WAY’
The current squad has a smattering of South Americans and Spaniards and the club was linked to a mega-bucks contract offer for former Arsenal winger and Russia captain Andrey Arshavin last season —although officials there say it was all just rumours. “When I got here I was really surprised in a good way about the level of football in Azerbaijan,” says Toshack. “In our team we’ve got some pretty topAROUND THE
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class players.” Khazar Lankaran is not the only team that has significant financial backing. Current champions Neftci Baku are supported by state oil and gas giant SOCAR, which earlier this year became one of UEFA’s major sponsors. Across town, FC Baku are backed by Hafiz Mammadov, the founder of a business group with interests in sectors from oil to transport, who also has links to French club Lens and Spanish side Atletico Madrid. Elsewhere, Gabala FC in central Azerbaijan is run by the sons of one of the country’s richest and most powerful politicians and boasted former Arsenal defensive legend Tony Adams as coach a few years back. This has all seen Azerbaijan touted as the next former
Pick
Soviet state that could have an impact on the European stage. For the time being, Azerbaijani football still has a long way to go and although facilities have improved, matches are often played in front of miniscule crowds. This year only one team is still involved in European qualifiers, Karabakh, and Khazar Lankaran was thrashed 10-0 on aggregate by Israeli club Maccabi Haifa in Europa League qualifying. “In Europe there are clubs with budgets of 200 to 300 million euros ($270 million to $400 million) which still struggle to win anything,” says Tuygun Nadirov, Khazar Lankaran’s vice-president. “In Azerbaijan the club budgets do not yet reach over 20 or 30 million. I think a time will come though when the level of our football will be high and star footballers won’t have any doubts about coming here.” One of the foreign players
at the
who has already made the move is Brazilian Flavio Beck — a journeyman midfielder who came to Baku side Inter after stints in a series of minor European leagues. “My agent told me that there are some good teams in Azerbaijan and I said of course it is possible to play there and I came without problem,” the South American player said.
NO PROPER STADIUMS
While the level of some of the foreign imports may not yet be high enough, for local players football in Azerbaijan is unrecognisable from where it was a few years ago. “In Azerbaijan a few years ago there weren’t proper stadiums,” says national team striker Vagif Javadov. “Now pretty much every team has its own stadium.” Experts say that while the change is evident, fans may soon be demanding more return for the money the clubs are pouring into the game.
airport,
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News WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013 BATTLING SLOWDOWN
Firms rejig manpower to cut corners NEW DELHI: At a time when the country’s economy is not in the pink of health, scores of companies are adopting manpower restructuring to cut cost, reveals a research report. The report Tuesday by industry lobby Assocham cautioned that the situation is set to worsen in the coming days. “More and more companies are approaching the consulting firms seeking solutions to cut costs so that they can weather the difficult economic environment vitiated by adverse global situation, pressure on currency, sinking stock market, high interest rates, inflation and limited elbow available with the government to bail out the troubled industry," said the Assocham ‘Research Report on Impact of Slowdown on Employment'. AROUND THE
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If the situation does not improve, the negative fallout would be felt on those sectors as well which are driven by job markets like consumer goods, white goods, egadgets and passenger cars. It reveals that companies in infrastructure (roads, ports and airports), gems and jewellery, educational solutions, realty, non-banking finance companies, especially in the gold-loan segments, media, public relations and advertising are resorting to manpower rationalising. “The sad part is that the situation is likely to become worse, rather than improve, in the weeks to come and the pain would only increase. The feedback suggests that employers in the severely affected sectors are desperately trying to limit the damage as much as they can,” it said. If the situation does not improve in the near future, the negative fallout would be felt on those sectors as well which are driven by job markets like consumer goods, white goods, electronic gadgets and passenger cars, it said. The eroding consumer confidence would also affect tourism and its constituents like hotels, restaurants and tour operating. The airlines would face the heat further, the report suggests. IANS
ENVIRONMENT
Human activity driving climate change: Leaked report The leaked summary said the IPCC believed a worst case scenario could see sea levels rising by as much as three feet by the year 2100. WASHINGTON: Human activity is almost certainly the cause of climate change and global sea levels could rise by several feet by the end of the century, according to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report leaked to media on Tuesday. The draft summary of the report all but dismissed recent claims of a slowdown in the pace of warming, which has seized upon by climate-change sceptics. “It is extremely likely that human influence on climate caused more than half of the observed increase in global average surface temperature from 1951 to 2010," The New York Times quoted a section of the leaked report as saying. “There is high confidence that this has warmed the ocean, melted snow and ice, raised global mean sea level and changed some climate extremes in the second half of the 20th century." The IPCC is made up of sev-
eral hundred scientists worldwide who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 along with former US vice-president and noted environmental campaigner Al Gore. The scientists’ findings will be included in the next major United Nations report on climate change. The leaked summary said the IPCC believed a worst case scenario could see sea levels rising by as much as three feet (90 AROUND THE
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centimeters) by the year 2100. The language of the leaked summary appears to be stronger than in a previous UN report in 2007. IPCC spokesman Jonathan Lynn emphasized in a statement that the quoted text was a draft version which may yet be modified. Lynn said the document “is likely to change in response to
comments from governments received in recent weeks and will also be considered by governments and scientists at a four-day approval session at the end of September." “It is therefore premature and could be misleading to attempt to draw conclusions from it," he said.
Christopher Field, a researcher at the Carnegie Institution for Science, told The Times that the draft had to reflect a wide range of views. “I think that the IPCC has a tradition of being very conservative," Dr Field said. “They really want the story to be right." AFP
NOVEL INITIATIVE
Have a swab, get a drink, save a life! The idea behind having a social mixer is to find a South Asian donor aged 18 to 44 as similar ethnicities have the highest chances of being matches for one another. WASHINGTON: Friends of a young Indian-American woman who has been diagnosed with a rare disease have launched a unique drive in a New York bar to get bone marrow donors to save her and others like her. The drive has been organised to help Monica Chopra, resident of a San Francisco suburb, who at 26 was diagnosed with severe aplastic anaemia, in which the bone marrow stops making enough red blood cells, white cells and platelets for the body. The only cure is a bone marrow donation. Her doctors have been experimenting with immunosuppressive therapy, a way to suppress the white blood cells so her red cells and platelets can grow. To date no one in Chopra’s immediate or extended family are a match, including her only brother Neil.
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As soon as Chopra heard about her rare condition, the first thing she did was reach out to the ones closest to her and asked them to live their life to the fullest, her friends say.
The idea behind having a social mixer in the heart of New York City is to find a South Asian donor aged 18 to 44 as similar ethnicities have the highest chances of being match-
es for one another. Potential donors have been invited to come to the Van Diemens Bar bar and get registered at Be The Match Registry with a cheek swab with a Q-tip and “enjoy happy hour drink prices and complimentary appetizers." Aplastic anemia affects just 5 in every one million people. The genetic marker used for matching are inherited, so patients are more likely to match someone from their own heritage. South Asians make up an alarmingly low number of the registered bone marrow donors in the US. Out of 10.5 million registered donors, only 6.8 percent are Asian with South Asians constituting less than two percent. IANS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
Business STOCK WATCH Indian shares open on high, rupee still low
MUMBAI: India's shares opened higher and bond yields eased Wednesday but its currency remained under pressure after the central bank announced moves to inject 80 billion rupees into the banking system. Banking stocks jumped on the new measures, pushing Indian shares 1.22 per cent higher to 18,468.55 points, after falling nearly six percent in the past three days.The rupee, the worst performing Asian currency this year, was slightly steadier, trading at 63.36 against the dollar on Wednesday morning. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said late Tuesday it would inject 80 billion rupees ($1.26 billion) into the banking system by buying back long-term government bonds, a move expected to make more credit available. The move appears to be a partial reversal of a string of measures the central bank has taken since mid-July to tighten liquidity in an attempt to stop the rupee plummeting against the dollar. Those moves have failed to stop the currency's slide, and instead have pushed up yields on 10-year benchmark bonds to a five-year high, as investors demanded higher returns. The partially-convertible rupee hit a lifetime low of 64.13 on Tuesday on fears that the central bank's previous measures to tighten liquidity may prove ineffective to stabilise the rupee. AFP
INDIA SEEKS GREATER MARKET ACCESS FROM S KOREA
India on Tuesday asked South Korea for greater market access for its products to correct the imbalance in bilateral trade and sought investment in its infrastructure development.
TV TONIGHT
RETURN FROM RED
Al-Jazeera America goes live, woos viewers
WASHINGTON: Al-Jazeera America went live Tuesday, accompanied by a campaign of traditional and social media for its cable channel launch, as it pledged to outdo its rivals with serious, in-depth journalism. Former CNN reporter Tony Harris anchored the first newscast as the channel began broadcasting at 1900 GMT. The Qatar-based media group meanwhile took out full-page ads in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today, and trumpeted the opening on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. “Change the way you look at news,” said the ad in the
Journal. “Get more depth, More perspective. Every day.” On Facebook, Al-Jazeera America called itself “the new American TV news channel that connects you to the human stories at the heart of the news.” “We’re on the air! #AlJazeeraAmerica has just launched, and we’re live. Are you ready to take a new look at news?” said a tweet as the channel went live. The first hour included a preview of the daily news, magazine and interview programs. One of the first in-depth reports set to air was an investigation for the Fault Lines pro-
gram on Bangladesh. “Fault Lines goes undercover in Bangladesh in a multimonth investigation to expose how US corporations may be putting their profits before the well-being and safety of the workers making their products,” the channel promised. The flagship America Tonight program began a fourpart series on street gangs in Chicago, described as “the deadliest city in America.” The channel reaches more than 40 million households and vastly expands the footprint of Al-Jazeera despite questions about how it will be received by American viewers. On Facebook, the AlJazeera America page had 66,000 likes and a variety of comments. Americans will be able to get 14 hours of news, documentary and discussion programming daily, and updates at the top of every hour 24 hours a day. But the selling point will be long-form reporting of stories overlooked by other news organisations. Yet it is likely to face a tough sell to US audiences because of its history in the Middle East, where it was the outlet for videos distributed by Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. AFP
US manufacturing gaining strength: Study WASHINGTON: After decades of hollowing out, US manufacturing is overtaking competitors and stands to grab up to $115 billion more in export business from rivals by 2020, a new report said Tuesday. The Boston Consulting Group study said a more productive US factory sector, enjoying cheaper energy
and relatively lower wages, will pull production from leading European countries, Japan and China. Within six years that production will capture $70 billion to $115 billion in annual exports that would have come from the countries. And together with “reshored” manufacturing from China, where rising
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wages are undermining its competitiveness, the shift could add from 2.5 million to 5 million jobs in the country, the study said. “The US is steadily becoming one of the lowestcost countries for manufacturing in the developed world,” BCG said. It said that by 2015, average manufacturing costs in the five
major advanced export economies — Germany, Japan, France, Italy and Britain — will be 8-18 per cent higher than those in the United States. By that time US labor costs will be 16 per cent lower than in Britain, 18 per cent below Japan’s, 34 per cent below Germany’s and 35 per cent below in France and Italy. AFP
GOLD`30,767 10g SILVER `50,395 1kg
24C
for
for
DOLLAR ` 63.38 POUND ` 99.21
NEW YORK CITY: US photography giant Kodak announced Tuesday that a bankruptcy court had approved its plan of reorganisation, enabling it to emerge from bankruptcy as soon as September 3. The plan permitted the iconic company to reduce its debt and divest its film and printing business, among other steps to reemerge as a player in the commercial printing business. “Today, the Court confirmed Kodak’s Plan of Reorganisation. This critically important milestone marks the final step in the Court process,” said Kodak chairman and chief executive Antonio Perez. “Next, we move on to emergence as a technology leader serving large and growing commercial imaging markets — such as commercial printing, packaging, functional printing and professional services - with a leaner structure and a stronger balance sheet.” Kodak still has some final steps to take, such as completing an agreement over the pensions of retirees and ex-employees. The company expects to clear these hurdles in time to emerge on September 3. A majority of Kodak’s creditors voted in favor of the restructuring plan last week.
NUMEROLOGY
$10.80
bn
Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton on Tuesday said net profit slumped 29.5 per cent to $10.88 billion in the year to June, citing slowing global growth and commodity price volatility.
FLETCHER PROFIT SURGES WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s largest listed company Fletcher Building posted a 76 per cent rise in annual net profit Wednesday as strong growth in the country’s construction sector offset weakness in Australia. The Auckland-based company said net profit for the 12 months to the end of June was NZ$326 million ($260 million), up from NZ$185 million in the previous year. Chief executive Mark Adamson said the result, which beat market expectations, was due to reconstruction in Christchurch after a devastating earthquake in 2011 and strong demand in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city.
BSE NSE
18363.58 119.40
5444.25 43.55
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
Comment Borrow trouble for yourself, if that's your nature, but don't lend it to your neighbours.
EGYPT CRACKDOWN
DAN MARTIN Agence France-Presse
A
wave of lethal shootings is rattling normally laidback Malaysia and raising fresh doubts about the ability of the much-maligned national police force to protect the public. Malaysians and foreign residents alike have long complained of burglars, bag-snatchers and other petty criminals operating with apparent impunity in the otherwise peaceful multi-ethnic nation. But near-daily gun violence in recent weeks in a country with tough firearms restrictions has sown fear and confusion, and triggered a weekend police crackdown widely considered long overdue. "To be honest, I am really scared," said French expatriate Marthe Buffiere, 29, whose hand was nearly severed last month in a mugging by two knife-wielding assailants in an upscale Kuala Lumpur neighbourhood. "The image of wealth and safety here is totally untrue," said Buffiere. Dozens of shootings have been reported since April, many fatal, but the causes and the culprits in the sudden upsurge remain unclear. Home Minister Zahid Hamidi, who oversees the national police force, believes there is a turf war involving 2,600 criminal suspects released since 2011 when the long-serving government was pressured into abolishing a controversial law allowing preventive detention. "Each has his hardcore followers. If each of the released detainees had 10 righthand men, this translated to 26,000 who are with them," he said. But the opposition dismisses that as a smokescreen to hide police ineptitude, while social media hum with darker conspiracy theories of battles between corrupt police factions and their underworld proxies over criminal rackets.
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Brotherhood may go underground to survive SARAH BENHAIDA
Rudyard Kipling Writer
Malaysia on edge
HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS Union minister of state for HRD Shashi Taroor has launched a new social network called Flatparty.com. It couldn’t be named any better as all attempts of the Congress to revive its image have falllen flat. Hope he doesn’t have to quit when someone points this out.
Agence France Presse
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campaign of repression by Egypt's government against the M u s l i m Brotherhood could force the group back into the shadows, once again becoming a clandestine organisation. A return to the underground could allow the group, which has seen its victorious presidential candidate ousted from office and its top leaders arrested, a chance to regroup and review strategy. But it could also divide its ranks, with the most radical among its supporters peeling away to become militants, experts say. For decades, the Islamist group thrived in the shadows in the Arab world's most populous nation. In the years leading up to the 2011 overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak, it stepped carefully into the limelight, fielding parliamentary candidates as independents. But it was only after the uprising that it took centrestage, winning nearly 50 percent of seats in parliament and then Egypt's first free presidential vote, which brought Mohamed Morsi to office.
Its fall from grace since has been spectacular, with its top leaders now in jail and hundreds of its supporters killed in clashes with security forces since Morsi's July 3 ouster. The group, which "has always been organised like a pyramid," is now facing "an organisational problem," said Karim Bitar of the Institute for International and Strategic Relations. One clear sign of the disarray is the sudden disappearance of the Brotherhood's media officials, who have gone from reachable at all hours to completely absent. Another is the dwindling response to calls for the group's supporters to attend protests calling for Morsi's reinstatement. As it faces calls for it to be banned, the Brotherhood has "familiar options... including going underground," said Francois Burgat, director of France's Institut Francais du Proche-Orient. "All evidence suggests that the army will succeed in paralysing the decision-making apparatus of the Brotherhood, but will not be able to erase a party that has a solid and longstanding base," he added. The Brotherhood has shown its ability to react quickly under tough circumstances, swiftly naming deputy Mahmoud Ezzat to replace supreme guide
Mohamed Badie after his arrest on Tuesday. While it adjusts to its rapidly changing fate, it will eventually have to reconsider the strategy that led to its fall from power, Bitar said. Despite winning elections, the group proved "incapable of moving from a culture of secrecy to a culture of government," he added. Instead, it displayed sectarian behaviour and tried to "monopolise all the power for fear that it might lose power again." But before rethinks strategy, the group will have to reorganise its ranks and its hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of supporters. The spectre of a return to the Islamist violence that swept Egypt in the 1990s has been raised in recent days as the country faces unprecedented violence between Morsi loyalists and security forces. In the Sinai Peninsula,
attacks against police and army facilities have become an almost daily event and 25 policemen were executed by militants on Monday. The interim government has likened those attacks to the clashes between Morsi supporters and security forces, and labelled its crackdown a "war against terror." But that approach could backfire, allowing the Brotherhood to benefit from a new "martyrology," particularly as several of its top leaders, including Badie, have lost children in the violence. "They will be able to benefit from being cast as victims even though they were in the process of discrediting themselves while they were in power," Bitar said. And despite the strength of the campaign against them, Burgat said there was little to suggest the Brotherhood would not survive. "They have survived a lot of persecution and always emerged stronger."
EDITORIALS Digitise government records Well burger me!
S
o where have the files pertaining to coal block allocation vanished? Only the other day came reports of authorities concerned confirming that the files may have vanished for good. These are the files that pertain to the allocating coal blocks from 1993 to 2005 and also recommendations made by Congress MP Vijay Darda and forwarded by the Prime Minister’s office. If this is anything, then it is fishy. And the lackadaisical and languorous response that they have simply vanished points to a serious rot in the system which threatens transparency and trust of the people in the government. What justification have those responsible to guard it for the disappearance of those files? It all looks like a botched attempt to cover up and save someone important. The response and the timing point to that possibility: elections are less than a year away. Also, incidents like these call for an urgent digitisation of government records. All those behind such incidents can burn files of papers, but it will be hard for them to erase data and even if erased it can be recovered. Before going gung-ho over Aadhaar cards, this is what should be done first.
READERS’ VIEWS
N
icola Peate, 25, learnt some lessons the hard way after her burger meal. One, do not bite more than you can chew; second, cut down on the size of burgers. Nicola felt something wrong with her jaw after her meal, but the consequences manifested a day later as severe pain around her jaw. She had dislocated her jaw eating the burger. Nicola’s story comes as a shot in the arm for anti-junk foodies — burgers are bad for your health and your jaw, too.
We invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to feedback@postnoon.com or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500 033 or even by way of a call on 4067 2222. Editor: Dean Williams
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
Cinema
ON BOARD THE BUSINESS TRIP
A couple more names have been added to the cast of Starbuck director Ken Scott’s new comedy Business Trip. The film stars Vince Vaughn as an American business man whose trip to Europe “is upended and devolves into amusing madness,” with Dave Franco already onboard to co-star. Now The Wrap reports that Nick Frost and James Marsden are in talks to sign on in supporting roles.
KAPOW!
Defendor
Boy Wonder
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Sandra Oh, Kat Dennings Director: Peter Stebbings Here's a superhero who has no powers, but takes to the streets in a vigilante suit to keep his city safe. If he was billionaire Bruce Wayne, he would become Batman. But if you're an ordinary guy like Arthur Poppington, you get sent to the psychiatrist's office. Arthur dons his alter ego of Defendor and tries to find his arch-nemesis Captain Industry, who he believes killed his mother. While his friends are worried that Arthur is losing his mind, he persists in stalking the streets in his black suit, stopping criminals in the pay of Captain Industry.
Starring: Caleb Steinmeyer, Zulay Henao, Bill Sage Director: Michael Morrissey A young boy, Sean Donovan, witnesses his mother's murder and nurtures his hatred for criminals. Once he becomes a teenager, he starts to live a double life. By day, he is an ace student, but by night, he is a vigilante who attacks and kills criminals. This dark psychological drama takes a further twist as Sean finds more information about his mother's death. As he spirals more and more out of control, a female cop starts investigating the attacks and finds the truth about the teenage vigilante.
Not your average avengers Superhero movies are not always about your favourite Marvel or DC character. They don't always make big bucks at the box office. With the release of Kickass 2, Postnoon takes a look at some lesser known, yet brilliant caped crusader flicks. Super Starring: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler Director: James Gunn When a man's wife leaves him for a drug dealer, you can't blame him for becoming a little unhinged. In the case of Frank Darbo, he sees a vision of God telling him to become a superhero. With the help of comic book store assistant Libby, he constructs his superhero persona of The Crimson Bolt and armed with a pipe wrench, starts beating up rule-breakers. Meanwhile, Libby gets inspired and begs him to take her on as a sidekick named Boltie. Crimson Bolt and Boltie then target the drug dealer in order to save his wife.
Darkman
Mystery Men Starring: Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, Greg Kinnear Director: Kinka Usher Star superhero Captain Amazing is king in Champion City, and the wannabe superhero trio of Mr Furious, Shoveler and The Blue Raja finds that no one wants them. But when the supervillain Casanova Frankenstein breaks out of jail, captures Captain Amazing and threatens the city, these underdogs know it is their time to shine. They recruit three more allies — The Spleen, Invisible Boy and the Bowler. They might not have the greatest superpowers, but together, they are a force to be reckoned with.
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Starring: Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand Director: Sam Raimi Fancy a good dash of horror with your superhero flick? Darkman is the perfect mix of the two genres, with Liam Neeson playing Peyton Westlake, a scientist who is attacked and left for dead by a mobster. He is attacked because his girlfriend has discovered some shady land deals the don is involved in. Barely alive and horribly disfigured, he undergoes surgery to make him impervious to pain. He also constructs a skin substitute that he uses to reconstruct his face. Bent on taking revenge on the people that attacked him, he becomes a ruthless killer.
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
spotlight TRADITIONALLY YOURS 1
7
2
1 Asra, Nagma
4
5
6
Birthday fun
2 Shahila, Nawaz Azmath 3 Insiya,Bizzath, Rabab 4 Khalil ur Rehman, Nawab Firasat 5 Zaheer, Fiza 6 Saltanat 7 Mallik
Nawab Azmath's 50th birthday party hosted by his father Nawab Firasat Ali Khan was a grand affair. Guests turned up in their traditional best for the event.
8 Moin Nawab, Sakina 9 Maheen, Shafiq 10 Asra, Reema
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3
9
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ART ON WHEELS
Curtain raiser of Auto Art, a modern art painting expo, was held at Westin. The exhibition will be organised at La Galleria, Westin on August 23rd.
GOURMET JOURNEY
Four Seasons Wines agged off Gourmet Indulgence at Taj Vivanta on Tuesday. This gourmet journey is on at 90 signature restaurants across six cities till September 15.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
health
WATER-BORNE DISEASES
LVPEI ORGANIZES INDIA’S FIRST EVER PURE REFRACTIVE SURGERY MEET
Refractive Surgery 360, a two day event focusing solely on refractive surgery was held in Hyderabad over the weekend. The unifying theme of the event organized by L V Prasad Eye Institute was to understand the science behind the art of refractive surgery and the direction it seems to be heading in.
70% Healthy drinking water for individuals and families is the need of the hour. The World Health Organization has identified contamination of drinking water as a critical public health issue; affecting more than 98,000 children with diarrhoea and other water borne diseases every year. DINGS N I F Y E K
70%
Water-borne diseases like cholera, jaundice, typhoid, common cough and cold accounted for 70 per cent of all diseases in Hyderabad.
DISEASES IN HYDERABAD ARE WATER-BORNE: SURVEY
I
ndia is facing a severe public health crisis with increasing water-borne diseases and a deteriorating quality of groundwater. Recent studies by the United Nations reveal that over 1 lakh people die in India annually due to water borne diseases. It indicates that 70 million people in 20 states and 600 districts are at risk due to excess fluoride and around 10 million people are at risk due to excess arsenic in ground water. Hyderabad is reeling under severe water contamination which is adversely affecting the health of its citizens. To understand the impact of water contamination and key issues with drinking water in India and in Hyderabad, Eureka Forbes and GFK conducted a nationwide survey titled “Kya Aapka Paani Beemar Hai”. The water audit aimed at mapping the causes and reasons that were affecting families and individuals in Hyderabad and also across India due to increasing levels of water contamination and unavailability of safe, healthy drinking water. A comprehensive survey was conducted in Hyderabad interviewing 325 households. The findings revealed
Microbiological contamination level is noticed in very alarming level especially in monsoon.
some hard-hitting facts about water contamination being the biggest issue about 65 per cent of the households in Hyderabad. Ground water samples collected and examined by the Eureka Forbes Institute of Environment, a non-profit organisation revealed that few areas in Hyderabad were severely hit by water contamination. Levels of Total Dissolved Solids, Hardness, chlorides, nitrates, etc. responsible for water contamination have exceeded more than the permissible limits in certain parts of Hyderabad such as Madhapur, Asif Nagar, Secunderabad, Abids and Pragathi Nagar among other places. Toxic chemicals such as arsenic and lead and diseasecausing bacteria are also contributing to the alarming increase in the water contamination. Due to increasing levels of water contamination, five out of every 10 respondents surveyed had someone in their family and friends falling sick in the last one year. Incidences of deadly waterborne diseases like cholera, jaundice, typhoid, diarrhoea as well as common cold, cough and fever were high. Around 48 per cent of respondents have attributed
Ground water chemical including the Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) level has reached alarming proportions in drinking water along with new-age contaminates.
67%
Water contamination is the biggest issue with drinking water as said by 67 per cent of the responof the respondents dents. agreed that drinking unhealthy water was the cause of all diseases.
48%
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unhealthy drinking water as the main cause for the diseases in their families. The study echoed a serious concern among 50 per cent respondents who agreed that their drinking water is not healthy and hence is unfit for consumption. Surprisingly, even today about 27 per cent of Hyderabad households drink water directly from taps. This
The findings revealed some hard-hitting facts about water contamination being the biggest health issue for about 65 per cent of the households in Hyderabad. indicates that a significant number of people are vulnerable to deadly water-borne diseases, especially during monsoons as the water contamination levels tend to increase. Water hardness, bad taste, colour and odour were some of the major issues highlighted by the respondents during the survey. Sharing the findings of the water audit, Dr Thuppil Venkatesh, Professor Emeritus Department of Bio-Chemistry
27%
Yet 27% of the households in Hyderabad drink water directly from the tap.
and Bio-Physics at St. Johns Medical College, Hyderabad who also is an Advisor to The Quality Council of India (QCI), said, “The much debated topic of water quality and contamination is touching alarming levels in India. There has been a growing concern about the increasing water contamination levels and its impact on lives of Indians which is much evident from the water audit. India is on the verge of becoming the “world capital of lead poisoning. He said, “When there is acute exposure to lead, and the concentration levels very high, there is damage to the central nervous system and the kidneys, the reduction of IQ especially in children is irreversible.” The purpose of this study was to gauge the extent of awareness of the problem of contamination in drinking water and how it is affecting the health of Indians.
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
Technology SECURITY CONCERNS
ALL ACCESS Amazon to run digital, print Conde Nast subscriptions
IS EMAIL SAFER?
NEW YORK CITY: US magazine publisher Conde Nast said Tuesday it would outsource to online giant Amazon the management of both its print and digital subscriptions. The deal called “All Access” allows consumers to use their Amazon account to purchase, manage and renew their print and digital magazine subscriptions. It also gives consumers immediate access to their digital magazines on their mobile devices such as Kindle Fire, iPad, Android tablets and
Combining Conde Nast’s must-have content with Amazon’s One-Click shopping platform is a huge win Bob Sauerberg President of Conde Nast
The amount of data pushed by corporate email each year
Or 15x all the data uploaded to facebook and youtube combined
Business apps and systems can send hudreds of emails per second This can cause email storms and DoS attacks on company servers Emails include customer notifications, system monitoring utilities, even copy machine reports
Corporate email traffic will grow 13% annually to 143 billion by 2016
phones. Conde Nast titles Vogue, Glamour, Bon Appetit, Lucky, Golf Digest, Vanity Fair and Wired will be first in the system, with the remaining brands joining later in the year. “Combining Conde Nast’s musthave content with Amazon’s One-Click shopping platform is a huge win," said Bob Sauerberg, president of Conde Nast. “Our influential and loyal customers want to be the first to know, purchase and share, which is why we wanted to be the first to develop a service like ‘All Access’ with Amazon, the world’s most trusted and proven e-commerce platform." AFP
Sources: Symantee, Palo Alto Networks, Kapersky Lab, IDC, Radicati Researcg, Sendmail, Inc.
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
Entertainment CINE BYTES
Balakrishna ropes in top cine-technicians
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andamuri Balakrishna has roped in top technicians such as art director Anand Sai and cinematographer Ram Prasad to make his daughter Nandamuri Tejaswini's marriage, set to take place here Wednesday, an affair to remember. Tejaswini will enter wedlock with Sri Bharat at a ceremony to be held here at Hitex, Madhapur. IANS
Bhai becomes a viral sensation
T
he first trailer of Nagarajuna’s film BHAI which is out has already gone viral with more than 2.5 lakhs hits in just 48 hours. Consolidated hits on the trailer, which was uploaded on the official YouTube account and by several websites were already around 2,50,000 lakhs and growing since its release.
PRAISEWORTHY PERFORMANCE
Director lauds PRIYAMANI'S action skills It's not just dancing and romancing for actresses, but sometimes it's more than that. At times, it means to wield the sword or even doing a back flip for an action sequence. Priyamani's role is a mixture of all that and audiences will love her for that. V Samudra Director
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ctress Priyamani learnt sword-fighting, archery and even acrobatics for her upcoming Telugu social period drama Chandi, and its director V Samudra can't stop lauding her dedication towards mastering the action skills."She (Priyamani) was expected to learn archery and sword-fighting for her role. I was stunned to know that she is a very quick learner. All that it took her to shoot arrows was two hours of training with a professional," Samudra told IANS."It's not just dancing and romancing for actresses, but sometimes it's more than that. At times, it means to wield the sword or even doing a back flip for an action
sequence. Priyamani's role is a mixture of all that and audiences will love her for that," he added. Priyamani is playing an avenging angel in the film, which also features R Sarath Kumar, Nagendra Babu, Ashish Vidyarthi, Posani Krishna Murali and MS Narayana."We are busy wrapping up the talkie portion. If all goes well, then we are likely to release it by Septemberend," he added.The film also features veteran actor Krishnam Raju in an important role."He plays the role of a king. It will be a powerful role along the lines of roles that he did in films such as Bobbli Brahmanna and Thandra Paparayudu," said Samudra. IANS
Venkatesh’s Masala audio postponed
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ictory Venkatesh and Ram starrer Masala audio released has been postponed. It was informed that the audio launch will take place on August 23, 2013 but Ram has revealed the news of delay through his micro-blogging website. Anjali and Shazahn Padamsee are the leading ladies.
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Entertainment WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
SIBLINGS BOND
CINE BYTES
The Lunchbox wins at film fest in Amsterdam
T
he audience at the World Cinema Amsterdam Film Festival chose Indian director Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox as the best film of the 2013 edition. Co-produced by Anurag Kashyap and Guneet Monga, among others, the movie was awarded the World Cinema Amsterdam Audience Award at the fest, which was held August 7-18. IANS
Singers demand royalties for songs
Ekta and I make a strong brother-sister 'jodi':
Tusshar O
n the Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan Tuesday, actor Tusshar Kapoor says he makes a strong brother-sister pair with his elder sibling Ekta, a successful producer of films and TV shows. "It's been 36 years that I am getting a rakhi tied by Ekta. Every year we do the same thing. Since our childhood, even if we are not together on Raksha Bandhan, we celebrate the festival. She sends a rakhi to me wherever I am, and we talk over the phone," the actor told reporters. "I think our brother-sister jodi in the industry is very strong," he added. Ekta and Tusshar are children of veteran actor Jeetendra and producer Shobha Kapoor. Ekta has produced films like Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai, Kyaa Kool Hai Hum, Shor In The City and The Dirty Picture, which starred her younger brother. IANS
A
conglomerate of popular singers such as SP Balasubramanyam (SPB), KJ Yesudas and P Susheela among many others announced that all singers are entitled to royalties. "Our intention is not to fight with anyone. Royalty is the money we demand for our voice. It's our right. We are entitled to royalty by the government," said SPB. IANS
Revathi returns to B-wood with 2 States?
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ctress-director Revathi, who keeps herself busy with her southern projects, will reportedly be seen in 2 States. A screen adaptation of Chetan Bhagat's bestseller, 2 States is about a Punjabi boy who falls in love with a Tamil girl, which causes a regional-culture clash. Alia has been paired with Arjun Kapoor in the film.
Entertainment WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
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Entertainment WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
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Entertainment WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
BAD FOR THE THROAT
CINE BYTES
C
NATHAN FILLION denies being approached for Batman role
astle star Nathan Fillion has denied reports that he was approached for the role of Batman for the Man of Steel sequel and thinks he would be terrible at playing the caped crusader. The sequel will bring both the superheroes —Superman and Batman— together. Directed by Zack Snyder, the film will mark the return of Henry Cavill (as Superman), Amy Adams, Diane Lane and Laurence Fishburn. Batman is yet to be cast. The Warner Bros produced film will begin shooting next year. It was rumoured earlier that Christian Bale, who portrayed Batman in Christopher Nolan’s three-part movie, would take on the role but Bale dismissed the suggestion. And now, Fillion, whose name was doing the rounds for sometime, too has denied being a part of the superhero franchise, reported Entertainment Weekly. “I wonder if my throat could take it," the Castle star said, joking that it would be impossible to produce the deep voice of Batman. “I think I’d make an excellent Bruce Wayne; I think I’d make a terrible Batman," he added. “If you wanted to see a particular person as Batman, I think one of the worst things you could do is shove it down someone’s throat as far as the new director of Batman or the new producers of Batman," he added.
Bruce Willis feels safer around women
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ctor Bruce Willis feels that women are smarter than men and they should be the leader. “I worship women, and I have always felt safer when I am around them. Women are much smarter than men - I conceded that a long time ago," contactmusic.com quoted Willis as saying. IANS
Lady Gaga, Perez Hilton feud on Twitter
T
he latest celebrity Twitter feud erupted Sunday between two heavyweights of the social medium. In one corner: pop superstar Lady Gaga and her nearly 40 million followers. In the other: pop culture blogger Perez Hilton and his 6.1 million Twitter fans. Who won the war of 140 characters? It depends on whom you ask.
Demi Lovato headed to Glee
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t looks like Demi Lovato is Gleebound. According to TVLine, she’ll be joining the cast of the show for “at least six episodes," marking her first regular acting gig since her days on the Disney Channel’s Sonny With a Chance. Lovato will be playing Dani, one of Rachel and Santana’s New York friends — thus giving the X Factor judge plenty of chances to sing duets with Adam Lambert.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
Chai Time
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office. Robert Frost
KAKURO
QUICK CROSSWORD
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SUDOKU How to play kakuro Kakuro is a popular game similar to sudoku in some ways. But is also suitably different. The key question: ‘How do you play kakuro?’, well here are the rules of kakuro. The answer: The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers. However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number. Within each collection of cells — called a run — any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once. Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on... So, how do you work out the actual combination? Well, this is done through elimination and cross-referencing. For instance, as you work out the answers for other kakuro clues, this will naturally limit the valid combinations, and hence the answer for this particular run. Note the second cell in row two — it contains two numbers, 30 and 11. The 30 refers to the vertical run underneath the number 30 and the 11 refers to the two cells to the right, horizontally, of the number 11.
ACROSS
PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER
SCRIBBLING PAD
1 Regret a workout, say 5 Stinging punishment 9 Stylebook concern 14 Bio kin 15 Titular Anne Hathaway role 16 Olympics star Comaneci 17 Calf-length skirt 18 Rough guess 19 Appropriate by force 20 1996 Oscar-winning film (with ‘The’) 23 Witness 24 Prefix meaning ‘new’ 25 Perfumer’s talent 26 A billion years 27 Small dog breed, briefly 28 Exalted poem 31 Accessory for an old-time flying ace 34 Attention 35 Attachment for cowboy boots 36 Bogart/Hepburn classic 39 Paddle relatives 40 Quite some time 41 Quitter’s cry 42 ___ forma 43 Hebrew month 44 Humorous fellow 45 Will name 46 Stove fuel 47 Dashed 50 1980 Richard Gere film 54 Pushmi-Pullyu, in the movies 55 The Bard’s river 56 Run in place 57 To this moment 58 Opposite of ‘none’ 59 Malicious 60 Zero of the population 61 Vase-shaped pitcher 62 Tadpole’s milieu
DOWN
1 Highest points 2 Crepe de ___ (silklike fabric) 3 Counterbalance, financially 4 ‘The Last Command’ Oscar-winner Jannings 5 Abate 6 Even if, briefly 7 Big shot in ice hockey 8 Cuban dances in duple time 9 Apt to turn out badly 10 Agra attire (Var) 11 Yemeni seaport 12 Basic idea 13 Stuff your face 21 Two common prepositions 22 Battleship on a Monopoly board, eg 26 Big Band and Gaslight 27 One walking back and forth 28 Oil cartel acronym 29 Point-of-honor settler 30 Fish-eating bird 31 Getting-off place 32 Blacken, in a way 33 Prefix with ‘magnetic’ or ‘dynamics’ 34 Place for stogies 35 Like some numbers 37 Half-diameters 38 Sort of, but not quite 43 Add fizz to 44 Robert of ‘Austin Powers’ fame 45 Hairy-chested ones with muscles 46 Garden figure 47 Show with big bucks? 48 Haggard hero Quatermain 49 ‘... with ___ in sight’ 50 ‘And another thing ... ‘ 51 BLT layer 52 Make no bones about 53 Walking difficulty 54 Office PC linkup letters
Chai Time WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013 Thiruvaikumar
STAR POWER for 22-8-2013
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As per Hindu panchang thiruvaikumar@yahoo. co. in, 040-27177230 / 9177596118
ARIES
TAURUS
GEMINI
CANCER
LEO
VIRGO
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
PISCES
Employees might be overburdened along with excess travel. Artists will have a good time. Ups and downs are likely to remain; do not worry as the situation will become stable soon. Businessmen will be able to face the competition and win it over.
STRIP TEASE AGNES
Important decisions are to be taken only after due analysis and consultations. Legal issues might depress you as they do not go the way you expected. Employees will feel happy as promotion or pay hike expected by them gets implemented.
You will look cheerful as worries will come to an end. Employees will have a favourable trend at workplace. Promotion and pay hike will be approved. Change of residence may get delayed. Friends in powerful posts will help you at the right time.
Transfer or promotion is on cards for employees. Avoid hasty decisions in purchase of property. Some have a bright chance to go abroad. New efforts by businessmen will be successful. Children will understand and co-operate very well with you.
You will undertake a jolly trip with family members. Employees might face the ire of superiors and more responsibilities will increase their work. Completing duties successfully will get them recognition. All long-pending wishes will get fulfilled.
News of your daughter’s pregnancy will cheer you up. Though employees are overburden they will get good sops. Businessmen will find new customers and increase their business. All thoughts will take shape and get implemented successfully.
Sister’s marriage will be performed in a grand manner. Women need to stay patient as they face a worrying situation. Important decision regarding ancestral property taken by you will bring the desired result. You will fulfil wishes of your kids.
Minor disappointments are likely; be prepared and take it in a positive way. Pregnant women need to be careful. Expenses might increase due to blood relatives. Debt issues will be under control. You will purchase electronic household gadgets.
Businessmen will have a favourable time and profits will jump. Their staff will co-operate and remain loyal to them. Employees will be cheerful as their long-pending demands will be fulfilled by the management. Expected transfer will come through.
TAROT READ
Sumaa Tekur
tarotreadhyd@gmail. com
ARIES:
GEMINI:
Eight of Swords – You are restricted only by your own mindset. Free your thinking, set yourself free, and see the changes that unfold before you.
LEO:
Two of Swords – Extremes are going to work against you. There will be times when you cannot take either side in a matter and will have to make do with fence-sitting.
LIBRA:
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE
Six of Wands – It’s best to not be too rigid about your schedule today. There will be changes and you have to be open to the idea of going with the flow.
SAGITTARIUS:
The Fool – You will have to start on a project because it will need new perspective and structure. Forget about everything you’ve done so far and think anew.
TAURUS:
Two of Wands – Wait before you make a decision on something important. You may not have all the facts to make the right decision. Keep ego in check.
CANCER:
The Sun – This is a lucky time when things happen in your favour. Guard against getting too happy when things go well and getting too sad when things go awry.
VIRGO:
Justice – Everything that is going wrong will start becoming right. All you have to do is observe and note the changes around you. Do not react to anything.
SCORPIO:
Strength – Your biggest strength is your willpower to complete a task. You will not give up unless it’s done to your satisfaction. Bosses admire this quality in you.
CAPRICORN:
The Lovers – Those in employment may be thinking of starting a business. Spend a lot of time doing your research work so that you’re very sure what’s at stake.
PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS
PISCES:
Five of Pentacles – This is not the best time to start a venture. Guard money and take note of financial condition before embarking on something adventurous.
NUMBER GAME
rds – Not everything is going as per plan, especially in a relationship. You will end up feeling dejected and wanting more. Share your thoughts.
SCRABBLE
AQUARIUS: Three of Swo-
POOCH CAFE
Mother’s health may be a cause for concern; take care. Employees need to be cordial with colleagues to avoid future problems. Politicians will gain an upper hand and influence will increase. Newlyweds will have their offspring soon.
for 22-8-2013
The Moon – Mood swings are likely. You cannot help how you feel but you can certainly ensure that others around you do not get affected by your moods.
NON SEQUITUR
Maternal relatives will extend their financial help to you. Expense for children will increase. Those staying abroad are likely to visit their native place. Litigations in ancestral property will be over. Travel and expenses are likely but for a short period.
SUDUKO
Expenses and travel are likely to increase. Newlyweds can be cheerful as their offspring is to arrive soon. News regarding son’s job will cheer you. Longpending wishes will become a reality. Changes and upward swing in your status is certain.
Boggle BED DESK TABLE HUTEH CHAIR Vol: 3, No 32 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon. com and for subscription, please call 040-4067 2222, Fax: 040-4067 2211
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Entertainment WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
THE WAR OF THE SUPERHEROES?
CINE BYTES
Will the Fantastic Four reboot cross over with the X-Men franchise? 2 015 is overcrowded with uber-geek movie projects: An Avengers sequel here, a Batman/Superman crossover there, Jurassic Park IV, Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man, and even a freaking Star Wars sequel. By comparison, Fox’s planned Fantastic Four reboot is currently flying under the radar. The film will mark the first studio effort by Josh Trank, who made last year’s sleeper hit Chronicle; supposedly, Chronicle (and Fruitvale Station) star Michael B Jordan is in the running to play Johnny Storm. Morever, the film will mark a complete break from the continuity of the mid-00s Fantastic Four series, which are mostly live on as artefacts of the pre- performance-capture era when poor Michael Chiklis had to walk around wearing orange rocks. Although little is actually known about Trank’s
Fantastic Four reboot, rumors have abounded that 20th Century Fox has big plans for the reboot series. The studio also owns the big screen rights to the X-Men franchise, the longest-running series of the modern superhero era. In this post-Avengers moment, Fox is moving forward aggressively with the X-Men, with next year’s Days of Future Past uniting all the various franchise strands into one time-hopping mega-movie. Would Fox seek to link together X-Men and Fantastic Four, creating their own version of the Marvel Studios Cinematic Universe? A possible answer to that question comes from Mark Millar, the comic book writer (and creator of Kick-Ass) who has been working for Fox as a “creative consultant” since last year. In the new issue of SFX, Millar is asked whether the new Fantastic Four will share a universe with the X-
Men, and says: “Without question I think you have to see some of these guys showing up in each other’s movies.” That might read as kind of a non-answer answer, but given that the hot new thing with
superhero franchises is to A) pump them out every two years, and B) create intra-continuity crossovers as soon as possible, it’s plausible that the FF and the X-M will share the screen in just a few years.
Go Photograph Egypt is Cumberbatch’s message
W
hile filming the latest season of Sherlock on August 18, actor and heart throb Benedict Cumberbatch had a politically-conscious message for the paparazzi. While the photogs attempted to snap pics of him, Cumberbatch held up a hand-written sign, covering his face, that read: Go photograph Egypt and Show The World Something Important.
Dick Van Dyke escapes burning car
F
amed actor Dick Van Dyke narrowly escaped serious injury or death when he was pulled from a burning car in Los Angeles on Monday. Van Dyke was driving on the 101 freeway when his Jaguar somehow caught on fire. Although the actor seems to have pulled over on his own, a passerby had to help him. (as reported by TMZ).
Leif Garrett gives Justin Bieber tough Love advice
L
eif Garrett knows what Justin Bieber is going through. But the 1970s-era teen idol hopes that Bieber ends up avoiding what he went through. “Do not believe your own publicity,” the now 51-year-old actor warned Bieber in an interview with FoxNews.com when asked if he had any advice for the 19-yearold heartthrob.
sports
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
NBA
Cavaliers sign Bennett The Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday signed Anthony Bennett, the number one selection in the NBA draft last June.
CLEVELAND: The Cleve land Cavaliers on Tuesday signed Anthony Bennett (in pic), the number one selection in the NBA draft last June.
Bennett entered the draft after being voted the top freshman in the Mountain West Conference last season, when he averaged 16.1 points. The Cavaliers did not release the terms of the deal but the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported it is worth $16.7 million over three years. Bennett entered the draft
after being voted the top freshman in the Mountain West Conference last season, when he averaged 16.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game for the University of
GAY KISS
Claims shock Russian runners MOSCOW: Two Russian female gold medal winners at the Moscow World Athletics Championships expressed bewilderment Tuesday over media claims that their jubilant podium kiss was a symbol of gay defiance against a new Russian law banning homosexual “propaganda”. Ksenia Ryzhova and Yulia Gushchina, who kissed each other on the lips after receiving their gold medals, said they were offended by any suggestion they were more than just good friends and complained the furore had spoilt their victory celebrations. The pair were half of the Russian 4x400 women’s relay quartet who swept to victory in front of a packed Luzhniki stadium in Moscow on Saturday, defeating the American favourites in one of the highlights of the championships. Some activists saw the kiss as a brazen show of defiance in support of gays and lesbians and against President Vladimir Putin after the championships were shadowed throughout by controversy over the law. But Ryzhova, 26, insisted Tuesday that she was married and made clear she was none too happy that people now suspected that she and Gushchina might be having a lesbian relationship. “Yesterday, I was telephoned 20 times by various publications and instead of congratulating me they decided to insult me with these questions,” she fumed, quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency.
Nevada at Las Vegas. He made league history as the first Canadian-born player to be taken first in the draft. Bennett joins fellow Canuck Tristan Thompson
who was taken fourth overall by the Cavaliers at the 2011 draft. Bennett was born in Toronto and the scouts like him because he is a strong rebounder and has a nice scoring touch. He becomes just the second UNLV player to go number one after Larry Johnson, who was chosen first overall in 1991 by the Charlotte Hornets. The Cavaliers are hoping Bennett can help them forget about the loss of LeBron James, who fled the city for Miami following the 2010 season. James led Miami to an NBA championship this year and was named MVP of the finals. Cleveland went 24-58 last season and has missed the playoffs for the past three seasons. AFP
SA PRO CHALLENGE
Frank wins stage BRECKENRIDGE: BMC rider Mathias Frank won the second stage of the USA Pro Challenge on Tuesday as the overall lead went to Garmin-Sharp’s Lachlan Morton. “For me, the stage win was the most important thing,” Frank said. “That’s what I got, so I’m really happy.” Frank escaped with Morton and Lawson Craddock (Bontrager) from a large, late breakaway. He opened a gap on both on the final climb with four kilometers to go, but wasn’t able to gain enough ground on Australia’s Morton. Morton seized the race lead from Cannondale’s Peter Sagan, but the Slovakian champion didn’t go down without a fight on the 202.9 kilometer stage from Aspen, which featured three major climbs. Sagan, the 2013 Tour de France sprint jersey winner, attacked the field on the final climb and took Tejay van Garderen with him. The pair overtook Craddock in the final kilometers with Sagan easily taking third on the stage. Morton leads the overall standings by two sec-
Mathias Frank of Switzerland and the BMC Racing Team (R) celebrates after winning stage two of the 2013 USA Pro Cycling AFP/CHRIS GRAYTHEN Challenge on Tuesday in Colorado.
Mathias Frank won the second stage of the USA Pro Challenge as the overall lead went to Lachlan Morton. onds over Frank, who was in a second group on the opening stage which lost five seconds.
Sagan is third overall, 11 seconds back. Tour de France winner Chris Froome of Britain finished 76th in the stage, more than 11 minutes adrift. The Sky rider, competing in Colorado for the first time, lies 76th in the overall standings going into Wednesday’s third stage, 107 kilometers from Breckenridge to Steamboat Springs. AFP
LEAGUE CRICKET A DIVISION THREE DAY
Day 2 Andhra Bank 198/8 (Kiran Kumar 39 n.o., Ashish Reddy 59, M Suresh 3/71) vs SCRSA (Day one was washed out without a ball being bowled)
A DIVISION TWO DAYS
Day 2 Syndicate Bank 124/8 (Dhanush 3/18) lost to Crown CC 128/8 (Sami 55 n.o., MA Javeed 5/47) Saleemnagar 176 bt CCOB 105 (Asim 3/37, Khaled 3/20) Mega City 146 bt Sultanshahi 112 (Shravan 4/33, Niteesh 4/15) Gouds XI 174 lost to Gemini Friends 178/8 (Christy Victor 42, Radhakrishna Yadav 3/38) New Blues 205 (Rishab Raj Singh 39, Rohit 68, Amit Rajan 3/29) bt Sporting XI 72 (Datta Prakash 4/17, Ramesh 6/17) Day 1 SBI 208 (Iftekhar 44, Abrar Ahmed 36, Hari Babu 35, G Srinivas 31, Navdeep Singh 5/56, Navjoth Singh 4/57) vs Balaji Colts
A DIVISION ONE DAY
Deccan Blues 73 Randeep 3/6) lost to Vijaynagar 74/3 (Sanjeev Kumar Patel 54) HCA Coca Cola under-16 inter school St Marys Junior College Yousufguda 80 (Chandan Sahani 3/10) lost to Wesley Junior College 83 for no loss (B Srinath 44 n.o., K Srikanth Reddy 30 n.o.). Johnson Grammer School 152 (Sunny Lakhani 56, G Gautham 30) bt Obul Reddy High School 108 (Saketh 44 n.o., A Rahul 35, Sunny Lakhani 3/33, E Nikhil 3/13) DAV Public School 64 (Sami 4/15, Viplav 3/17) lost to HPS Begumpet 69/4 (Krishna 31 n.o.) Sri Chaitanya Techno School 358/2 (Yash Kapadia 199 n.o., B Revanth 101 n.o.) bt KV Bolarum 137 (Abhishek Kumar 46, Ankit Kumar 36, T Eshwar Rao 3/38) All Saints 153 (Ankush 3/25, Srinath 3/26) bt Loyala Academy Junior College 90 (Srinath 39, Hitesh Yadav 3/32) St Johns Church Junior College 265/7 (Bhagath 70, Sireesh Goud 79, Nikhil Parwani 44, Ajay 3/41) bt Jubilee Hills High School 101 (Sai Teja 46) St Marys Junior College Basheerbagh 290/9 (J Akshay Kumar 72, C Durgesh 57, A Ruthvik 67, V Nikhil Kumar 3/41) bt Gurukul Vidyapeeth 167 (Ashrith 32, Md Shabaazuddin 4 for 25, J Ajay Kumar 3/32) Under-19 Andhra 229/8 (Srikrishna T 49, CR Gyaneshwar 35, Suraj Pritam 55, Gurjeener Singh Mann 4/63) vs Baroda
Chess tourney from Thursday HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad District Chess Association would be organising the Kotwal Raja Bahadur Venkat Rama Reddy 144th birth anniversary inter school chess championship on 22 August at the LB Stadium. Entries should be filed before 22 August. For more deatils, contact Sree Krishna on 9247143456.
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
INDIAN BADMINTON LEAGUE
NEW HAVEN OPEN
Mumbai thrash Delhi 4-1
Vesnina beats Kerber
Two-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei was finally seen in action as he helped Mumbai Masters beat Krrish Delhi Smashers 4-1.
NEW HAVEN: Second-seeded Angelique Kerber was bundled out of the WTA New Haven Open on Tuesday, beaten 6-2, 64 by unseeded Russian Elena Vesnina. Vesnina, who had lost all three of her prior encounters with Germany’s Kerber, won the first set with ease and recovered from an early break in the second to grab the victory and book her quarter-final berth. “She’s a very tough player, can win on any surface and is a fighter, so it was important for me to get early confidence by winning the first set,” Vesnina said. “The second set was up and down with a lot of breaks, but at the key moments I served well.” Vesnina’s triumph over the world number 10 was her sixth career victory over a top 10 player. “Going against a top 10 player is always tough because they have a lot of confidence,” Vesnina said. “It was important for me to play my game, take my chances, be consistent and be aggressive.” Vesnina next faces Czech Klara Zakopalova, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig. AFP
MUMBAI: Two-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei was finally seen in action in the Indian Badminton League (IBL) as he helped the Mumbai Masters defeat the Krrish Delhi Smashers 4-1 at the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) here Wednesday. The men’s singles World No.1 Chong Wei took a break after the recently concluded World Championships and
Wei took a break after the recently concluded Worlds and missed the first two legs of the tournament in New Delhi and Lucknow. missed the first two legs of the tournament in New Delhi and Lucknow. However, the Malaysian returned with a bang as he won not just the men’s singles outing but the missed dou-
bles rubber too. In the process, the Masters bagged five points to top the table with the 11 points while the Smashers are fifth with seven. In the first match of the day,
Chong Wei made short work of Smashers’ Daren Liew and won 21-12, 21-16 to put the hosts 1-0 ahead. Post his match Chong Wei, later declared the player of the tie, said, “It was a good
match. I’m very happy as this victory is very important for me. It’s good to win points for the team against such a difficult team.” In the women’s singles, Danish great Tine Baun gave the hosts a 2-0 lead after defeating Nagpur girl Arundhati Pantawane 21-11, 21-13. However, Delhi pulled back a point defeating the Masters’ men’s doubles pair as the experienced Malaysians Koo Kein Keat and Tan Boon Hoeng overcame B. Sumeet Reddy and Manu Attri 14-21, 21-15, 11-7. In the second men’s singles, Masters’ Mark Zweibler won a marathon match against a spirited B. Sai Praneeth. The German won 18-21, 21-10, 11-9 to help Mumbai win the tie. In the mixed doubles dead rubber, Chong Wei and Tine returned as a pair to go against Delhi’s Prajakta Sawant and V. Diju. The hosts gained a healthy lead in the first game but Delhi made a comeback which wasn’t enough with Mumbai winning 21-18. IANS
WINSTON-SALEM OPEN
A NEW INNINGS
Vitali hints at presidential run LVIV: Ukrainian world boxing champion and opposition leader Vitali Klitschko strongly hinted on Tuesday that he will challenge President Viktor Yanukovych in elections due in March 2015. Klitschko told a gathering of Ukrainian diaspora representatives from more than 30 countries that the ex-Soviet republic’s opposition most rally around a single presidential candidate soon. “I am fully and responsibly considering whether to contest the Ukrainian presidential elections,” Klitschko said on a visit to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. “The final decision will be taken after I hold consultations with (Ukrainian) society as a whole,” Klitschko told a crowd of about 300. “I am convinced that there should be a single candidate from the opposition.” The imposing heavyweight boxer has increasingly mixed boxing with politics and turned into one of the most serious opponents for Yanukovych, a Russian speaker who was criticised for pro-Moscow policies when he became president in 2010. AFP
Johnson upsets second seed Seppi WINSTON-SALEM: US qualifier Steve Johnson upset second-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-5 to reach the third round of the ATP Winston-Salem Open on Tuesday. “Definitely played really well today,” said Johnson, a two-time US collegiate champion who needed two hours and 19 minutes to get past Seppi.
Qualifier Steve Johnson upset secondseeded Andreas Seppi 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-5 to reach the third round of the Winston-Salem Open. “Felt like everything I’ve been working on for the last four, five, six months kind of came together, so it’s nice to see the hard work pay off in big situations.” The 23-year-old notched his fourth match win of the season and the seventh of his ATP career. He next faces Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun for a place in the
US qualifier Steve Johnson waits to hit a return against Andreas Seppi of Italy on Tuesday in Winston Salem, North Carolina. AFP/BOB LEVERONE
quarter-finals. Fish retired unwell, granting Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen a third-round meeting with American Sam Querrey. Nieminen was leading 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 3-2 when Fish called it quits. Fifth-seeded Frenchman Benoit Paire ousted Blake 7-6 (11/9), 2-6, 6-3 and seventhseeded Fernando Verdasco rallied to beat Smyczek 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Paire next faces ninth-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who was up 4-2 in the third set when Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands retired with a toe injury. Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania, ranked 126th in the world, dispatched Kudla 6-4, 64 in 63 minutes. Berankis will try to reach his third quarterfinal of the season when he takes on Roberto Bautista Agut, who beat 14th seed Martin Klizan of Slovakia 6-4, 6-1. Eighth seed Juan Monaco survived a second-round scare, battling past France’s Nicolas Mahut 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 26 minutes. AFP
URN
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
IT ASHES 2013
Clarke defiant as Oz change side again JULIAN GUYER Agence France-Presse LONDON: Australia captain Michael Clarke insisted Tuesday the latest changes to his side were all designed to help the tourists salvage some pride in their Ashes finale against England at The Oval. Ashes-holders England have an unbeatable 3-0 series lead heading into the final Test at The Oval in south London starting on Wednesday. Clarke, having previously said, “this is not a charity tour, it’s not about giving blokes a go and hoping for the best,” found himself having to defend the selectors’ decision Tuesday to give a Test debut to James Faulkner, which appeared to be a classic case of taking a punt on a player with the series lost. The Tasmanian paceman has taken 132 first-class wickets at under 23 apiece but, although considered an all-rounder, he has yet to make a senior hundred in any class of domestic or international cricket. The debutant was brought in at the expense of under-performing number three batsman Usman Khawaja — who was axed on the same day Cricket Australia announced his national
Australia’s captain Michael Clarke speaks during a press conference before a training session at the Oval cricket ground in central London on Tuesday, ahead of the fifth Ashes Test against England. At 3-0 up with one to play, England have already retained the Ashes and won the series. AFP/CARL COURT
contract had been upgraded. Shane Watson, who started the series as an opener and was then deployed at number six, was given the task of filling a problem position for Australia. Meanwhile, in a nine-match pattern of being in and then out of the side, including Australia’s 4-0 series loss in India earlier this year, left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc returned to the side, having understandably complained Monday about his treatment by the selectors. No Australia side has lost an
Agar to get home early LONDON: Teenage Australian spinner Ashton Agar is to return home early from the Ashes tour of England due to illness, with the 19-year-old leaving London on Tuesday, Cricket Australia have announced. Agar made a stunning Test debut in the Ashes opener at Trent Bridge, making 98.
Ashes series in England 4-0 and victory is desperately needed by Clarke’s men, who haven’t won any of their last eight Tests, a run consisting of seven defeats and a drawn third Ashes match at Manchester’s Old Trafford. “Our goal hasn’t changed,” Clarke told reporters at The Oval on Tuesday. “Like I’ve said a number of times in my press conferences we are trying to win every Test that we play. “This Test is no different. There are a number of reasons we need to have success in this Test match but the main reason is because every Test you play for Australia you want to win. We don’t need any extra motivation than that. “It (a win) would be a nice way to finish the Test side of the tour.” Australia were once renowned for a ‘pick and stick’ approach exemplified by the career of former captain Steve Waugh, who didn’t score a hundred until his 26th Test before becoming one of the leading batsmen of his era. By contrast, this series has seen 17 out of the 18-man squad given a taste of Test action, with only reserve wicketkeeper Matthew Wade missing out on that chance.
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Panesar let England down: Cook LONDON: Troubled spinner Monty Panesar “let the England shirt down” with the unsavoury incident that sparked his exit from Sussex, captain Alistair Cook said, but insisted he could revive his Test career. Panesar, 31, was fined by police for urinating in public after he was ejected from a Brighton nightclub on August 5 and Monday saw Sussex announce he’d played his last game for the south coast club. The experienced leftarmer was sent out on loan to Essex, Cook’s county, and on Wednesday he was representing his new side against Northamptonshire, where Panesar made his name, in the County Championship. He took an economical one wicket for 72 runs in 34 overs. Panesar was not included in England’s squad for the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval starting on Wednesday despite the south London ground’s reputation for taking turn, with uncapped Lancashire leftarmer Simon Kerrigan called up instead as the second spinner behind off-break bowler Graeme Swann. “First and foremost, certainly what’s happened over the last couple of weeks has been disappointing,” Cook said at The Oval on Tuesday.
Cook eyes England record Shaun Marsh targets LONDON: Alastair Cook said Tuesday the prospect of being the first England side to win a home Ashes series 4-0 was a spur as they prepared for the fifth and final Test against Australia at The Oval. At 3-0 up, England have already retained the Ashes and won the series. But England captain Cook was in no doubt about the worth of a 4-0 scoreline. “I think it would be very special. To win the Investec Ashes 40 has never been done before (by England) so that is our motivation as a side,” Cook told reporters at The Oval on Tuesday, the day before the match. “We have a lot of recordbreakers in this team and the chance to add another little notch
‘Criticism in my stride’ LONDON: England captain Alastair Cook said he is happy to face continued criticism over his leadership style so long as his side keep winning. Under Cook’s leadership, England head into this week’s Test having taken the series at 3-0 up, with the chance to do what none of their predecessors have done — win four Tests against Oz during an English season. is a great motivation,” added Cook, the only England batsman to have scored 25 Test hundreds. “Any time you can beat Australia is a great feeling.” Unlike the past two Ashes series in England, in 2005 and
2009, this one has been decided before The Oval Test and Cook said: “It is a good feeling, of course. When we were sitting before the series, to be here at The Oval 3-0 up you’d certainly have taken it then.” AFP
Test call-up
SYDNEY: Shaun Marsh is targeting a Test call-up for Australia’s home Ashes series this year, looking to capitalise on the poor form of Phil Hughes, Ed Cowan and Usman Khawaja. The 30-year-old has not played a Test since Australia hosted India in the 2011-2012 summer but has been included in the squad for this month’s oneday international and T20 series against England. He hopes it will prove a springboard back into Test contention for the Ashes against England in Australia from November. “I’m sure there will be opportunities for players in that Test team,” said Marsh, who was in strong form for
Australian A recently in South Africa. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I feel like I’m in a pretty good head space at the moment with my game and I just have to put the runs on the board now to get that opportunity again.” AFP
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
sports
WENGER CONFIRMS OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN BLOW
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger revealed on Tuesday that Alex OxladeChamberlain will be out of action “for a while” with a knee injury. The 20year-old hobbled off during Arsenal’s shock 3-1 loss at home to Aston Villa, prompting reports he could be sidelined for up to six months.
FIRST INTERNATIONAL IN 10 YEARS
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Pak clueless against Afghan The Afghanistan football team sparked rowdy celebrations across the war-battered nation after securing a convincing 3-0 win over arch-rivals Pakistan. USMAN SHARIFI Agence France-Presse KABUL: Afghanistan’s football team sparked rowdy celebrations across the war-battered nation Tuesday after securing a convincing 3-0 win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the first international match in Kabul for ten years. A delirious 6,000 capacity crowd packed the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) stadium for a game that unleashed a wave of patriotic pride in a country beset for decades by war, poverty and Islamist extremism. Afghanistan, ranked at 139th in the world just above Pakistan, gave home fans little to worry about, dominating the game from the kick-off and going three goals ahead mid-way through the second half. The match was promoted as a symbol of football’s ability to foster peace and unite countries in a shared love of sport, but the result was celebrated by many Afghans as a sweet victory over an old and bitter adversity. “I am a huge football fan, and this match was so important for us," said Shabir Ahmad, 27, a government employee at the match. “There are a lot of rivalries between Afghanistan and Pakistan, even if this match was meant to boost friendship."
Political ties are badly strained between Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan, which blame each other for bloody violence plaguing both countries. Many in Afghanistan are convinced that Pakistan pulls the strings behind the 12-year insurgency that has raged since the Taliban hardliners were ousted in 2001. Just a small number of women were in the stands, and there was no sign of Pakistani support despite thousands of Pakistanis living and working in the Afghan capital. Security was intense with several rings of armed riot police and soldiers beating back frustrated ticketless crowds locked outside of the stadium. Kabul has been hit by a series of militant attacks this year, including near the president’s palace and on the Supreme Court, and the Taliban have vowed to step up violence as the elections loom early next year. One spectator, Ahmadzai Fazeli, 25, said that insurgents at a Taliban roadblock in volatile Wardak province had wished the team well. “On the way here the Taliban stopped me. I told them I was going to the football match, and they happily let me pass," he
Afghan footballers celebrate their 3-0 win against Pakistan at the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) stadium in Kabul on Tuesday. AFP/MASSOUD HOSSAINI
said. “Now I am here feeling very patriotic and happy." Ahead of kick-off, tempers frayed as police struggled to control unruly crowds pushing to get access to the game, which was attended by some senior Afghan officials and foreign diplomats, including the British ambassador. But the final whistle triggered delirium as players parad-
ed the national flag in front of dancing spectators and crowds celebrated on the city streets. The game, which was played on an artificial pitch funded by the FIFA world body, was the first home international since Afghanistan played Turkmenistan in 2003. Football was not banned under the Taliban’s 1996-2001 regime but the old Ghazi stadi-
um in Kabul was a notorious venue for executions, stonings and mutilations. Tuesday’s game — at the separate AFF stadium in the city — will be followed on Thursday by the start of the second season of the eight-team Afghan Premier League. A return match is scheduled in the Pakistani city of Lahore in December. AFP
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Former champs in dire situation
PIRATE IRWIN Agence France-Presse
PARIS: Former European champions Celtic and AC Milan were left with work to do to reach the Champions League group stage after their play-off first leg games on Tuesday. While AC Milan will approach next week’s second leg at home to PSV Eindhoven having secured a 1-1 draw and more importantly an away goal Celtic slumped to an embarrassing 2-0 defeat away at unheralded Kazakh outfit Shakhter Karagandy.
Two other sides in action fared far better on their travels, Spanish outfit Real Sociedad winning 2-0 at Lyon while a hattrick by Roman Shirokov eased Zenit St. Petersburg to a 4-1 win in Portugal over Champions League debutants Pacos de Ferreira. PSV exposed Milan’s rustiness - they have not yet started their league season - several times in the early stages but still went behind to a Stephan El Shaarawy header on the quarterhour mark. The Dutch side more than
Former European champs Celtic and AC Milan were left with work to do to reach the CL group stage after their play-off first leg games. held their own despite their youth — the back four’s average age was 19 1/2 — and deservedly got an equaliser on the hour as Tim Matavz pounced on an error by Milan goalkeeper Christian
Abbiati. Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri was relieved to have got a draw, but added that Milan’s problems were far from over. “It is a good result but given the problems we had in the firsthalf and the rhythm of the match which PSV imposed on us we must be very wary with regard to what lies in store in the second leg," he said. “It will take a good team to beat this PSV side, who are a young and very promising side." His PSV counterpart Phillip Cocu said that their fluent,
attacking football strategy would not change for the second leg, given the problems it had caused their opponents. “Prior to their goal we were head and shoulders above them," said the former Dutch international. Having equalised we are still in with a chance. We had six players who are less than 21 years of age in the team this evening and they showed great maturity. “We were fluent in our passing and movement and a vivacity and liveliness that put our opponents off their game." AFP