Epaper 24 july 2013

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013 HYDERABAD

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

32 PAGES

WEATHER: HAZE; 27°C

`3

City roads turn to mush as shoddy work endangers lives REPORT ON P4 This is turning out to be an annual game played by civic officials and road contractors to milk the treasury and taxpayers.

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

RESCUED FROM THE FLESH TRADE, THEIR

HORROR BEGINS PG 7

PG 16&17

The

KING

of Indian roads

The Hindustan Ambassador is fondly called ‘The king of Indian roads’.

Recently, Ambassador emerged a winner in Top Gear’s World Taxi Shootout.

We take a look at this auto marvel.

2

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

city events

160 YEARS OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

South Central Railway (SCR) presents '160 Years Of Indian Railways'.

Where: Salarjung museum, Near Estate Talkies, Afzalgunj.

When: On till July 26, 10am-5pm Contact: 040 2452 3211

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

24°C

21°C

23°C

27°C

Mix of cloudy and clear skies.

Cloudy with showers likely.

Cloudy with showers.

Cloudy with sunny periods.

New Delhi Mumbai Max 35 Max 29 Min 26 Min 24 Thunderstorm in spots.

Chennai Max 33 Min 25

Rain, heavy at times.

A t-storm in the afternoon.

Bangalore Max 26 Min 21 A brief shower or two.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES Tribal art exhibition Kalakriti Art Gallery presents Dots and Dashes, a Gond tribal art exhibition, curated by Rati Khemka Malaiya.

Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery, Banjara Hills When: On till July 28, 11am to 7pm Contact: Kalakriti Art Gallery on Facebook State of the Art Voyage of exploration, a collection of paintings, drawing and sculptures by students of MFA programme 2013 from Sarojini Naidu School of Art & Communication, University of Hyderabad is on.

Where: Shrishti Art Gallery, Jubilee Hills When: Till July 25 Contact: +91 40 23554485/86

WORKSHOPS Aerobics Have fun while you burn calories at this aerobics workshop.

Where: Colorama printers, Begumpet When: Till July 26, 4.30-6.30pm Contact: 2373 0328 Theatre workshop Theatre workshop for children in the eight years and above age group. It offers a rich mix of outdoor theatre activities, readings, analysis, discussions and performances.

Where: Lamakaan, Banjara hills When: Till Aug 3, 10am Contact: 2329 9779

LOVE IS IN THE AIR: A couple enjoying the rain at Golconda Fort.

Hills When: On till July 31 Contact: 040 6733 1133

America, the Caribbean and Asia!

Where: Novotel Airport, Shamshabad Contact: (040) 6625 0000

Go Global Get a taste of food from around the world, from Europe and the Mediterranean to North Africa,

Ramzan special Relish the season special iftar delicacies at these venues.

Where: Viva, Taj Vivanta When: Till Aug 7, 5.30-11.30pm Where: Deccan Pavilion, ITC Kakatiya When: Till Aug 7, 7.30pm onwards Where: Green Park hotel, Ameerpet When: Till Aug 8, 6.30-10.30pm

DINING Food festival An opportunity to taste delicacies from Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Where: Chill, Radisson Blu, Banjara Commissioner & Spl Officer

Helpline GAS BOOKING IVRS NO HP 9666023456 Indane 9848824365 BSNL Complaints HMWS & SB Complaints

198 155313

POLICE CONTROL ROOM Hyderabad 27852435 Traffic Control Room 27852482 DCP Traffic 23234065, 23243499F Pollution Control Board 23887500 ELECTRICITY General Complaints Breakdown Section

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

23262266 24166666R ENC 23225267 Engineering 23220418 MCH Tankbund 23225397 Emergency MCH Circle I&II 24525842 MCH Circle III 24736912 MCH Circle IV 23326975 MCH Circle V 23326976 MCH Circle VI MCH Complaints 1100 Head Office 23225397 IVRS CUM MANUAL ENQUIRY PHONE NUMBERS (TRAIN & RESERVATION) RAILWAYS Rail Nilayam 27833169, 27824216 Railway Information 131 Reservations 135 Recorded Information 1345 Enquiry (IVRS) 1331, 1332, 1333

SHOWS French drama Alliance Française presents TOMBOY,

WATER SUPPLY Complaint Cell Sewerage Complaint Hyd. Water Supply HOSPITAL General Hospital, Sec-bad Niloufer Hospital, Red Hills NIMS, Director, Punjagutta Osmania General Hospital Railway Hospital, Lalaguda Apollo, Jubilee Hills Care Hospital, Banjara Hills Care Hospital, Nampally Care Hospital, Musheerabad Care Hospital, Sec-bad Kamineni Hospital, LB Nagar

155313 23307328 23313163

27505566 23314095 23390933 24600146 27001134 23607777 30418888 30417777 30419000 30416666 39879999

BLOOD BANKS Blood Bank,Narayanguda Chiranjeevi Blood Bank Blood Bank Mediton Goal Red Cross, Vidyanagar ADRM Blood Bank Mythri Charitable Trust NTR Memorial Trust Care Banjara Hills

N SHIVA KUMAR

a French drama film released in 2011 written and directed by Céline Sciamma. Free entry – open to all.

Where: Alliance Française of Hyderabad When: July 24, 6:30pm Contact: +91 40 23554485/86 Performance time Phoenix band will be performing live.

Where: Hard Rock Cafe, Banjara Hills When: July 25, 9 pm Contact: 6463-6375 Just for fun History of India Viritten will be performed by stand-up comedian Vir Das. Where: N-Convention, Madhapur When: July 27 Contact: 8790432354

27567892 23559555 23226624 27633087 27035588 27550238 30799999 30418296 30417445

AMBULANCES Apollo 23548888, 23607777 Kamineni 24022222 Medwin 23202902, 23204616 Smile Line Dental Hospital 23747979 Red Cross 27627973 Niloufer Hospital 23314095 Gandhi 23320332 AIRLINES

Party all night DJ Nancy Hope, one of the listed Top 8 super model DJs in the world is coming to Movida soon.

Where: Movida, Radisson Blu, Banjara Hills When: July 26 Contact: +91 (0) 40 6733 1133

Airport Director 27903785, 27906001 For Air India Flight Information Toll free (from any network) for IC Flights 18001801407 And for All Flights: 1800227722 Air India has revised its flight timings.

For more information call (Toll free) 18001801407, 1800227722 from BSNL/MTNL 04023430334 from other lines and mobile Website; www.airindia.in TOURISM OFFICES AP Tourism, Hyd 23262152/53/54 Sec-bad 27893100 Dept of Tourism 23453110 India Tourism 23261360 AP Tourism information Centre (24x7) 23450444, 23455999 UK VISA OFFICE VFS India Pvt Ltd Building, 8-2-542/A, Sunil Chamber, Road No. 7

Beside Meridian School, Banjara Hills34. Working hours are from 8 AM to 1 PM And 2 PM to 3PM. MUSEUMS Salar Jung Museum AP State Museum Nizams Museum

24523211 232431300/7641 24521029

Readers’ views

We invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to feedback@postnoon.com or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500 033 or even by way of a call on 4067 2222

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

news

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

WILL PANCHAYAT POLL OUTCOME DECIDE THE FATE OF T? 63% 37%

YES (A) NO (B)

A)

YES

B)

NO

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

FORGERY

Brothers try to cheat sister of her property HYDERABAD: In a brazen manner two brothers and their families allegedly forged the signature of their sister to sell off the family property. The woman has moved the court and police are investigating.

Savithri, 42, has two brothers — Venkatramana and Ramesh — and trusted them implicitly, until the other day when to her shock she realised that the two brothers and their families have faked her signature on stamp papers showing her consent to sell the family property in Mettuguda worth `1 crore.

Upon realising the cheating bid, Savithri moved a Secunderabad Court which has

TODAY’S QUESTION

DO EXISTING LAWS HAVE ADEQUATE SAFEGUARDS TO PROTECT MEN?

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asked the Chikalguda police to investigate and report.

Preliminary inquiry revealed that the allegation is true as Savithri swears she has not signed any paper, nor does she

intend to sell the property.

She said in her petition that when she realised that the property was in the market, she approached the brothers who got angry with her and threatened that she be thrown out and she would be begging on the streets if she did not consent.

The complaint says the brothers had made fake documents too from the original and showed that Savithri had consented to the sale.

The police were told that Venkatramana and his wife and daughter are in the scam as well where the wife and daughter practised signing Savithri’s signature and put it on the stamp paper.

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CRIME Attacks in Mexico's state leave 22 dead Some 4,000 soldiers and 1,000 police officers had been deployed in Michoacan since May. MEXICO CITY: Heavily armed men clashed with federal police in six towns in Mexico's Michoacan state, leaving 22 people dead, the Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday.

"So far, we have two federal police killed, 20 presumed criminals shot dead and another 15 people under arrest," the ministry's National Security Council said in a statement. In May, Mexico's government promised to keep thousands of troops in the western state until peace is restored to a region that is tormented by violent drug cartels.

Officials said some 4,000 army soldiers and marines and 1,000 federal police officers were deployed at that time.

Michoacan was the first state to

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see troops when former president Felipe Calderon decided to crack down on drug cartels in 2006.

But gang violence surged throughout Mexico, leaving 70,000 people in its wake when Calderon left office in December, and a powerful new cartel, the Knights Templar, emerged in Michoacan. Fed up with crime, vigilante groups have appeared in recent months and clashed with the Knights Templar cartel, notably in the Tierra Caliente region known as a hot spot of gang violence in the state of 4.3 million people.

AFP

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News WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

ROADS TO PERDITION?

LAST YEAR... HERE Water woes

L

ast year we had heavy rainfalls, but neither could we capitalise on that gift from the heavens, nor could we take measures to keep our roads from being flooded. Despite the daily downpour, our water reserves were close to depletion with reservoir levels at depressing marks. This year the shortage has not been as acute as it was last year, but no efforts have been launched to make use of the water that gets delivered for free from above.

NUMEROLOGY

DEVELOPMENT

CITY ROADS TURN HURDLE-TRACKS The condition is so bad that is not only affects the traffic that moves at snail pace but even motorists, mostly bikers.

SRINIVAS SETTY

21%

Indonesia’s share of cyber attacks surged to 21 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, a massive jump from just 0.7 per cent in the prior quarter.

He’s got her looks, thankfully.

He’s got way more (hair) than me, thank God. Prince William while speaking to reporters when he and his wife the Duchess of cambridge appeared with their newborn son.

For full story check page 9

THINGS WE 5LEARNT TODAY The column that teaches everyone something new about the way the world functions.

1

Morality is bigger than safety on Indonesian streets On the streets lurks moral police personnel in Indonesia to swoop down and ensure that women wear their headgear and do not have conversations with men.

2

The Beijing airport explosion revealing of true state.

The man in a wheelchair who blew up a hand-made bomb in a Beijing airport was someone who was a victim of red tape-ism and hegemony of Chinese officials.

3

Campus radios on the rise in the country.

Today there are nearly a 100 campus radios in the country, there could be more and all are alive and kicking.

4

Royal baby’s coming creates a great royal heir reserve.

It’s the first time since way back in 1894 that three direct heirs to the throne of England have been alive at the same time.

5

The pirates are at it again: takes 50 hostage On Somalia's pirate coast, more than 50 sailors are being held for ransom

ALEENA ALICE aleena.t@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: he continuous rains in the city since the past three week have made every road in Hyderabad an eye sore.

Potholes have always been an issue. Just a few rains and the surface layer of the road get eroded and potholes crop up.

With poor quality of materials used for filling the potholes, even with one rainfall the surface of the roads start wearing off.

The condition of the roads is so pathetic that is not only affects the traffic which moves at snail pace but even motorist especially bikers. Worse, now the bad roads are even claiming innocent lives. Every year a huge sum is sanctioned for the road repair works taken up by the GHMC, yet the civic authority is not able to get the problem worked out. Civic organisations allege massive scam in the whole exercise. It is only during the monsoons that the poor quality of material used to fill up

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With poor quality of materials used for filling the potholes, even with one rainfall the surface of the roads start wearing off. the potholes becomes evident.

However, instead of taking up the work immediately, the civic authorities buy time stating that re-carpeting of roads can be taken up only during a dry spell. While rest of the developed cities in the country are trying to get rid of this problem by introducing latest technology to make sure that repair work can even be taken up in rainy season, the GHMC officials state those methods as “expensive” and continue with their traditional methods like hot mix asphalt for re carpeting roads.

The GHMC officials however claim to be using the best in class methods to repair the damaged roads. The Chief Engineer Dhansingh speaking to Postnoon said, “90% of the roads are repaired with readymade hot mixes which in moist conditions cannot be laid. In some areas we use Titanium emulsion technology, however, this can be used only in a limited areas and not on large areas of damage. There are a few methods which are costly, but because of our limitations we use the best technology what suits the budget well. We make sure that we do not compromise on the quality of the roads built."

When contacted the GHMC officials, about the time frame they set to repair the roads, the officials stated that they are currently engaged in the process of identifying the damaged stretches and will shortly submit the list of the roads to the contractors to repair them. Of the 57 roads inspected by the GHMC,16 roads have been found in need of repair.

India to help build film city in Nigeria NEW DELHI: As part of its expanding “development partnership” with Africa, India will help Kano State of Nigeria set up a film city in the West African country whose uber-booming movie industry will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next month.

With the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population, governments in Africa are facing pressure to provide jobs. The film city project is being established keeping in view the job creation potential of the Nigerian film industry and the need for a “fruitful export” for the country AROUND THE

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which is seeking to diversify its oil-dominated economy.

The EXIM Bank of India, which has tasted success in financing Bollywood fims, is advising its Nigerian counterpart, NEXIM, at the intricacies and nuances of film fiancing.

EXIM India had arranged a capacity-building training programme for officials last year.

The film industry of Nigeria, known as Nollywood, produces around 1,000-1,200 movies a year, made on the digital format.

The business is maturing in quality and looking to acquire new markets outside of Nigeria.

The World Bank is also currently assisting the Nigerian government to create a “Growth and Employment in States” project to support the entertainment industry, believing that if the industry is properly managed, a million more jobs could be created. IANS

CITY BRIEFS Seminar on renewable energy at Hotel Golconda

Banned-gutka-making racket busted

Man commits suicide in Kukatpally

Man stabs neighbour to death in Shahshabad

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ew Renewable Energy Development Corporation of AP and A.P State Energy Conservation Mission will organize a two-day seminar on 28th and 29th July at Hotel Golconda, Hyderabad. The topic of the Seminar is “ECO SURE SUMMIT 2013”. Solar Energy and Wind Power will be discussed at the seminar.

ity commissioner’s task force on seized machines and other tools used in making banned gutka pouches in the City. Police seized a massive stock of about 2,40,020 pouches from the house of one Mohd Ayub of Moghalpura. The accused person is being entrusted with the Food Safety Designated Officer, GHMC.

ne Suresh, 22, a resident of Allwyn Colony in Kukatpally has allegedly committed suicide by hanging on the late night of Monday. It is said police found out that the man was suffering from depression owing to his falling eyesight and failure to get a marriage proposal. Kukatpally police are investigating.

resident of Shahshabad, Mohd Sadiq, aged 35, sustained stab injuries when his neighbour by name Khaja Khayyum reportedly attacked him with knife. He was shifted to a hospital immediately.

Sadique had allegedly abusing Khaja’s brother earlier. A case has been registered at the Chandrayangutta police.

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News WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013 HEALTH

GOVERNANCE

Make technology a liberating force ‘Plain cigarette packs could help people quit smoking’ SYDNEY: A new study shows that cigarettes packaged in a plain manner are less appealing to smokers and get them thinking about the urgency to quit smoking.

The study, published in the online journal BMJ Open, was based on interviews of 536 smokers in the Australian state of Victoria during November 2012 when plain packs were already available in the run-up to and immediately after implementation of the legislation requiring all AROUND THE

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tobacco sold at retail outlets to be contained in plain packs.

The results indicated that perception of exaggerated tobacco harm or the frequency with which smokers thought about the damage cigarettes might be doing to them differed little between the two groups. But plain pack smokers were 51 per cent more likely to back the plain pack policy than were brand pack smokers.

Compared with smokers still using brand packs, the plain pack smokers were 66 per cent more likely to think their cigarettes were poorer quality than a year ago.

And they were 70 per cent more likely to say they found them less satisfying.

IANS

Chief Minister flaunts the State’s record in implementation of e-governance initiatives.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said that technology should be transparent and affordable to the common man. Or else it would be failing in its duty.

The Chief Minister was speaking as the Chief Guest at the e-India inaugural session at HICC on Tuesday. “How can we transform the society with technology?” he asked.

He said that every citizen in the State should be able to avail all services in the government and it should be easily accessible.

Citing the instance of introduction of Mee Seva which has become a tremendous success, the Chief Minister said the Mee Seva started on November 4, 2011 is now providing 153 services and handles 1.5 lakh transactions every day totalling to `2.5 crore every year.

“People are getting birth, income, caste, encumbrance and other property certificates and many other services hassle-free from the Mee Seva centres. It made a revolutionary change in the life of the common man by avoiding the inordinate delay and increasing the efficiency and transparency in the transactions.

“It has also done away with bribes and middlemen fees and saves about `4,000 crore every year for the common man,” he pointed out.

The CM quoted many instances where AP is in the

forefront in adopting technology for the common man.

He said as far as Aadhar enrolment is concerned, the State is ranked first, and 100 per cent enrolment will be completed by the end of the year. He said with the introduction of Aadhar cards, people will be able to draw ration anywhere in the State including Amma Hastham.

And with the adoption of technology and online payment of reimbursement of tuition fess AROUND THE

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Mee Seva started on November 4, 2011 is now providing 153 services and handles 1.5 lakh transactions every day totalling to `2.5 crore every year. and scholarships, not only could the State government ensure that every eligible student gets it, but also save about `300 crore by preventing duplication etc.

The CM also quoted the instances of Aarogyasri, providing cellphone information and intimation to pregnant women in rural areas, monitoring the girl child from birth till her education is completed.

He also said the State tops in the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and leverages the maxi-

mum wage payments and jobs under the scheme, thanks to technology.

Kiran said that this is the age of ‘global competition and survival of the fittest and we have to be the fittest to survive’.

He added that the government is now also monitoring

the engineering colleges for its quality of education.

Union minister for textiles K Sambasiva Rao, State minister for IT Ponnala Lakshmiah, Union secretary (IT) J Satyanarayana, State IT secretary Sanjay Jaju and others also spoke.

NSS

NATION BRIEFS Cop suspended for shrine ‘misbehaviour’

2 of Imam's family murdered in Srinagar

Crucial ruling in Salman Khan case today

Shifting accused to hospital angers court

4 wounded in Assam grenade attacks

BHUBANESWAR: A woman police constable was suspended after an allegation that she misbehaved with the rajguru of Nepal in the Jagannath temple at Puri. The constable allegedly obstructed and abused rajguru Madhab Bhattarai when he visited the temple on Tuesday afternoon. She has been placed under suspension.

SRINAGAR: Two members of an Imam's family were killed while a third is battling for life after their throats were slit, the police said.

Imam of Iqbalabad mosque Ifftekhar Ahmad said he found his wife, son and daughter lying in pools of blood with slit throats when he reached home after offering the morning prayers.

MUMBAI: A Mumbai sessions court is expected to pronounce its crucial verdict in the 2002 hit-andrun case involving Bollywood actor Salman Khan here Wednesday. The court is likely to give its decision on conducting a fresh trial in the case under IPC Section 304 (III). If found guilty under the charge Salman Khan could face 10 years in prison.

LUCKNOW: The CBI special court here has taken a serious view of the shifting of former UP minister and accused in the multi-crore NRHM scam Babu Singh Kushwaha to a hospital without its permission.

Special Judge S Lal has summoned superintendent of the Dasna prison in Ghaziabad where the former minister was lodged.

GUWAHATI: At least five people were wounded after suspected militants lobbed two grenades in Assam's Lakhimpur town late Tuesday night, police said. Police said the militants lobbed three grenades at Jail Road, Court Road and Chouldhuwa area of the town within half-an-hour. A hunt is on to nab the militants.

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News WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

UNREST

AUSTRALIA

Cops break up Bulgaria ‘Hobbit’ finder Parliament blockade loses cancer fight Eight-hour ordeal ends for MPs, ministers and journalists.

SOFIA: Anti-riot police broke up a protesters’ blockade of Bulgaria’s parliament early Wednesday and escorted out over 100 ministers, lawmakers and journalists who had been trapped inside for over eight hours. Policeman with shields pushed away the anti-government protesters and formed a tight cordon barring all access to the stately building in downtown Sofia at around 3am Wednesday morning.

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The building was fully emptied by 5am (0200 GMT) when heavy construction machinery started removing the protesters’ barricades made of park benches, garbage containers and paving stones. An earlier attempt to free some of the besieged law-

CRIME

YSRC neta suspended AROUND THE

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HYDERABAD: The YSR Congress leadership has suspended the Ellareddy constituency in-charge Siddhartha Reddy after he was arrested in a cheating case on Tuesday. The YSR Congress landed itself in a very embarrassing situation when its leaders were charged of robbery and murder in Rajahmundry and fake currency circulation in Visakhapatnam.

Siddhartha Reddy was arrested for cheating the people by promising to sell gold at a low price. He opened a finance company about 15 years ago and cheated the people after collecting deposits. He then disappeared. He recently resurfaced and emerged as YSRCP leader. He created commotion during the party’s honorary president Vijayamma’s visit to Nizamabad. He vanished after cheating the people in the name of Panchajaya recurring deposit scheme in 1995.

Bulgarian riot policemen push protestors back to make way for the bus with lawmakers and parliament staff.

AFP

makers late Tuesday had ended up in skirmishes between the 2,000 protesters and police, leaving at least eight protesters and two policemen injured, hospital sources said.

The clashes were the first violence seen in 40 days of massive rallies in Bulgaria that demanded the resignation of the new technocrat cabinet that took office in May. AFP

LOCAL POLLS

LS blasts govt, seeks EC action POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Coming down heavily on the government and the election commission’s failure to keep a watch, the Lok Satta Party questioned the legality and propriety of the government move to release funds to municipalities on the eve of elections. The party has urged the State Election Commission to intervene.

In a statement, Lok Satta Party state vicepresident DVVS Varma said, the AROUND THE government’s CITY move is nothing but a blatant attempt at influencing voters. By proposing award of works on nomination basis, the government is trying to benefit the ruling party contractors and enable them to induce voters to unfair means. Otherwise, there is no reason for the government, which has repeatedly postponed municipal elections under some pretext or other and kept civic bodies under special officers’ rule, developing sudden love for urban people. Since special officers function under the thumb of the government, funnelling funds to ruling party politicians will be hassle free.

Varma appealed to the Election Commission to take cognizance of the government’s move and nip it in the bud. He said the commission must immediately ask the government to hold back funds. It is not against development of civic bodies but on an election ethics.

NSS

SYDNEY: The Australian archaeologist who rocked the science world with his discovery of a tiny new species of human known as the “hobbit” has died after a year-long battle with cancer, his university said Wednesday. Mike Morwood, the professor who was instrumental in the discovery of Homo floresiensis in 2003. He was 62.

New Zealand-born Morwood, who earned his PhD from the Australian National University, was also an expert on Aboriginal rock art.

But he is best known for leading the team of Australian and Indonesian researchers that uncovered the partial skeleton of a one metre tall woman at Liang Bua, a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003.

A further six partial skeletons of the tiny humans, who weighed just 30 kg and had the brain the size of a chimp’s, were later found, in addition to

skeletons of megafaunal species including an extinct close relative of modern elephants and giant tortoise.

The extraordinary discovAROUND THE

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ery sparked an intellectual battle that has raged ever since with one side declaring the “hobbits” a separate species of human while others argue they were just diseased Homo sapiens, with a disorder that made them midget-like.

AFP

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News WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

HEALTH

No funds, relief for victims

What happens to women after they are rescued from the flesh trade? That is an answer the State is still grappling to provide.

WHO accused of promoting ‘dangerous’ vaccine

PADMINI COPPARAPU padmini.c@postnoon.com

KS JAYARAMAN feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: At 13, Ramya Shankar* was lured away from her home in Hyderabad with the promise of an education, a job and a better life. She hoped that she would return in a year or two, with enough money to be give her ageing grandfather treatment and take care of her two younger siblings. All that changed when instead of taking her to the intended destination, she was sold off into a brothel.

Over the next year, she was repeatedly drugged, tortured, raped and re-trafficked before she was finally rescued in a surprise raid by the local police in Ongole.

She has been living in a rescue home ever since. “Ever since I got here, I’ve been training in tailoring and learning to make handicrafts. l’m never going to be dependant on anyone for a livelihood, ever again," vows Ramya determinedly. However, except for her newly-developed skills, Ramya has little else to strike out on her own, and gain economic independence. Even the most basic essentials — food, clothing and shelter— that she now has is at the mercy of the NGO that runs the rescue home. She hasn’t one material possession to call her own.

Rehabilitation and reintegration of trafficking victims still remains a gaping hole in the State’s social security net. This, despite Andhra Pradesh being the first State Government to respond to the Supreme Court’s motion in 1998 to combat the threat of trafficking by drawing up a state-level action plan aimed specifically at a rescue and rehabilitation programme to help women forced into prostitution.

First among the provisions in the order (GO MS 1, 2003) was to release an immediate relief amount of `10,000 (which has subsequently been increased to

BANGALORE: A leading journal of medical ethics has charged the World Health Organization (WHO) of promoting pentavalent vaccine in countries, including India, though it is known to have caused adverse reactions and deaths in children.

In a hard-hitting editorial, the latest issue of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics (IJME), has accused the WHO of promoting the vaccine “by stating falsely that no adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) has ever been reported with the vaccine”.

The pentavalent vaccine combines the diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus or DPT vaccine — used in national immunisation programmes — with hepatitis B and H influenza-b or Hib vaccine.

This combination vaccine is not

The onus of implementing the GO has fallen onto the NGOs. So when they put pressure on the district administration, the funds are immediately released. Otherwise, they are not.

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`20,000) to the victim within 7-10 days of the rescue.

“Their employers ensure that their dependance is utter, so when these girls are taken out of the net, suddenly they have no job, no education, no money, no place to go, no one to help. This fund allotted by the government is meant for them so they can at least meet their immediate needs until they can stand on their own," explains Rammohan, secretary of the non-governmental organisation, HELP. However, despite the govern-

ment dedicating a 50 lakh revolving fund for the purpose, the issue of these funds have been at best, erratic, depending on whichever district administration in charge, allege NGOs. Cases of rescued victims remain by the dozens for more than a year without ever seeing the money, they say. “The onus of implementing the GO has fallen onto the NGOs. So when they put enough pressure on the district administration, the funds are immediately released. Otherwise, they are not.

Human trafficking is simply not a priority for the government," states Dr Sunitha Krishnan, activist and founder of Hyderabad-based Prajwala, an NGO that works for the rehabilitation of sex workers.

Prajwala has been among the NGOs which have successfully worked to provide long-term and sustainable economic freedom for women rescued from the trade, utilising another provision in the 2003 GO that envisions civic and economic empowerment to ensure rescued women do not slip back into net, because of their vulnerabilities. Special provisions for ration cards, voter IDs, free housing, healthcare, vocational

training and education for their children have been made on paper. But activists allege that these are being implemented only to varying degrees.

Officials however maintain that they are doing their part but do concede that there is a need for co-ordinated action. “Except for a few stray cases, we are releasing the immediate relief funds promptly. That said, the larger issue of long-term and systemic rehabilitation of trafficking victims still remains a challenge.

There’s a need for a joint action and concerted strategy to deal with this issue," admits, Chiranjiv Chowdary, Commissioner of Women Development and Child Welfare, Hyderabad.

Further complicating matters, District and State level committee meetings intended to be held once every quarter to assess the situation of trafficking cases in AP have not been held for the past four-five years. As a result, neither the government nor the NGOs can estimate accurately the true extent of human trafficking in the State today, let alone, put in place a method to deal with it. *name changed to protect identity of the child.

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licensed for use by the US FDA, nor is it used in other developed countries, the editorial says.

The IJME editorial by Jacob Puliyel, head of paediatrics at St Stephen’s Hospital in New Delhi, is based on his investigation into the deaths of children in Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India and Vietnam following the use of pentavalent vaccine.

In India, according to the article, 21 children have so far died in a limited experiment with the vaccine introduced in 2011 in the immunisation programme in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. India had announced plans to roll out the vaccine to other states after monitoring its impact in these two states.

The journal has also questioned the very rationale for introducing Hib vaccination in India, where the incidence of Hib disease is very low.

IANS

WORLD BRIEFS Syria opposition leader set to meet Hollande

Police official murders Mexican mayor

Pressure mounts in Egypt Russia releases 13 as 13 die in clashes ‘economic criminals’

More than 100 rescued in Indonesia boat sinking

PARIS: Syria’s opposition leader is scheduled to meet French President Francois Hollande Wednesday, a day after asking France for military aid to boost the forces fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. “This is one of the goals of our visit among other issues," new opposition chief Ahmad Jarba said on Tuesday at the start of a two-day trip.

MEXICO CITY: The mayor of Aquila was gunned down by a police commander following a “heated argument", the Veracruz state Attorney General’s Office said. Geronimo Manuel Garcia Rosas was shot early Monday by Adan Gonzalez Vega. The shooting occurred while the mayor and the municipal police department’s secondin-command “were in a meeting".

CAIRO: Pressure was growing on Egypt’s new leaders to release Mohamed Morsi from detention after clashes between supporters and opponents left 13 people dead. The clashes broke out on Monday and raged into Tuesday, leaving dozens wounded alongside the fatalities, after Morsi’s family vowed to sue the military over his ouster.

CIDAUN: More than 100 asylum seekers who were feared dead have been rescued after their boat sank off the coast of Indonesia’s Java island, an official said Wednesday, confirming that one child had died. “We don’t know exactly how many were on board, so we’re focusing on searching for any more that may be out there," Bandung search and rescue chief Rochmali said.

MOSCOW: Thirteen businessmen imprisoned for various economic crimes in Russia have been set free under an amnesty, a presidential envoy said. “As of now, 13 people have been released under the amnesty," Boris Titov, presidential envoy for protection of the business community rights, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

8

News WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

US PLAN FOR AFGHANISTAN

ONLINE FRAUD

Keep India in picture: BJP

Rajnath said the party expected Pakistan leadership to rein in the ISI and the Pakistan Army from interfering in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON: Suggesting that in making Pakistan a partner in its war on terror in Afghanistan, the US had lost its focus, BJP wants US to keep India in the picture on any new initiatives in the region.

“The US has made Pakistan a partner in its war on terror in Afghanistan in the last ten years.

The results have been a mixed bag,” BJP president Rajnath Singh said at a conference on “Security, stability & prosperity of Afghanistan” here Tuesday.

“While the Taliban and Al Qaeda have lost many key leaders and thousands of fighters they continue to hold on to their strongholds in the South and East of Afghanistan and also inside Pakistan territory,” he said. “This happened primarily because along the way sometime in 2003/4 the US had lost focus due to its campaigns elsewhere and the terror outfits had gained the breathing space to regroup and resurrect,” Rajnath Singh said.

havens of these groups and their leadership in Pakistan is addressed, the Taliban menace cannot be eradicated.”

Expressing BJP’s “cautious optimism keeping in view the track record of successive regimes in Pakistan,” he said the party expected the new Pakistan leadership to show courage and determination to rein in radical elements within the ISI and the Pakistan Army from interfering in the internal affairs of AROUND THE

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“The result was further fleecing of American dollars by Pakistan, further dependence of America on that country and further rise in the activities of terror networks,” he said.

Asking Pakistan to “act responsibly to ensure a smooth transition in Afghanistan”, Rajnath Singh said, “Unless the fundamental problem of safe

Afghanistan after the NATO Forces’ withdraw.

The BJP chief said the US has to make its own decisions regarding the final scope and time-table of withdrawal from Afghanistan, but its decision has implications for the region in terms of the combat against extremism.

“As a major power in the

region, India needs to be properly informed about any US initiatives in the region,” he said.

Stressing the importance of ensuring that Afghanistan “doesn’t relapse into the pre-2001 anarchic mode once the NATO troops withdraw,” he said, “It must be ensured that we do not leave behind a ‘Black Hole’ of global security while leaving that country.”

Asserting that mutually beneficial and supportive IndiaAfghanistan ties do not stand in the way of Afghanistan’s ties with its other neighbours, Rajnath Singh said: “We would wish Afghanistan to have close, friendly ties with all its neighbours and exercise full freedom of choice in this regard. India and the US must continue to work together constructively and transparently in ensuring that the end game in Afghanistan is played out smoothly, in Afghanistan’s best interest and without damaging the interests of its neighbours,” he said. IANS

Bitcoin scam: One charged NEWYORK CITY: US regulators Tuesday charged a Texas man with running a Ponzi scheme in which he raised some $4.5 million in the virtual currency Bitcoin.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil suit against Trendon Shavers of McKinney, Texas, alleging Shavers defrauded at least 66 investors in more than a half-dozen states by promising low-risk returns he AROUND THE

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would garner through buying and selling the virtual currency online.

Shavers raised at least 700,000 Bitcoin in the scheme in 2011 and 2012, an amount worth more than $4.5 billion at the time. Shavers sold the Bitcoin-denominated investments through the Internet under the identities “Pirate” and “pirateat40,” the SEC said.

AFP

SOMALIA HOSTAGES

Hijacked, abandoned and helpless Foreign special forces have launched raids to rescue their nationals, but those left behind come largely from nations without the capabilities or desire to send in troops to rescue impoverished fishermen.

PETER MARTELL Agence France Presse NAIROBI: On Somalia’s pirate coast, more than 50 sailors are being held for ransom in grim conditions, many abandoned by their ship’s owner whose willingness to pay to free them sank with their boat.

Almost all of the 54 sailors and fishermen that are still being held come from poor families in Asia, who say their pleas for help are falling on deaf ears.

Fifteen of the hostages are from the Malaysian-flagged container ship MV Albedo, which was captured in November 2010 and sank this month in rough seas, raising fears about the crew’s fate.

“Now that the vessel has sunk, the owner has no interest to pay money and rescue the crew,” families of some of the Albedo sailors wrote in a recent desperate appeal to the pirates.

Crew from the Albedo include men from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Iran, while other

FV Naham 3 with on board a pirate guard (focused on the added picture) pointing his weapon at the EU Naval Force helicopter on reconnaissance flight off the coast of Somalia.

AFP

sailors being held come largely from southeast Asian countries, including Cambodia, Philipines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Albedo’s crew was then shifted to the rusting hulk of the Omani-flagged but Taiwaneseowned fishing boat Naham 3, crammed into dark and harsh conditions below deck. The Naham was seized by pirates in

March last year, with 28 of its crew held hostage on board.

But with the Naham also at risk of sinking — and tethered dangerously to the wreck of the Albedo — sources say many hostages have been moved onshore.

“We appealed to everyone in this world to pay money towards the release of our people, but no

one listened,” the families added. “We are very poor people, we even do not have any money to pay for medicines, school fees, buy food for our children.”

Crew from at least two other vessels — four from the FV Prantaly 12 and seven from the Asphalt Venture — are also being held away from their boats.

Today, the Naham is the last large boat left, kept a short distance offshore from the pirate town of Hobyo.

“These are poor people from poor families,” said John Steed, head of an internationallybacked liaison body, the Secretariat for Regional Maritime Security. For many of the hostages, his organisation is the only one trying to persuade pirates to allow them to be released, liaising between the captured crews, the pirates and the desperate families back home. “We hope and try for the best,” added Steed, a former British army colonel.

There are success stories: two

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Spanish aid workers from Doctors Without Borders, kidnapped in Kenya and later reportedly sold on to the pirate gangs in the Hobyo region, were released last week after almost two years in captivity.

Hostages remain valuable: the pirates, bandit businessmen driven by cash ransoms and not ideology, want financial recompense for their efforts.

Foreign special forces have launched raids to rescue their nationals, including one last year

by US elite commandos who swooped in by helicopter to free two aid workers held for three months. But those left behind come largely from nations without the capabilities or desire to send in troops to rescue impoverished fishermen. The sums the pirates demand are far and above anything the families of the hostages left can raise.

AFP

9

News WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

THE ROYAL BABY

The Fresh Prince of Britain A smiling Kate told the massed ranks of international media that motherhood was ‘very emotional’, while William said they were still choosing a name and joked that he already changed the baby’s nappy.

DANNY KEMP & KATY LEE Agence France-Presse LONDON: Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate proudly showed off their newborn baby son to the world for the first time on Tuesday, cradling the future king in their arms as they left hospital to go home.

A smiling Kate told the massed ranks of international media that motherhood was “very emotional”, while William said they were still choosing a name and joked that he already changed the baby’s nappy.

The new third-in-line to the throne raised a tiny hand above his white blankets but remained peaceful, despite deafening cheers from well-wishers and the shouts of photographers outside St Mary’s Hospital in London.

“It’s a special time,” said the 31year-old Duchess of Cambridge, who was wearing a cornflower-blue dress with her brown hair flowing loose. “I think any new parent would know what this feeling feels like.”

The duke, also 31, told reporters that “he’s got her looks, thankfully” as Kate playfully demurred, then

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WHAT’S HIS NAME? The traditional names George and James have been favoured by bookmakers as fit for a king, but the royal couple gave nothing away. “We are still working on a name so we will have that as soon as we can,” William said.

HEIRS AND GRACES It is the first time since way back in 1894 that three direct heirs to the throne have been alive at the same time.

added: “He’s got a good pair of lungs on him, that’s for sure.”

The royal baby’s birth at 4:24pm (1524 GMT) on Monday sparked a global media frenzy, fuelled by the fascination that has surrounded the couple ever since they married in April 2011.

Congratulations have poured in from around the globe for the baby, a great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II, who is will one day reign over Britain and 15 other Commonwealth realms around the world.

Kate initially held the baby as the royal couple emerged from the front door of the hospital’s exclusive private Lindo Wing, before passing him to her husband, who was dressed in a blue shirt and jeans.

The scene was reminiscent of when William was introduced to the world by his parents Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana outside the same hospital wing in 1982.

Balding William joked that despite the baby boy’s own thin coating of hair “he’s got way more than me, thank God”.

Asked about changing the nappies of his son, who weighed in at a healthy 3.8 kilograms when he was born, the prince said: “We’ve done that already.”

INTERNET SECURITY

HUNTING CRIMINALS

‘China top cyber attack source’

Indonesia’s share of cyber attacks surged to 21 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, a massive jump from just 0.7 per cent in the prior quarter.

WASHINGTON: China and Indonesia headed the list of 177 countries named as sources of Internet attacks, a security survey said Tuesday.

The survey from US security firm Akamai found China remained at the top of the list in the first quarter of 2013, but its share of all attacks dropped to 34 percent from 41 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.

“This decline is likely related to Indonesia making a sudden appearance in the second place slot,” said Akamai’s Bill Brenner, noting that Indonesia’s share of cyber attacks surged to 21 percent from just 0.7 percent in the prior quarter.

The United States was the third largest source, but its share dropped to 8.3 percent from 10 percent earlier.

The next largest sources of cyber attacks were Turkey (4.5 percent), Russia (2.7 percent),

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India (2.6 percent), Taiwan (2.5 percent), Brazil (2.2 percent), Romania (2.0 percent) and Hong Kong (1.6 percent).

“We find that nearly 68 percent originated in the Asia Pacific/Oceania region, up from 56 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, likely due to the massive increase seen in Indonesia,” Brenner said.

“Europe accounted for just under 19 percent, while North

and South America originated just over 13 percent combined.”

Akamai also noted a four percent increase in the global average connection speed -- to 3.1 megabits per second.

South Korea had the highest average connection speed at 14.2 Mbps and remained the country with the highest level of “high broadband” adoption, growing to 50 percent, the report said.

The report estimated more than 733 million unique Internet addresses from 243 countries or regions connected to the Akamai platform, an increase of 3.1 percent over the previous quarter and 10 percent year over year.

Since a single IP address can represent multiple individuals in some cases, Akamai estimated the total number of unique Web users connecting to its platform during the quarter to be well over one billion.

AFP

Campaign launched to find Nazis BERLIN: A poster campaign has launched in Germany aimed at tracking down the last surviving Nazi war criminals and bringing them to justice.

Some 2,000 posters showing the entrance to the Nazi Auschwitz death camp and asking people to come forward with information have been displayed in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne.

The US-based Simon Wiesenthal Center offers rewards AROUND THE

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for useful information. It estimates there to be 60 people alive in Germany fit to stand trial.

Some are suspected of having served as guards at Nazi death camps or being members of death squads responsible for mass killings, particularly early on in the war.

AFP

10

News WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

FESTIVE FERVOUR

THE COLOURS OF BONALU onalu began in a riot of colours in the City last Sunday at Golconda. The celebrations will next move on to Charminar, and will end in Secunderabad. On the last day of the month-long festival, a soothsayer will make her predictions for the coming year.

B

N SHIVA KUMAR

11

News WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013 POPE IN BRAZIL

Rio Metro failure dampens papal visit LAURENT THOMET Agence France-Presse RIO DE JANEIRO: Rio de Janeiro's subway broke down on Tuesday, causing chaos for throngs of pilgrims in town for a huge Catholic gathering and a papal visit already marked by security lapses.

Crowds of people crammed into buses, scrambled to find taxis or walked to Copacabana beach for an evening mass to officially kick off World Youth Day. Despite the traffic trouble and some rain drops, the Vatican said 560,000 pilgrims from around the world made AROUND THE

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it to the beach, singing, waving flags and praying as Rio Archbishop Orani Tempesta led the mass.

Latin America's first pope rested in a hillside residence but sent a message to his flock via Twitter: "Dear young friends, Christ has confidence in you and he entrusts his own mission to you: Go and make disciples."

Getting to the beach became complicated for many pilgrims after a metro power cable broke, causing the city's two subway lines to shut down for two hours.

"The organization was a bit messy, but we're figuring things out little by little," said Fernando Cila, a 22-year-old from Buenos Aires.

SOCIAL INJUSTICE

Airport bombing exposes China chinks A bombing at Beijing airport by a man in a wheelchair who complained for years about police brutality shows how frustrated the people are.

Detroit raises red flags in other US cities WASHINGTON: Even as a federal judge set a hearing on a challenge to a bankruptcy filing by Detroit, America’s famed automotive city, questions are being raised about the fate of several other debtcrushed major US cities.

The federal judge overseeing Detroit’s bankruptcy filing would hold a hearing Wednesday to determine whether a lawsuit by retired public employees can block it, according to the New York Times. The judge, Steven Rhodes of US Bankruptcy Court, agreed to the hearing requested by Detroit’s emergency manager in response to

CAROL HUANG Agence France Presse BEIJING: A bombing at Beijing airport by a wheelchair-bound man who complained for years about police brutality spotlights how frustration over low-level abuses in China can flare up to trouble the authorities, analysts say.

Ji Zhongxing, a 34-year-old former motorcycle driver, had lost hope of obtaining redress for a 2005 beating that left him paralysed, reports said.

In a desperate attempt to draw attention to his plight, he built a home-made bomb and set it off in the airport arrivals area after handing out leaflets about his case.

His story echoes countless other episodes of low-level officials dealing violently with ordinary citizens and then denying responsibility — such as a confrontation last week that left a watermelon vendor in the central province of Hunan dead.

China’s new leaders took office in March pledging cleaner government that better serves the people, acknowledging that discontent with authorities poses a threat. Last month Chen Zhuizong blew up a bus in the southeastern city of Xiamen, killing himself and nearly 50 other people, after writing online he had appealed unsuccessfully

BANKRUPTCY

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to local police 56 times over social security benefits.

But the surprise, analysts said, was that similar incidents did not happen more often.

“Obviously (the airport bombing) is quite high-profile because of where it took place, and that’s attracted people’s attention, but dissatisfaction with local government officials is very, very intense,” said Kerry Brown, a Chinese politics professor at the University of Sydney.

“It’s actually probably surprising that it’s not actually a bigger number, if you think about how many people are

Pick

angry.”

Protests — about anything from abuse to corruption to pollution — top 180,000 a year in China, academics have estimated, even as the government devotes vast sums to “stability maintenance”, with payments particularly going to the military.

But legal paths for Chinese to pursue justice are limited.

The courts are subject to political influence and corruption, and a system meant to let citizens lodge complaints about authorities is ineffective, with petitioners routinely finding themselves detained.

at the

airport,

a Michigan judge’s ruling that the city’s bankruptcy filing violated the state’s Constitution because it could cut city workers’ pensions.

The emergency manager, Kevyn D. Orr, had filed a motion asking that the city be protected from litigation as it proceeds with its historic bankruptcy filing, made last week. At the heart of Detroit’s problem is a growing unfunded debt on benefits owed to current and future retirees — some $3.5 billion,which mirrors a circumstance being seen across the US, according to Orr, as cited by Detroit Free Press.

While many smaller cities have filed for bankruptcy, most notably California’s Stockton and San Bernardino in 2012, no other city of Detroit’s size appears to be on the cusp of imminent financial collapse, according to Fox News.

However, those bankruptcy filings together have resulted in speculation about whether more are on the horizon.

AFP

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12

News WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

INDONESIA

Morality cops rule the roost In khaki uniforms and black boots, the men circling the town of Lhokseumawe, Indonesia, are not safeguarding the streets — they are there to ensure the laws of sharia are met.

ANGELA DEWAN Agence France Presse LHOKSEUMAWE: As the sun sets over Aceh province on the westernmost tip of Indonesia and the call to prayer blares from mosque speakers, five policemen leap onto the back of a patrol truck, ready to round up lawbreakers.

In khaki uniforms and black boots, the men circling the town of Lhokseumawe are not safeguarding the streets from vandals or thieves. They are sharia police and their job is to ensure no one breaks the Islamic law of the land.

The police swoop in on a young woman, buying food at a sleepy street stall.

Her crime? She is exposing her hair, so she is sent home to fetch her headscarf, as men in Tshirts look on silently, eating cobs of corn.

Rights activists complain that Islamic sharia regulations in Aceh are becoming increasingly sexist and unreasonable, and that the sharia police — who operate independent of the regular police — are picking on women.

But headscarves are the least

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controversial of issues in Aceh, the only province to implement sharia law in Indonesia, home to the world’s biggest Muslim population.

In Lhokseumawe, the mayor has called on women passengers to sit side-saddle on motorbikes, claiming straddling is sexually suggestive, unfeminine and unIslamic.

“If a woman straddles, the sensitive parts of her body will push up against the man driving," Lhokseumawe government secretary Dasni Yuzar told AFP, making hand gestures in front of his chest to signify breasts.

“This is not allowed under

A cultural mismatch in Aceh

A

ceh, which has a worldfamous tradition of dance, raising questions about whether a decade of sharia law in the province gels with Aceh’s culture.

Islam and is not in accordance with our local customs," he said.

A women passenger riding with a female driver too should side-saddle, he said, while women riding with men should never drive.

While an official regulation is yet to be issued, police are already pulling women over and forcing them to sit sideways, with their legs dangling by the rear wheel.

Heri Mutti, one of the sharia policemen, said women who sat “in a feminine way” on motorbikes were more beautiful than others.

“And it’s our job to make sure they stay like that," he told AFP while on patrol.

Most women are complying, with streams of colourful headscarves atop motorbikes flowing through the streets. While some women are not bothered by the mayor’s call, many say they are being treated like puppets.

“We’re just trying to get on with life, drop our kids at school, go to the shops," said 36-year-old Fauzia, who goes by one name.

“Why should the government care how women sit? It’s annoying," she said at the helm of a

motorbike with her young son in front of her. Rinawati, an activist from the Indonesian Women’s Commission in Lhokseumawe who goes by one name, said the mayor’s side-saddle call and comments like Yazar’s were examples of how male-dominant governments were hijacking sharia to control women.

“We’re seeing a trend in Aceh where local governments are carrying out acts of injustice against women. Islamic sharia here is not

HELLO... CHECK... HELLO...

ASYLUM-SEEKERS

Campus radio goes loud and clear Today there are nearly a 100 campus radios in the country, but the actual number could be higher since there are no details about these.

NEW DELHI: Saba Raes, a middle-aged Muslim housewife, has her hands full seven days a week with household chores and her children but takes an hour out every Monday to record Hamdo-Naat, a series of hymns in praise of Allah, for Radio Jamia.

It’s the invocation that begins the daily broadcast of the campus radio station of the Jamia Millia AROUND THE

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Islamia, one of India’s oldest universities, here.

“I have been singing for Radio Jamia for over a year now.

My husband encourages me and my children and the people in the neighborhood raptly listen to my singing," a confident Saba Raes (pictured) told IANS, sitting in front of a studio microphone.

As India is a year away from celebrating a decade of the campus radio’s existence, it is evident that in this period, the concept has become a platform for the communities living around the colleges.

The government had issued guidelines in 2003 for educational institutions to set up campus radio’s and Anna University in Tamil Nadu was the first off the block in February 2004.

Today there are nearly a 100 campus radios in the country, but the actual number could be higher since there are no details about these in the northeast beyond Guwahati.

Transmission occurs through a four-way process. The audio from the microphone is transferred to the audio mixing console. From here, it goes to an amplifier. From the amplifier one signal goes to the transmitter and

considering the female perspective," she said.

Women in the district of West Aceh have been banned from wearing tight trousers and jeans, while several in the province have been arrested for prostitution for being out alone at night or with men who are not relatives.

A teenage girl attending an outdoor concert with male friends last year committed suicide after police accused her of prostitution.

Refugees’ rape claims rock Oz SYDNEY: Australian Immigration Minister Tony Burke Wednesday described as “horrific” explosive claims that asylum-seekers at one of its processing camps in Papua New Guinea are being raped and tortured.

A former senior official at the Manus Island facility also AROUND THE

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the other to a computer to be stored for repeat broadcast. The final process is the transmission of signal through an antennae, which is some 25-30 metres high.

It comes for about `15 lakh

and typically operates out of a room that can seat three to four people and the attendant equipment. Its range is 8-10 km and can even go up to 15 km.

IANS

detailed “almost daily” selfharm and attempted suicides while warning weapons were being accumulated in readiness for a break-out attempt.

“I’ve never seen human beings so destitute, so helpless and so hopeless before," Rod St George, the former head of occupational health and safety at the centre, told SBS television.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

Business

BIDEN IN MUMBAI TO BOOST US-INDIA TRADE TIES

US Vice President Joe Biden is expected Wednesday to urge India to further open its doors to foreign investment, during his visit.. He will give a speech at the Bombay Stock Exchange, set to focus on tackling barriers to strengthen two-way trade, which has hit nearly $100 billion annually.

IPHONE SALES

BANKING

Wells Fargo is world’s biggest bank SHANGHAI: The Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has lost its standing as the world’s largest bank by market capitalisation to US-based Wells Fargo, data showed Wednesday, as China’s economy slows.San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. is worth $236 billion, according to the New York Stock Exchange, where it is listed, while Chinese figures show ICBC is now valued at $223 billion.

ICBC’s six-year reign as the world’s biggest bank began in July 2007, and its value peaked at $374 billion in November that year thanks to China’s rapid economic expansion, and stood as a symbol of the country’s emergence as a global powerhouse.

But it was deposed on July 12 and Wells Fargo has retained top spot since.

The shift comes at a time when the world’s second largest economy is losing steam, and a liquidity crunch last month exposed risks in the banking system, sending financial stocks into a tailspin. As of midday Wednesday, ICBC was down 0.51 per cent at 3.91 yuan in Shanghai and 0.20 per cent lower at HK$5.09 in Hong Kong. Wells Fargo closed down 0.13 per cent at $44.57 on Tuesday.

AFP

Apple tops Wall Street forecasts Apple reported revenues of $35.3 billion in the quarter ending June 30, powered by sales of 31.2 million iPhones, a record for the June quarter.

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple beat Wall Street earnings expectations on Tuesday with help from strong sales of iPhones, boosting a share price weighed down by concerns the company was losing its game-changing cutting edge.

Quarterly profit of $6.9 billion was down 22 per cent from a year ago but translated to $7.47 per share, well ahead of analysts’ forecasts. Apple reported revenues of $35.3 billion in the quarter ending June 30, powered by sales of 31.2 million iPhones, a record for the June quarter. The quarterly data showed iPad sales disappointing however at 14.6 million compared with 17 million in the same period a year ago. Apple shares jumped more than three percent in after-hours trade to $434.60, lifting a stock which has tumbled from last year’s high above $700.

“I feel really good about where we are," Apple chief Tim Cook said during an earnings call with analysts. “We have more than one tool in the tool box. We are working on some things we are really proud of and we will announce things when we are ready."

Apple is poised to release new versions of its operating systems for mobile devices and Macintosh computers and is “laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014," Cook said. Apple is expected to roll out smartphones and tablets in the coming months with bigger screens in a move analysts say is an attempt to catch up with a trend set by its

major r i v a l Samsung.

Apple forecast that revenue in the current quarter would total between $34 billion and $37 billion and that its gross margin would be about 36 or 37 per cent.

Brian White at Topeka Capital Markets said Apple’s results were mixed, but that the company is poised to come out with new products soon which will fuel growth. “We believe fiscal 2013 will prove to be a year to forget but fiscal 2014 will prove to be a year of new product innovations, which we believe will prove positive for the stock price," he said in a note.

AFP

AUTO

Toyota, Ford end hybrid partnership CHICAGO: Toyota and Ford have ended a partnership to jointly develop gas-electric hybrid systems for trucks and sport utility vehicles, the automakers said Tuesday. “We know what it takes to build world-class hybrids, and we now will build and leverage

that expertise in-house," said Raj Nair, Ford’s chief of global product development. “By continuing to develop a rearwheel-drive hybrid system on our own, we can extend our advanced hybrid technologies to new vehicle segments and deliver even better fuel econo-

my across our line-up. “Toyota and Ford continue to evaluate the feasibility of working together on next-generation standards for telematics and will consider other areas for future collaboration as well," Toyota said in a separate statement.

AFP

GOLD`27,660 10g SILVER `41,901 1kg

24C

for

for

DOLLAR `59.43 POUND `91.25

13

10 AIRBUS JETS FOR SA

South Africa’s embattled national carrier has signed a deal for 10 new jets to renew its fleet in a push to re-energise its operations, the parastatal company announced Tuesday. South African Airways (SAA) will acquire the A320-200 aircraft in a 12-year sale and leaseback deal brokered by UK banking firm Standard Chartered, said the carrier’s CEO Monwabisi Kalawe.

“The aircraft will be delivered over the next two years, with the first two deliveries taking place in July this year (2013)," said Kalawe.The new planes will modernise state-held SAA’s fleet and save on fuel, he added.

NUMEROLOGY

$1.82

bn

trade deficit is what Japan logged in June, reversing a small year-earlier surplus and marking the longest string of monthly shortfalls in more than three decades.

FRENCH RADARS FOR UAE The United Arab Emirates has ordered 17 anti-aircraft radar systems from French firm Thales for around 300 million euros, France’s defence ministry said on Tuesday.The deal, clinched during a visit by French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, came a day after the UAE signed an agreement worth more than 700 million euros for two French military surveillance satellites.The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, “gave his green light to Mr. Le Drian for the purchase of 17 Thales GM200 radars," a ministry spokesman said.Le Drian has made reestablishing trade ties with the UAE — a traditional customer for the French arms industry — a priority.

THUS SPAKE I’ve got a little over 1,200 days left in office. I’m going to spend every waking minute thinking about and then acting upon any good ideas out there that can help ordinary Americans succeed.

BARACK OBAMA US PRESIDENT

BSE NSE

20015.21 -294.40

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

Comment If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die?

And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?

William Shakespeare Playwright

The Chinese bitter pill BILL SAVADOVE Agence France-presse

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eijing’s targeting of British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline in a high-profile bribery probe is a reminder of the risks foreign companies face when seeking the huge rewards of China’s market, analysts say.

Authorities have detained four Chinese GSK executives on allegations that employees used nearly $500 million in bribes to boost sales. But in a healthcare sector widely considered to be riddled with graft, some question why GSK is so far the main target. “I suspect they are no worse than anyone else,” said Ben Cavender of consultancy China Market Research Group.

“They are probably being targeted a little bit. I think having a whistle-blower made it difficult to be ignored,” he said, referring to the allegations of bribery — previously denied by GSK — that emerged earlier this year after a source spoke to the Wall Street Journal.

Police say GSK staff offered government officials and doctors bribes, and took kick-backs from travel agencies to organise conferences, some of which were fake. “The Chinese government firmly opposes business corruption in any form. Any company, be it domestic or foreign, will be punished by the law,” China’s commerce ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said. But analysts are sceptical that GSK is the only dirty player, given the country’s opaque tendering system for drugs and doctors’ low salaries.

The New York Times has reported other foreign pharmaceutical companies used the travel agency at the heart of the bribery investigation into GSK.

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS

The CBI chief is reportedly livid over the ‘deal’ to go soft on Mulayam leaking to the media and has ordered an internal inquiry. Good going Ranjitji, let’s shoot the whistleblower rather than cleanse the system. That you are no ordinary popat we know!

STATE OF A NATION

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Zimbabwe diaspora doubtful over polls THE INSIDE STORY Sibongile Khumalo

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any of the millions of Zimbabweans living abroad won’t return home for key general elections next week, sceptical of a fair outcome after years of election violence.

President Robert Mugabe has vowed to extend his 33year-rule and beat bitter rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the polls on July 31. The vote will choose a successor to the pair’s tense unity government, but those who fled the nation’s downward spiral into political and economic crisis doubt the prospect of a new beginning.

“This is a make or break election for Zimbabwe, but as important as it is, in my opinion, I can’t help but feel that it’s a futile exercise,” said Justice Chikodzera, an immigrant in South Africa.

An unemployed teacher, Chikodzera counts among around two million Zimbabwean immigrants living in their neighbouring country.

Here some of Zimbabwe’s brightest young minds work for a pittance as restaurant waiters

or car guards, drawn by South Africa’s economic clout after fleeing election violence in their nation.

Zimbabwean laws do not allow people residing outside the country to vote, so the masses of eligible voters who live abroad have to travel home to draw their cross.

Except many won’t.

Chikodzera said he was discouraged by his country’s history of “vote-rigging to suit certain parties”. Despite closely following the political events back home, he won’t return to vote, but still urged his countrymen to choose wisely. “This time we need to prove to the world that we can determine our future,” he said. Tsvangirai won the first round of voting in previous polls in 2008, but pulled out of run-off elections after around 200 opposition activists were killed in violent clashes.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai were forced to share power a year later, but their unity government has failed to reform the security forces and media despite a new constitution approved in a referendum in March this year.

Emigrants doubt that polls this time round will be fair, said Abius Makadho, a representative of Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in South Africa.

People feared being singled

out for attacks by supporters of Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, said Makadho.

“So far nothing suggests that the vote will be fair,” he said from Diepsloot, a densely-populated slum north of Johannesburg. He echoed concerns that ZANU-PF may have tampered with the voters’ roll to stuff ballot boxes later.

“Many people have told us that they aren’t registered.

Others registered but their names don’t appear on the voters roll,” he said. “So they have lost interest.”

Rights groups have raised the alarm because the register of voters still counts names of people who have already died.

There are increasing fears that supporters of Mugabe, 89,

who eyes another decade in power, won’t accept defeat.

But some Zimbabweans will still make the journey to choose new leaders.

One of them is Nyasha Nzvimbo, a law graduate who works as an attendant at a service station in South Africa.

“This election should serve as a lesson that political violence won’t take us forward,” he said determined.

“People yearn for returning home. They want to return to a free and flourishing Zimbabwe, led by credible leaders,” he said.

Mugabe proclaimed the election date earlier than planned, leaving the candidates only a month to campaign and organisers scrambling to prepare for elections the rest of the world will watch with a hawk’s eye.

The candidates have crisscrossed the country courting votes in the past month, trying to fit into weeks campaigns that usually take months.

But thousands of security forces missed out on chaotic voting in special elections earlier in July, sounding an ominous note for the upcoming polls.

Time constraints made organising the vote “tough”, leaders from regional mediator the Southern African Development Community acknowledged after an ad hocmeeting on Saturday.

EDITORIALS Roads that are perdition

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o through tomes about civilisations and you will learn that one of the fundamental things that brought progress and prosperity was roads. Great rulers understood the importance of good roads because those were times when only roads were the sole means of connectivity and communication, apart from passing messages using pigeons.

If a region on the fringes of an empire had no proper roads from the main parts, there was bound to be an uprising for various reasons. Take any great civilisation: Indian, Greek, Egyptian, Roman… administrators saw to it they had good roads. Well, we do not need to know what’s the state of roads in Greece, or Rome (we hear they are excellent, at least in Rome), but in our city, it is sad. Our administrators seem not to share the beliefs of the great rulers of yore. Our roads are riddled with potholes and manholes, are dug up for trifles, but never are re-laid after such tasks. Wanna bet we become a superpower by 2025? A better bet would be that we would end up with bad backs and broken bones.

READERS’ VIEWS

The controversial start of IBL

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s is the norm of anything that begins in our country, the bidding of Indian badminton League have been marred by the controversy surrounding the halving the base price of icon players Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa.They say they were hurt because the organisers had not informed them about the move. Once again the fact that not all is well within the shuttle fraternity has come to the fore. As Gutta said if she has been offended, the best satisfaction is when she shows what she can do on the court.

We invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to feedback@postnoon.com or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500 033 or even by way of a call on 4067 2222.

Editor: Dean Williams

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

Cinema A SAGA OF LOVE

THREE PERFECT DATES With Before Midnight releasing this week, we revisit the narrow lanes of Vienna and Paris with Jesse and Celine, and watch them fall in love all over again.

JYOTSNA NAMBIAR jyotsna.n@postnoon.com

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ove is our favourite subject. We feel the need to extol its virtues everywhere. Books, music, movies, life: Every sphere must have love, or we fear we'll die miserable and alone.

But what entails an epic love story? Do you have to spend your life with the person? Do both of you have to die tragically, unable to bear the pain of separation? Do you have to overcome your fears and step into the unknown, all for love?

Richard Linklater gave us his answer in 1995's Before Sunrise, where a meet-cute between two strangers on a European train turned into one of the most beautiful love stories of our generation. Jesse (Ethan Hawke), an American, and the very French Celine (Julie Delpy) get talking, and he convinces her to get off the train with him in Vienna and spend the night exploring the city.

There is a second when Celine hesitates on the train steps; then she hops off, walking straight into our hearts.

On celluloid, it is the perfect movie for those of us who like our love stories free of mush and drama. It taps into everything we would like in our own lives.

The two walk around the lovely city talking about everything; sexual encounters, feminism, spirituality, family and technology. On paper, this sounds terribly boring. On celluloid, it is the perfect movie for those of us who like our love stories free of mush and drama.

It taps into everything we would like in our own lives — the adventure of a chance encounter, the thrill of talking to someone who understands us, and the romance of a first date.

There were no villains in the story. No warring parents to

keep the lovers apart. No apocalyptic event. No meddling friends. No former lovers. This was simply love, pared down to the basics of one man, one woman and their chemistry.

But we know they have to part and when they do, making promises to meet again in six months, we know it won't happen. We know that the perfect night would be ruined if they had to have a relationship out there in the real world. We hate the fact that they aren't together, but we are also secretly relieved that we didn't have to watch their love deteriorate. Like Jesse said, “Why do you think everybody thinks relationships are supposed to last forever anyway?”

They went their separate ways.

Then in 2005, Richard

Linklater got the two to meet again in Before Sunset, set this time in Paris. Jesse has published a novel, a fictionalised version of their night together, and is on a book tour of Europe.

Celine walks into her favourite book store, knowing he would be there.

There is always a fear when it comes to sequels. Most of the time, they get it horribly wrong.

Thankfully, this is not one of those times. Jesse and Celine pick up right where they left off, even though they are nine years older, more world-weary and more cautious. As

you watch them walk down a Parisian street in a 11-minutelong single take, you realise why you loved them together so much. When Celine says, “Maybe we're only good at brief encounters, walking around in European cities in warm climate,” you wish the world was made up solely of lovers walking down roads in warm weather.

Before Sunset ends more ambiguously than the first movie. You're left wondering if they remain together or they part again. But we'll find out this weekend when Before Midnight releases. This time, they get to walk around sun-kissed Greece, and if initial reports are anything to go by, the movie lives up to the enchantment of its predecessors.

It's been 18 years since we first met them. But our love for Jesse and Celine, and their love for each other, seems as fresh as ever. So this weekend, we'll lose ourselves in their celluloid dream and hope that they finally find each other.

SCREEN POOPERS

Rumour has it The latest Bollywood buzz, apart from the SRK-Salman hug of course, is that Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor are likely to come out in the open about their affair.

My question to all the paparazzi is what drastic change are they expecting if that were to happen even? Do they think the two love birds will henceforth inform them about their every move or tell them ‘clearly’ how they fight, when they plan to marry, have kids and you know the rest of the fluff?

Bad boys If the latest rumours are to be believed, Salman Khan is playing the devil’s advocate these days.

He has been advising the Pancholis on how they should conduct themselves before the press. Sooraj, Aditya Pancholi’s son is suspected for abetting his former girlfriend Jiah Khan’s suicide, soon. Well, since Sallu Bhai has had his share of run-ins with the law, we’re sure he’s the most ‘experienced’ person the Pancholis have on their side.

TRENDING...

Sacha Baron Cohen will no longer play Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in the long-gestating biopic about the band, reportedly due to creative differences with the surviving members of Queen.

Apparently, the band was quite involved in the process.

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim grossed $35.3mn with 4.7mn admissions from 9,610 screens in 50 territories. That was just enough to knock off Universal’s 3D toon Despicable Me 2 and become the #1 film internationally over the weekend.

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

spotlight HEALTH CARE

UP FOR GRABS

YNew, a first of its kind re-commerce store for lifestyle gadgets in the City was launched at Himayatnagar on Tuesday.

FLASHING PEARLY WHITES

TRYING TIMES

JCI Hyderabad Sunrise Walkers conducted a dental check-up camp at Vowels Convent, Alkapuri. Dr Subhash Gattu provided his services at the camp. JCI Hyderabad Sunrise Walkers President Vimal Kumar, school principal Y Radhika and other Jaycee members including K Shiva Kumar, Durga Prasad, Goverdhan and Santosh were presented at the do.

GVK EMRI officials requested employees to join back work and call off the strike at an event held at Amrutha Castle on Tuesday. Officials also announced that 108 service will be operational from now on.

BIRTHDAY BASH

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Excitement soared at Altitude, Marriott where designer Archana Manchala celebrated her birthday with her besties. Ladies turned up in chic outfits and were seen partaking in the celebrations. Spotted at the do were Sirisha, Manjula Narsa and others.

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1 Rajini 2 Sirisha 3 Namita 4 Shilpa 5 Manjula Narsa 6 Ramina Reddy 7 Archana (birthday girl) 8 Monika 9 Lucky 10 Shantini

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

health

SKIPPING BREAKFAST A RECIPE FOR HEART DISEASE: STUDY Men who skip breakfast have a 27 per cent higher risk of suffering a heart attack or developing heart disease than those who start the day with something in their stomach, according to a new study. The study confirms earlier findings that have linked eating habits to elevated risk factors for heart disease, the Harvard researchers said.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR EARS-PART III

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Ears not only let us hear, but they also play a role in maintaining our balance. We subject our ears to a lot of abuse in terms of loud noises and more. It’s time we learnt to keep this sense organ healthy or else deafness won’t be far.

CARE FOR YOUR EARS If you have problem ears, keep them dry!

Bacteria like a moist environment so when showering or hair washing, use a piece of cotton wool coated with vaseline and fill the outer part of the ear (the concha). Research has found this to be the most effective at keeping out water when compared to earplugs as well as the preferred method.

Never poke anything into your ears, including cotton buds The lining of the ear is delicate and can be easily damaged. The ear is also self cleaning and earwax is needed to protect the ear from dirt and dust. If you use a cotton bud to clean the ears, you may find some wax is on the cotton bud, but the majority will be pushed into the ear canal. This means it can become harder to remove; it can also increase the production of earwax. In addition, the cotton, however

soft, can scratch the lining of the ear canal, allowing infections to get in and spread.

There is also the danger of pushing the bud too far into your ear, piercing the eardrum, and even into the cochlea.

Protect your ears from loud noise Whether in the workplace, at home or out and about at concerts or nightclubs, wear earplugs in loud environments and take regular breaks away from loud music. When listening to MP3 players, adopt the 60:60 rule — only use your MP3 player at 60 per cent of its maximum volume for 60 minutes a day.

Put a drop of olive oil in each ear once a week If you have dry, itchy ears, then this is to lubricate both the skin of the ear canal and the earwax, encouraging natural movement of the wax out of the ear. Olive

oil is anti-bacterial and antifungal and contains vitamin E which helps to heal skin. This is of benefit for people with dry skin, also helping earwax to become softer.

Avoid common problem of ear pain when flying

water or yawning regularly, particularly while the plane is descending.

Ear pain can be alleviated in a number of ways, for example by chewing gum, swallowing

Don’t ignore an ear problem It won’t improve without proper treatment and the longer an ear problem is neglected, the longer it can take to treat. There are several conditions for which a hearing loss or infection is only one symptom. Ménière’s disease has hearing loss and vertigo as symptoms.

Consult your doctor If you suspect your hearing is not what it used to be, it is recommended that you consult your ear doctor as soon as possible. The sooner hearing loss is diagnosed and appropriate treatment is given, the less impact it will have on your life, say doctors.

Source: This factsheet has been produced by Deafness Research UK.

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

Technology SPY GAMES

PS4’S COOL While not nearly as much of an epidemic as Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Red Ring Of Death, the PS3’s equivalent - the Yellow Light Of Death - has been the bane of many a PS3 gamer this generation.

Thankfully it seems like the PS4 won’t suffer from such problems.Sony has now had the PS4 approved for FCC registration. This means that - as far as the FCC is concerned the PS4 is a viable electronic suitable for sale to the public in America. It’s fairly early for an FCC which does suggest the PS4 could be further along the line than we might have been led to believe.

NEW PATENTS GRANTED

A man takes part in a protest outside a US National Security Agency (NSA) listening station in Griesheim near Darmstadt, Germany.

The end of snooping?

US House to debate funding for data mining MICHAEL MATHES feedback@postnoon.com WASHINGTON: US lawmakers will begin debate on whether to halt phone and Internet data mining not related to terror suspects, but senior senators oppose the move.

The debate comes six weeks after a National Security Agency contractor divulged details of programs that collect the phone logs of millions of Americans as well as Internet data from the accounts of foreign targets.

A handful of liberal Democrats have joined Tea Party conservatives in the House of Representatives in sponsoring an amendment to halt NSA surveillance of Americans who are not connected to an ongoing probe.

Republican congressman Justin Amash tweeted his thanks to House Speaker John Boehner for bringing the amendment — which is tacked onto the defense spending bill under review — up for open debate this week.

“My amendment blocks funding of NSA’s collection of personal data if that data does

Lawmakers have been assured by the panel that the datamining program is under ‘strict controls’. not pertain to a person under investigation,” Amash said on Twitter. The bill also requires that secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court opinions be made available to Congress and that summaries of those opinions be made public.

House Democrats John Conyers and Jared Polis joined Amash’s amendment, which they said “makes sure that innocent Americans’ information isn’t needlessly swept up into a government database.”

“The recent NSA leaks indicate that the federal government collects phone records and intercepts electronic communications on a scale previously unknown to most Americans,” they added. Even if the amendment passes the House it would face an uncertain fate in the

Senate, although top Senate Democrat Harry Reid suggested he would be open to considering the legislation.

“We need as much transparency as possible,” Reid said Tuesday. But Democrat Dianne Feinstein, chair of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, and the panel’s ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss, issued a curt warning about the amendment.

They assured lawmakers that the data-mining program is under “strict controls” and has been authorized by all three branches of government.

Ever since details of the classified programs were leaked, Congress has “explored how the program can be modified to add extra privacy protections without sacrificing its effectiveness” in rooting out terror suspects, they said.

“Any amendments to defund the program on appropriations bills would be unwise.”

Last week, a House Judiciary Committee hearing saw lawmakers accuse intelligence agencies of trampling on privacy rights, saying the collec-

tion of bulk phone data was beyond the limits of the US Constitution and of legislation adopted by Congress.

They warned that the government’s far-reaching surveillance activities would be on the chopping block unless reforms were implemented.

Officials insisted the government was conducting only a relatively small number of searches through the phone metadata, despite the large volume of call records collected.

They also said spy agencies were barred from looking for any information on crimes unrelated to terror threats.

A leading Internet freedom group, the Center for Democracy and Technology, said the House vote could go far towards rejecting the NSA’s “collect everything” approach.

“This is a test vote and the stakes are high,” said Greg Nojeim, director of CDT’s Project on Freedom, Security & Technology.

“If the amendment passes, NSA will know that if it doesn’t end the program, Congress probably will.”

AFP

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 49 granted patents for Apple this morning. The patents cover a wide array of technologies such as Apple’s lightning connector, the Mac mini, five camera patents and a few patents relating to the iPhone.

We also provide you with two graphics from a recent European patent filing that illustrates the iPhone’s face camera positioned in a new location.

Changes... Changes Facebook soon plans to roll out ways to better understand why you don’t like something in your News Feed. Currently, when you hide something in your News Feed, Facebook begins feeding you less content from that person or page, but the company is working on ways to better understand why you don’t want to see a photo, status update, article or advertisement. Facebook will be testing the new menus and options soon and that users can expect to see some of the tweaks over the next three to four months.

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

Entertainment CINE BYTES

No politics for Udaya

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opular Tv anchor Udayabhanu has denied all claims by media that she will join politics. The buzz among media sprung after her recent hard hitting Telangana dialect song. She did say that she was offered to join hands with a few parties but she has made it clear that she has no such intentions. Only her TV career is on her mind, as of now.

On a signing spree

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ai Dharam Tej, from Mega Compound, is all set for the release of his first Rey, which has been directed by YVS Chowdary, and is currently under post production. Currently, he is shooting for his second under AS Ravikumar Chowdary’s direction, and if sources are to be believed, he has already signed his third film, which is most likely to be directed

by Vasu Varma of Josh fame.

Biryani’s release date fixed

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he release date of Hansika and Karthi’s Biryani, which they just finished shooting for, has been fixed. Both Tamil and Telugu versions of the film will be released on September 6. The film is expected to take Karthi’s career notches higher, seeing how his previous two films couldn’t do well at the box office.

UP NEXT

MAHESH BABU’S

next biggie with UTV S

uperstar Mahesh Babu has just signed his next big venture with UTV Motion Pictures. And, needless to say, for a whopping amount, too. This film will be a collaboration between Mahesh Babu and UTV, the first being Athidi. The shooting has been scheduled for summer next year under the direction of Koratala Shiva. Neither the title, nor its leading actress have been decided upon yet. However, it is expected to be an action entertainer. As of now, the superstar is busy on the sets of 1-Nenokkadine.

South’s contribution to 100 years of cinema Joining in the celebrations of 100 years of Indian Cinema, South film industry is planning a mega event, too. A grand show highlighting south Indian cinema’s contribution to 100 years of Indian cinema, will be organised by film-makers, actors, producers, and other technicians from all four south Indian film industries. The event is to take place from September 25 to 27 at Nehru Stadium in Chennai. On the guest list are President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, chief guests of all four states, and several bigwigs from Bollywood. Even the president of AP Film Chamber of Commerce, Thammareddy Bharadwaj is taking special interest in the event, so no stone is left unturned. Besides the glitz and glamour, a series of lectures and exhibitions will be organised for film enthusiasts.

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Entertainment WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

BIRTHING TROUBLES

CINE BYTES

SHOOJIT SIRCAR COMPARES SHOEBITE TROUBLES WITH MISCARRIAGE F

ilm-maker Shoojit Sircar, who got an opportunity to direct megastar Amitabh Bachchan in Shoebite, says his biggest down is that film, which is Big B’s milestone performance, is not getting released.

So far the director had two releases — Yahaan (2005) and Vicky Donor (2012) and his Madras Cafe, a political thriller, is coming out Aug 23. In between, he made Shoebite, which is trapped in controversy over its rights putting its release in peril.

“My biggest down was Shoebite.

It is very close to my heart,” Sircar said.

“Whenever it comes out, I can say it is Mr. Bachchan’s milestone performance. This is one of his best performances. It’s unfortunate it didn’t release, but after that down I don’t care about anything.”

If not for me, they should do something for Mr. Bachchan, he feels. “Our film is like our child and I feel even production house should treat them the same way. For me, Shoebite not getting release is like a miscarriage. I had cried a lot and I was very upset about it,” he said.

Although he got his due with his film on sperm donation Vicky Donor, he takes accolades with a pinch of realism.

Taking a pragmatic look on success and failure, he said: “The industry dances with you in your success, but if your next film fails, again you come down to zero. So, I don’t care much.

“Everybody started respecting me after Vicky Donor. Now I don’t know...if I’ll make a flop film, the respect will be gone and to regain that respect, again I will have to make a Vicky Donor.”

His Madras Cafe, his second film with producer John Abraham as a producer, is his maiden attempt at a spy film and he is confident of showing new things in the film. IANS

Imran Zahid to play lead in play based on Arth

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irector Mahesh Bhatt’s new discovery, actor Imran Zahid, is set to play the lead role in the filmmaker’s new theatrical production based on his 1982 film Arth.

“Mahesh Bhatt set to recreate magic of film Arth in a theatrical play. It’ll be a big challenge for me to play the lead but I am up for it,” Imran posted on Twitter.

IANS

B.A. Pass’ a pathbreaking film

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ce filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt is highly impressed with Ajay Bahl’s B.A Pass and has termed it a “path-breaking film”. “I assure you that people will talk about B.A. Pass for many years. This film will be recalled even after 2025 years down the line,” Bhatt said.

IANS

Yeh Rishta... will always be my first love: Heena

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V serial Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai has completed 1,200 episodes and for lead actress Heena Khan, no opportunity, however big, compares to her love for the show. “There have been so many opportunities where I felt there won’t be anything bigger than this and I thought let me just quit ‘Yeh Rishta...’ and start doing that. But whenever I have a choice, ‘Yeh Rishta...’ is always the first love and nothing compares to it atleast for me,” Heena said. IANS

Entertainment WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

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Entertainment WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

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Entertainment WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013 CINE BYTES

Actor Dennis Farina dead at 69

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eteran character actor Dennis Farina, best known for playing his fair share of weathered tough guys in films like Out of Sight Get Shorty, Midnight Run, has died at age 69, his publicist confirmed today. A former Chicago police officer, Farina is best known to most for his portrayal of Detective Joe Fontana in NBC’s long-running drama series Law & Order.

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SCARED ON SCREEN

Violence in Lovelace terrified

Spike Lee using Kickstarter for film

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pike Lee has turned to Kickstarter to raise $1.25 million in funds for his next film, becoming the latest high-profile filmmaker to tap into his fanbase for film financing.The filmmaker gave few details about the project, other than saying it will focus on human beings who are addicted to blood. “Funny, sexy, and bloody (and it’s not “Blacula”),” he added.

Magnussen to star in Into the Woods

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ony-nominated actor and former As The World Turns star Billy Magnussen is set to replace Jake Gyllenhaal (who dropped out recently, reportedly to star in Nightcrawler) as Rapunzel’s prince in Rob Marshall’s film adaptation of Into the Woods. Magnussen recently appeared on Boardwalk Empire as Roger and had a memorable turn in Whit Stillman’s Damsels in Distress as Thor.

AMANDA SEYFRIED

Actress Amanda Seyfried says she was not afraid of nudity in Lovelace, but the violence and beatings in the biopic scared her. Lovelace is a biopic on porn star Linda Lovelace. “It was a risky role to play, I suppose, but the nudity didn’t scare me. I was more afraid of some of the violence and beatings she (her character) suffered. But she was a courageous woman and I’ve never been so affected by a role as I was by this,” mirror.co.uk quoted the 27-year-old actress as saying. “The story of Linda Lovelace’s life is a very dark place to go. We couldn’t show half of what she went through, although our film is still a pretty harrowing experience,” she added.

Lovelace focuses on Deep Throat actress’ life in the adult film industry. It traces her life from the time she was 20 to 32 years.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.

Abe Lincoln

KAKURO

QUICK CROSSWORD

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

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

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

Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on...

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

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

ACROSS

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

SCRIBBLING PAD

1 Cut and dried thing 5 Cats of the Rockies 10 Dhow sailor, usually 14 Radius’s comrade-in-arms?

15 Like a doddering old woman 16 Act incensed 17 Driver’s headache 18 Bill attachment 19 Drop 20 Comics quartet 23 “To a Skylark” poet 24 Impressive poker hand 27 Common possessive 28 Puck’s occupation 31 Highlander’s rejection 32 Have things 34 “His Family” author Ernest 35 Nada 36 Childhood chum, of a sort 40 Satisfied, as an obligation 41 Canon fodder 42 EKG monitor 43 Ripen 44 Date of March madness?

45 Feminine pronoun 47 Polo who visited Cathay 49 Subtle amount 53 Atlantis is one 57 Pampering places 59 Brick of clay and straw 60 Iowa city 61 Smart-mouthed 62 Bailiwick 63 Like hospital corners 64 Goes on and on and ...

65 Eucharist plate 66 A huge amount

DOWN

1 Angry fits 2 Muslim’s God 3 Silly as a goose 4 Shaking, saber-style 5 Studies sentences 6 Opposite of separateness 7 Calf-length skirt 8 Guinness, the actor 9 Lowly worker 10 Run ___ of the law 11 Prohibition figure 12 “Who ___ to judge?”

13 Bookie transaction 21 Bottom-row key 22 Bidder’s amount 25 New Orleans athlete 26 Gripped 28 Bulblike bases of stems 29 Georgetown cager 30 Pointy-shoe wearer 32 Final Greek letter 33 Stationery logo 34 One for the books?

36 Middle-Eastern cleric 37 Vilified villager 38 Say yes silently 39 Vegetation sometimes eaten as greens 45 Extremely earnest 46 “2, 3, 4” lead-in 48 Wens and such 49 Weasel look-alike 50 Star’s minor role 51 Bermuda border 52 Resting places for frequent fliers?

54 Angel’s instrument 55 Brainchild 56 Assembly of minks?

57 KGB figure 58 Legume

Chai Time WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 25-7-2013

27

As per Hindu panchang thiruvaikumar@yahoo. co. in, 040-27177230 / 9177596118

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Unexpected financial opportunities or a job opportunity is most likely through abroad friends. Tensions and hurdles in the way of getting passport or visa will be over. Avoid extending financial help to others as your savings might erode.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

Children will bring happiness in the family. Marriage talks delayed will resume and progress in the right direction.

Employees might be struggling too hard to get recognition and also entrusted with burdensome tasks.

Delayed marriage talks will resume and proceed in the right direction. Tensions existed all along will start disappearing.

Transfer as expected and promotion are on the cards for the employees. Unexpected Influx of visitors will increase.

You will plan renovation of the house and furnish well. Never share family secrets with third person. Students will do well and earn high scores.

Businessmen might face a dull trend. Avoid fresh and hurried investment decisions.

Some employees are forced to be away from their family as they will be deputed on duty to some other states on important assignment. Those planning to apply for a loan can go ahead as the time is very much favourable.

Strained relationship will resume again. Avoid expressing your opinions openly without proper justifications as you might be misunderstood. Your self confidence level will be at its high. Do your duty without expecting benefit.

Health needs good attention.

Minor clashes and misunderstanding with the spouse will be resolved. But avoid giving more importance to minor tensions at home as they will be automatically resolved.

Businessmen will be successful.

Promotions are on card for Govt. employees as per their expectations. Be careful while travelling as minor accident is likely to take place. Never hurt anyone with your harsh talks.

Students will receive good news in line.

All the difficult tasks undertaken by you will end successfully.

Though there will be misunderstanding between you and spouse, both need to adjust with each other to sort out the issues and become together to lead a happy life.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

The Tower – You may have overheard some spicy gossip at the office. The choice is yours, whether to pass on that information to others or not.

LEO:

Judgment – You are a believer and this has brought you a long way. You must not let go of the faith, and continue to believe in yourself.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Queen of Swords – You are a hard worker and are about to be appreciated for all your efforts.

You will be given a bonus or some kind of appreciation.

SAGITTARIUS:

Queen of Wands – You are in the mood to cook something nice for your family and yourself. Get into the habit of healthy cooking and you will see the results.

TAURUS:

The Wheel of Fortune – You have the upper hand in an argument. Don’t take it too far, though. Learn to let go of minor irritants and move on with your life.

CANCER:

Knight of Wands – Keep a check on your erratic behavior, which may be confusing people.

By being unpredictable, you have built quite a reputation for yourself.

VIRGO:

The High Priestess – In a relationship, both husband and wife must come halfway. Otherwise, it is not going to work out. Do little things for each other.

SCORPIO:

Nine of Wands – You have gained new confidence by some recent successes. This is spurring you on in the right direction.

CAPRICORN:

Ten of Wands – You are extremely tired with your work and want to take a break.

You are seeing the world in new light by doing things differently.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Four of Cups – There are many layers to the changes that have happened in the recent past. This is not the best time for change, you haven’t a choice.

NUMBER GAME

– Someone is upsetting you by giving you a hard time at work. It’s nothing you cannot handle. You just become very agitated when he/she is around.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Two of Swords

POOCH CAFE

Drive away the unwanted apprehensions in your mind.

Your well mannered approach will be appreciated by everyone and works too will get completed easily. Avoid getting addicted to bad habits.

for 25-7-2013

Knight of Pentacles – Your arrogance is not doing you any good. You are feeling let down by someone close. But how can you be arrogant and expect their help?

NON SEQUITUR

Your administrative skills will be appreciated by all. A very happy atmosphere will prevail at home. If your planning of activities is carried out well, success will be certainly yours.

Expenses will rise and it is necessary to keep them down.

SUDUKO

As financial situation looks strong, you will feel cheerful.

Don’t neglect even minor health problems and take necessary treatment. Some are in for a surprise as they will get an opportunity to go abroad.

Boggle CAR CAB VAN BUS JEEP HEARSE AMBULANCE Vol: 3, No 4 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

28

Entertainment WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013 CINE BYTES

Vince Vaughn trying out new comedy partner

V

ince Vaughn is trying out a new comedic partner in Dave Franco (Now You See Me), who has joined him in the comedy Business Trip. Ken Scott, who directed Vaughn in Delivery Man, is set to helm the project. Franco is also appearing alongside Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, and Zac Efron in the Nicholas Stoller comedy Townies.

NOT SO INNOCENT

Miley Cyrus OPENS UP ABOUT SHEDDING HER SQUEAKY CLEAN PAST

S Cameron Diaz to design shoes, bags for Pour la Victoire

C

ameron Diaz has got a new role—and this one won't be listed on IMDb! The actress has been named artistic director at Pour la Victoire, where she will help design the brand's shoes and handbags. But that's not all: The actress will also have a hand in the label's marketing and advertising strategies.

Zeta-Jones hopes her experience helps others

A

ctress Catharine Zeta-Jones says it would be great if her battle through bipolar disorder has created awareness and encourage others. "It wasn’t something I wanted to shout from the rooftops. But if I’ve helped anybody by discussing it, that’s great," dailystar.co.uk quoted Zeta-Jones as saying.

he rose to fame at the tender age of 14 playing Disney’s squeaky clean Hannah Montana which led to a few albums and a feature length film. But now Miley Cyrus, who has well and truly shed her good-girl image, has revealed that her video for We Can't Stop was in fact more explicit than the version played in the UK. After playing the controversial video for her new single — which sees the blonde star gyrating a lot, simulating oral sex and partying hard — she admitted she wasn’t concerned about alienating her younger fans.

“I wasn’t really worried about it because I feel that time was something that I had to do what everyone has to do — work at something that you don’t necessarily love to get to be able to do what you do love,” she admitted.

Not shy about her decision to use the word she confirmed that it was in fact a drug reference, she revealed: “It depends who’s doing what. If you’re aged ten it’s ‘Miley’, if you know what I’m talking about then you know. I just wanted it to be played on the radio and they’ve already had to edit it so much.”

The star, who was wearing her engagement ring from her actor fiancé Liam Hemsworth, continued: “I don’t think people have a hard time understanding that I’ve grown up.

“You can Google me and you know what I’m up to — you know what that lyric is saying.”

sports

29

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

WORLD CYCLING

It could be Wiggins versus Froome: Hoy Wiggins missed this year’s race due to injury and illness, leaving Froome as the undisputed leader of Team Sky. LONDON: Chris Hoy believes Bradley Wiggins could take on his successor as Tour de France champion, Chris Froome, in next year’s race but only if he can stand another 12 months of hard training.

Wiggins missed this year’s race through injury and illness, leaving Froome as the undisputed leader of Team Sky. Froome triumphed in Paris on Sunday to give Britain backto-back Tour de France champions, with next year’s race set to start in the northern English county of Yorkshire.

Six-time Olympic champion Hoy, who retired earlier this year,

said Tuesday: “Bradley has been a champion for a number of years he won the Tour de France and has been Olympic champion and world champion.

“I’m sure if he wants to and he has the drive, he could easily be a champion again."

Hoy added: “It’s one thing becoming a champion but the hardest thing is actually replicating that.

“Everybody is vying to take your spot once you are up there.

“Sport isn’t everything in life.

There is nothing like that winning feeling. But only a tiny percentage of your life as a sportsman is that.

ATHLETICS

Jessica competes in pain LONDON: Jessica Ennis-Hill said Tuesday she was competing in pain but was nevertheless determined to compete at next month’s World Championships.

The Olympic heptathlon champion returned from injury at a low-level meeting in Loughborough, central England, on Tuesday and appeared to come through unscathed in front of a small crowd where she set a new personal best in the javelin.

The 27-year-old then won the long jump with a leap of 6.26m but afterwards said her left Achilles tendon injury was still causing problems.

“It’s pain," she said. “It’s one little bit that’s really painful.

“When I compress it and when I’m pushing off it, it hurts. If I had one event to prepare for then maybe it would have been a bit easier, but having to train for seven events and get all the work done that I

Ennis-Hill is due to compete in the Anniversary Games at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday, where she is due to line up in the 100m hurdles. needed to get done, it just hasn’t happened unfortunately."

Ennis-Hill is due to compete in the Anniversary Games at the Olympic

The Olympic heptathlon champion returned from injury at a low-level meeting in Loughborough, England, on Tuesday.

Stadium on Saturday, where she is due to line up in the 100m hurdles and the long jump ahead of next month’s World Championships in Moscow.

Ennis-Hill said: “I want to be competitive, I don’t want to go to just enjoy it. I want to contend for the gold medal. The standard’s not really amazing at the moment, but (defending champion Tatyana) Chernova’s coming into form. I want to be ready.

“I didn’t think I’d be opening up my season in July, and practically the end of July.

“It’s been a long few weeks just assessing it each day, seeing how it’s feeling and having to pull out of so many competitions that I’d planned to do.”

The rest of it is the unglamorous, painful slog that happens in between times.

“So ultimately, Bradley might be thinking that if his kids’ lives are passing him by while he’s out racing and training, maybe he wants to see his family grow up and spend time with them. I can completely understand that.

“It’s a very personal thing.

Once you have achieved your lifetime goal, you might not feel the desire to push on again.

“However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on top again.

He’s had a bit of time out to refocus.”

FORMULA 1

F1 may return to Austria The last time a Formula One race was held in Austria was in 2003, when Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher took the chequered flag at the A1 Ring.

VIENNA: Formula One will return to Austria in July 2014 after an 11-year break, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz said Tuesday.

The two men “have reached an agreement that Formula One will return to the (Austria region) Styria next year, to the Red Bull Ring at Spielberg," a joint statement said.

The last time a Formula One race was held in Austria was in 2003, when Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher took the chequered flag at the A1 Ring, as the sincemodernised Spielberg track was then called.

“It’s the best thing that could happen to us. The worldwide publicity this will bring Austria is worth its weight in gold," said retired triple world champion Niki Lauda.

sports

30

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

OBITUARY

Emile Griffith dies at 75 NEW YORK: Former welterweight champion Emile Griffith, best known for the brutal 1962 world title fight that claimed the life of bitter rival Benny Paret, died Tuesday. He was 75.

Griffith, who suffered from dementia, died at a care facility in New York, the International Boxing Hall of Fame confirmed in a statement.

"Emile Griffith was a gifted athlete and a truly great boxer," Hall of Fame Executive Director Edward Brophy said.

"Outside of the ring, he was as great a gentleman as he was a fighter. The Hall of Fame joins the boxing world in mourning his passing."

Griffith's infamous rivalry with the Cuban-born Paret ended in a fatal third meeting between the two boxers at Madison Square Garden on March 24, 1962 for the welterweight title.

According to a 2005 documentary, Paret had allegedly enraged Griffith prior to the bout by taunting him in Spanish with the deeply offensive homophobic slur "maricon" (faggot).

Griffith, who married dancer Mercedes Donastrog in 1971 but later admitted to being bisexual, claimed victory over Paret with a savage 12th-round assault.

An unconscious Paret was propped up on the ropes as Griffith rained blows on him for several seconds before he slumped to the canvas. Paret never regained consciousness and died in hospital 10 days later.

The savagery of the fight had lasting implications for boxing in the United States, leading ABC television to pull the plug on live broadcasts for years afterward.

Referee Ruby Goldstein, criticized for not intervening to stop Griffith's furious late assault, never officiated again.

In 1992, he was hospitalized for four months after being attacked as he left a gay bar in New York. The motive for the attack was never established.

I like men and women both ... I don't know what I am. I love men and women the same, but if you ask me which is better... I like women.

Emile GrifďŹ th Boxer

SWISS OPEN

Fedex to shine at home?

The top seed's first opponent at the Swiss Open after a bye will be German Daniel Brands, a player he beat in three sets last week.

GSTAAD: Roger Federer will concentrate on both his own fitness and the state of his new prototype racquet as he makes his first appearance at the Swiss Open since winning it in 2004.

The top seed's first opponent after a bye will be German Daniel Brands on Wednesday, a player he beat in three sets in last week's first round.

Brands defeated Federer's longtime mate Marco Chiudinelli, a fellow Basel native, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to set up the re-match.

Federer, who has been playing since last week with a larger,

Federer is trying to put behind him his loss in the semi-final last week in Hamburg to Argentine qualifier Federico Delbonis.

98-square-inch racquet after competing for most of his career with a 90-square-inch model, remains quietly confident that he will be able to make the big switch before travelling to Canada in little more than a week to prepare for the Montreal Masters.

"This racket will probably change over the next few

months, we will keep tinkering with it," said Federer, working closely with his manufacturer.

"I've tried a lot of models and this is the one I like the best.

"I'll play Gstaad with it and then we can look ahead. The plan for now is to continue with this racquet."

Federer is trying to put behind him his loss in the semi-

final last week in Hamburg to Argentine qualifier Federico Delbonis, who put out holder and two-time champion Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 7-5, 76 (7/2) in his opening Gstaad effort. .

"Gstaad is a special tournament with altitude (800 metres)," said Federer. "You can't come here for six weeks to

get prepared.

"I'm coming in very relaxed, no-one has much experience on this clay but you can get used to it." Federer nudged aside more queries about the state of his back, which occasionally bothers him and which appeared to be taped in Hamburg. He said: "Honestly, last week was not optimal.�

GOLF

Westwood has Ryder captain dreams Westwood, who helped Europe to a win at Medinah last year, hopes to add to his eight appearances in the competition before leading the team.

LONDON: Lee Westwood has said he would like to captain the European team in the Ryder Cup but not until he has appeared in a few more events against the United States as a player.

Westwood, who helped Europe to a remarkable comeback win at the Medinah Country Club in September last year, hopes to add to his eight appearances in the competition before leading the team.

"I would love to be the captain of the Ryder Cup team.

That would be a great honour," he said Tuesday. "There have been some fantastic Ryder Cup captains and it would be lovely to follow in their footsteps.

"But I plan on playing in a

few more just before that."

Westwood's remarks came as he played in a Ryder Cupstyle competition to mark the official opening of the Lee Westwood Filly Course at Close House Golf Club near Wylam in Northumberland, two days after he saw a two-shot lead slip away at the British Open at Muirfield as Phil Mickelson overhauled him to take the title with a stunning final round.

Westwood, yet to win one of golf's four Major titles, said: "Obviously, I was a little bit disappointed not to play well on the last day. I didn't feel like I had my best game but I still had a two-shot lead going into the final round, so that's a positive."

sports

31

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

SOUTH AFRICA IN SRI LANKA

THE ASHES

Herath stops Proteas

Jimmy bullish about KP’s fitness

The Proteas lost by 17 runs to suffer their second defeat in the series following the 180-run loss in the first match last Saturday.

LONDON: England fast bowler James Anderson said Tuesday the team were optimistic Kevin Pietersen would be fit for next week’s third Ashes Test at Old Trafford.

Pietersen, arguably England’s most talented batsman, was off the field when the side completed a 347-run win over Australia in the second Test at Lord’s on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

The South Africa-born shotmaker tweeted Monday he was “stuck on a sofa tightly fastened to an ice machine” in a bid to be ready to play at Manchester’s Old Trafford where the third Test starts on August 1.

And Anderson told Sky Sports News: “As far as I know it was a strain so we’ll keep our fingers crossed that he’ll be fine for the Old Trafford Test.

“For him more than most, the next 10 days will be crucial, a lot of rehab and trying to get himself fit for next week — which we’re all hoping he will be.”

There were no such worries for Pietersen’s fellow England batsman Joe Root, who made a commanding 180 in the second innings at Lord’s.

“He’s been amazing,” said Anderson of the 22-year-old Yorkshireman.

“There’s a lot of pressure on this series and for someone so young to take it in his stride, it’s a great credit to him — he seems to thrive off it, almost.

“The way he has dealt with it will stand him in good stead for the future and I’m sure he’s got a big future ahead of him.”

COLOMBO: Rangana Herath took two crucial wickets as Sri Lanka defeated South Africa in the rainaffected one-dayer in Colombo on Tuesday, taking a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

South Africa, set a revised target of 176 from 29 overs, were 104-5 in 21 overs when a heavy downpour at the Premadasa stadium forced the match to be called off.

With 121-5 being the par score at that stage, the Proteas lost by 17 runs to suffer their second defeat in the series following the 180-run loss in the first match last Saturday.

Left-arm spinner Herath trapped opener Alviro Petersen leg-before for 24, and had Faf du Plessis caught behind to reduce the Proteas to 69-5 by the 14th over.

David Miller (22 not out) and Ryan McLaren (14 not out) put on 35 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket before rain ruined their hopes of pulling off an upset.

South Africa were dealt another blow as star batsman Hashim Amla injured his left knee while fielding and was rushed to hospital for precautionary scans.

Amla, who had been sidelined for the first match due to a strained back, was

unable to bat and faces a race against time to be fit for the third match in Pallekele on Friday.

South African captain AB de Villiers vowed his team will fight back in the series.

“It’s not over yet, there are three big games coming for us now,” he said. “This was a much better game for us than the previous one. The bowling did okay, but the batting let us down.

“Hopefully we will get Amla ready for the next match. The injury is not too serious.”

Earlier, fast bowler Morne Morkel claimed 3-34

South Africa were dealt another blow as star batsman Hashim Amla injured his left knee while fielding. as the hosts were restricted to 223-9 in 49.2 overs after they won the toss and elected to bat.

Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain Dinesh Chandimal and opener Tillakaratne Dilshan top-scored with 43 apiece before heavy rain ended the

innings with four deliveries still to be bowled.

South Africa regrouped after the heavy defeat in the first match to keep the freestroking Sri Lankan batsmen in check on the slow wicket.

Sri Lanka lost opener Upul Tharanga in the fourth over before a second wicket stand of 59 between Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara helped them recover to 66-1 in the 18th over.

Sangakkara, who smashed a career-best 169 on Saturday, hit six boundaries in his 37 before he mistimed a drive off left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso.

DIVING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Chinese duo win diving gold

Qin and He racked up 448.86 points to finish well clear of the Russian pair of Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilia Zakharov in second and Mexicans Jahir Ocampo and Rommel Pacheco in third.

BARCELONA: Chinese diving duo Qin Kai and He Chong combined for gold in the men’s 3m synchronised springboard event on Tuesday as the Asian heavyweights continued to dominate on the fourth day of diving action in Barcelona.

Qin and He racked up 448.86 points to finish well clear of the Russian pair of Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilia Zakharov in second and Mexicans Jahir Ocampo and Rommel Pacheco in third.

China have now won five of the six events so far in the Catalan capital and their incredible record in the 3m synchro-

nised springboard world championship finals was never in doubt thanks to the professional performance of the experienced Qin and He. The duo now have a haul of 10 world championship gold medals between them, along with three Olympic golds and He believes they are well-placed to team up for another shot at glory at the Rio Olympics in three years’ time.

“We already perform very difficult combinations and we don’t want to change too much before the Olympics,” he said.

“Otherwise, it will be very complicated to maintain the

same quality and consistency.”

Earlier in the day, He Zi had also taken gold for China in the women’s 1m springboard final, but it was a much closer call for the 22-year-old as she had to produce an immaculate final dive to edge out Italy’s Tania Cagnotto by a mere tenth of a point with He’s compatriot Wang Han taking bronze.

It was the smallest ever margin between a gold and silver medalist at a world championship event and He claimed that factor made victory all the sweeter. “Knowing that, I even give more value to my gold medal!”

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

sports

MARTINO SEES MESSI INPUT IN BARÇA MOVE

Gerardo Martino credited Lionel Messi with having had input in Barcelona’s decision to appoint him as coach after Tito Vilanova resigned due to ongoing health problems, the 50-year-old Martino comes in from Argentine outfit Newell’s Old Boys — where Messi started out.

PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

United stumble to defeat Manchester United, under David Moyes, went down 3-2 to Japanese side Yokohama Marinos.

HIDENORI FUKUO Agence France-Presse YOKOHAMA: Manchester United stumbled to a 3-2 defeat against Japan’s Yokohama Marinos Tuesday in their second loss in three games under new manager David Moyes.

The English champions fell behind after only a minute but they recovered to lead 2-1 heading into the second half thanks to Jesse Lindgard’s strike and a Yokohama own goal.

However, Fabio Aguiar headed the scores level before Yoshihito Fujita’s winner three minutes from time removed further gloss from United’s preseason Asian tour.

“We had a chance to finish off the game at 2-1 and had a great chance to make it 3-1, and we thought we had chances after that as well but we didn’t take them. So it was a tough game,” said Moyes.

“It was the first time that I got a chance to see Shinji (Kagawa) playing. He had a great chance to score, but overall I was pleased to get him,” added the Scot.

Moyes also admitted United had “a couple of wee worries” over strikers Robin van Persie,

‘We will keep Rooney’ YOKOHAMA: Manchester United boss David Moyes Tuesday said Wayne Rooney is coming back to fitness after a hamstring injury and moved to reassure fans the striker is not leaving the club.

Moyes said Rooney, whose departure from United’s preseason tour with a minor hamstring tear heightened speculation over his future, was on course for a quick recovery.

“So far as I know, he is coming back, he is jogging,” Moyes told reporters in Japan.

who was withdrawn with a minor thigh problem, and Danny Welbeck, who had a groin twinge.

But he said unsettled striker Wayne Rooney, whose departure from the tour with a hamstring injury heightened speculation over his future, was recovering — and that he would not be leaving the club.

“So far as I know, he is coming back, he is jogging,” Moyes said. “We are not going to lose him.”

So far under Moyes, United have lost 1-0 in Bangkok and

won 5-1 in Melbourne, and they got off to a horror start in hot and humid conditions in Yokohama.

The game was just a minute old when Brazilian striker Marquinhos latched on to a poor clearance from United custodian David de Gea to fire the hosts in front from inside the box.

The setback stung the Premier League champions and talented Belgian teenager Adnan Januzaj nearly put them level with a crisp strike which was just off-target.

CHELSEA IN INDONESIA

Jose denies playing mind games Mourinho raised suspicions that he was trying to make life difficult for Moyes after speaking glowingly about Rooney.

OLIVIA RONDONUWU Agence France-Presse JAKARTA: Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho Tuesday hit back at suggestions he was trying to destabilise new Manchester United manager David Moyes after targeting striker Wayne Rooney.

The experienced Portuguese campaigner said he had done nothing but praise the English champions’ incoming boss since returning for a second spell at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho said he had called Moyes a “great coach, (who) deserves success, he deserves time to work, he didn’t win trophies in Everton because it’s very difficult to win trophies there”.

32

“If to speak good about him is to play mind games, what do you say if I speak bad about him?” Mourinho told a briefing in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

“So the best thing is not to speak. If I

don’t speak, nobody says anything.”

Mourinho raised suspicions that he was trying to make life difficult for Moyes after speaking glowingly about Rooney and hinting a move could improve his England chances before Chelsea’s bid was made public.

Moyes, taking over from the legendary Alex Ferguson, has had trouble with the Rooney question in his early weeks in charge, and has repeatedly told journalists the unsettled striker is not for sale. However, he flatly told Mourinho to “bring it on” when asked if he was a victim of mind games by the ex-Inter Milan and Real Madrid manager.

“If you’re from Glasgow you quite enjoy those kind of things, so bring it on.”

Celtic stroll past minnows ALISTAIR WATSON Agence France-Presse GLASGOW: Celtic strolled into the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Cliftonville as they comfortably eased past the Northern Irish minnows 5-0 on aggregate.

With so much at stake - UEFA earlier revealed Celtic made £22.2million (30m euros) from their run to the final 16 of last season’s competition - the Hoops fielded a strong side despite holding a 3-0 advantage from the first leg in Belfast.

After withstanding some early pressure the Cliftonville defence was finally breached in the 16th minute when Efe Ambrose headed the Scottish champions into the lead.

Kris Commons and James Forrest then both came close to adding more as the Glasgow giants dominated the first half at Parkhead.

Neil Lennon’s side will need to overcome much tougher opposition in the form of Elfsborg for a place in the play-offs.

The Belfast part-timers improved after the break but the Hoops made sure of the win when a Georgios Samaras header made it 2-0 in the 70th minute.

Neil Lennon’s side will need to overcome much tougher opposition in the form of Elfsborg for a place in the playoff round of Europe’s elite competition.

The Swedish champions, who won their second leg match against Latvians FC Daugave 4-0 to progress 11-1 on aggregate, will visit Celtic Park on July 31.

Celtic manager Lennon was satisfied with his side’s performance.

“You can’t have everything but we had 30 attempts on goal so our shooting wasn’t the best,” Lennon said.

Cliftonville manager Tommy Breslin thought his side had done well to frustrate Celtic.

“There was always a fear that coming here we would be like lambs to the slaughter and tonight the game plan was more about damage limitation,” Breslin said.