NORTHERN DELIGHTS
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ith all the world leaders recently in Northern Ireland for the G8 summit, don't you think you should make a trip, too? The sweeping landscapes and friendly cities make it a wonderful, often overlooked, holiday destination. PG 16&17
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WEATHER: A MIX OF CLOUDY AND CLEAR SKIES; 30°C
Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper
JUNE 23, 2013 HYDERABAD
32 PAGES
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ON SUNDAY The new academic year began with much fanfare as the government promised schools textbooks, uniforms and amenities. But 10 days in, lack of water, power and educational basics have left students in the lurch, while apathetic politicos continue to spout platitudes.
GOVT’S FARCICAL
‘CHALO SCHOOL’
CAMPAIGN GLOSSES OVER AN
AWFUL TRUTH REPORT ON PG 4
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CITY SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
ENCHANTING MOVES
Avasa. Where: Sky, Avasa, Madhapur When: June 29, 9 pm
Kakatiya food Kakatiya Food Festival is on. Where: Bidri, Marriott When: Till June 30, 6.30 pm to 11.30 pm Contact: +91 40 2752 2577
Photo exhibition Stray Birds, a photo poetry exhibition by Anand Vishwanadha is on. Where: Goethe- Zentrum Hyderabad When: Till June 23, 9.30 am to 5.30 pm Contact: 2335-0443
The bicycle project A sale of topnotch photographs including prize-winning ones, compiled by Rohan Pamnani and Rohan Reddy. Proceeds from this sale will be utilized to fund bicycles for school-going rural children. Where: Iconart Gallery, Banjara Hills When: Till June 24, 11.30 am to 7 pm Contact: Swathi Kumar Ph No 9849024217
Food fest Pasta food festival is on. Where: Prego, The Westin When: Till June 30, 7 pm to 11 pm Contact: 040 6767 6828
An arty affair Soulmate, an exhibition on subjects
A fitting tribute Musical tribute to Mohd. Rafi by Saleh Hamza Khan Ather's Yaad-ERafi will be held. Where: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Basheerbagh When: June 23, 6 pm Contact: 93910-19280
of human relations and inner conflicts by Priyanka Poogalia. Where: Poecile Art Gallery, Banjara Hills When: Till June 23, 11 am to 7 pm Contact: 88861-21314
Film appreciation Reflect and unwind about thrillers from world cinema. Where: Yavanika Films, Begumpet When: July 22 and 23, July 29 and July 30,11am to 7 pm
Masala workout Masala bhangra workout will be held. Where: Ozone 3- Fitness N Spa, Banjara Hills When: June 23, 10 am to 6 pm Contact: 001-212-213-8208
CINEMAS
Maharashtrian classical dancer-composer Roshan Datye put up a brilliant performance during a road-show organised by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation in the City on Saturday.
Word club
Art attack
A fun workshop for kids above the age of 8 will be organised. Where: Just books, Jubilee Hills. When: Every Sunday, 10 am to 12 pm Contact: 9849748117
Aakar Art academy is conducting a painting workshop for kids above the age of 4. Where: Just Books, Jubilee Hills When: Every Friday and Saturday from June 28, Friday - 4 to 5.30 pm Contact: (040) 66662323
Mime workshop
Playwrights workshop Workshop by Swetanshu Bora will be held. Where: Mulitple Venues, Hyderabad When: June 23, 11.30 am to 4.30 pm Contact: 95811-91510
Documentary screening Charles Darwin & Tree Of Life will be screened. Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills When: June 23, 6.30 to 8.30 pm Contact: 96427-31329
Auditions for Natvarya, a workshop by Indian Mime Academy will be held. Where: Sutradhar School of Acting, Himayathnagar When: June 23, 11 am to 5 pm Contact: 82971-17515
Celebrity DJ Celebrity DJ Nikhil Chinapa will set the dance floor on fire at Sky,
Big Cinemas, Ameerpet, 30581470; Cinemax, Banjara Hills, 44565555; Cine Planet , Kompally, 61606060; INOX, Banjara Hills, 447677770, Prasads, Tank Bund Rd, 23448888; PVR, Punjagutta, 08800900009; Talkie Town, Miyapur, 40214175; Tivoli, Secunderabad 27844973
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CITY SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Blood donation camp
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he State BJP has organised a blood donation camp today at its office opposite Exhibition Grounds on the occasion of Dr Shayamaprasad Mukherjee vardhanthi. Vishnuvardhan Reddy, president Yuva Morcha, presided over the blood donation event. State BJP president Kishan Reddy and a host of other leaders will be present, a party release said.
21 women flight cadets
Helpline for stranded pilgrims
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s many as 21 women were among the 180 flight cadets, who joined the fraternity of the Indian Air Force. At combined graduation parade held at the Air Force Academy, Dundigal near Hyderabad, Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh presented Commission to them, on behalf of the President of India.
‘Jagan in jail is skewed justice’
he Andhra Pradesh government today started a helpline to provide information about the pilgrims stranded in Uttarakhand. “In order to attend the calls from the relatives of pilgrims, a control room with the telephone number 040-23451043 has been opened,” the State disaster management commissioner T Radha said in a release.
BEST PERFORMANCE
APGenco received a best performance award from Jyotiraditya M Scindia, minister of state (independent charge) for power, at New Delhi.
Md INKESHAF AHMED
ahmed.m@postnoon.com
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he repeated assertion of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy that his three Cabinet colleagues, who are facing CBI inquiry, did not commit any mistake while issuing GOs helping Jagan Mohan Reddy amassing wealth has led to a relevant question in political circles. If these worthies are innocent, what is the crime of Jagan Mohan Reddy? Reacting to the issue, YSRC official spokesperson G Ramachandra Rao said that the statement of the chief minister had made it clear that YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is innocent. Jagan was not a public personality during the time when he is alleged to have amassed wealth. Going by the logic, it can’t happen that the giver is innocent while the taker alone is guilty. Can it, he asks. Rao insists that the cases against Jagan have been more a political conspiracy than a crime. In this game, he says, the main Opposition, the TDP, played a crucial part with the Congress. “We have been saying that the cases against YS Jagan
We have been saying that the cases against YS Jagan Mohan Reddy were politically motivated and that he did not commit grave crimes. The CM’s statement finally makes it true. G Ramchandra Rao, YSRC spokesperson Mohan Reddy were politically motivated and that he did not commit grave crimes. The CM’s statement finally makes it true. TDP leader P Keshav also admitted on the floor of the House that his party was responsible for the imprisonment of YS Jagan,” he said. Party MLC Jupudi Prabhakar Rao also echoed similar sentiment. He said that the conspiracy hatched by the ruling Congress and the opposition TDP is now out. Rao said that his party would be holding awareness meetings across the State to tell people that both the Congress and the TDP colluded with each other to send YS Jagan to jail.
This criminal has ‘scruples’ T Yadgiri is a habitual offender, committing theft, vehicle lifting and snatching gold chains. But he does it all for his family, he says. Mohd Subhan mohd.s@postnoon.com
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he ineffectual law and justice system that fail to prevent repeat offences comes out stark in the case involving one T Yadgiri, a habitual offender, who moved with half-a-dozen aliases and has on his account some 200 criminal cases since his crime career took off in 1987. Now 57, Yadgiri continues to follow the criminal path, says ACP Malkajgiri, P Radhakishan Rao. Cases registered in different police stations included theft, burglary, vehicle-lifting, snatching gold chains. He is a resident of Banda Maisamma Nagar in Lower Tank Bund. He was a binding worker and has a wife and two children. Yadgiri told the police he had got into crime only for the money. Yadgiri was caught and convicted several times but he has
now learnt the knack of dealing with the police and the justice system. In 1992, police opened a rowdy sheet on him. His initiation to crime was at the hands of one K Raju, himself an ustad at the game. But after some time, they began to pursue their separate courses. Yadgiri is a dedicated family man, unlike many dandies who splash around with girls and polish off the ill-gotten money. Yadgiri told the police that when he strikes it rich, he
takes his family out on vacation and enjoys. He would come back to the fold after his pocket is empty. As if he was making a statement on the loyalty, his wallet has the photographs of his wife and kids. Recently, Yadgiri had stolen a scooter from Rani Gunj area in Secunderabad and he used this vehicle for snatching. He was caught during vehicle checking. After the usual ‘police method’, he yielded 17 tolas of stolen gold ornaments besides the bike.
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CITY SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Govt fails public schools
Government celebrates ‘chalo school’ but schools are devoid of power, water, and textbooks!
plying uniforms to schools. “Initially we had handed over the contract to some SHGs to stitch the school uniforms but they failed to deliver. This is the reason for the delay. But we will make sure that in one month’s time we will try to provide school uniforms to all the students,” said the minister. Teachers and other educationalists however feel that, this year too, the government will not keep its word and eventually students will drop out. “We have been hearing the same reasons cited by the government every year. This year, nearly 700 schools in rural areas were merged for lack of adequate students. The government should get its act together,” says M Ravinder, AP Teachers Federation.
ALEENA ALICE
aleena.t@postnoon.com
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t has been over 10 days since schools began the new academic year. However, the State government and the education department have once again failed to live up to their word of supplying basic amenities to government schools in the State. The government is still struggling to get textbooks printed and meanwhile, students in government schools are playing marbles and waiting for the books. Earlier this month, the government had undertaken a 15-day special programme, Vidya Sambaralu, involving teachers,
NO local leaders and officials for enrolment of students in government schools. However, despite their big plans, the government seems to have failed in taking forward the initiative to a practical conclusion. So far not even 30 per cent of textbooks have been distributed in Rayalaseema and Nellore districts. In Hyderabad district, the figure crossed 50 per cent.
Accepting the government’s failure in keeping its word, minister for primary education and textbooks S Sailajanath said, “There is a delay in the supply of text books. However we are trying our level best to ensure that the textbooks reach the schools as soon as possible.” Stating that the delay was because of the change in syllabi, he said, “So far nearly three
crore textbooks have been printed and 70 per cent of it is completed. The delay was mainly because of the revision of syllabi and increase in production. We will ensure that by first week of July, textbooks will be supplied to all the schools.” If change in the syllabi was the reason for the dearth of textbooks, practical problems is the reason cited in the delay in sup-
POWER , NO WATER
This year, the government had stated that 15 days prior to the schools’ reopening date, it will ensure that facilities of clean classrooms, drinking water and proper electricity would be in place. However according to senior officials, the electricity bills in many schools have not been paid, due to which the electricity has been cut. Same is the case with water supply. When asked, the primary education minister said he was unaware and would make an inquiry.
Promising you death, destruction 139 City buildings are certified ‘on the verge of collapse’ but owners are unwilling, GHMC is unmindful, courts are wondering. Md Nizamuddin
All fall down
nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com
Total number of buildings identified as not livable:
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ill the GHMC learn from its past mistakes or from the current experiences of Mumbai, where collapsing buildings and deaths have become such common news that authorities easily forget, while life goes on for the general populace. Hardly likely. In the overcrowded cities of India, antiquity of buildings is no great worry to anyone, until, of course, their roofs come crashing down. In the GHMC limits, 377 old buildings have potential to be another Monda market. A total of 179 buildings were added to the list of the existing dilapidated structures by the GHMC in its recent report. Most of these come from the area of Secunderabad (Circle 18), which stand at 75, followed by 34 structures in the Goshamahal (Circle 8) and 27 under Charminar (Circle 5).
737
Number of buildings that received final notices:
568
Buildings waiting to be knocked down for long:
377
Extremely dangerous buildings:
139
737
BUILDINGS IN ALL
This list adds to the already identified 558 dilapidated buildings in the Corporation limits. These are referred to as ‘Old’ and newly identified as ‘New’ officially. Almost all the buildings out of 737, about 728 of them, were referred to the engineering section for ‘techni-
cal opinion’. But only 302 buildings were examined by the engineering section. Many unwilling owners try to buy time from municipal engineers or stay from courts.
0 REPORTS ON TECHNICAL OPINION Interestingly, none of the engineers from Circle 4 and 5,
which come under Charminar, gave their technical opinion. Even though 218 structures exist in the area, number of reports are zero in both the columns. Why? Nobody asks, least of all their superiors. Some 125 buildings were repaired in the meantime. The officials of GHMC demolished
244 structures, according to the report. The structures, which are waiting to be demolished, are 377. Some of the building owners, 36 of them, have approached court.
MOST UNSAFE
Last year, the corporation had identified 144 buildings which were on the verge of collapse. While it had removed two in Gowlipura and one in Shalibanda, two houses, one each in Charminar and Moghalpura, were partially removed. The remaining 139 structures have not been touched by the GHMC officials till now. Kalikaman, Aliyabad, Doodhbowli, Muslim Gunj bridge, Chudi Bazar, Goshamahal, Purani Haveli, Gaddi Annaram, Malakpet, Dhoobhighat, Chanchalguda, Azampura, Dabeerpura, Sultan Shahi, Lal Darwaza, Moghapura, Ladbazar and Gowlipura are the areas where most of these buildings exist.
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READERS’ LETTERS SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Doing our part
Trouble on three wheels
Food poisoning remains a problem in the City, and its lack of food safety officials is a problem (Md Nizamuddin's This is why you got food poisoned: 8 million people in Hyderabad and only 4 food safety officers!). A reader, however, says the consumer too should be proactive when it comes to ensuring food safety.
Aleena Alice's article on more autos hitting City roads (20K more autos in Hyderabad; police to set up more pre-paid auto stands) got mixed reviews. While some agreed that adding more autos was not the solution, others were not as certain it was a bad move.
here is no improvement in ensuring food safety though Tamil Nadu has over 580 food safety officers. Surprisingly, they are yet to take food samples from the food business operators and no legal action has been taken against anyone, so far. It is the responsibility of consumer/civil society organisations to mount pressure on the monitoring officials to ensure the safety of the food.
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A
via email Read the report at http://postnoon.com/2013/06/10/this-is-whyyou-got-food-poisoned-8-millionpeople-in-hyderabad-and-only-4food-safety-officers/129723
TOP LETTER
travel by auto a lot and it’s very rare to find any honest auto drivers. Increasing the number of autos will not help anyone. Thinking so itself is very stupid. All these auto guys have an understanding among themselves and will never go for meter and if someone agrees to, you can be assured that the
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metre is tampered.
CHARAN
via email s the writer a car owner? If so, I can understand why she would not want more autos on the roads. What is the difference between a car and auto? Autos actually take less space. We need more public transport in the City. Yes, they are as
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bad as you say but is the solution to the existing problem in Hyderabad less autos? Give us more buses and comfortable buses, we will use them.
MR
via email Read the report at http://postnoon.com/2013/06 /20/20k-more-autos-in-hyderabad-police-to-set-up-morepre-paid-auto-stands/131333
FREE OUR SCHOOLS A reader was outraged at the thought of private players hijacking education and healthcare in the country, without paying the slightest attention to government orders (Aleena Alice's Elite schools in Hyderabad unfazed by government diktat). While we agree, his suggestion of putting education and healthcare in government hands alone seems drastic. Especially considering what our government has done for education so far.
every week
We are giving `500 to the reader who writes in the best letter every week. So get to work. You can e-mail us at feedback@postnoon.com, or write to us at Postnoon, #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Rd no 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, 500033. ALSO SEND US YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS.
Prudhvi Raju K's weekly real estate round-up continues to attract readers (ORR neighbourhood draws greenery lovers). The report on development projects in ORR area had a reader writing in to advocate caution before buying. The government’s restrictions on the area makes it difficult to get residential, commercial licences. ll such information is false and misguiding. All villages in the GO.111 are restricted for any development except agriculture. HMDA is refusing to even sanction a single room for a farm house. All permissions are Gram Panchayat's, that too HMDA has prohibited. All such developments are under the probe of the High Court. So be cautious. The water levels have fallen.
AHAMED
Win `500
Check before buying
realised two basic areas are vital for the progress of any society, any nation. Those are education and health. These two essentials should be accessible to all citizen and therefore I feel private players should never be allowed to enter the industries. These two areas
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should be under government or charitable trusts who truly believe in service. Now teaching has become the worst profession. Teachers are underpaid and misused by most private players. Only people with service motto should be encouraged. If I have authority, I will send to jail for 10 years those who are exploiting education for private benefit. via email Read the report at http://postnoon.com/2013/06/21/elite-schoolsin-hyderabad-unfazed-by-government-diktat/131532
Pushing the boundaries The 8-member City team that cycled from London to Paris inspired many (Arun Yellamaty's How an 8-member Hyderabad team cycled from London to Paris). A reader enthusiastically adds his congratulations. n this lazy cyber age, to the people who are involved in this event, I can say a single word: Marvellous. Kudos to all. Students or pensioners, everybody should
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DIPANKAR
start pedalling for health. Good way to burn calories and toxins. Keep it up and set an example for lazy lads.I warmly encourage all of you.
SYED ASHRAF
via email Read the report at http://postnoon.com/2013/06/2 1/how-an-8-member-hyderabadteam-cycled-from-london-toparis/131504
S KUMAR
via email Read the report at http://postnoon.com/2013/05/24/orr-neighbourhood-draws-greenerylovers/126996
Choking the City Md Nizamuddin's story on the non-implementation of the plastic ban (Respect plastic ban or pay fines) brought out the fact that the government is still struggling to ban plastics from the City. he action taken by GHMC is quite right. But until and unless this action is implemented at the end of the manufacturers, it has no use. Otherwise, it will be like the warning messages on cigarette packs, “Smoking is injurious to health”. The malls and big shops are, instead of implementing the ban on plastic usage, benefiting from the ban — like asking the customers to pay for the cost of plastic bag and use it, which was earlier supplied free of cost.
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PRAVIN CHAUHAN
via email Read the report at http://postnoon.com/2013/06/04/respectplastic-ban-or-pay-fines/128762
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NATION SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Visa-on-Arrival for Chinese?
Voting begins in HP bypoll
CAG questions VVIP chopper deal
NEW DELHI: Keen to ease travel
NEW DELHI: The CAG has submitted its report on
SHIMLA: Polling for the parliamentary
facilities for Chinese nationals, Tourism Ministry has proposed Visa-on-Arrival provision for them as it senses huge potential for exchanges in this sector. China is among 30 countries for which the Tourism Ministry wants Visa-onArrival facility, a proposal if endorsed, will raise to 41 the number of countries that will have such a facility.
AgustaWestland chopper deal in which it is understood to have raised questions over various aspects of the deal, including conduct of trials outside the country despite the defence ministry rejecting such a proposal twice. The report on the Rs 3,600 crore deal for 12 VVIP choppers was finalised during the tenure of former CAG Vinod Rai and was submitted on April 25, over a month before incumbent Shashi Kant Sharma took over, sources told PTI.
constituency of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh began Sunday amid tight security, election officials said here. However, votes in the landslide-hit Kinnaur district, part of the constituency, will be polled June 27. The vote count will be held simultaneously June 30. Electors could be seen at booths even before voting started at 8am.
Civilian choppers to pitch in
Leading the service are the helicopter fleet of ONGC, Coal India, NTPC and Pawan Hans. Around 30,000 are still stranded in the hill state that was hit by torrential rains and flash floods. DEHRADUN/NEW DELHI: India’s state-owned corporate choppers are on a mission to rescue the marooned pilgrims in Uttarakhand. Leading the service are the helicopter fleet of ONGC, Coal India, NTPC and Pawan Hans. “Being a government outfit, we have been mandated to rescue every one who is stranded due to this calamity; our fifth chopper will be pressed into service from Sunday. It is a mammoth task, difficult terrain and a very bad situation; but we will not rest till every stranded person is rescued,” Senior Commander Ajay Shrivastava,
Havildars to make a comeback NEW DELHI: In a move that will bring cheers to lakhs of constables working in paramilitary forces, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to re-introduce the long abolished post of ‘Havildar’ in forces like CRPF and BSF ensuring a 5-year faster promotion to these personnel in the lower rungs of hierarchy. A committee of force chiefs of CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB and CISF recently met Union Home Secretary RK Singh after which it was decided to create and introduce this post which will lessen the long promotion time of 19-20 years for a Constable to become a Head Constable by 5 years, and he/she will be promoted in 14 years to the new post of ‘Havildar’. From ‘Havildar’ to Head Constable the promotion time would be about two-three years which effectively means that these personnel who are the backbone of security forces will be able to get two promotions in less than 20 years as compared with the current norm of only one promoPTI tion in two decades.
Centre plans to fight crime ‘from the sky’ NEW DELHI: Helicopters with guntoting commandos and sophisticated surveillance gadgets will soon keep vigil over seven major cities in the country under a Home Ministry project aimed at checking crime. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad will get helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles fitted with highpowered cameras, sensors and other surveillance equipment under the Home Ministry’s Safe City Project. The ministry has said in its latest guidelines that it is essential to have surveillance
THE SAFE CITY PROJECT WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN DELHI, MUMBAI, KOLKATA, CHENNAI, HYDERABAD, BANGALORE AND AHMEDABAD.
from air with regard to law and order and other crime-related activities in the cities. “The air surveillance can be obtained by positioning various equipment i.e. balloons, UAVs, helicopters etc. which should have gadgets like cameras, sensors etc. to cater to specialised requirements on the occasion,” the guidelines said. The data (video, audio, text) collected from these devices should be fed to the Command Control Centre for necessary action for both preventive and post-incident operations. The Centre said cities should be covered with a network of CCTVs. The network must cover vital public places and critical infrastructure. It could also cover airports, railway stations, metro stations, bus stations, hospitals, universities, schools and colleges, major crossings and roundabout on the roads. PTI
who operates a Dauphin N3 chopper from Jolly Grant Airport to various rescue missions in the state, said. “There are many choppers from around the country belonging to different companies, most of which are state-run, that are here to serve the people. The situation on the ground is devastating.” According to officials, around 30,000 are still stranded in the hill state that was hit by torrential rains, flash floods and cloud bursts over the last weekend. According to officials, high altitude operations, heavy winds and congested airways are hamIANS pering the relief efforts.
Polio claims 11-month-old boy in Maharashtra LATUR: In a severe setback to the government’s efforts to make the country polio-free, an 11month-old male child succumbed to the virus in a government hospital here late Saturday, an official said. Rohit R Shelke, who was detected as “polio positive” about two weeks ago, died at Maharashtra Institute of Medical Science and Research (MIMSR) Medical College, Latur, MIMSR dean Deepti Dongaonkar said Sunday. The child hailed from Khanapur village in Dharur block of Beed district, some 140 km from here, in the backward Marathwada region of IANS the state.
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WORLD SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
10 shot in hotel in Pakistan
Palestinian Assaf is Arab idol
Syrian rebels to be armed
ISLAMABAD: A group of gunmen
GAZA CITY: Jubilant Palestinians took to
have stormed a hotel in northern Pakistan, killing ten foreign tourists, Pakistani security officials report. Chinese, Russian and Ukrainian citizens were among the victims of the attack. This is the first attack on tourists in the far flung region of the country and as yet the motives behind it are unclear, police sources said.
the streets in their thousands early Sunday after singer Mohammed Assaf won a pan-Arab singing contest that has had millions of viewers fixed to their TV screens since March. Saturday’s televised victory was the first such success for a Palestinian entertainer and sparked an unprecedented response in the occupied territories.
DOHA: World powers supporting Syria’s rebels decided on Saturday to provide them with urgent military aid so they can counter “brutal attacks” by the regime and “protect the Syrian people.” Even as they prepared to step up their own contribution to a war that has killed 100,000 people, they demanded Iran and Hezbollah stop supporting President Bashar al-Assad.
‘The Cup for whom?’ Fresh protests rocked Brazil Saturday despite conciliatory remarks by President Dilma Rousseff, who pledged to improve public services and fight harder against corruption. BELO HORIZONTE: Fresh protests rocked Brazil Saturday despite conciliatory remarks by President Dilma Rousseff, who pledged to improve public services and fight harder against corruption. Rousseff ’s televised address late Friday appeared to have failed to sway protesters, as activists vowed to continue the struggle and ordinarily footballmad Brazilians once again protested outside Confederations Cup games. More than 70,000 people chanting “The Cup for whom?” rallied in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte as Mexico edged Japan 2-1 in the football tournament seen as a dress
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ctivists place on the sand 500 baloons painted as footballs representing the 500,000 homicides occured in Brazil in the last 10 years, at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Policemen move into position in the street during a protest in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
The cup of contention n
40% said they “totally”
backed the staging of the World Cup coming back to Brazil for the first time since 1950.
27% generally favors it. n 29% were against it. n
rehearsal for next year’s World Cup. Police fired tear gas when some of the protesters hurled stones and tried to break through the security perimeter around the Mineirao stadium. Fifteen people were reported
injured in the clashes. “We are against the World Cup because it masks the problems the country faces,” said musician Leonardo Melo, who dismissed Rousseff ’s speech as “rhetoric.” Over the past two weeks, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians have protested against the billions of dollars being spent on the World Cup, accusing the government of wasting money and neglecting health, education and transport. More than one million marched in scores of cities on Thursday. In Sao Paulo, 35,000 people took to the streets peacefully Saturday to denounce a proposed
AFP/YURI CORTEZ
The issues n
3 quarters of Brazilians
back protest, according to the Epoca magazine poll. n
77% cited the high cost of
using public transport as the key reason for their dissatisfaction. n
47% said they were fed up with politicians.
constitutional amendment that would take away the power of independent public prosecutors to probe crimes, making it harder to combat corruption.
Pitt scraps promotions in Brazil RIO DE JANEIRO: US Hollywood Alister Brad Pitt has scrapped a plan to come to Brazil to promote his new film “World War Z,” the movie’s distributors said Saturday, citing social unrest in the country. A statement issued by Paramount said Pitt would not make a planned trip to Rio because of “ongoing events in Brazil.” AFP
AFP
Snowden airs Hostages safe, African new China claims wing of Qaeda says
Britain plans visa bonds for Asians
HONG KONG: The United States pressed for Edward
LONDON: Britain is planning to force visitors from India, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries whose nationals are deemed to pose a “high risk” of immigration abuse to provide a cash bond before they can enter the country, a report said Sunday. The Sunday Times newspaper said that from November, a pilot scheme would target visitors from those three countries plus Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ghana. Visitors aged 18 and over would be forced to hand over £3,000 ($4,600, 3,500 euros) from November for a six-month visit visa. They will forfeit the money if they overstay in Britain after their visa has expired. Initially the scheme will target hundreds of visitors, but the plan is to extend it to several thousand.
Snowden’s formal extradition from Hong Kong as the former spy fought back with new allegations aired Sunday about the far-reaching extent of US cyber-espionage in China. Documents given by the former intelligence contractor to Hong Kong’s Sunday Morning Post could embarrass the United States in Beijing, just as the White House demands the return of a man that many in Washington are calling a “traitor”. The United States slapped an arrest warrant on Snowden Friday, and White House National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said the charges “present a good case for extradition under the treaty, the extradition treaty between the United States and Hong Kong”.
NICOSIA: Al-Qaeda’s north African branch said in a statement Saturday that eight European hostages it is holding are alive and well, promising to release a new video of the five Frenchmen among them. Earlier in the day demonstrations were held in several towns and cities in France in a show of support for four of the French hostages who have been held by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) for 1,000 days. Thierry Dol, Daniel Larribe, Pierre Legrand and Marc Feret — mostly working for French public nuclear giant Areva and its subcontractor Satom — were kidnapped in Niger by Al-Qaedalinked militants on September 16 in 2010. Francoise Larribe, wife of Daniel, was also captured but was released in 2011.
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COMMENT SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
EDITORIALS SHOULDN’T MODI BE the one-eyed king? While time is running out for those stranded in Uttarakhand, a couple of news items from there catch the eye: 15,000 Gujaratis have been shifted to their homes, and AP may hire copter to rescue pilgrims! That gets you wondering if Narendra Modi is, after all, an able administrator. Is it then the ‘secular’ card that seals India’s fate? It is this card which is protecting the inefficient. It is this card, which gives Congress a clear 60-seat advantage over the BJP (today), since, if 150 seats are enough for Congress to form a government, BJP need at least 210. Is there anything that critics of Modi have apart from the 2002 riots? Not even one worth the name. Any article on Modi any dissertation on the man is incomplete without 2002. Our intelligentsia is letting down our motherland. The option is clear. Live with the status quo of corruption, inefficiencies and thuggery or take a chance with Modi. Is there any other viable, valid and efficient alternative to Modi? If there is, then we do not have to. Agreed he is not perfect. Far from it. But at least he is, by far, one of the most able administrators India has seen who understands every segment of the society, economy very well. If other ‘good administrators’ such as Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh, Manohar Parikkar (incidentally all from BJP), Navin Patnaik or even a Nitish Kumar can be seen strong enough to cobble a majority and form the government then he should be backed. Alas, there is no alternative in sight with an honest chance. In the melee, the present dispensation will continue to benefit and subject India to more years of ignominy!
TROPHY WILL shift spotlight Whether it is because of the fear of being caught in the focussed spotlight in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal or the result of the best of the IPL teams playing alongside, Team India has played near-perfect cricket over the last three weeks in the ICC Champions Trophy in its concluding chapter. One more good performance out in the middle today will help the team redeem itself.
Ever-increasing poverty
NATHANIA
From the hip SYED SHOAIB
D
uring monsoon, it’s crucial which raindrop of news you focus on. We are flooded with reports of how the floods have overpowered the devout and the residents of religious towns. Rape continues unabated with the most recent case coming from the temple town Udupi. Gold remains unpredictable, picking up slightly after threatening to slide to a new low. BJP is making all the wrong noises before the crucial 2014 elections. Parking fee in Bangalore is set to touch a new high as in New York. Touch Gold actor Dhanush is reaching new heights starring with Sonam Kapoor in Raanjhanaa. Nelson Mandela still fights it out for life in intensive care. Maria Sharapova enters the beauty world and bookies and cookies lie low in the spot-fixing world of cricket.
In the churn of events, the piece of information that portends darkness for me in the 2013 closest super moon to Earth on June 23 is that the poorest of poor in our country survive on barely Rs17 per day in villages and Rs23 a day in cities. This data released by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) on Thursday makes you realise that poverty is a daily reality that a majority live with. According to the data, which relates to 2011-12 (July-June), five per cent population on the bottom rung had an average monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) of Rs521.44 in rural areas and Rs700.50 in urban areas. On the other end of the spectrum, top five per cent of the population had an MPCE of Rs4,481 in rural areas and Rs10,282 in urban areas. According to a World Bank study released last week, India now has a greater share of the world’s poorest than it did thirty years ago. Then it was home to one fifth of the world’s poorest people but today it accounts for one-third – 400 million. The study found that the number of extremely poor people had declined from half of the world’s population in 1981 to one fifth in
IS IT SHEER POPULATION GROWTH OR THE UNEVEN DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES, THANKS TO CORRUPTION THAT IS THE KEY REASON FOR THE GROWING POVERTY IN INDIA? 2011, but voiced concern at its increase in Sub-Saharan Africa and continuing high level in India. For the average rural Indian, food accounted for 52.9 per cent of the value of consumption during 2011-12. This included 10.8 per cent for cereals and cereal substitutes, 8 per cent for milk and milk products, 7.9 per cent on beverages, refreshments and processed food, and 6.6 per cent on vegetables. Fuel and light for household purposes (excluding transportation) accounted for 8 per cent, clothing and footwear 7 per cent, medical expenses 6.7 per cent, education 3.5 per cent, conveyance 4.2 per cent, other consumer services (excluding conveyance) 4 per cent, and con-
sumer durables 4.5 per cent. Columnist Aakar Patel observes in one of his pieces, “The poverty line of India is cruel. It is merciless and doesn’t allow the majority of Indians any money for shelter or access to education or health care or sanitation or anything else that civilized nations would consider as essential as food. You could not have access to and money for any of those things listed above and still be considered not poor in India. You could have no money to travel anywhere for work or education and not be considered poor in India. The argument people draw this line is that if it were raised to a more humane standard, perhaps 70 per cent of Indians would be regarded poor.” Is it sheer population growth or the uneven distribution of resources, thanks to corruption that is the key reason for the growing poverty in India? In the sway of information about the haves globally, let’s not forget that underdevelopment is not just a cold statistic but also an adult in real life struggling for a square meal or a child going hungry to bed daily like in developed Kerala’s Attapadi district!
9
BUSINESS SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Gold rush to slow down?
G
Cairn’s Elango to get 40 pc salary hike
old imports are expected to more than halve to about 150 tonnes in the July-September quarter, against the projected 350 tonnes in the current quarter, due to sluggish demand, says an industry official. “We expect gold imports to be in the range of 120-150 tonnes in JulySeptember,” said Bombay Bullion Association president Suresh Hundia.
C
airn India has proposed a near 40 per cent pay hike for its interim chief executive P Elango, a move that is being seen as mining billionaire Anil Agarwal’s increasing faith in him. Elango, who will turn 52 in July, has successful steered the firm against all odds, is now being rewarded with a handsome hike in salary and allowances. Cairn in a notice to shareholders said basic salary of Elango is being proposed to be hiked from July 1 to Rs 870,000 per month from Rs 644,000 during the first half of 2013. Special allowance is being increased from Rs 565,000 per month to Rs 389,000.
Spain crisis drags down green power ventures At the heart of the problem is a deficit of more than 26 billion euros in Spain’s energy market, built up by subsidies to cover the gap between the cost of producing electricity and the price charged to consumers. Katell ABIVEN Agence France-Presse
MADRID: Spain’s wind turbine manufacturers are laying off workers and farmers who installed solar panels are facing ruin as austerity policies afflict the long-coddled green energy sector. Further cuts are expected this summer. State subsidies to clean energy producers have already fallen by between 12 and 40 percent on average in recent years, industry analysts say. They could fall by another 10-20 percent in a new energy sector reform expected midJuly, according to the Spanish media. “The punishment meted out to renewable energies in the past five years amounts to more than six billion euros ($8 billion),” said Sergio Otto, secretary general of the business group Renewables Foundation. “In the wind turbine industry alone we have lost 20,000 jobs and in the solar energy sector it’s probably more,” he said. At the heart of the problem is a deficit of more than 26
Vodafone seeks more time
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ritish telecom giant Vodafone has written to the tax department saying it needs some more time to reply to the latter’s proposal for entering into a non-binding conciliation to resolve the long-standing tax dispute. Vodafone is facing tax liability of over `11,200 crore on its 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa’s stake in Hutchison Essar.
CBDT CONFESSION
‘Difficult to recover 97% of income tax arrears’ The total arrears to be recovered is `4.82 lakh crore. NEW DELHI: In a startling revelation, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has reported that 97 per cent of Income Tax demand arrears, quantified over `4.66 lakh crore, is “difficult” to be recovered. The total arrears amount to be recovered, stuck because of a variety of reasons like litigation, companies in liquidation, sick companies and untraceable taxpayers, is `4.82 lakh crore. Alarmed by the “precarious” situation, the apex body of the IT department has initiated a slew of measures to collect these taxes including attachment of bank accounts of defaulters and arrest of ‘wilful’ evaders under
billion euros in Spain’s energy market, built up by subsidies to cover the gap between the cost of producing electricity and the price charged to consumers. “We are still singling out renewable energies as the main guilty parties for this deficit,” Otto complained. In the middle of the last decade when the economy was enjoying strong growth, Spain put a cap on the price of green energies and provided “fairly generous” subsidies, said Carlos Garcia Suarez, expert in the sector at the IE Business School.
FROM
BOOM TO COLLAPSE
The state aid boosted the appetite of investors and led to a “boom” in wind and, later, solar energies, making Spain a world leader in the industry, Suarez said. “Not only have the subsidies come down but new projects have been explicitly banned, which is pretty unusual,” he said. The retroactive nature of some cuts even threw into question Spain’s reliability for investors, Suarez said.
Indeed, several investment funds that bet on the sector are now taking Spain to international arbitration. There is “political pressure”, too, from the United States where some of the funds are based and the Spanish government is uncertain how to resolve the matter, he said. “We gave excessive subsidies,” said Rodrigo Izurzun, energy specialist at Ecologists in Action, an association which also criticised the radical change in policy since the economic crisis hit Spain in 2008. “The current policy is harmful because the sector was maturing and close to becoming competitive without any aid but has suddenly totally collapsed,” Izurzun said. “That is without mentioning what the impact is in terms of braking the fight against climate change.” Investors in wind turbines no longer believe the outlook is attractive, said Heikki Willstedt Mesa, director of energy policy at the wind turbine association AEE. “We have sued in the
Spanish courts,” said Miguel Angel Martinez-Aroca, president of Anpier, which groups Spanish solar energy producers. The sector is “barely surviving after so many cuts”, he said. His association has launched a campaign to highlight the unknown victims of the new austerity regime: people who put their savings into solar panels counting on the subsidies to make them profitable and, for example, to help finance their retirement. “There are 55,000 individuals, small savers, many farmers and breeders, professionals, families and small businesses who simply believed what the state told them, which was to invest in solar energy,” Martinez-Aroca said. “Then we were ruined,” he said, denouncing a “swindle and deception by the state” which lowered payments for such panels by 40 percent. The consequences are far reaching. “The solar energy sector’s debt to banks with is now 20 billion euros,” Martinez-Aroca said.
Less than 5 per cent of the total arrear demand outstanding could be collected during the 2012-13 fiscal, admits a CBDT circular. tax laws. “Attention is drawn to the precarious situation arising out of comparison of total arrear demand outstanding and demand difficult to recover. The total arrear demand outstanding as on April 2012 was `4,82,027 crore while the demand difficult to recover as per central action plan for March 2013 is `4,66,854 crore (97 per cent). The situation is alarming and leaves only 3 per cent of the demand in the recoverable arena. “Even more alarming is the situation that less than 5 per cent, Rs 2,39,95 crore, of the total arrear demand outstanding could be collected during the 2012-13 fiscal,” the CBDT said in a recent communication to its PTI top officers.
10
FOCUS SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Wind of change blows among Yezidis Their customs are strict and sometimes at odds with the values and practices of the modern world, most notably the tradition of marrying women while they are still in their early teens. Mariam HARUTYUNYAN Agence France-Presse
ZOVUNY: As she hangs up washing on branches outside her family’s stone home, Liana talks wistfully about her curtailed childhood which ended with marriage at the tender age of 14. Liana belongs to Armenia’s roughly 40,000-strong Yezidi community, a livestockherding people who follow their own ancient religion that involves the worship of a peacock angel called Satan. Their customs are strict and sometimes at odds with the values and practices of the modern world, most notably the tradition of marrying women while they are still in their early teens. Some within the community, especially the young, are now wanting to break out of the limits of tradition and forge normal lives and careers.
THE YEZIDIS DO NOT BELIEVE IN HEAVEN OR HELL, AND DO NOT REGARD SATAN AS EVIL. IN FACT, THEY WORSHIP HIM IN THE GUISE OF A PEACOCK ANGEL WHOSE NAME THEY ARE FORBIDDEN FROM SAYING OUT LOUD. “When I was 14 my parents refused to let me go to school anymore and married me off instead," Liana, now 23, said, her olive green eyes flickering timidly to the ground. “But I want my daughters to get an education, become experts in something and live in better conditions," she said, watching as her sixyear-old daughter continued with the household chores. The Yezidi are the biggest minority group in Armenia — a largely mono-ethnic country where some 98 per cent of the roughly 3.3 million population are ethnic Armenians and the country’s Christian Apostolic
Church dominates. Fierce guardians of their traditions, the Yezidi do not allow outsiders to convert to their faith and ban the eating of lettuce or wearing of anything blue. Although they speak a form of Kurdish, Armenia’s Yezidi fiercely reject being labelled Kurds and their religion — which has seen them regarded as “devil-worshippers” by Muslims — is thought by some to have its origins in the Zoroastrianism of ancient Persia. The Yezidis do not believe in heaven or hell, and do not regard Satan as evil. In fact, they worship him in the guise of a peacock angel whose name they are forbidden from saying out loud. Found in Armenia’s western valleys close to Mount Ararat, as well as in their spiritual home in nearby Iraq, along with Syria, Turkey and Georgia, the strongly patriarchal Yezidi forbid girls from talking in the presence of male elders or eating with male relatives. As was the case with Liana, they have commonly married off their daughters when they are in their early teens, sometimes as young as 12 or 13.
‘A
SPINSTER AT
18'
Last year when Armenia moved to revise its law on marriage, raising the minimum age of marriage for both boys and girls to 18, representatives of the Yezidi community erupted in protest at what they claimed was an assault on a cornerstone of their culture. “This is an ancient tradition," said Aziz Tamoyan, the director of the Yezidi Union in Armenia. “If a girl is not already married by the time she is 18 then she is already considered a spinster." In the end, in the face of possible street protests, Armenia’s parliament compromised and the minimum age that girls in the Yezidi community could marry was set at 16. “When we brought in changes to the law we had to deal with the realities of life,"
A young woman, member of Yezidi community, kisses of a figure peacock angel called Satan, used as an object of worAFP/KAREN MINASYAN ship by the Yezidis, in the Armenian village of Zovuny. said lawmaker Agvan Vardanyan, a member of parliament’s commission for human rights that drew up the law. “The Yezidi community guards its traditions very jealously and they have families at a very young age whatever the current laws are at any given time," Vardanyan said. “Not to take into account their traditions or their rhythm of life would not be right." But not everyone in the Yezidi community thought that an exception should be made for them. Many in the younger generations are increasingly turning their backs on their ancestors’ way of life by refusing to have
many children, herd livestock or wear traditional clothing. Although the number is still small — just around 100 — Yezidi students are now studying at Armenian universities, said Khdr Hajoyan, the editor of a Yezidi newspaper named after their fabled homeland, Yezidkhana. “Young Yezidi boys and girls want to go to school, receive higher education and rise up the career ladder," Hajoyan said. “Why can’t someone from the Yezidi community here become a member of parliament or a minister?" he asked. For a growing number of
younger Yezidi though, the dream of a better future lies outside the country — and the strict cultural codes of their closed society. Many have already emigrated to Europe or Russia and ever more are looking to follow them — including Liana and her young family. “We don’t have a problem with Armenia but I don’t want my daughters to have the same life as their mother has had," said Aziz, Liana’s husband. “I don’t want them just to be working with cattle all their lives," he said. “Whatever they want to be, that is for them to decide. I don’t want to interfere."
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INTERVIEW SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
OF BLOOD TIES
On Nov 14, 2005, Khasim Shareef, a website designer by profession, launched Friends2Support, world’s largest blood donor’s free database. From 200 donors to more than 1,00,000 registered donors, the website has set a remarkable milestone. Postnoon catches up with Shareef on his noble intentions for blood donation. eastern and northern states as the registrations are lesser compared to southern parts. We also have volunteers in every state, in the age group of 18-65, including government officials, software engineers, journalists and senior citizens. These volunteers spread the word, and coordinate between patients and donors.
KANCHAN AGARWAL
kanchan.a@postnoon.com What prompted you to build Friends2Support?
How do you find these volunteers? Initially, we did email campaigns through friends in software companies who told their friends and family, who told their friends in other professions. That is now it has spread to all age groups. We also conduct signature campaigns, marathons, walks and bike rallies across the country. Competitions are held in colleges. We create posters on special days and promote the cause on social media. Donors are registered from mandals, even, and anywhere that has a government hospital. Volunteers go there and explain the process. Citizens
Between 2002-05, I observed how blood banks and blood camps, which were the only two options, were functioning. A middle class man did not know where the blood bank is. Common man did not get blood at the golden hour. Ninty per cent of people still suffer to get pure and safe blood. Blood collected by blood banks was not being utilised properly. Blood loses its ability to produce oxygen after three weeks of storage. It not used by then, it gets wasted. We could not be sure if the packets to store were safe or not. Youngsters are ready to donate but patients don’t know whom to approach. To build a bridge here, my initial thought was to publish a book. Internet was not well spread then, and I was studying multimedia and web designing. So it seemed viable to build a website and ask my friends and interested people to register.
“WE ARE REGISTERED UNDER THE SOCIETY ACT AND WE ARE AGAINST TAKING DONATIONS. WE BEAR ALL EXPENSES FROM OUR POCKETS.”
The website seems very user friendly. How does it work?
take volunteer’s help if they can’t use the Internet.
Patients don’t need to register. There is no logging in or middlemen present. Once you select blood group, and the state, district and area you need it from, you will get a list of voluntary donors with their contact details. They can come to the hospital and donate free of cost. I think such a system also builds human relations, since patient and donor get to know each other.
Why did you not register Friends2Support as an NGO? People tend to make business in the name of NGO. Some are genuine but many are commercial. We are registered under the Society Act and we are against taking donations. We bear all expenses from our pockets. All we want is pure blood donation among people.
You have also built an app of Friends2Support now. Tell more about it.
You must be spending a lot of your time and energy on this.
Yes. Now it is in its fourth phase. From html, to database, to sms, this year, it can be accessed on smart phones. It is compatible with windows, iphone, java and android. The convenience factor is you can directly dial the donor’s number from your phone.
Blood can be required at any hour of the day. What kind of commitment is required from the donor? In some cases, donor is traveling, or busy, or not well. That happens only 10% of the time. A donor must understand it is not as simple once you have registered — you are giving life to unknown people. We request them not to take it lightly. If you are not willing to donate to strangers, round the clock, you had better not register. If you have changed location or contact number, it is easier if you inform us, so your profile
can be updated.
Do donors undergo screening at the time of registration? People from all over the country register. It is not possible for us to have medical check ups before registration. Of course, once they have been called to donate, the hospital or the blood bank performs six tests then.
Pick
It has been the largest blood donor website in the world since 2009. That’s quite an achievement. It has become people’s movement. People believe in it because they get prompt responses. Even remote areas have received help. There is sheer commitment and no money involved. Our aim and intention is to get blood available for those in need. We have crossed 1 lac registered donors. We are concentrating on north-
at the
Yes. I monitor it on a day to day basis. If an emergency call comes, we can’t say at any hour of the day. We have to be in regular touch with the volunteers. We have a data validation team which calls every registered number once a year to check on their availability. In a year, we spend about 2-3 lacs contributed by 5-10 of us. We do as much as we can. It is completely voluntary, and our motto is people should not be left to suffer.
How can the rest of us contribute? By spreading the word and promoting the cause. No matter how old you are or how much time you have, there is a lot that you can do. From a basic stickers on your car, desk to making films (if you are a filmmaker), the idea is to tell as many. Doctors can give presentations and motivate junior doctors and students.
airport,
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12
ART AND CULTURE SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Gospel of Mary Magdalene
B
est known for his modest chamber opera Little Women, composer Mark Adamo was looking for a more ambitious project to tackle when he happened upon a magazine article about Mary Magdalene. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, a radical retelling of the biblical story of Jesus. With a cast of 19 soloists, 48 choristers and an orchestra of 65 musicians, it is a large-scale affair.
Top 50 British artworks
A
mong the options are a 673-yearold stained glass window, preRaphaelite crowd-pleasers such as Millais's Ophelia and Waterhouse's The Lady of Shalott, and, for those with less traditional tastes, a self-portrait of Sarah Lucas with fried eggs on her breasts.They are all in a longlist that the public is being asked to vote on in an attempt to find the top 50 favourite British artworks.
Museum explores gay love
T
here is a sculpture of the beautiful face of Antinous, at whose death Emperor Hadrian "wept like a woman"; a battered copper coin showing the poet Sappho, whose surviving fragments of erotic poetry were so intense that the Victorians called all women who loved women after her native Lesbos; and a 20-year-old tin badge demanding, "how dare you presume I'm heterosexual".
Old charms on new canvas Artist Vijit Pillai's exhibition Mughal Garden at Ginger Lily is a tribute to art from the Mughal era.
Kanchan Agarwal kanchan.a@postnoon.com
O
ne cannot say if there is structure among the abstract, or abstract among structure in Vijit Pillai’s Mughal Garden. Mughal Garden is a collection of artworks that were created after the artist’s exhibitions in New Delhi. This series includes neoMughal, floral, stained glass and Lord Buddha. Neo-mughal is a tribute to art from the Mughal era, inspired from characters and scenes from the classic miniatures but with a contemporary twist. The series consists instances of a courtroom, battle ground, men with falcon, women with peacocks, men and women in love, gardens,
tapestries and horsemen. Keeping monotony at bay, the artist makes an unusual use of textures, patterns and abstract visuals, which is characteristic of the artist’s technique. Each piece keeps you engaged looking for details in form, and vice versa. The canvas is all intricacy in many layers. There is the crucified Christ, the inner dome of a church and the whole structure from outside of it, in the same piece. Shades of one colour make for both background and foreground, instantly holding your attention without disturb-
THE SERIES CONSISTS INSTANCES OF A COURTROOM, BATTLE GROUND, MEN WITH FALCON, WOMEN WITH PEACOCKS, MEN AND WOMEN IN LOVE AND HORSEMEN. ing the eye. The artist takes you aback with his choice of lightest of light shades for silhouettes of an hour that may be dawning
Lines and patterns Vorticism, literary and artistic movement that flourished in England 1912-15, attempted to relate art to industrialisation.
V
orticism was a short-lived modernist movement in British art and poetry of the early 20th century. It was partly inspired by Cubism. The movement was announced in 1914 in the first issue of BLAST, which contained its manifesto and the movement's rejection of landscape and nudes in favour of a geometric style tending towards abstraction. Ultimately,
it was their witnessing of unfolding human disaster in World War I that "drained these artists of their Vorticist zeal". Vorticism was based in London but international in make-up and ambition. The Vorticism group began with the Rebel Art Centre which Wyndham Lewis and others established after disagreeing with Omega Workshops founder
Roger Fry, and has roots in the Bloomsbury Group, Cubism, and Futurism. Lewis himself saw Vorticism as an independent alternative to Cubism, Futurism and Expressionism. Though the style grew out of Cubism, it is more closely related to Futurism in its embrace of dynamism, the machine age and all things modern (cf. CuboFuturism). However, Vorticism
into dusk or rising into dawn. It is Vijit’s interest in photography that led to his journey into the expanding realm of New Media Art. There is acrylic paint on the photographic and digital artworks, and depth and fabric lend presence to the creations on canvas, bringing it into the genre of mixed media art. Vijit Pillai began painting at a very early age. He was encouraged by his mother, an artist who gave him valuable exposure to both classic and contemporary art. While art was always on his mind, he worked
ART FOR DUMMIES
at an advertising agency for about twenty years. It was in this career that he rediscovered his talent and took to dabbling in art once again. The show is being curated by Deepika Reddy at Ginger Lily in Radisson Blu Plaza. Ginger Lily, essentially an art gallery, is open to displaying paintings, antiques, select designer jewellery and clothes. One can also wander into the gift shop beside that caters to both of you with a taste for urban wear and an inclination to the kitsch. Mughal Garden is on till July 15, 2013.
diverged from Futurism in the way it tried to capture movement in an image. In a Vorticist painting modern life is shown as an array of bold lines and harsh colours drawing the viewer's eye into the centre of the canvas. The name Vorticism was given to the movement by Ezra Pound in 1913, although Lewis, usually seen as the central figure in the movement, had been producing paintings in the same style for a year or so previously. The Vorticists published two issues of the literary magazine BLAST, in June 1914 and July 1915 which Lewis edited. It contained works by Ezra Pound and TS Eliot as well as by the Vorticists themselves.
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ENVIRONMENT SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Damage to coral reef A US warship that ran aground on a protected coral reef in the Philippines was doomed by its top officers’”lack of leadership”, the US Navy has concluded. The minesweeper USS Guardian became stranded on top of the Tubbataha Reef in the southern Philippines before dawn on January 17 and had to be cut to pieces.The Philippines has demanded compensation for damage to the reef.
Philippines destroy ivory tusks
World cities improving
The Philippines destroyed five tonnes of elephant tusks on Friday in a landmark event aimed at shedding its image as one of the world’s worst hotspots for illegal African ivory trading.The backhoe of a bulldozer began crushing hundreds of tusks in a wildlife bureau carpark, as the nation became the first in Asia to eliminate its multi-million-dollar stockpile. The five tonnes of ivory came from a total of about 13 tonnes seized by customs officers.
Some of the world’s largest cities are improving their energy efficiency, a report said Thursday, while nations struggle to forge a global response to climate change. Cities are taking action to reduce their carbon emissions and better manage their water strategy, said a report by the Carbon Disclosure Project.This is a 110-city report from the London-based organisation.
Palm oil companies behind Fires on Indonesia’s Sumatra, which have cloaked Singapore in record-breaking smog, are raging on palm oil plantations owned by Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean companies, says environmental activist group Greenpeace International.
SINGAPORE SMOG “N
asa hotspot data in Sumatra over the past 10 days (June 11-21) has revealed hundreds of fire hotspots in palm oil concessions that are owned by Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean companies,” the group said in a statement received by AFP. Singapore’s smog index hit the critical 400 level on Friday, making it potentially life-threatening to the ill and elderly, a government monitoring site said. On Saturday morning, the reading was at 323, still in the “hazardous” zone. Parts of Malaysia close to Singapore have also been severely affected by the smog this week. “Fires across Sumatra are wreaking havoc for millions of people in the region and destroying the climate. Palm oil producers must immediately deploy fire crews to extinguish these fires. But really cleaning up their act starts with adopting a zero deforestation policy,”
said Bustar Maitar, head of Greenpeace Indonesia’s forest campaign. The Indonesian environment minister Balthasar Kambuaya said Friday that a team has investigated eight companies suspected to be behind the fires and promised to reveal the companies’ names after the probe. A senior presidential aide Kuntoro
Mangkusubroto said Friday that the fires happened in concession areas belonging to Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL). “It is very clear that the fires are in APP concessions and APRIL. We need to settle this matter,” he told reporters while showing the distribution of fires from June 1 to 18 in concession areas in Riau.
APP, the world’s thirdlargest paper producer said in a statement late Friday that “ground verification” detected “only 7 points that are actually forest fire, affecting around 200 hectares of land”. “They are under and being controlled by approximately a thousand fire fighting crews and their team. Our team’s preliminary investigation found that five of the fires were set by the community to clear land for crops and 2 cases are still under investigation”, APP added. APRIL could not be reached for comment. Indonesia stepped up its fire-fighting efforts Friday by deploying aircraft to artificially create rain and to water bomb the blaze. The haze crisis has caused a dramatic escalation in tensions between tiny Singapore and its vast neighbour, with the city-state repeatedly demanding that Jakarta steps up its efforts to put out the fires. AFP
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FOOD SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Dehydrator to reduce waste
Fruity flavours, the new fad
ABC ‘delicious magazine’
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F
A
he 2013 ABC ‘delicious magazine’ Produce Awards finalists have been announced on the magazine’s website and in its July print issue.The magazine said 2013 has marked the Produce Awards’ biggest year yet, with ‘delicious magazine’ receiving a record 3,110 nominations from around Australia.
ruit flavours dominate the international yoghurt market, featuring in over two-thirds of new products globally in the year to March 2013, according to market research organisation Innova Market Insights.That figure rises to three-quarters of new yoghurt products in the US, and nearly 70 per cent in Latin America.
ustralian owned and operated food waste equipment company Hungry Giant has developed a new system that might help food manufacturing businesses reduce food waste by up to 90 per cent. According to Hungry Giant, the food waste dehydrator could help Australian-based food manufacturers divert around 50 tonnes of food waste from landfill each week.
BUON APPETITO When it comes to fine dining, nothing comes close to authentic pasta. And, Westin’s 10-day long Home Made Pasta festival is here to prove just that.
I
f you're sick and tired of looking for authentic pasta in the City, there's good news. Westin's Italian restaurant Prego is hosting a 10-day long Home Made Pasta festival till June 30. The restaurant, known for its fun ambiance and friendly service, has brought the myriad flavours of Italy's Emilia-Romagna to the City. From lobster raviolis to purse-shaped fiocchi pasta, Prego boasts it all. Our Italian tryst began with Herbal Affair, a signature mocktail that promises a refreshing and healthy burst and sets the ball rolling for more goodness bound to follow through the course of the meal. A chunky loaf of in-house bread kickstarts a typical Italian meal at Prego. Served with a sauce prepared with lightly-crushed tomatoes, the bread further puts you in the mood for everything pasta. “I've retained the original flavours from Emilia-Romagna. Even when it comes to the shapes of pastas, they're as original as it can get,” says Kaushik Misra,
chef de cuisine, Prego. For the uninitiated, pasta should be cooked al dente, that is firm but not too hard. “Most people are used to eating pasta that is boiled till it becomes soft. That's not how pasta is traditionally prepared. Even though we keep the pasta al dente, I'm sure Italians would say it is overcooked,” adds Misra, who spent a considerable time in Italy exploring the world of pastas and sauces.
What: Home Made pasta festival Where: Prego, The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace Timings: 7-11pm, On till June 30 True to its Italian taste, the home made pastas at the festival were al dente and blended perfectly with the sauces they were bathed in. One of the first dishes to be prepared was the Ravioli Di Aragosta, Aragosta Alla Griglia (lobster ravioli, grilled lobster and vegetable fettuccini). The first pasta on the festival menu, the home made ravioli is a musthave. The dish, priced at `900, is served on a flat, ceramic plate with lobster grilled with a dash of pepper and thyme and salt to taste. While the lobster shell balances the soft ravioli stuffed with its meat, carrots and aubergine sliced in
NIDHI BHUSHAN
fettuccini shapes add to the colour. Another must-have is the Heirloom Pomodioro Pollo Pansotti, Puttanesca (heirloom tomato chicken pansotti, puttanesca). Reddish in colour, the pansotti stuffed with chicken is prepared with fresh tomatoes to give the overall tanginess. The triangular pasta is served on a bed of puttanesca, a traditional sauce made with tomato, capers and black olives. Priced at `775, the dish is perfect for chicken lovers. Even when it comes to the vegetarian variety, Prego sets itself apart with the sweet and spicy Fiocchi Con Quattro Formaggio E Pere (pasta stuffed with four types of cheese and pears). Though Chef Misra tweaked this dish with his mildly spicy, white sauce, one hardly misses the originality. “This is the only pasta in which I've steered a little from the original recipe,” he says. We say, Bravo! Whether the taste is original or not, only a trip to Italy can ascertain. Till then, Prego is a great point of reference.
nidhi.b@postnoon.com
Herbal affair: Blend basil, mint and fennel leaves along with canned orange juice and honey and ice to get a burst of this very refreshing and healthy drink. It is a perfect start of a hearty meal. PICS: NT BALANARAYAN
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FOOD SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Kadhi Phulki Noor Kitchen NOOR JAFRI
ROYAL TASTE
When it comes to reinventing food from the country’s royal kitchens, no one does it better than Bidri. A third in their series of riyasati daavats is the ongoing Kakatiya food festival.
Nidhi Bhushan
nidhi.b@postnoon.com
I
f you’re looking for a place to spend an evening with a special someone, Bidri is the place. Tucked away in a corner of the Hyderabad Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre, the restaurant boasts a cozy, candle-lit ambiance. Even the music at Bidri has been carefully chosen to accent the mood. When we thought things couldn’t get any better than this, Bidri went ahead and outdid itself with its ongoing Kakatiya food festival. The twoweek long royal culinary delight, on till June 30, is worth your time and money. Our royal journey began with a vegetarian soup called Kothmir Rasam (crushed black pepper and curry leaves scented with fresh coriander broth). A soothing, homelike concoction, the soup was the best way to kickstart the meal. It was a sign of good things to come. The next item to be presented was the Oragallu Royallu (rice flour, garlic and peppercoated prawns). Served on a banana-leaf and garnished lightly with curry leaves, this seafood appetizer is flavourful and delicious. Crisp on the outside and succulent on the inside, the starter is sure to leave you craving for more. And, it isn’t overbearingly spicy. A chef ’s recommendation and priced at `400, the starter tastes best with mint chutney and a dash of lime. “This starter is one of my
personal favourites on the festival menu,” said Chef Naidu. The non-veg starters boasted a variety from usual suspects lamb and chicken to muscles and fish. Another must-have non-veg starter is the Bogglu Manta Kodi (country-style chicken marinated and cooked on embers). The chunky chicken that resembled Tandoori chicken was a delight to say the least. It had everything going for it, it looked appetising, it was soft and it tasted heavenly. Your meal would be incomplete without
this chicken starter priced at `595. For vegetarians too, there are plenty of options among the starters — the Palugadda Pachikaram (red chili flakes and curry leaves scented stir fried paneer) and the Mirapakaya Bhajji (gram flour coated chilly fritters, tamarind and carom seeds) to name a few. We were served the first item on the menu; the Pappu Thotakora Vada (split gram dal, ginger, onion, cumin and amaranth fritters). Though it
What: Kakatiya food festival Where: Bidri, Hyderabad Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre Timings: 6:30-11:30pm, On till June 30
seemed like any other regular dal vada at first, it turned into one of the best things on the table when paired with the green chilly chutney served with it. Priced at `400, the dish is a must-have. After a hearty round of starters, we moved to the eagerly-awaited main course. And, I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way, but usually the main course is a letdown after a round of mouth-watering starters. Bidri, however, made an exception — it only got better with its main course, which started with a serving of its first item in the section Panasakaya Gujju Kora (stir fried jackfruit, shallots and tamarind). A drydish priced at `500, this flavourful vegetarian preparation is a must-have. The Aloogada Methi Koora (potato, villayati methi, onion and country tomato) and the Venkaya Vepudu (brinjal, crushed peanut, coconut and dried red chillies) at `500 each are other vegetarian must-haves. Among the non-veg main course, the Natu Kodi Iguru (country-style chicken curry, onion and cinnamon) stands out at `625. The main course dishes tasted best with the Janna Rotis, which were part of the festival. Another item that deserves a special mention was the Mamsam Pulao. Served with creamy special yoghurt, the pulao at `675 will make you forget the Hyderabadi biryani. So, if you’re in the mood for a royal culinary expedition, you know where to go.
Ingredients Quantity For Kadhi n Besan 3 tbsp n Maida 1 tsp n Dahi or curds (day old) 400 ml n Chilli powder 1/2 tsp n Haldi 1/2 tsp n Dhania powder 1/2 tsp n Ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp n Whole jeera 1/2 tsp n Salt to taste n Sugar 1/2 tsp n Green chillies 3 to 4 n Curry leaves a few n Red dry chillies 3 to 4 For Phulkis (pakoda) n Besan powder 100 gms n Chilli powder 1/2 tsp n Chopped coriander & green chillies 1 tbsp n Salt to taste n Chopped onions 1 tbsp n Baking soda about a pinch n Oil for frying Procedure ( for kadhi ) n Whisk thoroughly the curd along with besan & all the ingredients, except green chillies, curry leaves, whole jeera & sugar. n Add water and strain it. n Add the remaining ingredients, cook it, stir constantly for thick consistency. n Add sugar Procedure (for phulki ) n To the besan add, all the ingredients, with little water and baking soda making a pakoda with chopped onions, green chillies and coriander. n Fry the pakodas, till golden brown.Add the pakodas,to the hot kadhi. n Take 2 table spoons of hot oil, add 1/2 teaspoon of whole jeera, dry red chillies & curry leaves.Fry them till brown and tamper the kadhi with this baghaar.
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HISTORY SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
June 24
June 30
1901: Picasso exhibited in Paris The first major exhibition of Pablo Picasso's artwork opens at a gallery on Paris' rue Lafitte, a street known for its prestigious art galleries.
1943: Operation Cartwheel is launched. General Douglas MacArthur launches Operation Cartwheel, a multi-pronged assault on Rabaul and several islands in the Solomon Sea in the South Pacific.
June 24
June 30
1997: Disney pulls album on release day. The Walt Disney Corporation orders one of its subsidiary record labels to recall 100,000 already shipped copies of an album by a Insane Clown Posse.
1936: Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, one of the best-selling novels of all time and the basis for a blockbuster 1939 movie, is published on this day.
June 29
June 25
1950: Korean War begins Armed forces from communist North Korea smash into South Korea, setting off the Korean War.
June 25
2009: Michael Jackson, one of the most commercially successful entertainers in history, dies at the age of 50 at his home in Los Angeles, California, after suffering from cardiac arrest caused by a fatal combination of drugs given to him by his personal doctor.
1995: The American space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian space station Mir to form the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth.
June 29
June 28
1997: Mike Tyson bites Evander Holyfield’s ear in the third round of their heavyweight rematch. The attack led to his disqualification from the match and suspension .
1958:Pele helps Brazil to World Cup title. Brazil defeats host nation Sweden 5-2 to win its first World Cup. Brazil came into the tournament as a favourite, and did not disappoint, thrilling the world with their spectacular play, which was often referred to as the "beautiful game."
June 29
1966: During the Vietnam War, US. aircraft bomb the major North Vietnamese population centers of Hanoi and Haiphong for the first time, destroying oil depots located near the two cities.
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SPOTLIGHT SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013 2
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3
4
6
5
Play pursuits
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Theatre lovers were in attendance at The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace where Between the Lines, starring Nandita Das and Subodh Maskara was staged. 9
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1 Laskshmi Devi Raj 2 Annapurna, Saumya,
Anupama 3 Shridhar, Deepti
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8 Preetika, Swati,
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Kruthi 9 Mehar 10 Shruti, Girish
4 Vishnu, Madhuri
11 Vani
5 Anu Asar 6 Vinod Gupta, Deepa
12 Tejaswini
Gupta with a friend
13 Sherry Zaveri, Amala 14 Anjum Babu Khan
7 Sofia
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Loud & clear Celebrity DJ Dennis Shepherd from Germany was behind the console at Movida, Radisson Blu on Saturday night. Guests were seen having a gala time at the pub.
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CINEMA SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
THALAIVAA’S
audio gets going
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aturday was actor Vijay’s birthday and the cast and crew of his upcoming film Thalaivaa found Friday to be the best day to release the film’s official trailer and audio. The music album has six tracks penned by Na Muthukumar and composed by GV Prakash. Vijay and comedian Santhanam have crooned a song for the film. Reports have
emerged that composer GV Prakash will be shaking a leg with Vijay and Santhanam in the Vanganna Vanakkamganna song. The Thalaivaa trailer has already garnered a lot of attention since its release. The songs have gained a lot of appreciation as well. GV Prakash took to Twitter to express his happiness, “Time to lead ! #thalaivaa audio is a blockbuster hit! Super happy! Full on congratulatory calls from fmstations ,fans,celebs& twitter !” Vijay too seems to be having a great birthday this year with congratulatory calls coming in by the dozen. The film is directed by AL Vijay and it stars Vijay and Amala Paul in the lead roles.
BALUPU’S release confirmed- June 28 T
he doubts that were surrounding the release date of Ravi Teja’s Balupu have now been cleared. As reported earlier the film will hit the screens on June 28. Earlier, there were some rumours that the makers were planning to delay the release, but the film is on track for next Friday. Gopichand Malineni has directed the film and PVP has produced the film under PVP Cinema banner. Thaman has given the music and the audio is being loved by all. Ravi Teja is playing a powerful mass role which has two different shades in this mass entertainer. Anjali will be seen in an important role. Ravi Teja need not worry about setting the box office on fire as going by the pre-release buzz, overseas Balupu is now in high demand.
Pawan and Mahesh to appear in a movie?
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owerstar Pawan Kalyan and Superstar Mahesh are Tollywood box-office rulers, as of now. Judging by their popularity down South, there is no doubt if the two come together, their fans will be in for a treat. Panjaa fame Adavi Sesh starrer KISS is getting ready for release and the people watching this flick can enjoy Pawan and Mahesh on big screen. The question most will be asking is how?
In this movie Pawan and Mahesh will appear on screen, but not in guest roles. Some scenes from Panjaa, Dookudu films are placed in this film to entertain audience. The movie has Priya Banerjee as the female lead. Sesh’s brother, Sai Kiran Adivi, has produced the movie. Sricharan and Pete Wonder have composed the music. The film is expected to be a youthful romantic entertainer.
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CINEMA SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Anurag Kashyap is a task master: Big B
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egastar Amitabh Bachchan, who is making his debut in small screen’s fiction space with a show by Anurag Kashyap, says the filmmaker is a task master. But the veteran actor is enjoying it. “Work scintillating filled with challenge. Anurag Kashyap is a task master and shall not be easily satisfied... I like that,” Big B tweeted. Kashyap had also earlier said the 70-year-old actor is “demanding". It is for the first time that Kashyap and Big B are working together in a full-fledged project, after shooting a scene for Bombay Talkies. IANS
I’m learning step by step: John on film production A ctor-turned-producer John Abraham’s debut film production Vicky Donor was hailed by critics and audiences alike and even won National awards — yet he says that he is still learning the tricks of the trade with every step. John now has films like
Hamara Bajaj, Madras Cafe and Banana in line under his banner. “I am just one film old with Vicky Donor, people forget that! I need to learn. I am not as established as others are in this market. I’m learning with every step,” the actor said at the launch of music album Pitol Soku by rock band JOI. IANS
Risks have paid off,
SAYS EMRAAN HASHMI A
ctor Emraan Hashmi who drew plaudits for his role in Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, says that the risks he took in his career have paid off. “I always wanted to play versatile characters, it’s just that I got slotted. I was only taking up films that were offered to me," Emraan said on the sidelines of a promotional event for the forthcoming film Ghanchakkar. “But when filmmakers start taking risks seeing the versatility... after seeing the turning point... the turning point in my career being Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, people started thinking beyond the image... that I can do other films beyond the typical noir cinema of 2009... things really changed," said Emraan. After a spate of films like Murder and Gangster that earned him the title of Bollywood’s ‘serial kisser', Hashmi received critical acclaim for portraying a variety of characters in movies like Awarapan (2007), Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010), The Dirty Picture (2011) and “Shanghai (2012). Foraying into comedy with the forthcoming movie Ghanchakkar, which releases June 28, Emraan was last seen in the unconventional flick Ek Thi Daayan. Calling it a “rebirth” in his career post-2009, the actor admitted that breaking through stereotypes in films like The Dirty Picture and Ek Thi Daayan have brought him success. “There was almost a rebirth of kind in my career after 2009 and I got to do the work I really wanted to do. In any decision, you have to be slightly cautious but you have to take risks. Because in my career, risks have already paid off," he added. IANS
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CINEMA SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
No problem with my Hindi, says elated Dhanush
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outhern star Dhanush’s Bollywood debut Raanjhanaa opened to rave reviews when it hit the screens Friday. His performance is being lauded, but he says he felt happiest when he didn’t come across even a line of complaint about his Hindi dialogue delivery. Dhanush had worked hard to improve his Hindi accent for the movie. “For me, in all the reviews, there was one line that was not written and that not written line, was the best compliment (for me). No one complained about my Hindi,” the 29-year-old said Friday at the launch of the cover of Star Week magazine, featuring him and Sonam Kapoor. “Nobody said anything about my Hindi and for me, it’s really big. I really suffered saying the lines and while dubbing (for the movie). So that’s the biggest compliment (I have received),” he added. Asked about his Bollywood plans post Raanjhanaa, he said: “I don’t think like that, I don’t plan my future. I am sitting here because god wanted that. He made all my decisions for me.Even now I am not planning anything. Whatever comes my way, that’s enough,” he added.
IANS
Blast from the past, Bollywood goes vintage
C
all it the filmmaker’s confidence in the bygone era or their love for the romanticism of the retro look Bollywood’s forthcoming offerings Lootera, Gunday, Bombay Velvet and Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobara have oodles of the past in their look and feel. The old world charm has gripped Bollywood, a key element of Indian cinema that is celebrating 100 years of its existence this year. But it requires the right mix of research and vision to hit the bull’s eye as far as styling such projects is concerned, designers say. A retro look can be described as anything from the 1930s to the 1960s or even the 1980s, said designer Pria Kataaria Puri, who is responsible for actress Priyanka Chopra’s look in the remake of the 1973 film Zanjeer. “It’s easy to pull off such projects provided you do a bit of research. For example, if you’re styling an actress according to the fashion of the 1960s, you know the way they (women) wore saris and eyeliner and made the beehive (hairdo),” Puri said. There are different examples of films experimenting with some distinct looks of the past— some focus on bell-bottoms and some on fitted short kurtis, while others are inspired by the Sadhana cut, the bouffant, the cat eye make-up, the oversized glasses and the hairbands, as well as the unique sari drapes. Lootera, a period romance drama set in the West Bengal of 1950, spells the vintage flavour from the word go — Ranveer Singh sports a clean-shaven, hatted and neat look, complete with crisp white shirts and chic braces to hold up his trousers. His on-screen lady love, essayed by Sonakshi Sinha, is seen in simple saris teamed with quarter-sleeved blouses and a big round bindi. Fashion from the past years also reflects in Gunday, set in the Kolkata of 1971 to 1988. True to its time period, the film’s lead actress, Priyanka Chopra, dons a stunning retro look, with sensuous saris, sleeveless blouses and long tresses. Similar is the case for Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobara, with the story backdropped against Mumbai of the late 1980s. In her new film Bombay Velvet, actress Anushka Sharma will reportedly go retro as the movie chronicles the evolution of Mumbai over a period of two decades. The trend is surely up and coming! Ace designer Anju Modi, who has designed costumes for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period
drama Ram Leela, co-starring Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra, said it is the “romanticism of the retro look” which inspires filmmakers to dig into the past. “They like to recreate the old world charm. While there is no dearth of stories that they can derive from the modern era, there is a certain glamour that constantly draws Bollywood filmmakers to the retro look,” Modi said. Globally known designer Ritu Kumar said of the trend: “It is a measure of confidence in India’s history and identity that any industry goes looking back to recreate a bygone feel and touch.” Designer and stylist Pernia Qureshi, who was behind Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor’s uber chic style in Aisha, believed “Indian films have now started taking fashion more seriously.” “People have realised how styling can play a key role in portraying exactly what is needed,” Qureshi said. “To go deep into a character, the clothing, accessories and the overall look are vital. The retro look is about imitating the styles from the past without losing out on the modernity of the clothing and the looks so that it is relatable to the people of today’s day and age,” she added. However, Modi said, designers and filmmakers must work closely to get the desired effect for such projects. “Creative freedom is a must, which is also why most filmmakers prefer fashion designers assisting with the costumes for their movies. A lot of research went into Deepika’s look for Ram Leela. “However, since Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a very creative man, it was interesting how he and I tried to create a different look by putting our minds together,” Modi said. Filmmakers have also harkened to the bygone era in the recent past. Actress Aishwarya Rai played a 1970s’ girl in retro comedy Action Replayy, and her attire was in tune with the theme. Even Deepika Padukone spelt style galore in retro outfits in her Bollywood debut Om Shanti Om. In The Dirty Picture, Vidya Balan also sported colourful retro styles, complete with the bandana, and Once Upon A time In Mumbaai saw actresses Kangna Ranaut and Prachi Desai in some evergreen styles. Don’t they say old is gold? IANS
Not scared of being typecast: Divya Dutta
A
s the compassionate helper Shabbo in Veer-Zaara or as the lower-caste Jalebi in Delhi-6, actress Divya Dutta has proved her versatility time and again with strong roles. She says it’s not as though she is scared of being typecast. “I believe in my roles and I am not scared of trying different roles. I an not scared of being typecast (either). When I played a mother’s role in Gippi people really appreciated my work,” the 35-year-old said. The actress says her Bollywood journey, which began n 1994 with Ishq Mein Jeena Ishq Mein Marna, without any backing, has not been a cakewalk. “I didn’t have any backing and there was nobody to guide me. The journey was not easy, but I am happy that I have reached so far,” said the acclaimed actress. She has also done lead roles in films like Train to Pakistan and Shaheed-EMohabbat. She will also feature in forthcoming films like Lootera and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. IANS
CINEMA SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
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CINEMA SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
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CINEMA SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Steve Carell: My son wants a minion
S
teve Carell is totally in love with the Despicable Me minions. And so is his son. “My son wanted a minion after he saw it,” Carell, who plays Gru in Despicable Me 2, told E! News. “He thought they
were real things... it was like he wanted a pet minion or something.” The pill-shaped characters are outright cute and adorable, no wonder Carell junior is fascinated by them.
Tupac and Neeson among 2014 Walk of Fame honourees
T
he honourees for the 2014 Hollywood Walk of Fame have been set — and two will be receiving their stars posthumously. Rapper Tupac Shakur and comedian Phil Hartman will be honoured on the Walk of Fame, which recognises professionals in film, television, radio and recording industries, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced. (Shakur died in 1996 at 25; Hartman died in 1998 at 49.) For motion pictures, Orlando Bloom, Ray Dolby, Sally Field, Jack H. Harris, Jessica Lange, Matthew McConaughey, Liam Neeson, Paul Mazursky and Tom Sherak will be recognised.
Bynes to team up with Waka Flocka Flame for debut rap album
B
ecause there aren’t enough things to lament in the world of music, Amanda Bynes is planning to enter the rap game, with rapper Waka Flocka Flame at her side. Waka tells TMZ that he and the troubled actress are working out a record deal with his Brick Squad Monopoly label and, though nothing’s been signed, he’s already begun hiring people to start writing tracks for Bynes, which is probably for the best.
Arnold Schwarzenegger boarding zombie project Maggie
A
rnold Schwarzenegger is turning to the zombie world, signing on to star in and produce Maggie. The movie based on the Black List script by John Scott 3, is set at a time when a “walking dead” virus which has spread across the country. Schwarzenegger, who recently closed a deal to appear in the fifth Terminator, will portray the father on a journey to help his daughter come to terms with her infection as she slowly becomes a zombie. The film will be directed by commercial director Henry Hobson. Production will commence in the fall. Schwarzenegger is showing no signs of slowing down as he continues ramping up his film career following his seven years as California governor. He will be seen in Lionsgate’s Escape Plan in October and David Ayer’s Breacher, formerly Ten, which Open Road launches in January.
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CHAI TIME SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
SUNDAY CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 Small pansies 7 A moon of Jupiter 12 Did an office chore 17 Lump of jelly, say 21 For no profit (2 wds) 22 Office copier 23 Muse of poetry 24 Dublin’s land 25 Cascade volcano 26 Train, eg (2 wds) 28 Gossipy Barrett 29 Stockholm carrier 30 Thoroughly soak 32 Moon goddess 33 More nasty 35 Breezed through 37 Sieved pulp 38 Cornfield sight 39 Radiators’ needs 40 Stratum 42 British inc 43 Tsp and oz 44 Thoroughly 45 Gets one’s goat 47 Feeling 48 Vicar’s residence 49 Lib collection 52 Vapour 53 Kind of pool 54 Mansfield of film 55 Wisecrack 59 Surpassed 61 Be an omen 62 Old name for Xiamen 63 Cluster 64 Unit of capacitance 65 Turner of Hollywood 66 Optimist’s phrase (2 wds) 67 Caterwauled 68 ‘Spare tire’ 69 Picard’s foe 70 Muscle twinges 72 Prize marble 73 Nose-bag bit 74 Honor in style 75 Chinese warehouses 76 Ruby and garnet 77 Drink like a cat 80 Slowly vanishes 82 Make tapestries 83 End a relationship 84 First Amendment org 85 Mystical knowledge 87 Kind of muffin 88 Construction toy 89 Grill 90 Mr Goldfinger 91 Comply with 92 Indigo plants 94 Alpaca and guanaco 95 Eliminates 96 Dawns, in poetry 97 Swelter 98 Opposite of cheer 99 WNW opposite 100 Has much status 101 Concert proceeds 102 Big Dipper neighbour 104 Pygmalion’s statue 107 Not much, to Juan 108 Yes, in Kyoto 109 Most arias 113 Incoming train 114 Autobahn auto 115 Stephen King’s state 117 ‘I thought we — — deal!’
118 November meteor shower 119 Handel contemporary 120 Low beams 122 Not decaf 123 Extol 124 In a scientific manner 127 Letting up 129 Caesar’s bones 130 Get in touch 131 Cinema’s Sal — 132 Fold 133 PGA pegs 134 Wander 135 Dukes 136 With a hint of colour DOWN 1 Feudal tenant 2 Ulysses’ home 3 ‘Juno and the Paycock’ playwright 4 — Lobos of music 5 — spumante 6 Philately item 7 Authorities 8 Ogled 9 Crawled out of bed 10 Hawser 11 Guns N’ Roses star 12 Thighbones
13 Golf clubs 14 Pumice source 15 Bastille Day season 16 Small rodent 17 President Ford 18 Big name in trains 19 Crabby 20 Shaggy animals 27 Delight 31 Tractor preceders 34 Dresden single 36 ‘The,’ to Wolfgang 38 Hot coal 39 Pretty, in Perth 41 Unyielding 43 Aborigine of Japan 44 Man-made fibre 46 Young fellow 47 First-magnitude star 48 Half the parents 49 Great, in Variety 50 — Lumpur 51 Bard festival site 53 — -ho (avid) 54 Garage gadgets 55 Je ne sais — 56 Not invited again 57 Luge surface 58 Univ degree 60 Apply makeup 61 Bern’s river 63 More than asks
65 Zillions 66 ‘Bus Stop’ author 67 Execs 69 Some queens 70 Zen riddle 71 Packing doc 72 ‘Dynamic’ prefix 74 Acct insurer 75 Track prelims 76 Chokes or jokes 78 Assumed name 79 Beat or throb 81 Sale disclaimer (2 wds) 82 Nest builders 83 Volcano goddess 84 A Knute successor 85 Needlefish 86 Rapa — 87 Cleveland exurb 88 Be fond of 89 Alliances 91 Exit ramp sight 92 Ancient calculators 93 Its HQ is Brussels 94 Mauna — 96 Cape wavers 98 Pickle juice 100 Shankar the sitarist 101 Dressmaker’s insert 102 Shogun’s feudal lords 103 ‘— -la-la!’ 104 Lubricate
105 Galvanise 106 Blair and Evans 107 Dazed 108 Gertrude’s son 110 Dogie catcher 111 Danish port 112 Gave in the middle 113 Ration 114 Betel nut source 115 Behaviours
116 On both feet 119 Barely open 120 Ovid’s 507 121 Graceful wrap 125 Place a wager 126 World banking org 128 DC figure PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER
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CHAI TIME SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
STAR POWER Date 24-6-2013
As per Hindu panchang
THIRUVAIKUMAR
thiruvaikumar@yahoo. co. in 040-27177230 / 9949870449
TAURUS
GEMINI
Businessmen implement innovative techniques and earn profits. Carefully study documents before buying property. Politicians gain upper hand. Willpower ensures women win.
Sudden financial opportunity likely. Financial position is strong and encouraging. Strained relationship will blossom again. A court case ends in your favour. Employees are cheerful.
Cold war between employees and superior ends. Politicians ensure welfare measures are taken up in their constituency. Businessmen come out of the legal difficulties.
CANCER
LEO
VIRGO
Maintenance of house and medical expenses increase. Work burden of employees increases. Businessmen are happy as profits jump. Artists learn a lot from elders and improve
Govt sops likely for businessmen. VIP friends extend support to solve critical issues. Avoid changing decisions frequently. Employees need not worry over continuance of job.
Employees face transfer and opposition from colleagues. Politicians gain importance in the midst of party men. New friendship brings benefit. You get wrongly blamed; don’t worry.
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
Study the documents carefully before buying property. Peaceful situation prevails at home. Cold war and ego clashes between couples end. Your stock is set to pile up considerably.
Old debts issues resurface. Children face health problems; also, depression. Take care of them and guide them politely. Financial position looks satisfactory. You need to plan seriously.
Travel and increased expenses depresses you. Help from friends and relatives staying abroad or in other states likely. Some have chances to buy valuable moving assets and jewellery.
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
PISCES
Employees get additional responsibilities. Hurdles in the way of completing important tasks end. Your talks will be so matured that everyone will accept them. Govt sops likely for businessmen.
Benefits through blood relatives likely. Inferiority complex affects you often but you need to drive it away. Avoid harsh talks that might hurt others. Express opinions politely.
Those awaiting marriage get favourable news. You feel depressed over happenings in life. Worry not; you will have good time soon. Politicians advised not to criticise the high command.
ARIES
Eight of Swords – Conflict and confusion mark this day. To start with, you have to deal with the fact that not everything is going to go your way.
CANCER
SUMAA TEKUR
tarotreadhyd@gmail. com
TAURUS
Page of Wands – You’re feeling light and happy. You’re back from a holiday and the happiness and contentment show on your face, and in work, too.
GEMINI
Seven of Wands – You need some rest and relaxation. Take a break. Get away for a few days. Some important decision is pending. Let it not worry you too much.
LEO
VIRGO
Death – The tables are turning in your favour. There was a perception that you’re not very good at your job. But you prove them all wrong and do well.
Knight of Cups – There is a beautyrelated issue that’s bothering you too much. You may want to undergo dental surgery or cosmetic surgery to fix this.
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
The Moon – Communication is important. Don’t worry about over-communicating and repeating, if it means that you’re sure of communicating right.
Two of Cups – Marriage on the cards for singles. Those in a relationship will deepen commitment. Romance is looking great and you get emotional stability.
Queen of Swords – You may be feeling lonely. Only you can help yourself. Get away from Facebook, go out and meet real people. Socialise and party.
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
PISCES
Five of Swords – Avoid a fight at the work place at any cost. If you fought at home, you can escape to the office. If you fought at office, where will you run?
Six of Cups – An elderly person comes to your rescue with a special project. You will get the opportunity to showcase your talent – something that others will not.
The Magician – Stick to a group whenever you can. Don’t go away and wander on your own, even if you don’t like the group dynamics that are in place.
Ten of Pentacles – You’re feeling more settled after a period of turbulence. The bad times are over and you’re now on the road to happier times.
NON SEQUITUR PEARLS BEFORE SWINE POOCH CAFE
STRIP TEASE
AGNES
ARIES
TAROT READ Date 24-6-2013
The lighter side of life You know you're a high-tech worker if... You sat at the same desk for 4 years and worked for three different companies. Your company welcome sign is attached with Velcro. Your resume is on a diskette in your pocket. Your company logo on your badge is applied with stick-um. You learn about your layoff on CNN. Your biggest loss from a system crash is that you lose your best jokes. Your supervisor hasn't the ability to do your job assignment.
You sit in a cubicle smaller than your bedroom closet. Salaries of the members on the Executive Board are higher than all the Third World countries' annual budgets combined. Your home phone has none of the features you developed because you're never there. It's dark when you drive to and from work. Fun is when issues are assigned to someone else. Communication is something your group is having problems with. You see a good looking person and know it is a visitor.
Vol: 2, No 338 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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CINEMA SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Bad Teacher sequel on cards?
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sequel to comedy film Bad Teacher is reportedly going on floors very soon. The 2011 movie, which starred actress Cameron Diaz, Jason Segal and Justin Timberlake in the lead role, talked about a drug and alcohol addict teacher, who had a crush on a teacher. Director Jake Kasdan, who helmed the previous project will again take charge of the direction, reports dailystar.co.uk. However It is unclear if Diaz will reprise her role for the IANS sequel or not.
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nna Kendrick (Up in the Air) is in talks to play Cinderella in Disney’s adaptation of the musical Into the Woods, not to be confused with Disney’s liveaction adaptation of Cinderella. That version of the glass-slippered heroine will be played by Lily James. In Into the Woods, Kendrick would be part of a larger ensemble and paired with a prince played by Chris Pine (Star Trek Into Darkness). Kendrick showed off her singing skills on film in 2012 s Pitch Perfect, but has been performing in musicals since she was a child.
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ut a fork in it. Paula Deen issued a public video apology on Friday for using a racial slur— but her plea for forgiveness wasn't enough to save her job. "Food Network will not renew Paula Deen's contract when it expires at the end of this month," a network rep said. Deen earlier canceled a Today interview, then issued two video apologies amid the controversy over her discrimination lawsuit. "I want to apologise to everybody for the wrong that I've done," the host said in her video. "I want to learn and grow from this." Deen added.
Racial slur costs Paula her job
29
SPORTS SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Djoker happy to entertain
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ovak Djokovic believes he can win a second Wimbledon title with a broad smile on his face, even if his rivals fail to see the joke. Djokovic, who captured his maiden Wimbledon title in 2011, warmed up for this year’s event by playing an exhibition at Stoke Park. In one match, he and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov stripped off their shirts to compare physiques before going on to perform tongue-in-cheek impressions of Maria Sharapova’s fussy on-court routine.
Penalty lifts Power to pole
Sreesanth starts training
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ustralia’s Will Power will start on the pole in Sunday’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 after Brazil’s Helio Castroneves, who won the spot, was penalized 10 grid spots on Saturday for an improper engine switch. Castroneves, who is a three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, led all 50 laps in the qualifying heat that was to have decided the top 10 starting spots in Sunday’s 250-lap feature over the .875-mile oval course.
ut-on-bail S Sreesanth started training on Saturday for the first time after being embroiled in the spot-fixing scandal and has expressed hope of getting back on to the field soon. “Started training again..gods grace..first day..slowly getting back to normal life..thanks a lot for all ur support..," he wrote on his Twitter handle. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested by Delhi Police for alleged involvement in spot fixing in the IPL 6.
Murray poised to end Britain’s 77 years of pain Dave JAMES
Sharapova, Serena set up bitter campaign
LONDON: Andy Murray (right) will begin his campaign to end Britain’s 77 years of Wimbledon hurt Monday, buoyed by his tearful defeat in last year’s final and shrugging off a minefield of a draw. Fred Perry won Britain’s most recent Wimbledon men’s title in 1936, the year the Spanish Civil War started and Jesse Owens spectacularly defied Hitler and the Nazis at the Berlin Olympics. Twelve months ago, Murray was defeated by Roger Federer in the final, a loss which ended with the Scot in floods of tears on Centre Court. However, he then returned to the All England Club to claim Olympic gold before winning Britain’s first men’s Grand Slam title in 76 years when he triumphed at the US Open. “I think the Wimbledon final last year was important for me," said Murray, the world number two. “I got back on the practice court five, six days later and I felt great; whereas when I’d lost in slam finals before well, you saw my results for a few months afterwards. I hadn’t
LONDON: Maria Sharapova tore into rival Serena Williams on the eve of Wimbledon, setting the tone for a tournament likely to be dominated by their unseemly public row. Maria blasted Williams for her controversial comments over a rape case and even ripped into her colourful private life. In the astonishing attack, Sharapova told Williams to keep her opinions to herself, laying bare the bitter relationship between the two. dealt with it particularly well. “A combination of that final and the way I played in it, and also having the Olympics to look forward to, I think that was the period that changed me, changed my mindset a bit." Murray, 26, heads into his eighth Wimbledon, with a third Queen’s grasscourt trophy under his belt and free of the back injury which forced him to sit out the French Open. However, the draw has not been kind to him with seven-
Ullrich’s confession draws sharp criticism BERLIN: Germany’s only Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich faces further investigation after finally admitting that he doped with the help of Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. The 39-year-old Ullrich, who won the 1997 Tour de France, has told Monday’s edition of German weekly Focus that he “had access to treatment from Fuentes," but insisted using no other substance than his own blood. In April, a Spanish court jailed Fuentes for a year for performing blood transfusions on top cyclists. “At that time, nearly everyone was using doping substances and I used nothing that the oth-
ers were not using," Ullrich told Focus. He now wants to put his doping past behind him, but Germany’s Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has already said it will investigate. “For the sport to be clean, it is important that he not only admits his crime, but also mentions the names of other participants in the background," NADA said in a statement. The German’s confession comes six months after former rival and star cyclist Lance Armstrong admitted doping throughout his career and was then banned for life, as well as being stripped of his seven Tour AFP titles.
time champion Federer, and two-time winner Rafael Nadal, fresh from a record eighth Roland Garros title, both in his half of the draw. He will start his campaign on Monday against Germany’s Benjamin Becker who he defeated at Queen’s. Djokovic, the 2011 champion, faces Germany’s Florian Mayer, who he defeated in the quarter-finals last years. The 26-year-old top seed hasn’t played a grasscourt
warm-up, opting to rest after his marathon five-set loss to Nadal in the French Open semifinals. Djokovic beat Nadal in the 2011 final for his only Wimbledon title. “The draw is something that you cannot affect. So I honestly wasn’t thinking about it too much because it’s a matter of luck and it’s a matter of a coin toss, as well,” said Djokovic. “It’s a Grand Slam, so I don’t think that there is any AFP easy way to the title."
Cycling set for Tour de France’s 100th edition PARIS: The historic 100th edition of the Tour de France starts next week, with the sport seeking to move out of the long shadow cast by the Lance Armstrong doping scandal with a celebration of cycling’s most famous race. This year’s race, which starts on the Mediterranean island of Corsica on Saturday, is the first since the US rider was sensationally stripped of his record seven Tour wins after being exposed as a serial drug cheat. The shocking downfall of the world-famous Texan not only left a void in the Tour honours list from 1999 to 2005 but plunged cycling into crisis and self-examination over its drug-addled past. But in contrast to the pessimism surrounding cycling over the last year, the build-up to the opening 213-kilometre stage of “La Grande Boucle” has been AFP celebratory.
Falaknuma draw with SCRSA A-1 three days,Day 3 Group A Deccan Chronicle 517/8 bt Evergreen 166 and following on 106 in 40.4 overs (Mihir Hirwani 43, Akash Bhandari 5/15, C Satish 3/24). Falaknuma 181 and 214 in 84.2 overs (Rohit Rayudu 68, KSK Chaitanya 60, G Elezar 5/19, Sudhakar B 3/67) drew with SCRSA 322 and 38/1.
Three share Travelers lead CROMWELL: Bubba Watson, winless since taking last year’s Masters, struggled to a level par 70 on Saturday to fall into a three-way tie for the lead at the $6.1 million US PGA Travelers Championship. Watson, the 2010 Travelers champion and last year’s runner-up, finished 54 holes on 10-under par 200 to stand level with Canada’s Graham DeLaet, who fired the day’s low round of 65, and fellow American Charley Hoffman, who shot a 66. “I hit some shots that were really good, some quality shots. I got a couple bad breaks too, but that’s
golf," Watson said. “I still have a shot on Sunday and that’s what we’re looking for when we’re playing." Australian Nick O’Hern and American Chris Stroud were one stroke off the pace with American Ken Duke on 202 and seven others, including new US Open champion Justin Rose of England, on 203. Watson started strong, dropping a 93-yard approach shot inches from the cup for a birdie at the second hole and sinking a 32foot putt from just off the green for a birdie at the third. He added another birdie at the par-5 sixth. AFP
SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Dhoni predicts entertaining clash Kuldip Lal
BIRMINGHAM: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hopes the keen tussle between his young team and hosts England will produce an exciting Champions Trophy final on Sunday. “England are a very good side and they know the conditions well. We have also played well in a tournament where you only face the best of teams,” Dhoni said at Edgbaston, where the final will take place, on Saturday. “So it will be a good contest
It will be a good contest and very good for the spectators too. We as cricketers want to entertain the crowd. And that is how it is going to be. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India skipper and very good for the spectators too. We as cricketers want to entertain the crowd. And that is how it is going to be.” The dream final, worth $2 million to the winners, will be a mouth-watering clash between the two best teams in the eightnation tournament. India, winners of the World Cup at home in 2011, proved worthy of their number one ranking
Indian captain Mahendra Sing Dhoni answers questions during a press conference at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England on Saturday, a day ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy final match between England and India. AFP/PAUL ELLIS by cruising to the final with four straight wins — the last three by emphatic eight-wicket margins. Second-ranked England, looking for their first major oneday title, made it to the final with three wins out of four, including a seven-wicket defeat of South Africa in the semi-final at The Oval in London. India’s squad contains just three players — Virat Kohli,
Suresh Raina and Dhoni himself — who played in the World Cup final two years ago, but the captain insisted his team was not under pressure for the big game. “We will prepare for the final the same way we prepared for the semi-final, or the game against Pakistan,” he said. “It’s a new game now. What happened in the past does not matter.” Dhoni brushed aside worries
that bad weather — rain has been forecast for the entire day on Sunday — could ruin the final in front of a packed Edgbaston. “We will wait for tomorrow to see how the weather goes, we can’t go by the forecast,” he said. “In our semi-final against Sri Lanka, they said we may not even get a 20-over game and we ended up playing a full match.”
The Indian captain said the first 10 overs of the innings, whether bowling or batting, could determine how the final shaped up. “If you get off to a good start, you are able to put pressure on the middle order and then you can restrict the opposition from scoring freely,” Dhoni said. “Or if you are batting first and if you have wickets in hand, you can get those extra 20 or 25 runs in the end which could prove crucial. So I think the first 10 overs are very crucial either way.” India have banked on the success of the top-order, especially left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan, whose 332 runs in four matches have made him the competition’s leading scorer. Dhawan’s scores of 114, 102 not out, 48 and 68, allied to valuable opening stands with Rohit Sharma, have fashioned India’s comprehensive wins so far. Dhoni said he expected Dhawan and company to continue their good form against an England attack led by versatile seamer James Anderson. “England are a very good bowling unit, but we are excited that our top order has played, and done well, against some of the best bowlers in world cricket in this tournament,” explained Dhoni. “Our batsmen are well prepared to face the England bowlers. But, like in every game, they have to apply themselves. So we will wait and watch how it goes.”
‘This Indian team better than class of ‘11’
LONDON: Former England
captain Michael Vaughan (in pic) feels that current Indian ODI team that will be playing in the Champions Trophy is “better” than the one which won the World Cup two years back in 2011. “India have been the team of the tournament so far. They are a fearless, aggressive bunch and I have not seen that from India before. This team are better than the World Cup-winning side in 2011,” Vaughan wrote in his column in the Daily Telegraph. Like everyone else, Vaughan is also very impressed with the fielding standards set by the Ravindra Jadejas and Virat Kohlis and feels that this bunch is out to create a legacy of their own. “The young players play with freedom. They know this is their chance to create a legacy now the great
names have retired. They field brilliantly, creating chances for the bowlers through agility,” he wrote. If that wasn’t enough Vaughan observed that this current crop of batsmen are
INDIA HAVE BEEN THE TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT SO FAR. THEY ARE A FEARLESS, AGGRESSIVE BUNCH AND I HAVE NOT SEEN THAT FROM INDIA BEFORE, SAID VAUGHAN. interested in hitting the short-pitched stuff rather than swaying away from the line of the deliveries. “With the bat, they look to score off the short ball instead of swaying out the
way of it. They hit the ball as hard as any Indian players I have ever seen. They play good, hard strokes you see in Test cricket and it looks as if Duncan Fletcher is loving working with them.” Vaughan, however, believes that this is the best chance for the England team to win a limited overs tournament on global platform. “This is a great chance for England to create history and win a global 50-over tournament. We reached the final of the Champions Trophy in 2004 but could not quite get over the line. But this team can go one better.” “They (England) are a stronger one-day side than we were but that is cancelled out by the fact they are playing an India side better than the West Indies team who beat us nine years PTI ago (2004).”
30&31 Ball change costs Dar CT final: reports
England ready to end ODI drought: Cook Julian Guyer
BIRMINGHAM: England cap-
Umpire Aleem Dar (L) gestures to England’s Alastair Cook, after the umpires decide to change the ball during a CT match against Sri Lanka. AFP/IAN KINGTON
BIRMINGHAM: The change of ball during England’s loss to Sri Lanka in the group stages has apparently cost Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar an opportunity to be an on-field official in today’s Champions Trophy final. England captain Alastair Cook was unhappy with Dar for changing one of the match balls in their defeat to Sri Lanka at The Oval last week, leading to speculation of ball tampering. And the British media speculated that the ball change incident might be a reason behind ICC’s decision to exclude Dar from on-field duties. “England have been spared one potential concern in the Champions Trophy final with Aleem Dar relegated to the peripheral fourth umpire role,” a report in the The Guardian said on Saturday. “Dar’s role as fourth umpire will be purely supportive — one of his official roles is to make sure the batteries are working in the light meters,” it added. Kumar Dharmasena and Rod Tucker have been named as the on-field umpires for the final while Bruce Oxenford will discharge the duties of the third umpire. PTI
tain Alastair Cook insisted his side were “ready” to make history by beating world champions India in Sunday’s Champions Trophy final at Edgbaston. England have never won a major one-day international (ODI) title, losing the 1979, 1987 and 1992 World Cup finals — all featuring Cook’s mentor Graham Gooch — as well as going down at home to the West Indies in the 2004 Champions Trophy final at The Oval. But, ahead of England’s
ENGLAND CAPTAIN ALASTAIR COOK INSISTED HIS SIDE WERE READY TO MAKE HISTORY BY BEATING INDIA IN THE CHAMPIONS TROPHY FINAL. defence of the Ashes, which starts next month, Cook said winning the Champions Trophy would be “right up there”. “The lads are raring to go,” Cook told reporters at Edgbaston on Saturday. “I’ve never seen them as relaxed as we have been leading up to a big game. “But I’m looking around in the guys’ eyes and I know they’re ready to play. “We haven’t won a global 50over tournament, as everyone keeps reminding me. “There’s certain moments in your career where you remember more than others, and if we can win this tomorrow (Sunday) then I think that
England captain Alistair Cook (L) and teammate Graeme Swann laugh during a training session at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Saturday, on the eve of the Champions Trophy final. AFP/PAUL ELLIS would be right up there,” added the 28-year-old left-handed opener, who averages nearly 50 in Test cricket and almost 40 in ODIs. India have so far won all their matches this tournament, whereas England suffered a group stage loss to Sri Lanka. However, when England and India last met in English conditions in 2011 it was England who prevailed, winning a Test series 4-0 — with Cook scoring a Test-best 294 at Edgbaston and the one-dayers 3-0. “They’re unbeaten and have played some very good cricket. But our record against India last time we played them in England is a good record,” said Cook. “All I can say is the lads in
They’re [India] unbeaten and have played some very good cricket. But our record against India last time we played them in England is good. Alistair Cook, England skipper the last two games (a group stage victory over New Zealand and a seven-wicket semi-final defeat of South Africa) under pressure delivered two excellent performances.
“I can’t see a reason why we can’t do it tomorrow,” Cook insisted. In-form opener Shikhar Dhawan, the tournament’s leading scorer with 332 runs including two hundreds at an average of more than 110, has been the cornerstone of a powerful India top order. But an England attack led by swing specialist James Anderson has proved highly effective and Cook said: “We’ve got very skillful new-ball bowlers. If you do take some early wickets and put some pressure on their middle order who haven’t batted so much, that could work well for us.” However, India pacemen Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma have also been in fine form. “I think that’s why they’re probably the favourites.... They’re scoring runs at the top of the order and taking wickets with the new ball,” Cook said. A further twist is that India are now under the guidance of former England coach Duncan Fletcher, who took charge of the Asian giants soon after their 2011 World Cup triumph and has since overseen a huge improvement in their fielding. “He had a very successful reign with the English cricket team. I can see him working the same (way) with the Indian team,” said Cook. England pace-bowling allrounder Tim Bresnan is available following the birth of his son and could replace fast bowler Steven Finn. But Cook said Graeme Swann, who has played just once this tournament because of back and calf problems, would not feature if there was a risk of further injury with Swann’s fellow offspinner James Tredwell set to AFP keep his place.
ICC to dedicate CT final to HIV awareness campaign BIRMINGHAM: The final of the Champions Trophy will be dedicated to the highly successful HIV awareness campaign THINK WISE, a partnership between ICC, UNAIDS and UNICEF. UNAIDS deputy executive director Jan Beagle will attend the final between England and India at Edgbaston Sunday. She will join ICC president Alan Isaac, chairman of ECB Giles Clarke, and two representatives of people living with HIV, will
walk out with the teams for the national anthems in solidarity of people around the globe living with HIV. Over the past decade, ICC has been promoting awareness for the AIDS epidemic, which led to the creation of the THINK WISE partnership in 2009. During the final, both the finalists, as well as match officials, ICC and ECB staff will wear red ribbons to raise awareness about the stigma surrounding people living with HIV.
Beagle congratulated the ICC on its commitment to AIDS awareness. “I am moved to see the incredible dedication of the ICC and cricketers to promoting HIV prevention and reaching zero discrimination for people living with HIV. For a decade, UNAIDS and the ICC have been using cricket as an effective avenue to convey lifesaving messages and reach large numbers of people on key issues around AIDS.” IANS
Indian captain Mahendra Sing Dhoni (L) and England captain Alistair Cook pose for photographs with the Champions Trophy at Edgbaston on Saturday AFP/PAUL ELLIS on the eve of the tournament’s final.
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SPORTS SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013
Hernandez guides Mexico to victory
Mexico’s Javier Hernandez celebrates after scoring against Japan during their FIFA Confederations Cup Group A match, at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte on Saturday.
BELO HORIZONTE: Manchester United star Javier Hernandez scored twice but missed a lastminute penalty as Mexico defeated Japan 2-1 on Saturday to leave the Asian side winless at the Confederations Cup. Hernandez took his tally for the tournament to three as Mexico registered their first victory.
AFP/YASUYOSHI CHIBA
Inspired Brazil see off Italy SALVADOR DE BAHIA: An inspired second-half showing from Brazil earned the Confederations Cup hosts a 4-2 win over Italy in Salvador on Saturday to win Group A and avoid a potential semi-final meeting with Spain. The dubious honour of facing the world champions in a Thursday semi in Fortaleza is now likely to be Italy’s fate assuming the Spanish, with two wins under their belts ahead of their final meeting with Nigeria, top Group B. Brazil made it three wins in three games at the event to earn a probable semi-final with Uruguay in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday. Brazil started looking like a side who had been energised not just by their opening wins and clean sheets against Japan and Mexico but also the waves of popular protest by citizens demanding better social policies and an end to state corruption. Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari indicated he saw the pieces slowly falling into place although he has made the World Cup the overriding top priority rather than success this month. “We beat a strong Italian team and I think this shows we are on the right road, even if there are a few things we need to improve," said Scolari,
mastermind of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup success and brought back last November for a second spell in charge of the Selecao. “We mustn’t get carried away," added Scolari, who earlier urged his compatriots to be patient with their demands for institutional reform. Looking to cheer the nation, the whole Brazil squad sang the national anthem with gusto and then set about chasing an early goal. An early Oscar flick sent in Neymar, but the Barcelona-bound striker fired wide and then picked up a yellow card after a clumsy challenge on Italian fullback Ignazio Abate On the half hour Italy made an early change in sending on Emmanuele Giaccherini to replace Riccardo Montolivo before Brazil also had to reshuffle the pack as broken nose victim from their previous match, David Luiz, went off with a knock, giving way to Dante. Italy then lost Abate to a suspected dislocated shoulder, Christian Maggio coming on, before Brazil took the lead on the stroke of half-time. Neymar fired over a free-kick from the left, Fred saw Gigi Buffon parry but Dante followed up and the Bayern Munich player bundled home. AFP
Brazil’s defender Dante (C) is congratulated by teammates after scoring against Italy during their FIFA Confederations Cup Group A match on Saturday. AFP/CHRISTOPHE SIMON
The win, however, came in a ‘dead’ game after Brazil and Italy had already made sure of their places in the semi-finals as Group A qualifiers. Hernandez, who had scored his team’s only goal of the competition in the 2-1 loss to Italy, opened the scoring in the 54th minute. He timed a run perfectly to
meet a cross from Andres Guardado before heading the ball past Eiji Kawashima in the Japan goal. Twelve minutes later, Hernandez made it 2-0. Giovani Dos Santos sent over a corner which was flicked on at the near post by Hiram Mier for the Manchester United man to head home from close range. AFP