Epaper 24 october 2013

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013 HYDERABAD

WEATHER: LIGHT RAIN; 23°C

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

32 PAGES

THE EYES OF JOSEF KOUDELKA

`3

The white-bearded, blue-eyed photographer said that in every country where he has travelled he was after events and people that were not necessarily newsworthy.

P16&17

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

FLASH

IN WALL COLLAPSE AS RAINS LASH CITY! Three people including a seven-year-old boy were buried alive after a compound wall of a government degree college collapsed on a nearby hut at Vijaynagar Colony in Masab Tank in the early hours today. Two people of the family who sustained severe injuries were pulled out from the debris. The incessant rain in the city led to the disaster.

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

city events

BARBEQUE NIGHT

Enjoy exotic Indian and Western meats steeped in home-made marinades, slow cooked on cinders by a team of culinary experts at Park Hyatt. The food festival is on till October 24, 2013.

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

22°C

Morning

Afternoon

22°C

25°C

A mix of cloud and sun with showers

Cloudy with sunny periods

20°C

Mix of cloud with showers

A mix of cloudy and clear skies.

New Delhi Mumbai Max 35 Max 35 Min 27 Min 29 Sunny

A mix of cloudy with a chance of showers

Chennai Max 32 Min 27

Bangalore Max 26 Min 19

Cloudy with a chance of showers

Cloudy with chance of a thunderstorm.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES Pinktober Go pink this October! The hot spot of music lovers, Hard Rock Cafe lends its support to the subject of breast cancer this month Where: Hard Rock Cafe, GVK One Mall, Road No. 1, Banjara Hills When: Until October 31, 12pm to 1.30am Contact: 7569016340

WORKSHOP Zumba In The Circuit 60 Degree Fitness presents Zumba In The Circuit workshop for those who love to combine a bit of dance with their regular health regime.

Where: 360 Degree Fitness, Croma Building, 2nd Floor, Road No. 36, Jubilee Hills When: Until October 31, 7pm to 8pm Contact: (040) 23456789

Stories And Folktales Library and Activity Centre organises 'Stories and Folktales'. This event will take the participants to around 25 Countries through the Stories and folktales. Under the guidance of expert mentors, kids will go through the timeless theme folktales.

Where: Books N More - Library And Activity Centre Plot No. 292, Street No. 6, West Marredpally When: October 26, 5pm to 6.30pm Contact: (040) 27800722 Imagery Vs Photography The workshop will teach the participants how they can become thinking photographers, how imagery and photographs can be treated as a science.

Where: Fortune Select Manohar, Hotel, Begumpet Airport Exit Road, Begumpet When: Until October 25, 9am to 6pm

DIWALI SPECIAL: Bhikharam Chandmal Bhujiawala is here presenting you the season’s delight in a first of its kind festival of Mithai’s and Specialized Mithai Packing Gift Boxes.

Contact: (040) 39884422 Sketching Workshop For Kids This workshop will be hosted by Faraaz Farshori, an artist known for creating impromptu sketches using a ball point pen.This artist will be sharing his knowledge and experience with the young enthusiasts who want to explore their creative skills on paper.

Where:Lamakaan, Road No. 1, Lane Adjacent to C-Bay, Banjara Hills When: October 27, 11am - 12pm Contact: 9642731329, 9963107235

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

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

artisans across the country are presenting their designer sarees, dress materials, gold jewellery, imitation jewellery,hand bags and all types of lifestyle accessories at the exposition Where: Shop No. 8-6-949/1/B , Kamma Sangam, Ameerpet When: Until October 27, 10am to 8:30pm Contact: (040) 23456789

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

DINING Breakfast Buffet Early birds, this is for you if you want to treat yourself like a king! Salt & Pepper (The Central Court) serves buffet breakfast with all the delicacies at just Rs.169/- + taxes.

Where: Salt & Pepper, Beside HDFC Bank, Lakdi Ka Pul When: Ongoing 07:30am - 10:30am Contact: 040-23232323, 66661666

Fashion yatra Renowned fashion designers, best

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

Ladies, it’s time to fall head over heals in love with Metro shoes’ newest collection, available in spectacularly vibrant hues.

Where: All Metro shoes outlet across the city When: Until October 31 Contact: 9391099710

Drenched In Color

EXHIBITION

Commissioner & Spl Officer

Helpline

ELECTRICITY General Complaints Breakdown Section

Barbeque Night A penchant for grilled food need look no further than their own neighbourhood when they crave for grills. Enjoy exotic Indian and Western meats steeped in home made marinades, slow cooked on

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

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

cinders by the team of culinary experts of Park Hyatt.

Where: Hotel Park Hyatt Hyderabad, Road No.2, Banjara Hills When:Until October 24 7pm to 10.30pm Contact: (040) 49491234

PLAY Little Blue Planet Commissioned by Jindal Steel Works foundation, this show titled 'The Little Blue Planet' aims at presenting the occurrence of rapid climate change that the world is experiencing today. Don’t miss the show!

Where: Shilpakala Vedika Jubilee Enclave, Hitech City Road, Madhapur When: October 26, 6.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 23112704

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 # Plot no.550-A1, 3rd floor, Road no-92, Jubilee hills, Hyderabad-500033 a call on a call on 2354 1412

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

news

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

WAS IT SENSIBLE TO RETAIN SHARMA IN THE THIRD ODI? 30% 70%

YES (A) NO (B)

A)

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NO

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DRUG BUST

GACHIBOWLI GANG RAPE

City police bust huge drug ring Acting on a tip-off, the police seized 60 grams of Methaqu alone Powder and 40 grams of Mescalin e pills.

HYDERABAD: The City police has busted a drug mafia gang with the arrest of five persons including two Nigerians.

Acting on a tip-off, the Central Zone Task Force Team apprehended five persons late last night near Ranigunj in Secunderabad, and seized contraband 60 grams of the Methaqualone Powder and 40 grams of Mescaline pills, City Police Commissioner, Anurag Sharma told reporters here on Wednesday.

One of the arrested, John Peter told the investigation

TODAY’S QUESTION

ARE THE POLICE TO BLAME FOR SPATE IN RAPES?

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officer that he came in contact with Nwizu Nmemeka alias Boy, and supplying to needy customers in Bengaluru and Hyderabad for earning easy money. He also revealed that he supplied the same drug to Rahul and Zubin, thrice earlier.

On interrogation Rahul Pradeep and Zubin revealed that they are good friends and came into contact with John

Peter through one Suman of Bengaluru and getting this drug by ordering over phone to John Peter.

The police also seized an Accent car and cash `70,000/from the possession of the arrested.

The arrest was made under the supervision of P. Rameshaiah, Addl. DCP, Task Force, A. Bhaskar, Inspector of Police, with the assistance of SIs S. Saida Babu, K. Vinod Kumar and Central Zone Task Force Staff, Commissioner’s Task Force, Hyderabad City.

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Rapist drivers remanded to custody HYDERABAD: The two accused rapists of a city software engineer were produced in the court on Wednesday and were remanded to 14 days judicial custody.

The two drivers had kidnapped the 22 year old software engineer who was standing at a bus stop near Inorbit Mall in Gachibowli after offering to drop her at her hostel.

However instead of taking her to the hostel as promised, the duo diverted the car they had taken on lease towards the Outer Ring Road at Kollur and committed the heinous crime of sexually assaulting her.

They dropped her at the girls hostel after an hour with a warning not to reveal the incident to anyone.

The frightened girl informed the matter to her friend and then later a complaint was lodged in Madhapur Police Station. Earlier it was believed that the accused had dropped her after she raised an alarm.

However, the real facts came to light after the Cyberababd police cracked the mystery by arresting the two drivers.

Both the accused were produced at the Miyapur Civil Court this morning and were remanded to 14 days judicial custody.

The police plea for two days custody was also granted by the court, which also ordered a

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The Ranga Reddy District Bar Association passed a resolution that no member should provide legal assistance to the accused. potency test on the two accused.

The accused are likely to be shifted to Sanga Reddy Jail today.

Meanwhile the Ranga Reddy District Bar Association passed a resolution that no member should provide legal assistance to the accused. Even the lawyers in the Madhapur Court decided not to represent the accused.

Enraged over the incident and holding the government responsible for failing to provide the required protection and safety, the Mahila Morcha of BJP organised protest demonstration in front of the Secretariat.

The protestors including a large number of women, raised slogans against the CM and police and tried to gate-crash the premises. This led to a tussle between the protestors and the police. However, the police managed to forcibly arrest them and whisked them away.

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News THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013 LAST YEAR... HERE GHMC’s property tax

T

he GHMC’s ongoing deliberations on a possible hike in the property tax to net `1,000 crore revenue has given rise to a new debate on whether a fresh dose of tax is avoidable by plugging loopholes. Those who oppose the hike point out that if loopholes are closed the GMXC ould very well net `1,500 crore without adding additional burden on the public.

OCTOBER 24, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

`100

Is the cost of a kilo of onions at the moment. TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu said the congress government has lost the moral right to continue because of the high prices..

What I do is look through my viewer and try to shape the world. As I do this, the world too is shaping me.

Josef Koudelka, photographer See page 16 & 17

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

1

Bayern Munich are still the team to beat this year.

Bayern Munich’s 5-0 thumping of Viktoria Pilsenlast night proved that teh Europena Champions have merely picked up where they left off.

2

The Indian retail sector is struggling.

For all the hype surrounding teh country’s economic progress, the truth is that we are slowly drifting into a new recession.

3

Microsoft as all hot air when it comes to Apple Rather than try and rectify the things they are doing wrong, Microsoft has taken to bashing its competitors. And when one of those competitors is Apple, it all looks a bit sulky.

4

Science be damned, you can’t kill cute Badgers No matter what the science says, Britain’s Badger cull has an entire nation up in arms.

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Japan is still struggling to recover from Fukushima The situation is so bad, they’ve had to send a chef over to Europe to change perceptions.

TELANGANA MIRE

ROYAL BABY

Congress in a soup over T Adding to the discomfort of the Congress is litigation.

P K SURENDRAN feedback@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: It is now pretty clear that the Congress satraps in Delhi have been caught off the guard on Telangana creation. Their belief that the people of Andhra Pradesh would meekly follow them proved wrong.

Now, efforts are on to douse the Seemandhra fire and Telangana ire.

On the one hand the party leaders have sought the Governor ES Narasimhan’s advice on Hyderabad’s fate.

On the other the group of ministers are individually and collectively seeking suggestions as to how to proceed on bifurcation. The TDP leader K Dayakar Reddy has pointed out that now it is quite clear the Congress party leaders were out of touch with the reality of Andhra Pradesh and they misguided the top leadership. “Those who are proven to be flippant are put in-charge of the state. How can they hope to solve any problem?” he wondered.

Adding to the discomfiture of the Congress is litigation.

The TDP leader and MLA representing Uravakonda Constituency in Anantapur district Payyavula Keshav has filed a petition in the Surpeme Court challenging the UPA government’s decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh state.

The petitioner also request-

Chubby Prince is shown to the world ALICE RITCHIE feedback@postnoon.com

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ed the court to give clarity on the contentious Article 371 (D) of the Constitution of India.

This has put the TDP leaders in Telangana in a tight spot but they argue that it is in his personal capacity he has moved the Apex Court. However, they gave vent to their vex when they drop a line: Telangana leaders had not approached Supreme Court when agitation for a new state was at its peak.

Congress game flounders The Congress calculation that it could sweep Telangana and also garner Seemandhra votes via YSRC does not seem to be working as the general

masses rose in revolt against division. “it is strange,” remarked K L Vasan, academic and observer of political movement in AP, “two-third of the state are asking to remain united while one-third want cessation. The right method should have been to find out the causes of the dissent and redress them rather than dividing and making a new state which will only tax people more.”

No serious attempts have been made to resolve the longstanding woes of Telangana region. Only acerbic tongue waggled and claims and counter claims were traded free.

The situation in AP is reflective of the poverty of leadership both at the Centre and at the state capital.

LONDON: Britain’s baby Prince George was christened in a private ceremony on Wednesday, with his proud parents Prince William and Catherine giving the world a rare glimpse of the chubby three-month-old boy.

Wearing a frilly cream lace gown, the third in line to the throne was carried into the Chapel Royal of St James’s palace by his father, his mother Kate close by, elegant in a cream Alexander McQueen outfit.

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Queen Elizabeth II and the couple’s parents and siblings, including William’s younger brother Prince Harry, were among just 22 guests at the ceremony, including seven newlynamed godparents.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the spiritual head of the world’s Anglicans, performed the baptism, which involves pouring holy water from the River Jordan on the baby’s head.

Television pictures showed the light-haired George Alexander Louis appearing wide awake and calm.

TDP POLITICS

Will the JC brothers join TDP? Prabhakar Reddy said that going by the prevailing situation, the Congress party is not going to recover in Seemandhra for another 25 years.

HYDERABAD: JC Prabhakar Reddy, brother of former minister and Congress MLA J C Diwakar Reddy, said they [the brothers] have good relations with TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and actor Nandmuri Balakrishna, and there was no need to be afraid of anybody if they wanted to join that party.

Speaking to the media here, Prabhakar Reddy opined that

going by the prevailing situation, the Congress party is not going to recover in Seemandhra for another 25 years.

“Though we have good relations with Chandrababu Naidu, Lokesh and Balakrishna, still we are in a dilemma about joining the TDP”, he said.

My brother (Diwakar Reddy) is not yet all interested in quitting the Congress party.

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In case they wanted to join the TDP, there is no question of being afraid of anybody. But, still they have not taken any decision on joining the party, Reddy said.

He denied that TDP leader Payyavula Keshav has consult-

ed the Reddy brothers.

“Our supporters are pressuring us to join another party, he said adding that the people are accusing Congress party on the issue of bifurcation though all parties submitted letters in support of division of the state”.

Prabhakar Reddy said his brother Diwakar Reddy’s son Pawan is likely to contest the election from Tadipatri.

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News THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

RISING PRICES, FALLING HOPES

DIVINE INTERVENTION

Naidu blasts Congress He said soaring prices in the past had brought down governments but the Congress government is sitting pretty amassing scam after scam.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

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HYDERABAD: While all other political parties including the ‘people’s party, the Communists’ remained tonguetied on the soaring prices of essential commodities, the TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu today blasted the Congress government of being insensitive to the people’s woes.

He said soaring onion prices in the past had brought down governments, but today the Congress government is sitting pretty amassing scam after scam while vegetable and other essential goods are flying away from common man.

He said the congress government has lost the moral right to continue as it has utterly failed to control the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities.

They said housewives who have only honest money are struggling with home budget as prices of vegetables had gone beyond the reach of all except

FARMING BOON

Free entry for farmers AROUND THE

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HYDERABAD: The Chief Minister said that the State Government will bear the delegates fee for the participation of the best or model (Adarsh) farmers and representatives of farmers organisations including from fisheries, poultry, dairy, horticulture etc. Officials informed that about 5,000 farmers from 22 districts will be brought at the organisers expense.

the super rich.

Naidu wondered at the futility of Food Security act the government claiming ot have brought about when most essential goods are going out of common man’s reach. The party, he said, believed only in gimmics and gather votes but not in good governance or popular good.

“Prices of onion have reached `100 a kilo and the Congress government is behaving as if nothing had happened,” he lamented. He said he felt sad when people return from market cursing under their breath the corrupt people in power who cared two hoots for the public good.

On controlling the prices of essential commodities, the UPA government was giving only statements and there was no comparison between its assurances and actions, Naidu said in his twitter.

UNIVERSITY PLACEMENTS The University is going to open two new incubation Centers.

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GITAM Campuses. In the coming months another 30 MNCs are going to conduct the placement drive, he informed.

The Registrar informed that, the University is going to open incubation Centers at both the Visakhapatnam and Bangalore campuses. They will help as star-ups for the students, those who want to become as an entrepreneur. The Registered

LOS ANGELES: A Christian US pastor arrived home Wednesday after being deported from Iran for staging a protest outside a Tehran prison, denouncing what he called the “belligerent” Islamic regime.

Pastor Eddie Romero, from southern California, was arrested Monday and held for over 24 hours in the Iranian capital before being put on a plane out of the country.

Romero protested outside Tehran’s Evin prison, calling for the release of five inmates who he said were prisoners of faith and conscience, including an Iranian Christian pastor and a prominent human rights lawyer.

“We have to do things outside the box,” he told supporters AROUND THE

500 Gitam students placed HYDERABAD: Around 500 students got offer letters in the placement drive at Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam campuses of GITAM University.

Dr M Potharaju, Registrar, announced this in a review meeting with the Training and Placements Officials at Hyderabad Campus on Wednesday.

Including India Army, the multinational companies likeGoogle, Amazon, Mu Sigma, Partware and TCS have conducted placement drive at

US pastor returns from Iran prison

ordered the T&P officials that, they should see each and every student of BTech final year attended the training programs conducting by the University.

He expressed satisfaction over the campus selections.

Dr Ch Sanjay, Director, Hyderabad Campus, Prof SS Prasada Rao, Director, Hyderabad Business School, Dr Nathi Venu Kumar, Director, B Kishore of T&P Department, Faculty and student coordinators of placements also participated in the review.

WORLD

and journalists gathered at Los Angeles airport.

“Because conventional ways are way too slow, way too slow for people who are languishing in prison, way too slow for families who are hurting to have their loved ones back.”

Romero managed to livestream about five minutes of his protest, before being arrested and taken into the prison for questioning, according to organizers, who said he was detained for 32 hours.

He had been traveling with a tour group but left it three days before the protest, and went into hiding. Reports suggested he stayed at the Swiss embassy in Tehran.

NATION BRIEFS 12 enquiries in Niira Radia tapes case

Bengal blames price hike on floods, centre

Irrfan to spread India’s magic at ADFF

‘You cannot create separate island’

Mizoram assembly poll preponed to Nov 25: EC

NEW DELHI: The CBI Wednesday registered eight more preliminary enquiries (PE) in the controversial Niira Radia tapes case, sources said. Four PEs were registered Tuesday. Sources said the agency has started its investigation in four of the 14 cases after filing PEs on the instructions of the Supreme Court.

KOLKATA: As the prices of vegetables touch the roof, the West Bengal government blamed the centre and the recent floods, and announced a meeting Oct 30 of the special task force for monitoring market rates. With prices hitting people hard, the state government refused to take blame for the spiralling prices.

ABU DHABI:Irrfan Khan and Jahnu Barua will represent the country at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF), which will celebrate 100 years of the $2-billion Indian movie industry as part of its special programme this year. The ADFF awaits strong Indian, Arab and foreign celebrity presence in its seventh edition, which begins Thursday.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court asked the city’s Sanskriti School, run by spouses of top bureaucrats, the reason for a separate school for their children and expressed its displeasure over it receiving government funds. The bench added: “You cannot create a separate island for children of these bureaucrats.”

NEW DELHI: Mizoram assembly polls will now be held Nov 25, a statement from the Election Commission said. According to the statement, the counting of votes will be taken up Dec 9 instead of Dec 8.

Mizoram has a 40-member assembly. They said counting should not be held on a Sunday, a sacred day for Christians.

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News THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

ANIMAL ACTIVISTS BEWARE!

Toad the best socket for luxury Polish designer Monika Jarosz on the ‘toad that transforms itself into Prince Charming.’ SANDRA LACUT feedback@postnoon.com PARIS: Once upon a time a poisonous cane toad lived in the South Sea Islands, unloved and unwanted. Condemned as an ecological disaster, the Australian army was even deployed to get rid of it.

Then one day a Polish fairy waved her wand and the plain old cane toad turned into a precious fashion accessory.

That's the story of Polish designer Monika Jarosz's luxury Kobja brand inspired by the fairytale idea of the "toad that transforms itself into Prince Charming".

Introduced from South America decades ago to control the native cane beetle, the cane toad may have outstayed its welcome in the South Sea Islands, but today their skins have become a much-prized luxury fashion material.

A friend unknowingly set the

wheels of innovation in motion by giving Jarosz a stuffed frog from New Zealand as a gift. "[It] disgusted me but ended up by fascinating me," she said.

Three short years later, and her luxury accessory business is producing bags, belts and purses made from whole skins, set with semi-precious stones or Swarovski crystals in place of the eyes.

The high-end leather items, which come in an array of colours including vermilion red, emerald green, turquoise, fuchsia and black, are now sold in Asia, Europe and the US. A purse can cost between $300 and $340) depending on the country, while a large bag would be priced at around 1,200 Eurus.

Jarosz came to France from Poland 12 years ago to work as a

WEATHER REPORT Heavy rain forecast by MET HYDERABAD: The Indian Meteorological department has, in its weather report, said that heavy rainfall at few places with very heavy rain at isolated places in all Districts of Coastal A P and Rayalaseema will occur during the next 48 hours.

Heavy rain would occur at isolated places in Mahabubnagar, Ranga Reddy, Hyderabad, Nalgonda, Khammam and Medak Districts during the same period.

The Commissioner for Disaster

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Management Dr T Radha has directed all the above District Collectors to consider evacuation of people, if felt necessary, from the low lying areas whose houses are likely to be inundated and accommodate them in the relief camps and provide food, drinking water etc, as per norms and also to draw funds under TR-27.

SAFETY FIRST

BIS raids on PDW firm HYDERABAD: Officials of the Bureau of Indian Standards have conducted a raid at Brahmeswara Beverages, Veldurty of Kurnool District, a manufacturer of packaged drinking water (PDW) with spurious BIS Standard Mark, without having valid licence.

A large number of one, two litre pet bottles and 250 ml; PE pouches with different licence numbers and brand

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names were seized during the raid.

The BIS said in a press note that action is being taken against the offender under the BIS Act. The BIS advised the general public to be aware of the offence that manufacturing units not having a value BIS

licence should not use BIS certification Mark, and give information about any misuse of ISI Mark which comes to their notice.

Complaint can be made to: Bureau of Indian Standards, M-4 Block, Ist Floor, Manoranjan Complex, APHB Building, M J Road, Hyderabad-500 001; Phone Nos.24731082, 24731085, 24731087.

model before developing an interest in design, in particular working with unusual materials.

Fascinated by the stuffed frog, she recalled that the more she stroked it the more the idea of creating something "really good like a jewel" from a similar material started to take shape.

But finding skins to work with presented a problem. In vain, Jarosz made inquiries with restaurants serving frogs legs.

Then she discovered the existence of the toads of the South Sea Islands where they had proliferated to such an extent they were in the process of destroying several local species.

Animal defence organisations recommended that they be selectively eliminated.

With the help of a taxidermist in the Australian city of Cairns, Jarosz set about transforming the skins into high fashion.

After the taxidermy, the skins are tanned, dried and coloured in France, ending up in a workshop

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The toads had proliferated to such an extent they were in the process of destroying several local species.

Animal organisations recommended that they be selectively eliminated. in Paris where the leather is cut, stitched, set with crystals or stones and lined with lamb or goat skin. Now sold in luxury goods shops or concept stores in Tokyo, Beijing, New York, Paris and Berlin, Jarosz's quirky products have developed an almost cult-like following among some customers.

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News THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

LOCAL BODIES

BUILDING BRIDGES

Release Panchayat funds: SPSS The federation held a meeting to discuss measures for better functioning of local bodies in the wake of successful conclusion of elections to panchayatis.

HYDERABAD: Sthanika Prabhutvala Sadhikarata Samakhya, the organization fighting for empowerment of local governments, has demanded that the Government release the 13th Finance Commission funds immediately, now that panchayati elections have been held.

The federation held a meeting here on Tuesday to discuss measures for better functioning of local bodies in the wake of successful conclusion of elections to panchayatis.

Among those who took part

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in the meeting were federation founder and Lok Satta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, federation Convener Solipeta Ramachandra Reddy, Warangal former Mayor Dr T Rajeswara Rao, ‘Ekalavya’ Venugopal Reddy, Satyanveshana Mandali leader Putta Surendra Babu, Jana Vignana Vedika founder Dr. Brahma Reddy, Lok Satta

Party Vice Presidents D. V.V. S. Varma and Bandaru Ramamohan Rao, and representatives of newly elected sarpanches from districts.

In his keynote address, Dr. JP appealed to transcend party lines and work for empowerment of local governments.

Solipeta Ramachandra Reddy released the resolutions adopted at the meeting to the media today. The federation demanded that local bodies be recognized as local governments and panchayat offices be designated as local government

offices. If the Government does not concede the demand, the federation would resort to direct action.

All Government employees working at the village level should be brought under the supervision of panchayats.

Panchayats should be empowered to implement all Central and State Government schemes at the village level. The federation decided to meet Union Government representatives and seek implementation of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution.

TALKING FOOD

A taste of Fukushima in Paris Armed with test certificates vouching for the safety of the produce, Chef Hagi was in Paris to show the world what Fukushima has to offer.

CAROLINE TAIX feedback@postnoon.com PARIS: Arriving in France with a suitcase full of smoked chicken and wasabi from the stricken Japanese region of Fukushima, chef Harutomo Hagi was a man on a mission.

Armed with a sheaf of test

certificates vouching for the safety of the produce following the March 2011 nuclear disaster there, the 37-year-old was in Paris to show the world what Fukushima has to offer.

“Even when they smiled the farmers were sad,” he told , explaining that products from the affected area had become

tainted in the eyes of consumers and now sold at half the price they did before the accident.

The situation was so bad, he said, that he thought “it was all over”.

Hagi decided that not only would he stay but he would cook with products exclusively from the region.

The publicity generated by his initiative turned around the fortunes of his own restaurant, and now the chef is determined to do what he can to help others revive their livelihoods too.

And so, over the past month, the chef found himself in the kitchens of the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris and the royal residence of Prince Albert in Monaco.

Invited to Europe by the Club des Chefs des Chefs — whose elite membership is made up of the current personal

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The publicity generated by his initiative turned around the fortunes of his own restaurant, and now the chef is determined to do what he can to help others. chefs of heads of state — Hagi spent two weeks at the Elysee followed by a stint in Monaco.

He met both President Francois Hollande and Prince Albert, in their cases serving up Japanese menus using European produce.

CAAYE group heads to Pakistan CAAYE is a network of young entrepreneurs and the organizations that support them.

HYDERABAD: The Commonwealth Asia Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (CAAYE) will be facilitating a series of bilateral meetings between young leaders from Pakistan and India. The four-day mission to be held between Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan from the October 27-30 will be led by Dr Rahul Mirchandani, Founder President of CAAYE. CAAYE is a network of young entrepreneurs and the organizations that support them.

It has been established to promote the cause of young entrepreneurs and will convene each year in advance of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and relevant Commonwealth Ministerial AROUND THE

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forums to provide a platform to present a united voice of young entrepreneurs. This alliance has representatives from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Maldives, BruneiDarussalam and India.

Key highlights of the bilateral mission’s agenda include interactions at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Arfa Karim Software Technology Park, Pakistan Fashion Design Council. There will also be a day-long Indo-Pak Young Entrepreneurs Summit, followed by meetings with young students at the ROOTS School, Islamabad and preparing a business case study by studying the success story of Bahria Town.

WORLD BRIEFS Second US teacher murdered in 48 hours

Iran warns against hanging Iranian women

Greenpeace charge switched to hooliganism

Attack near Damascus causes power outage

Argentine president making ‘strong recovery’

NEW YORK CITY: A young woman was found dead, the second American teacher alleged to have been murdered by a young student in less than 48 hours in the US, officials said. Colleen Ritzer, 24, a math teacher at Danvers High School in Massachusetts, was reported missing Tuesday after failing to return home or answer her cell phone.

TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry warned Malaysia against executing two Iranian women convicted of trafficking methamphetamine into the Southeast Asian country. “The execution of two Iranian women in Malaysia will have negative effect on our bilateral ties,” Hassan Ghashghavi, deputy foreign minister said.

MOSCOW: Russia said it had dropped the charge of piracy against 30 Greenpeace activists detained while protesting against Arctic drilling, accusing them instead of “hooliganism”. The Investigative Committee said it had reclassified the crime as hooliganism, which carries a lesser sentence.

DAMASCUS: An attack by rebels near Damascus has caused a power outage across Syria, state news agency SANA quoted the electricity minister as saying. “A terrorist attack on a gas pipeline that feeds a power station in the south has led to a power outage in the provinces, and work to repair it is in progress,” Emad Khamis said.

BUENOS AIRES: Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, who had surgery two weeks ago to remove a blood clot on her brain, is making a strong recovery. Vice-President Amado Boudou did not specify when she would resume her duties.

But “she is still making a strong recovery and that is very positive,” he told reporters.

8

News THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013 IN MEMORIAM

Legendary singer Dey dies at 94 BANGALORE: India’s legendary playback singer Manna Dey passed away early Thursday after a prolonged illness at a private hospital here.

He was 94.

“Mannada breathed his last around 4 a.m. after his condition suddenly deteriorated in the wee hours though he was on a ventilator in the intensive care unit,” Narayana Hospital spokesman K.S.Vasuki told IANS here.

The multi-lingual singer, who has been ailing for four months, leaves behind two daughters — Rama and Sumita.

“Dey’s eldest daughter (Rama) rushed to the hospital and was at his bedside when the end came after we alerted her about her father’s deteriorating condition,” Vasuki said.

According to Dey’s family sources, Sumita lives in the US. Dey’s wife Sulochana Kumaran passed away here in January 2012 due to cancer.

Dey was admitted to the super specialty hospital in early July after he complained of complained of lung infection and was undergoing treatment for respiratory disease.

“Dey’s body will be kept at AROUND THE

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Ravindra Kalkshetra in the city centre from 10am to 12noon for the public to pay their last respects and homage,” a family friend said.

The family plans to perform Dey’s last rites at Hebbal crematorium in northwest of the city

by Thursday evening.

News of Dey’s passing away shocked thousands of his fans, especially the music industry and the million-strong Bengali community in this tech hub.

Dey was in the same hospital for about 20 days in May a week after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee honoured him May 1 with Bengal’s Vishesh Maha Sangeet Samman award in recognition of his yeomen service to the world of music and the film industry for over seven decades.

Mannada, whose original name was Prabodh Chandra Dey, has to his credit over a record 3,500 songs in an illustrious career spanning seven decades since 1943. His oeuvre boasts of a range of songs — from romantic numbers to classical to fun songs. Dey was also honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

PM IN CHINA

India, China prospered as border was tranquil: PM Manmohan Singh said stability in the relationship with China created conditions for both nations to exploit opportunities created by their economic growth.

RANJANA NARAYAN feedback@postnoon.com

Manmohan Singh met He Yiting, executive VP of the Central Party School, during his visit at the Central Party School of the powerful Chinese Communist Party.

BEIJING: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday said the relationship between India and China has prospered and cooperation has expanded because both the countries have managed their differences and AROUND THE

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kept the border region tranquil.

Manmohan Singh met He Yiting, executive vice president of the Central Party School, during his visit at the Central Party School of the powerful Chinese Communist Party.

He said the stability in the relationship with China has created a basic condition for both the nations to exploit the opportunities created by their economic growth and openings.

The Indian prime minister, who got a standing ovation, said

China has emerged as India’s largest economic partner.

“Naturally, there are also concerns on both sides whether these are incidences on the border regions, trans-border rivers or trade imbalances,” he said.

He said: “Our recent experiences have shown these issues

can become hindrances to the full exploitation of opportunities of bilateral and multi-lateral cooperation.”

The prime minister said he was pleased with the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) that was signed Wednesday and said officials who determine public

DRINKING IT IN

Agra water project to be complete by 2016 The project would, after completion, treat the Yamuna water for consumption as drinking water in the Taj city.

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LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government has set December 2016 as the final deadline for completion of the ambitious ‘Ganga Jal’ project for supply of potable water in Agra, officials said Thursday.

The project, funded by Japan International Co-operation Agency (Jica) would, after completion, treat the Yamuna water for consumption as drinking water in the Taj city that is battling acute water shortage.

Officials said the head regulator of the project to ingest 150 cusec water from upper Ganga canal has already been

policy “will do everything to advance our cooperation and promote India-China relations”.

He said President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang had given him confidence of achieving the vision of India and China becoming prosperous nations and mutually compatible.

“Our future should be decided on cooperation and not confrontation. It will not be easy, but we must spare no effort.

What is at stake is the future of India and China,” Manmohan Singh said.

RADIA TAPES

Tewari pulls up errant officials LUDHIANA: Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari pulled up Ludhiana district administration officials for poor utilisation of central funds made available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

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constructed and the remaining 5 percent work on the settling tank would be completed by the end of 2014. Jica is giving 85 percent of the cost as debt, while the remaining 15 percent is being borne by the state gov-

ernment.

Officials told IANS that girder casting and checking of eight wells in the project was almost 70 per cent complete and the remaining work will be completed by March 2014.

Presiding over a meeting of the district vigilance and monitoring committee here Tewari, the Ludhiana member of parliament, took strong exception to the low expenditure of central funds on various developmental schemes. He said only `11 crore was spent against a target of spending `150 crore in Ludhiana district. Tewari said state government officials had come to the meeting without unprepared.

9

News THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013 TECHNOLOGY

Google banner ad causes stir SAN FRANCISCO: A large ad spied atop Google search results on Wednesday was seen as evidence that the Internet titan was breaking a promise that it would never resort to the tactic.

A picture fired off at the Twitter account of digital marketing company Synrgy prompted reports that Google is experimenting in the United States with "banner ads" atop results for searches targeting brands.

The move appeared to break a vow made about eight years ago by then Google executive Marissa Mayer, who is now chief of Yahoo.

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"There will be no banner ads on the Google homepage of Web search results pages," Mayer said in a blog post that remained available online Wednesday.

Synrgy reported that a Google search targeting Southwest Airlines delivered results topped with a large ad showing a promotional photo accompanied by links for reservations or other services at the company.

Search Engine Land quoted a Google spokesman as confirming the banner ads were part of a "small test" taking place in the US market. Google did not respond to AFP requests for comment.

NSA SPYING SCANDAL

OZ FIRES

NSA also ‘tapped’ Angie’s mobile!

The White House, rattled by the latest exposure, said it is not now listening in on Merkel, but did not deny the possibility it may have in the past.

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded answers from President Barack Obama on Wednesday after learning US spies may have monitored her phone, warning this would be "breach of trust" between allies.

The White House, rattled by the latest exposure based on leaks from intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, said it is not now listening in on Merkel, but did not deny the possibility her communications may have been intercepted in the past.

In the wake of Snowden's ongoing revelations, several more key US countries have already complained about American electronic surveillance, and the White House is struggling to stem the diplomatic damage.

A spokesman for Merkel, who has registered strong disapproval at US National Security Agency activities in the past, said his boss had called Obama after Germany received information that US intelligence may be spying on her mobile phone.

Steffen Seibert said in a statement that Merkel "made clear that she unequivocally disap-

Al wades in to bushfire debate SYDNEY: Environmental activist Al Gore has likened Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's insistence that wildfires are not linked to climate change to the tobacco industry claiming smoking does not cause lung cancer.

The former US vice president and Nobel laureate was commenting after Abbott this week dismissed UN climate chief Christiana Figueres' assertion that there was "absolutely" a connection between wildfires and rising temperatures.

Australia has been battling massive bushfires west of Sydney for more than a week in unseasonably hot AROUND THE

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proves of such practices, should they be confirmed, and regards them as completely unacceptable".

She had demanded "an immediate and comprehensive explanation" from Washington, the statement said.

"Among close friends and partners, as the Federal Republic of Germany and the US have been for decades, there should be no such monitoring of the communications of a head of government," the statement added.

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Merkel, who has registered strong disapproval at the NSA’s activities in the past, said his boss had called Obama after Germany receiving the information.

and dry weather that has inflamed debate about whether there is a link to changing climate conditions.

Abbott argued that fires were simply part of Australian life and accused Figueres of "talking through her hat", but Gore said climate change clearly brought about more extreme weather.

"Bushfires can occur naturally, and do, but the science shows clearly that when the temperature goes up, and when the vegetation and soils dry out, then wildfires become more pervasive and more dangerous," he told ABC television late Wednesday.

DRONING ON ABOUT IT

Pakistan approved of drone strikes Pakistani support for drone attacks has long been widely suspected, although strikes reported by the Post involved several years up to 2011 — before a slowdown in strikes and Sharif's election in May. WASHINGTON: Pakistan for years secretly approved of US drone attacks on its territory despite public denunciations, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing secret documents.

The purported evidence of Islamabad's involvement came as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited the White House and urged an end to the attacks, which are widely unpopular with the Pakistani public.

Pakistani support for drone attacks has long been widely suspected, although strikes reported

by the Post involved several years up to 2011 -- before a slowdown in strikes and Sharif's election in May. The newspaper said that topsecret documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos showed that AROUND THE

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the Central Intelligence Agency had drafted documents to share information on drone attacks with Pakistan.

At least 65 drone strikes were

marked for discussion with Pakistan, including through briefings at its embassy in Washington and in materials sent physically to senior officials in Islamabad.

In one case in 2010, a document describes hitting a location "at the request of your government." Another file referred to a joint effort at picking targets.

The article said that the documents also showed that the United States raised concerns that extremists were linked to Pakistan's powerful intelligence service.

10

News THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

ARAB SPRING

Libya struggles with freedom Political tension and chronic insecurity are casting doubts over Libya’s ability to complete its transition to democracy, two years after the fall of dictator Moamer Gaddafi.

(Above) A June 22, 2011 file photos shows a Libyan rebel walking across on a picture of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. A picture taken on October 23, 2011 shows Libyans celebrating following the announcement of the liberation of the country in Martyr's Square in Tripoli.

YOUSSEF BA Agence France Presse TRIPOLI: Political tension and chronic insecurity are casting doubts over Libya’s ability to complete its transition to democracy, two years after the fall of dictator Moamer Gaddafi.

After more than 40 years under Kadhafi, Libya held its first free elections in July 2012 to choose the General National Congress (GNC), the country’s highest political authority.

It must now choose an assembly to draft a new constitution, but militias left over from the 2011 uprising, who control much of the country, bitter political infighting and threats to boycott the upcoming vote could derail the process.

The electoral commission recently said it had started preparing for a vote and was accepting nominations for candidates, but gave no date for when it would happen.

The GNC was given an 18month mandate to guide Libya towards general elections after

the drafting of a new constitution, which was to set out the country’s new political order.

According to the “constitutional declaration” — a provisional document put in place after the uprising against Kadhafi ended — the GNC’s mandate is due to expire in February.

But a spokesman for the body recently suggested it might extend the deadline for it to complete its task.

“The length of the GNC’s term is determined by its work and is not limited by time,” the spokesman said, citing the findings of a parliamentary commission.

But the suggestion has caused unease among some politicians and jurists. Lawyer Azza Maghour said that if the GNC extends its term in power “it will lose much of its legitimacy.”

Some parties have rejected any move to prolong the GNC’s life, fearing a loss of legitimacy could push Libya into further turmoil, particularly if militias

linked to some parties try to take power by force.

The liberal National Forces Alliance, the main grouping in the Congress, has “rejected the prolongation of the GNC’s mandate,” calling for a “clear roadmap to end the transitional period. “ Liberals and Islamists, the country’s second major political force, have also accused one another of blocking the road to democracy and attempting to seize power for themselves.

The constitutional commission is to be made up of 60 members and is modelled on the committee that drafted the country’s charter in 1951.

As then, the new body will have 20 members from each of the country’s three regions — Tripolitania in the west, Cyrenaica in the east and Fezzan in the south.

MINORITIES THREATEN BOYCOTT

But insecurity is not the only threat to the polls, as demands from minorities in Libya could

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Liberals and Islamists, the country’s second major political force, have also accused one another of blocking the road to democracy and attempting to seize power for themselves. also upset proceedings.

The Tubu, Berber and Tuareg minorities have said they would boycott elections, as they will only have six seats out of 60 on the constitutional committee, in which they want their languages, cultural and ethnic rights to be included.

“We are still keeping up our demands to the GNC to adopt ways to allow minorities to have their voices heard in the electoral commission,” the head of the

Libyan Berber Council, Nouri Chaoui expressed.

And in the country’s east, supporters of greater autonomy for Cyrenaica are refusing to budge on their demands for a federal state.

In August, they made their third call for a federal Libya, and have now been joined by tribal groups from Fezzan in the south, who also want greater autonomy.

Faced with these persistent political and security problems, the electoral commission has been working to make sure the vote can go ahead safely.

“We are in touch with the government, which promised to take the necessary measures to assure security and a smooth election,” commission head Nuri al-Abbar said.

Despite the problems facing Libya’s transition, the head of the United Nations Support Mission to Libya, Tarek Mitri, was upbeat about the country’s progress.

“Despite enormous challenges, Libya continues to make progress on its own roadmap,” he said in a statement.

11

News WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

ROAD TO SALVATION

Chance of a new life trumps risks for Afghan refugees Migrants pay as much as $20,000 to smugglers who run routes out of Afghanistan using road transport or enable people to board flights with illegally obtained visas.

KABUL: An elderly Afghan man with a bearded, tired face gazes from the television screen and says sadly: “My son wouldn’t listen to me. He borrowed money just to pay for his death.”

The hard-hitting advert is part of a new campaign run by Afghanistan’s refugee ministry to dissuade young men from using people smugglers to flee the war-torn country in search of a better life.

Using real families’ stories, the publicity drive aims to highlight how traffickers and treacherous journeys pose a deadly threat to migrants who often face deportation even if they reach their intended destination.

The television clip shows the father, from the marginalised Hazara ethnic group, sitting in

MIGRANTS PAY n Migrants pay as much as $20,000 to smugglers who run routes out of Afghanistan using road transport or enable people to board flights with illegally obtained visas. n More than 600 people, including refugees from other countries such as Sri Lanka, are thought to have died making the sea journey to Christmas Island since 2006, though exact figures are not available.

AFGHANISTAN, Mazar-i Sharif : TO GO WITH Afghanistan-unrest-refugee-migration,FEATURE by Usman SHARIFI In this photograph taken on September 20, 2013, twenty year old Afghan Saber Rezayee, works at his traditional heater shaop in Mazar-i Sharif.

his shoe-repair stall remembering his son who tried to reach Australia.

“I told him repeatedly not to go, not to trust the smugglers,” he says as the camera closes in on his distraught eyes. “But he went and now he is dead, drowned at sea.”

Many Afghans are looking for an escape as more than a decade of international intervention winds down and fears grow that hardline Islamists or violent warlords will return to power.

Ambitious young men are needed to help the country to develop, but the exodus has picked up pace as uncertainty deepens, NATO-led troops pull out in 2014 and aid money dries up.

Afghans made 36,600 asylum claims in industrialised countries last year, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), up from 36,200 in 2011.

Even 12 years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan remains the world’s leading country of origin for refugees.

Afghans often choose to head to Australia, Sweden, Germany

or Norway, but they face a tough battle even if they complete epic overland journeys and sea passages in rickety smugglers’ boats.

In Australia, the new government came to power in September vowing to use its navy to tow the boats to back their place of origin — typically Indonesia — and its embassy in Kabul issues dire warning that migrants are not welcome.

Those who do reach Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, are now processed and settled in under-developed Papua New Guinea.

“Given the past experience of civil war and the Taliban rule, many Afghans feel pressured to flee the country at any cost,” refugee ministry spokesman Islamudin Jurat said.

“Our campaign is intended at reversing the belief that leaving through illegal channels and putting your fate in the hands of traffickers carries little risk.

“There is a real risk of death, and a little chance of reaching your destination safely and being accepted.

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Many Afghans are looking for an escape as more than a decade of international intervention winds down and fears grows.

“We have seen too many Afghan lives lost while trying to reach the shores of Europe and Australia, but traffickers see a golden opportunity to lure stressed Afghans into paying thousands of dollars” ‘I am sure I would be happy and prosperous’ The six-month campaign, which is backed by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), is holding meetings in villages as well as airing TV and radio broadcasts, and distributing posters and leaflets.

But it may struggle to convince people like Saber Rezayee,

20, an unemployed man from the northern city of Mazar-i-Sahrif who has already made two failed attempts to reach Europe.

“I prefer to go and die on the way than to stay here and be slaughtered by the Taliban, or blown up by bombs,” he expressed, recalling how he was deported from both Iran and Turkey as he tried to get to Sweden where he has relatives.

“I am young, but I clearly remember the Taliban killing some relatives when they were in power.”

Migrants pay as much as $20,000 to smugglers who run routes out of Afghanistan using road transport or enable people to board flights with illegally obtained visas.

The IOM says many Afghan migrants have little idea of what they face when they pay smugglers and set off into the unknown.

“Nobody can stop people wanting to move, but we want them to make a decision based on well-informed knowledge and correct information,” Sato Mio, liason officer for the IOM, said.

12

News THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

CONSERVATION

ON PATROL WITH BRITAIN’S BADGER CULL SABOTEURS The culling takes place at night as badgers are nocturnal. The marksmen tempt the animals into their range with peanuts. They die a slow, painful death from their injuries.

UPLEADON: Badgers are shy creatures, their black-and-white coats often darting out of human sight, but in Britain, a fierce band of protesters has been working through the night to save them from a government-backed cull.

It is 10:00 pm and bitterly cold when a gunshot shatters the silence in this rural corner of Gloucestershire, southwest England.

“Oh no,” murmurs Louise, an animal rights activist in her thirties, as she and a gaggle of other protesters race through the darkness towards the crack of the bullet.

It’s a scene that has repeated itself every night since the end of August, when a cull of thousands of badgers began in Gloucestershire and the neighbouring region of Somerset.

The cull is aimed at tackling the spread of tuberculosis in cattle, which can catch the disease from badgers.

The government says bovine TB has forced farmers to slaughter 300,000 cattle since 2003, at a public cost of £500 million ($800 million, 600 million euros).

But in animal-loving Britain, the cull has sparked outrage amongst campaigners who say killing the furry creatures is inhumane and will do little to combat the disease.

‘Farmers tried to run us over’ Brian May, the guitarist with rock superstars Queen, is one of the cull’s most vocal opponents, although he angered Jewish groups last month by describing

it as a “genocide in the countryside.” In Gloucestershire, Louise claims up to 500 people are participating in nightly “patrols” aimed at scuppering the cull by getting between the badgers and the marksmen taking aim at them in woodland on the fringes of farms.

“We’ve got teachers, vets, doctors, firemen and even a judge. It’s just amazing,” she tells as she gathers with around 30 other badger-lovers in a tiny hamlet before heading out into the eerie darkness.

They have had a few brushes with farmers, infuriated by the bid to sabotage the cull.

“Some of them tried to run us over,” says Louise, who declines to give her full name.

“We reported that to the police.”

Dressed in luminous jackets emblazoned with the outline of a badger, the patrollers split off into groups of four in order to cover as much of the woodland as possible. “It’s best to be out in force, in case of intimidation,”

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The reason

T

he cull is aimed at tackling the spread of tuberculosis in cattle, which can catch the disease from badgers.

On the other hand...

T

he government says bovine TB has forced farmers to slaughter 300,000 cattle since 2003, at a public cost of £500 million ($800 million, 600 million euros).

says 79-year-old patroller David, who has spent 40 years, in his words, “in the service of our badgers”.

The culling takes place at night as badgers are nocturnal.

The marksmen tempt the animals into their range with

peanuts — but can only shoot if they are at least 30 metres (100 feet) from their burrows, to prevent them disappearing underground and dying a slow, painful death from their injuries.

The protesters’ aim is to get in the way and make a huge din to scare the badgers back to their setts.

“We shout, we wave our hands, we blow whistles to prevent the shooters from hurting these lovely little creatures,” says Helen, a woman in her fifties.

Several 4x4 cars trundle past the patrollers in the darkness — “probably farmers trying to intimidate us,” says David.

Three cold, miserable-looking policemen also arrive, although David is not worried by their presence. Indeed, he tells, he is convinced that the patrollers’ work is paying off.

‘The badgers are moving the goalposts’ Only 708 badgers have been killed in Gloucestershire during the past six weeks, just over 30

per cent of the local population, well below the 70 per cent target deemed necessary to have any effect on reducing TB. The cull was due to end this weekend, but the government is now likely to extend the programme—just as it has in Somerset, where the cull killed 58 per cent of badgers.

Environment minister Owen Paterson said the culls had proved shooting was “safe, humane and effective.”

To suggestions he was moving the goalposts by extending the programme, he said: “The badgers are moving the goalposts.”

Officials are now also looking at the possibility of gassing the badgers — which Britain’s largest animal charity, the RSPCA, said added a “further outrageous twist to this misguided policy”.

“It’s quite clearly a travesty, a mess,” said Bill Oddie, a wellknown British TV nature presenter who joined in one of the patrols.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Business

DOLLAR STABILIZES AFTER SHARP FALL

The US dollar stabilized Wednesday after sinking since last week against the euro on expectations of the Federal Reserve keeping its stimulus program in place possibly until next year..

STUTTERING START

Congress set to probe Obamacare fiasco President Barack Obama is facing a barrage of criticism for failures stemming from this month’s debut of Healthcare.gov, through which millions of Americans are expected to buy insurance.

MICHAEL MATHES feedback@spostnoon.com WASHINGTON: Furious US lawmakers demanded answers ahead of a Thursday hearing to probe the troubled “Obamacare” website, as the White House acknowledged more problems with its health care rollout.

President Barack Obama is facing a barrage of criticism for failures stemming from this month’s debut of Healthcare.gov, through which millions of Americans are expected to buy insurance.

The process has been overwhelmed by technical glitches on the website, which critics have blasted as a $500-million disaster.

The House of Representatives’ Republican leadership — long opposed to the reform — has seized the opportunity to schedule three hostile hearings, including Thursday’s panel.

“The rollout of Obamacare is nothing short of a debacle and the American people are now fearful of their health care,” number two House Republican Eric Cantor told reporters.

“What’s not helping is a lack of transparency on the part of this administration.”

And the latest response from the White House suggested the problems might be deeper than an expensive web interface.

On Wednesday 14 health insurance chief executives met with White House officials and under-fire Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary

13

CROWDSOURCING BOOST

WASHINGTON: Crowdfunding could become a hot new source of venture capital under new US rules proposed Wednesday to allow companies to make private share placements to micro-investors via the Internet.

The new Securities and Exchange Commission regulations would allow companies to raise up to $1 million a year via crowdsourcing without registering the securities.

They also would lower the bar for investors taking part in private placements, giving people with less than $200,000 a year in income the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of new ventures.

NUMEROLOGY

$4

bn

is the deal struck by Ethiopia with Reykjavik Geothermal to develop a 1000-megawatt geothermal farm, officials said.

TEXTILE UNREST

Kathleen Sebelius to discuss the hiccups.

These, the White House admitted, were not confined to online operations but also to the so-called “834 forms,” which the health care marketplace uses to transmit enrollee data to insurance firms.

“We have worked with the insurers and the ‘alpha teams’ (of technology experts) to iron out kinks in the both the 834 forms and in direct enrolment,” the White House said.

This behind-the-scenes problem could prove nightmarish if insurance firms get wronglycoded information for people

who sign up for Obamacare.

With many up in arms about the problems, HHS staff briefed top House Democrats about the ways forward — but Republicans were left out.

Democratic minority leader Nancy Pelosi said there was no talk in the meeting of delaying the law’s so-called individual mandate, which compels Americans to have health insurance by January 1 or pay a fine.

But while Pelosi said she had “faith in technology,” she acknowledged the hiccups were “unacceptable.” “Just fix it,” she said.

Some lawmakers demand

Sebelius lose her job over the fiasco, but she stood her ground Wednesday.

“I think my job is to get this fully implemented and get the website working right. That’s really what I’m focused on,” she told CNN. While insisting top experts were now helping resolve the problems, Sebelius failed to explain why contractors did not have their own best teams on the website work.

Sebelius declined to testify at Thursday’s House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, but she is expected to appear before the committee next week.

GOLD`31,480 10g SILVER `49,899 1kg

24C

for

for

DOLLAR `61.47 POUND `99.52

SAO PAULO: Brazilian textile workers held a demonstration Wednesday over the loss of manufacturing jobs to China, in a protest at a trade fair here showcasing mainly Chinese goods.

An AFP reporter witnessed some 200 demonstrators who converged on the Anhembi convention center in the north of Sao Paulo, where 340 mostly Chinese firms were displaying their wares.

Unions and textile associations say they want to call attention to the loss of factory work to China. Similar protests took place in Spain a decade ago against Chinese shoemakers.

THUS SPAKE Our workforce of more than 300,000 team members worldwide is ready to deliver the holidays once again this year.

FREDERICK SMITH, CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF FEDEX

BSE NSE

20,961.37 192.23

6,233.40 54.30

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Comment

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS

Latest revelations show that the NSA has been bugging phones in Germany, in fact, they may have even bugged Angel Merkel’s mobile phone. HFT wonders if our PM’s phone has been bugged. An NSA snoop recently slipped into a boredom-related coma...so maybe it has.

HEALTHY EATING

14

THE JUNK FOOD TAX

LETTER FROM MEXICO LAURENT THOMET

V

ia lobbying and fullpage newspaper advertisements, big companies and health advocates are pressing lawmakers in a fight over soda and junk-food taxes to curb Mexico's obesity epidemic.

The Senate is debating legislation that would impose a fivepercent tax on high-calorie snacks such as sweets and potato chips as well as a surcharge of one peso (8 US cents) per liter of sugary drink.

The lower house already passed the measures last week, adding the food levy to a broad fiscal reform package introduced by President Enrique Pena Nieto to improve Mexico's lackluster tax collection.

While the reform also seeks to increase income taxes on higher earners, the special taxes on foods and drinks have gained the most attention in a country where 71 percent of adults and one-third of children are overweight or obese.

With the Senate due to vote by month's end, health advocacy groups and industry lobbies have cajoled lawmakers and taken out newspaper ads almost every day for weeks to make their cases.

The escalating battle has drawn prominent names from abroad, notably the neighboring United States.

The lobbies represent international companies such as Coca-Cola, Nestle and Kraft Foods while health advocacy groups have received $10 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies, founded by New York's billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Pena Nieto said Tuesday his fiscal reform was "obviously controversial" because any overhaul of the tax system will "affect certain interests and generate discomfort among others."

Bloomberg praised Pena Nieto when the Mexican president presented his soda tax plan last month, although a US court

READERS’ VIEWS

rejected the New York mayor's own plan to ban giant soft drinks in restaurants in July.

The food and drink industry argues that such taxes are ineffective because multiple factors cause obesity, but proponents say they are crucial public health measures in the country leading the world in soda consumption.

Alejandro Calvillo Unna, director of the consumer advocacy group El Poder del Consumidor, said multinationals fear that other nations may copy Mexico's tax proposals if they become law.

"That's their fear. Their fear is not the economic impact nor the loss of jobs, that doesn't interest them. What interests them is growth markets and how this could affect the region," Calvillo told AFP. Calvillo's group, which has

Mexico now has a higher rate of overweight people than the United States and it also has the highest prevalence of diabetes among the 34-nation Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development. benefited from Bloomberg's funding, has lobbied for a soda tax for three years to combat the dual health hazards of obesity and diabetes plaguing the country.

He said the levy could prompt Mexicans to consider healthier choices such as water

in a country where per-capita consumption of sugary drinks amounts to 163 liters (43 gallons) per year.

His group has not taken a position on the junk-food tax but it has promoted a two-peso levy per liter of soda, which he said would reduce consumption by 21 percent.

Mexico now has a higher rate of overweight people than the United States and it also has the highest prevalence of diabetes among the 34-nation Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development.

But the industry as well as an organization representing 72,000 small stores in Mexico warn that the levies would do more harm than good.

Jaime Zabludovsky Kuper, executive president of the consumer-goods industry group ConMexico, said they "stigma-

We invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to feedback@postnoon.com or Plot No 550-A1,3rd Floor, Road No 92, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad–500033 Landmark — Volkswagen showroom or even by way of a call on 040-2354 1412. Editor: Dean Williams

tize products that are made with the strictest quality norms" and encourage the proliferation of the informal economy.

Zabludovsky, whose group represents companies such as Kraft and Kellogg's, said he has conveyed ConMexico's concerns to lawmakers and finance ministry officials.

"Mexico is a very important market and it could be a precedent for this to happen in other markets," he told AFP. Cuauhtemoc Rivera, director of the ANPEC association of small shopkeepers, said sodas are the top products sold in mom-and-pop shops, representing up to 40 percent of their revenue.

"At least four in 10 will face the dilemma and terrible decision of having to close their operations," he said. "This would be the coup de grace."

15

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

tELEVISION QUIZ

GUESS WHO’S COME OUT

Chris Colfer

1

OR OR

4

Kunal N

ns

Jim Parso

ayyar

2

OR atch Cumberb Benedict

Darren Criss Kit Harington

Neil Patr

ick Harr

is

3

OR

OR n r Ferguso Jesse Tyle

1.Jim Parsons 2. Neil Patrick Harris 3. Jesse Tyler 4. Chris Colfer 5.Matt Bomer

Eric Ston

estreet

Matt Bomer

5

18

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

spotlight NEXT ON THE PLAYLIST

FASHION FAD

ON A HIGH

Boutique Rumor specialising in custom-fitting clothing was launched at Jubilee Hills.

STYLE NOTE

Launch of Beat the Box album by German pop singer Stella and DJ Prithvi at The Park was an entertaining affair. A fashion show was also organised at the do where designers Soham Chakraborthy and Mansi Agarwal showcased their collections.

COOKING UP A STORM

Samar Halarnkar’s book The Married Man’s Guide to Creative Cooking: And Other Dubious Adventures was launched on Wednesday at SO.

19

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

health

BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY

DISADVANTAGES OF BOTTLE FEEDING

n Babies who are bottle fed using formula milk are more likely to develop illnesses, such as diarrhoea or a chest, ear or urine infection. There is also an increased risk of premature babies who are bottle fed developing a rare but serious condition called necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), where the intestines are damaged due to infection and a poor blood supply. n When making formula milk, it is possible to get the mixture wrong and make it too strong, too weak or too hot. n There is a lot of work involved in thoroughly washing and sterilising all of the equipment that is needed for bottle feeding. n In studies that compared breastfed babies with those who were bottle fed, bottle fed babies were found to have an increased risk of obesity, at least until six years of age. n Bottle feeding using formula milk can be expensive. n Once you have decided not to breastfeed your baby, it is difficult to reverse the decision and begin breastfeeding.

Bottle-feeding may increase stomach obstruction Infants who are bottle-fed are more likely to develop hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS), a form of stomach obstruction.

I

nfants who are bottle-fed are more likely to develop hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS), a form of stomach obstruction, than those who are breastfed, according to US researchers.

The risk appears to be magnified when mothers are older and have more than one child, researchers from the Seattle Children's Hospital in Washington reported in the journal JAMA Pediatrics,

Xinhua reported.

HPS typically occurs during the first two months of an infant's life. Surgery is needed to correct the obstruction, which occurs due to thickening of the smooth muscle layer of the pylorus, the passage between the stomach and small intestines.

The researchers used birth certificates and date of discharge to examine births between 2003 and 2009 and

found 714 infants were admitted with HPS and had surgery.

The findings indicated that the incidence of HPS decreased from 14 per 10,000 births in 2003 to 9 per 10,000 births in 2009, while breastfeeding prevalence increased from 80 percent in 2003 to 94 percent in 2009.

The researchers said that about 19.5 percent of infants who developed HPS were bottle fed, compared to 9 percent

of babies who were breastfed.

The number of infants developing HPS also increased when mothers were aged 35 years or more and had given birth more than once.

"These data suggest that bottle feeding may play a role in HPS etiology, and further investigations may help to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the observed effect modification by age and parity," the researchers concluded.

IANS

20

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Technology TABLET WARS

Microsoft unfazed by ‘lightweight’ Apple The reaction came a day after Apple unveiled its new line of iPads and announced much of its software and upgrades would be free, including iWork, which competes with Microsoft's top-selling Office suite.

YAHOO LEAVES CAIRO

SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo on

Wednesday said that it is closing its Egypt office as part of an effort to restore the faded Internet star to former glory.

"Today, Yahoo announced to employees that we plan to close our Cairo office at the end of this year," spokeswoman Sara Gorman told AFP in an email.

"This decision is part of Yahoo's global effort to streamline operations, encourage collaboration by bringing more Yahoos together in fewer locations, and build a strong global business that is set up for longterm growth." The company said it will continue to operate offices in Amman and Dubai.

CHINESE DOMAIN NAMES

SAN FRANCISCO: The first-

ever non-Latin language website address domains are on their way, the Internet's overlords said.

Online domains in which website addresses would end with words in Chinese, Russian, or Cyrillic have been approved according to the US-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). "It's happening — the biggest change to the Internet since its inception," said Akram Atallah, president of ICANN's Generic Domains Division.

POLLUTION DECLINES

SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft on Wednesday brushed off Apple's move to give away its software, claiming the iWork productivity suite from its rival was "lightweight" and "has never gotten much traction."

The reaction came a day after Apple unveiled its new line of iPads and announced much of its software and upgrades would be free, including iWork, which competes with Microsoft's top-selling Office suite.

"Since iWork has never gotten much traction, and was already priced like an afterthought, it's hardly that surprising or significant a move," Microsoft corporate vice president Frank Shaw said on the

company's corporate blog.

"So, when I see Apple drop the price of their struggling, lightweight productivity apps, I don't see a shot across our bow, I see an attempt to play catch up. I think they, like others, are waking up to the fact that we've built a better solution for people everywhere ... People who want a single, simple, affordable device with the power and flexibility to enhance and support their whole day."

Shaw also defended Microsoft's Surface, the tablet introduced a year ago which had little impact in the market and forced the Redmond, Washington, firm to take a huge writedown before revamping

the device last month.

"Surface and Surface 2 both include Office, the world's most popular, most powerful productivity software for free and are priced below both the iPad 2 and iPad Air respectively," he said.

"Microsoft understands how people work better than anyone else on the planet. We created the personal computing revolution by giving people around the world a low-cost, powerful, easy-to-use device that helped them accomplish an unbelievable array of tasks."

Shaw said Surface "is the most productive tablet you can buy today" because of its Office suite, "more precise" inputs like

a keyboard and trackpad, and "the ability to use apps and documents side by side."

Apple, which unveiled several products and upgrades on Tuesday, said that iWork and iLife software suites -- for tasks from video editing to mixing music and making business presentations -- would be free with all its devices.

"These are really incredibly rich apps, and we have only just scratched the surface of what you can do with them," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said.

"We are turning the industry on its ear, because we want our customers to have our latest software and access to the greatest new features."

WASHINGTON: The amount of harmful greenhouse gas pollution spewed into the atmosphere by large US power plants has declined 10 percent since 2010, the US government said Wednesday.

The results came from the third year of carbon pollution emissions data that the Environmental Protection Agency collects from nearly 8,000 facilities including power plants, oil refineries and steel mills.

In all, these operations, which make up 85 to 90 per cent of total US greenhouse gas production, reported direct carbon emissions of 3.13 billion metric tons in 2012.

21

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Entertainment CINE BYTES

Satya 2 release postponed to Nov 8

R

am Gopal Varma's Satya 2, which was scheduled to release Friday, will now come out Nov 8. The release date has been shifted due to some issues which have cropped up between the filmmaker and one of the producers of the film, Arun Sharma. Recently, Amitabh Bachchan also promoted Satya 2. IANS

Mahesh Babu to attend AMRB audio launch

S

udheer Babu, who is riding high on the success of his last film Prema Katha Chitram is going to test his luck with Aadu Magadu Ra Bujji. The audio launch of this movie is going to take place at Shilpa Kala Vedika on the 30th of this month. Mahesh Babu will be the chief guest at the event.

Samantha is content

S

amantha's latest movie Attarintiki Daaredi has broken all records and she is over the moon. She says she is extremely happy to be part of AD. Samantha says she particularly liked the character Sasi and that director Trivikram had designed it well. She also added that she wouldn't be part of Gabbar Singh 2.

FANS ABOUND

P R A B H A S,

AN INSTANT HIT ON FB

P

rabhas might have joined Facebook only a day back, but already he has made his presence felt on the social-networking site.

The official Prabhas page has about 70,000 likes and the number is growing quite fast. Prabhas has been interacting with his fans on the page ever since its launch. After the success of Mirchi, Prabhas's popularity has risen exponentially. He is currently working for SS Rajamouli's Baahubali along with Anushka and Rana Daggubati. A special video of the movie was released on the occasion of Prabhas’s birthday on Wednesday.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

retail T

he Centre One shopping mall on the outskirts of Mumbai is gloomy and bereft of customers, even during India’s annual festive and wedding season when retailers traditionally cash in.

"Business is dull, usually weak," said one bored-looking fashion salesman.

The shopping centre’s empty look is no exception. In the past decade, supermarkets and malls have spread across India’s large cities and towns, fuelled by fast economic growth and excitement about middle-class buying power.

A "Malls in India" report released by Images Research last month found 470 shopping centres were operational this year, up from just 50 malls in 2005, and expected to soar to 720 by 2016.

"But over 90 percent of India’s malls are struggling," said Susil Dungarwal, founder of Beyond Squarefeet, a mall management and advisory firm based in Mumbai.

"Just 15 of these can be counted as running successfully."

India’s middle-classes with their rising disposable incomes have long been considered a dream for mall-builders.

The country’s retail sector is set to grow at an annual rate of 16 to 19 percent, reaching 56.8 trillion rupees ($901 billion) in 2016, the Images Research report shows.

The government has also relaxed foreign investment rules in a bid to attract international supermarkets and boost the economy through retail.

But Dungarwal and other analysts say the majority of India’s shopping centres are struggling with a potent mix of high real-estate prices, bad planning and sluggish demand as the economy slows.

When it opened in 2003, the 150,000-square-foot (14,000square-metre), three-storeyed Centre One was billed as the first world-class mall in Navi Mumbai, a satellite town that is filled with apartment and office towers.

But competition from larger, better-designed malls such as Inorbit and Raghuleela, which sprung up nearby later, drew the crowds away.

In the last year alone, Mumbai suburbs have seen the Milan Mall and the City Mall shut down, while others such as Evershine and Mega Mall are struggling to stay afloat, analysts say.

"There is a huge mismatch between the demand for consumption and the pace at which retail real estate is expanding," says Saloni Nangia, president of consultancy Technopak.

NEXT’S NEW SATURDAY GIRL: MOLLIE TURNS MODEL

NEXT MODELS has signed Mollie King from The Saturdays as the latest addition to its already star-studded books. The singer will join Alexa Chung, Rita Ora, Alice Dellal, Harley Viera Newton, Lana Del Rey, Suki Waterhouse and Lou Doillon as a Next charge - and she’s already looking forward to what the future might hold.

HENRY’S TOPSHOP TIGHTS

HENRY HOLLAND has designed an exclusive collection of tights for Topshop. Comprising three different patterns - optician’s-chart letters, palm trees and dollar signs - the capsule edit has Holland’s rebellious street-style stamp all over it.

FAILED MALLS POINT TO SOURED RETAIL BOOM

22&23

India’s slowing economy, with growth at a decade-low of 5.0 percent in the year to March 2013, has put a firm dampener on spending.

But other factors are compounding the troubles at the tills.

Over the past decade, builders and developers have rushed to build without paying sufficient attention to what a mall requires to survive.

Until recently, most ignored the so-called "catchment" area, analysing the geographical area from which a mall attracts most of its visitors, experts say.

In the northern Indian city of Gurgaon in Haryana state is the hyped "Mall-Mile" — a vast stretch of nearly a dozen shopping malls, built almost one after another.

"Not all of them are working out," said Devangshu Dutta, chief executive with retail consultancy Third Eyesight, adding that they were all chasing too few shoppers.

The oversupply of malls means many have empty space: about a fifth of Centre One lies bare and so does up to 75 percent of the Dreams Mall in Bhandup, an eastern suburb.

Mumbai’s Atria, once a packed mall, now has "For Rent" signs coming up and looks deserted, with low footfalls owing to "bad designing, causing people to miss stores," Dungarwal said.

Another nearby mall, Sobo Central, is unable to draw the crowds as it does not offer a food court nor a multiplex.

"People do not go to a shopping mall to shop. They go there for the experience, to hang around," said Dungarwal.

India’s real estate is amongst the steepest in the world, and Kishore Bhatija, owner of Inorbit Mall, said costs have risen by 300 percent in Mumbai, which is 50 times more than markets such as Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai or Kolkata.

Retailers are therefore facing the double whammy of spiralling real estate prices and sluggish sales.

They also face growing competition from online retailers such as Flipkart, India’s answer to Amazon, which hand-delivers goods to the front door for minimal cost.

Shoppers can buy with the click of the mouse, with no need to battle traffic jams or India’s punishing weather.

"Malls will have to do everything to drive footfalls. They will have to make sure there is enough excitement to attract people," said Dutta from Third Eyesight.

AFP

Entertainment THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

24

Entertainment THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

25

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

“You have all the reason in the world to achieve your grandest dreams.

Imagination plus innovation equals realization.”

- Denis Waitley

KAKURO

QUICK CROSSWORD

26

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 Historic time 6 “Proper” companion?

10 Gone to seed 14 Dupe 15 ___-de-camp 16 Glass rectangle 17 Wanderer’s goal 20 Movie units 21 Crab type 22 One for the off-road 24 Departed 27 Battery terminal 28 They often wear dark eyeliner 31 Attain new heights 33 Dumfries denial 34 Filler for some balloons 36 Prefix for “mentioned” 38 Where some trips begin and end 42 Icy 43 Scottish landowners 45 “Calling all cars” letters 48 Get on with one’s half-life?

50 Northernmost Hawaiian island 51 Bar mitzvah officiator 53 Checked out 55 AMEX or NYSE 56 Imperious 58 “Silas ___” 61 U.S. Open park, for short 66 “___ Misbehavin’” 67 Sicilian volcano 68 Tibet’s ___ Lama 69 Trueheart of comics 70 Give the cold shoulder to 71 Cast-off material

DOWN

1 Unit of work 2 A pop

3 “The Mikado,” e.g.

4 Manitoba Indian 5 Sharpen 6 Distance equivalent to 3.26 lightyears 7 Van Winkle of legend 8 First lady McKinley 9 Interlock 10 Turn down in an ugly way 11 “Summer School” star Mark 12 Big name in flatware 13 One trying to make the grade?

18 Plumbing pipe with a right angle 19 Cricket intermission 22 “That turns my stomach!”

23 Word with “kit” or “belt” 25 June 14 26 Small quarrel 29 Put up on the wall 30 French fries or cole slaw 32 Churn ceaselessly 35 Anger (with “up”) 37 Lamb’s pen name 39 “Good work!”

40 Rock concert highlight, for some 41 The 40th state (abbr.)

44 Obedience school word 45 Former PLO leader 46 One of Tony Soprano’s men 47 Little shooters 49 Bootlicker 52 Goes over 21, in blackjack 54 “___ Hard” (Willis film) 57 Menswear selections 59 “Angel” Cheryl 60 Hebrew month 62 High degree 63 African antelope 64 “That ___ no lady ...”

65 Female sib

Chai Time THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 25-10-2013

27

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Couple looks cordial and affectionate towards each other.

Businessmen will earn good profits and plough them back into business for improvement.

Blood relatives might face problems like unexpected transfer or debt issues.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

Financially a strong position is seen as income is likely to increase. Relatives and friends will be of good support and help to you. All your wishes will get fulfilled. Businessmen will achieve expected growth and good profits.

Employees will be cheerful as they get transfer to the desired destination with promotion.

Money will come from all the expected sources. Debt issues are likely to surface but you will manage them well due to improved financial position.

Expected good news will arrive and make you cheerful. You will be showing keen interest in learning new things. Children are likely to score higher marks in the exams which will help them to join a college of their own choice.

Brothers and sisters will be more affectionate towards you. Good news is on the cards. Comforts are in for a rise which will make the family cheerful. Employees with their hard and sincere work will get good recognition from the management.

Businessmen need not hesitate to make fresh investments for growth. Mother’s health will be a cause for concern, take good care. Though income is good expenses too will be more which will make you upset. You will be frustrated.

Minor obstacles are very much likely in the important works undertaken but your stubbornness and determination will succeed. Pilgrimage is likely to be undertaken with family members. Some are likely to change their job.

Businessmen will get promising opportunities and a phenomenal growth is certain. They can also contemplate new investments to expand their horizon.

Health needs attention. You will be able to proceed according to your plans.

Govt. officials are advised to be straight forward and never use a wrong route to get things completed. Try and not to interfere in others’ family issues which is unwarranted. Tensions and embarrassing situation are likely because of blood relatives.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

The Devil – Yield to temptation at your own risk. There are many options before you. You are tempted to take the easy way out, even though it’s risky.

LEO:

Ace of Cups – Do some voluntary work in your area.

Make time to give back to society.

You will feel a lot better about your life and get better perspective, too.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Knight of Swords – Rumours have a way of playing on our minds, if we allow them to, that is. There are times when we feel we’d rather not know anything.

SAGITTARIUS:

Three of Wands – Every hour counts in the work day. If you have the tendency to waste time in non-work things, you better get your act together.

TAURUS:

Four of Pentacles – You may feel like a sole traveler even when you’re with a large group of people. Enjoy the experience and travel.

CANCER:

Six of Pentacles – The sheer acceptance of your situation will reduce the pain. By trying to deny that you’re going through a bad time will worsen the pain.

VIRGO:

The Moon – Don’t postpone your visit to the dentist.

There are some things that need to be taken care of immediately. Health is one such.

SCORPIO:

Two of Pentacles – Before you go ahead with a deal, verify all the documents carefully. There will be glitches you may need to take care of.

CAPRICORN:

The Emperor – Take the advice of wise old men and make sure you’re doing things the traditional way. This is essential to minimize the risks.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

King of Cups – Someone will charm his/her way into your heart. Be careful because this person will soon ask you for a big favour. You find it hard to refuse.

NUMBER GAME

Pentacles – Read all agreements carefully. Terms and conditions should be clear and there should be no ambiguity on what you should expect.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Page of

POOCH CAFE

Employees will be happy as their expected transfer and promotion are likely to be given effect. Official trips also will be very much frequent.

Influx of close friends and relatives is likely which will bring happy to the family members.

for 25-10-2013

King of Wands – You are blessed. Count your blessings instead of constantly complaining about everything that could have been right in your life. Move on!

NON SEQUITUR

Those planning to go abroad for higher studies will get favourable news. Parent’s health needs attention. Blood relatives might put you in an embarrassing situation.

Chances of disappointment or loss is likely, be alert.

SUDUKO

Those recently married will be blessed with an offspring soon.

Some have bright chances to buy a new house by selling the old one at a good price. Joyful journey with family members is likely. Happy events to take place at home.

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

28

Entertainment THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

HIGH HOPES

CINE BYTES

HRITHIK ROSHAN

hopeful for Krrish 4 A

ctor Hrithik Roshan, who is currently busy promoting Krrish 3, says the team might come up with Krrish 4.

"All the other franchise like Spiderman, Superman all those films were revamped in a span of three to four years. This is one film which has completed a decade, which is great, and maybe you will find a Krrish 4 in future. You never know," the 39-year-old told reporters.

"Hopefully we will also make Krrish 4," he added.

Krrish 3 is the third film in the franchise that began with Koi Mil Gaya in 2003 followed by Krrish in 2006.

Also starring Vivek Oberoi, Kangana Ranaut and Priyanka Chopra, the film is a sci-fi thriller that will take forward the story of a superhero, played by Hrithik.

The actor says a lot of new things have been introduced in Krrish 3.

"We are for the first time introducing muteness in our cinema. It is exciting for me as there are lot of new things to look forward to.

Progress has been tremendous from first Krrish," he said.

Directed by Rakesh Roshan, the movie is slated to release in November. IANS

Manish to design for Kareena, Hrithik

F

ashion designer Manish Malhotra is set to design costumes for actors Kareena Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan in Karan Malhotra's period drama Shuddhi. "Manish Malhotra is designing the costumes of Hrithik and Kareena for Shuddhi.

Since it's a period drama a lot of detailing will be done in terms of costumes," Karan Malhotra said.

IANS

‘Bhaag Milkha... was a challenging film’

F

ilmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, known for his directorials like Rang De Basanti and Delhi 6, confesses that his last release Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was one of the most challenging films that he had ever attempted. "It (working on 'Bhaag Milkha..') was like going to school every morning. I enjoyed every moment of it,” he said. IANS

Rajeev Khandelwal joins Twitter

R

ajeev Khandelwal is the latest celebrity to join Twitter. He says that joining the microblogging website is a "small gesture" to thank his fans for their support. "Yes! Finally I am on twitter!

I guess I had to," the 38-year-old said in a statement. "My fans have been very giving all these years, and I felt it's time for me to show how much I value their love and affection. Coming on Twitter is a small gesture towards that," he added. IANS

sports

29

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

PROFILE

NBA

Froome looks ahead to more Tour wins

Kenyan-born Briton Froome was dominant in the 2013 edition of the greatest cycling race in the world, winning by more than four minutes from new young talent Nairo Quintana from Colombia.

BARNABY CHESTERMAN Agence France-Presse PARIS: When the route for the 2014 Tour de France was revealed in Paris, it almost looked like the organisers had deliberately attempted to reduce reigning champion Chris Froome’s chances.

Kenyan-born Briton Froome was dominant in the 2013 edition of the greatest cycling race in the world, winning by more than four minutes from new young talent Nairo Quintana from Colombia.

That hardly told the story of just how much Froome had controlled the race, winning three stages, two at the top of mountains and one in a time-trial.

His winning margin would have been over five minutes but for a celebratory stroll down the Champs Elysees, arm-in-arm with his surviving Sky team-mates on the final stage.

Although the likes of Alberto Contador and Alejandro Valverde attacked incessantly, and then in the final two mountain stages Quintana and Joaquim Rodriguez successfully put time into Froome, the 28-year-old still never looked in danger of losing his grip on the yellow jersey once it was on his back, as early as stage eight when he sauntered up to Aix 3 Domaines on his own.

Froome proved strongest in the mountains and in the time-trials, making it seem unlikely anyone could challenge him.

But there was some hope when in the final two summit finishes both Quintana and Rodriguez proved stronger, and it cannot be forgotten that Vincenzo Nibali, who beat Froome in the week-long Tirreno-Adriatico stage race earlier in the year, had opted to compete in the Giro D’Italia instead of the Tour, where he had finished third behind Bradley Wiggins and Froome in 2012.

Froome himself suggested there was hope for the others — more specifically the specialist climbers — just before the Tour announcement when he said he was hoping for more and longer time-trials and alluded to the 2011 Tour of Spain where he finished a distant fourth behind Contador, Valverde and Rodriguez, saying that it had too many summit finishes and didn’t suit him.

So when the 2014 programme became known, showing just the one time-trial the day before the Champs Elysees finale in Paris, and six mountain stages, including five summit finishes, there was a genuine feeling that Froome could be challenged.

Tour Director Christian Prudhomme denied the route had been designed to favour those aiming to topple Froome, but there was palpable excitement among the press corps — here was a route that could prove interesting.

And yet that excitement was tempered slightly by Froome’s own supremely confident reaction.

“We’ve got five mountain top finishes, that’s (one) more than this year. That’s a good thing for me and also with the penultimate stage being a 50+ kilometre individual time-trial, that’s something that suits me,” he said.

“So, yes, I’m getting excited about the prospect of taking on next year’s Tour.

“If you look at this year’s 30km time-trial and the time gaps we had, then just imagine what time gaps we could have on a 54km time-trial. That could be quite substantial.”

Froome had put two minutes on Contador and three into Quintana and Rodriguez on the 33km stage 11 time-trial that finished at Mont St Michel.

It seems Froome was not reading from the same book as Prudhomme, though, who assumed the route would favour the little men, like Quintana, Rodriguez or Nibali, if he choses to compete rather than defend his Giro title.

“Time-trials provide greater time gaps

than the mountains, sometimes insurmountable ones,” explained Prudhomme.

“Having the time-trial at the end is so the climbers don’t have to chase but can ride in front and not become demoralised.”

Although Froome made time on everyone in the mountains at both this year’s Tour and last year’s, when he helped compatriot Wiggins become the first ever British winner of Le Grand Boucle, the plan seems to be to give the pure climbers a morale boost.

They will have six stages in which to attack and try to put time into Froome, or make him crack, before hopefully taking a lead over the Sky rider into the time-trial with the task of holding off the charging Briton.

Froome, though, is obviously thinking back to his victories at Aix 3 Domaines and atop Mont Ventoux when it was he who cracked the opposition with fearsome attacks.

Now it just remains to be seen next July whether it is Froome or Prudhomme whose stance is proved justified.

Owners approve format change NEW YORK CITY: NBA owners approved a change to the format of the best-ofseven championship finals so the home and away sequence conforms with other rounds of the playoffs.

The league announced on Wednesday that owners voted unanimously to adopt a 2-2-1-1-1 format for the finals beginning with the upcoming 2013-14 season.

That’s instead of the 2-3-2 system that has seen the team with home court advantage host the first two and, if necessary, last two games with the other team hosting games three, four and five.

The revised system, which was recommended by the league’s competition committee, will allow an extra day between games six and seven.

Earlier rounds of the playoffs use the 2-2-1-1-1 schedule, and the finals did, too, from 1957-1984.

The format was then changed to make for less onerous travel during the championship series, but NBA President of Basketball Operations Rod Thorn said improvements in air travel meant changing cities more frequently was now less of a burden.

Commissioner David Stern said there had been widespread feeling that it was unfair that the team with home court advantage by virtue of a better record going into the finals should have to play game five on the road if the series was tied at 2-2 through four games.

“It’s not fair for the better team in terms of record to spend as many as eight days away from home,” Stern said.

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

THE ASHES

Cook wants to make it a four-star show Not since 1890 have England known what it is to enjoy four straight Test series wins against their arch-rivals.

JULIAN GUYER Agence France-Presse LONDON: England captain Alastair Cook insisted the goal of winning a fourth successive Ashes series would ensure his side weren’t complacent when they arrived in Australia for the latest defence of the urn.

Not since 1890 have England known what it is to enjoy four straight Test series wins against their arch-rivals.

But that is the prospect that lies in wait as, barely two months since wrapping up a 3-0 home series win over Australia, Cook’s squad flew out from Heathrow Airport to Perth for a five-Test tour which begins with a three-day game against Western Australia starting on October 31.

Cook, asked if England might be complacent told reporters at a press conference at Heathrow on Wednesday: “Complacency — that’s not a problem.

“We have a chance to win four Ashes series in a row for the first time since 1890.

Everyone is excited by that and is desperate to do that.

“Clearly, top-order runs in Australia are vitally important and we saw last time when we went there how big runs make a massive difference and set the game up,” Cook explained.

“Sometimes in England, 240, 250 can be a good (innings) score with the overhead conditions.

“But the majority of the time in Australia 400 is the bare minimum. In that first innings you want to get into the game. That’s the job of the top order.”

Cook should know.

During England’s 3-1 series win on their last tour of Australia in 2010/11, when all their victories came by an

innings, meaning they only batted once, Cook scored a colossal 766 runs at an average of 127.66 with three hundreds and a best of 235 not out.

The 28-year-old left-hander was nothing like as prolific during the recent campaign, with a return of 277 runs at 27.70 with three fifties.

“They (Australia) bowled well and I didn’t execute as well as I could have done,” Cook said.

Reflecting on the series just gone as a whole, Cook said: “If you win 3-0 in an Ashes series it is a great achievement and one we should look back on with fond memories.

“To win 3-0 was pretty good and I would love to do that again.”

And after a packed home programme, which included leading England to the final of the Champions Trophy one-day tournament where they lost to India, Cook insisted he and the other senior members of the squad felt fully refreshed.

“The two months’ break has been great and the lads are raring to go. It’s great to get that buzz at the start of the tour and the lads are ready.”

As for England being billed as favourites (British bookmakers William Hill have England 10/11 for the series with Australia 13/8 and 9/2 the draw) Cook said: “When you have won the last three series, and the last one was only two months ago, it is fair if people say we are favourites.”

WISDEN WORLD XI

Bradman helms all-time World XI LONDON: Australia great Don Bradman was named captain Wednesday of an alltime Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. Although Bradman played his last Test in 1948, no batsman before or since has come anywhere near his staggering Test batting average of 99.94.

Also included is his compatriot Shane Warne, who during the 1990s established himself as arguably the greatest leg-spinner cricket has known.

WG Grace, the 19th century star who invented the fundamentals of batting, opening great Jack Hobbs, wicketkeeper Alan Knott, a mainstay of England teams of the 1970s and Sydney Barnes, a master of both swing and spin and reckoned by many to have been England’s greatest bowler of all time, make it into the side.

West Indies provide three players in Vivian Richards, widely regarded as the best batsman of his generation, Garfield Sobers, frequently referred to as the greatest allrounder cricket has known and Malcolm Marshall, viewed as arguably the best in a long line of top-class Caribbean fast bowlers.

India provide one player in the soon-toretire Sachin Tendulkar, Test cricket’s leading run scorer of all-time, with the team completed by Pakistan’s Wasim Akram, long esteemed as the best left-arm fast bowler cricket has known.

Hobbs, Bradman, Richards, Sobers and Warne were named as Wisden’s five players of the 20th Century in 2000.

WISDEN WORLD XI Jack Hobbs (England) WG Grace (England) Don Bradman (Australia) Sachin Tendulkar (India) Vivian Richards (West Indies) Garry Sobers (West Indies) Alan Knott (England) Wasim Akram (Pakistan) Shane Warne (Australia) Malcolm Marshall (West Indies) Sydney Barnes (England)

SOUTH AFRICA VS PAKISTAN

Tahir demolishes Pak batting The leg spinner grabbed a career best 5-32 on the opening day of the second Test.

SHAHID HASHMI Agence France-Presse DUBAI: Leg-spinner Imran Tahir came to haunt the country of his birth, Pakistan, by claiming a maiden five-wicket haul to put South Africa in early control of the must-win second Test on Wednesday.

The 34-year old finished with

a career best 5-32 while fit-again paceman Dale Steyn took 3-38 to bundle Pakistan out for 99 all out in 36.4 overs at the Dubai stadium before South Africa finished the day on 128-3.

They lead by 29 runs and enjoyed a good day in their bid to level the two-Test series after losing the first game by seven wickets in Abu Dhabi last week.

Graeme Smith was unbeaten on 67 and nightwatchman Steyn was three not out.

In the morning session Pakistan’s top-order batsmen were so dismal that number nine Zulfiqar Babar top-scored with 25 not out and opener Shan Masood made 21. Of the six boundaries in the innings, Babar hit three and Masood one.

This is the 16th time that Pakistan were bowled out for below 100 in a Test innings.

It brought back memories of Pakistan’s same total against then world number one England at the same venue in 2012, although they went on to win the Test in the end.

But a ruthless South Africa, now the world number one Test

side, looked in no mood to concede the early advantage as they now look set for a big first innings lead.

Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore showed anger over his team’s slump. “Its frustrating,” said Whatmore.”Certainly not according to the plans, we knew they will come back hard but we orchestrated our own downfall.”

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

TENNIS

Azarenka feels season is over Azarenka's words were almost as much of a surprise as her first defeat in four years to the seventh-seeded former world number one, Jelena Jankovic.

RICHARD EATON Agence France-Presse ISTANBUL: Victoria Azarenka implied her season was all but over after a 6-4 6-3 loss to Jelena Jankovic on Wednesday delivered a significant blow to her chances of making a challenge for Serena Williams' title at the WTA Championships.

However Azarenka's words were almost as much of a surprise as her first defeat in four years to the seventh-seeded former world number one, as she only needs to win her remaining group match to be almost sure of qualifying for Saturday's semi-finals.

The world number two from Belrus cut a forlorn and self-critical figure after another unusually error-prone performance, with fewer redeeming features than her struggle to get past Sara Errani of Italy on Tuesday.

After dropping serve to go 2-4 down in the first set, Azarenka appeared to struggle with a lack of confidence, and sometimes over-pressed to try to repair the increasing damage.

Azarenka admits to having becoming over-tired well before the end of the season, and once the intelligent and stronglyfocussed Jankovic had tenaciously clung to her fifth-game break to capture the first set she made admirably steady progress.

It was an especially encouraging result for the Serbian, who has needed two years to climb back into the top eight after lengthy and career-threatening injury problems.

Jankovic played a consistent and wellthought-out match, drawing out the

errors from her opponent, and serving solidly and tenaciously to cling to the leads she had patiently chiselled. But Azarenka was disconsolate.

"There were a lot of things I didn't do well, so to find just one will make it really difficult," she said.

VALENCIA OPEN

Ferrer brushes off Monfils challenge

The number one seed was expected to be stretched by the mercurial Monfils having lost three of the previous four meetings between the pair.

VALENCIA: World number three David Ferrer booked his place in the second round of the Valencia Open with a confident 6-3, 6-2 win over Gael Monfils on Wednesday.

The number one seed was expected to be stretched by the mercurial Monfils having lost three of the previous four meetings between the pair.

However, he edged a tight first set, saving two break points to serve it out in the ninth game before breaking twice early in the second to cruise to victory.

"Games against Gael are never easy, he has great physical power and it was a hard fought match," said the

Spaniard.

Monfils however appeared to be struggling with an injury during the second set as Ferrer pulled away, denying the Frenchman a route back into the match.

"I was just trying to play my own game and keep him running.

"Playing in front of this home crowd motivates me and I hope to keep it going the rest of the week."

Next up for the three-time champion in Valencia is another Frenchman, Julien Benneteau, on Thursday.

Fourth-seeded American John Isner also sealed his place in the second round as he edged past Ernests Gulbis 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2).

And seventh seed Fabio Fognini became the first man to book his place in the quarter-finals as he eased past Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-2.

"Of course she's playing well. She's playing her best tennis just now, but I can't sit here and say I played well.

"I let a lot of balls go, there were a lot of mistakes, small mistakes, a little bit bigger mistakes - it was just so inconsistent."

Azarenka then suggested she had all but given up on the title here.

"I have one more match, so, you know, for me, it's just going to be about that," she said.

"Then there is a break, and 2013 will be over for me. So that's what I kind of have to deal with at this particular moment just one more match."

If Li Na had been taking notice - which she almost certainly was not - it might have been another of several motivators to reverse the result of her last meeting with Azarenka, on a highly dramatic day in Melbourne in January.

Williams by contrast cruised to her second straight sets win in an hour and 20 minutes, beating Agnieszka Radwanska for the eighth time in eight meetings while making almost certain of qualifying for Saturday's semis.

The skilful but marginally lightweight world number four from Poland has only taken one set from the American in all that time — in the Wimbledon final last year — and persistent and imaginative though she often was, she did not have the weapons to avoid being trampled on.

FED CUP PREVIEW

Russia have ‘no chance’ of beating Italy in Fed MOSCOW: Russia have no chance of winning their Fed Cup final against Italy in Cagliari, team captain Shamil Tarpishchev said on Wednesday.

Announcing a young, severely-depleted side for the tie, to be played on November 2 and 3, Tarpishchev was frank about the outcome.

The team features Alexandra Panova, ranked 138th in the world, Alisa Kleibanova, 186th, Irina Khromacheva (231) and Margarita Gasparyan (317).

"Frankly speaking we have practically no chances to win the final," Tarpishchev said. "We're going there not to win but to give our young tennis players experience."

After the withdrawals of star names like Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, Tarpishchev said he understood the reasons why other leading lights had pulled out, as the final clashes with the Tournament of Champions in Sofia.

"Yekaterina Makarova and Maria Kirilenko, who starred in the semi-final with Slovakia, are experiencing health problems, while Elena Vesnina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenko need points to raise their rankings," he explained.

"We shall accept the existing situation philosophically."

Tarpishchev added: "We don't have any hard feelings for their decisions. We just accepted it."

But he insisted that money was not the reason for the players' decision.

"We offered to share all the prize money for the win in the final, it's around $400,000, between four team members," he said. "They would be unlikely receive so much in Sofia. That means money was not the reason for their decision."

Sharapova, Russia's top player, has health problems; Svetlana Kuznetsova, withdrew because of personal problems.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

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ANCELOTTI DEFENDS INEFFECTIVE BALE, BENZEMA

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti insisted he was happy with the performances of Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema in his side’s 2-1 win over Juventus, despite both looking far from their best.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

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Giants hold sway over Europe ANDY SCOTT Agence France-Presse PARIS: Holders Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain were the biggest winners in the Champions League on Wednesday as Real Madrid and both Manchester clubs also recorded important victories.

Frenchman Franck Ribery scored a brace, including one from the penalty spot, while David Alaba, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Goetze were also on target as Pep Guardiola’s Bayern romped to a 5-0 home win against Czech champions Viktoria Pilsen, their eighth consecutive win in the competition.

The German outfit are three points clear at the top of Group D from Man City, the Premier League club who claimed a potentially crucial 2-1 win at CSKA Moscow earlier in the day.

City had fallen behind on a difficult pitch at the Arena Khimki when Zoran Tosic lobbed Joe Hart, but Sergio Aguero netted twice before the interval to turn the game on its head.

“It is an important win,” City manager Manuel Pellegrini said after the game. “Now we have to play the next two games at home.

I told the players that we had to make sure we didn’t lose this one. We are not in the next round yet but this was an important step.”

That game was also marred by reports of racist chanting from the home sections of the stadium directed towards City’s Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure.

“It is unbelievable and very, very sad. We want to stop that and UEFA have to be strong, maybe close the stadium,” Toure said.

PSG recorded their biggest European away win as they took

Anderlecht apart in Brussels, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring four times and Edinson Cavani once in a 5-0 victory.

Ibrahimovic’s evening featured a hat-trick in the space of 19 first-half minutes, with his third goal a ferocious volley from 30 yards that brought many of the home supporters to their feet.

And he now has nine goals in his last four games in all competitions.

“Scoring four goals in a game doesn’t happen every day,” said Ibrahimovic, who was touched at seeing the Anderlecht fans applaud his marvellous third goal.

“It was incredible, fantastic. I had goose pimples. It is a great honour.”

With Oscar Cardozo’s late equaliser earning Benfica a 1-1 draw at home against Olympiakos in Group C’s other, rain-hit, game, PSG are now five

points clear at the top and in a position to clinch qualification when they meet Anderlecht at home next.

Despite Ibrahimovic’s feats, the competition’s top scorer is Cristiano Ronaldo, who took his tally for the season to seven with a brace in Real Madrid’s 2-1 win against Juventus at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Ronaldo opened the scoring in the fourth minute and then scored what proved to be the winner just before the half-hour mark following an equaliser by Juve’s Spain striker Fernando Llorente.

Juve could not get back into the game after Giorgio Chiellini was sent off early in the second half, although Madrid captain Iker Casillas said the hosts struggled against the 10 men.

“After the sending-off they backed off and it was more difficult for us,” Casillas declared.

“But we have taken an important step towards qualifying with nine points in three games.”

Carlo Ancelotti’s side top Group B, while Juve are still without a win and lose second place to Galatasaray, for whom Felipe Melo, Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba all scored in a 3-1 victory over FC Copenhagen.

Meanwhile, Manchester United remain in control of Group A, if only just, after a second-minute own-goal by Inigo Martinez gave them a 1-0 home win against Real Sociedad at Old Trafford.

“I thought we played well tonight. I thought we created opportunities,” said United manager David Moyes.

“It wouldn’t have been right if we hadn’t taken all three points tonight.” United are a point clear of Bayer Leverkusen, who leapfrogged Shakhtar Donetsk into second place.