THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013 HYDERABAD
THE BITE THAT
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World Malaria Day is observed every year on April 25 as a day of awareness and recognition of global efforts to end malaria. We help you with the facts so that you can take action against this deadly but preventable disease.
HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER
TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS PLUMMET, SAY COPS. BUT NIGHTMARE TRAFFIC SCENARIOS STILL ABOUND In 2011, the Hyderabad traffic police registered the highest number of e-challans issued, which stood at a whopping 13,34,603 cases. In 2012, the number of violations dropped to 12,04,705. So far, in 2013, the traffic police have registered 5,14,852 cases which, they insist, is a reflection of improved motoring due to their vigilance. But look around you... what do you think?
REPORT ON P6
SRINIVAS SETTY
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THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
city events
A VISUAL TREAT
Kathak recital by Kavita Golechha and troupe will be organised by Nritaya Kala Academy at Amphitheatre Shilparamam on Saturday from 6.30 pm.
Weather for Hyderabad
Evening
Overnight
33°C
27°C
32°C
38°C
New Delhi Max 37 Min 27
Clear with cloudy periods
Mostly clear.
A mix of cloud and sun
A mix of cloud and sun.
Partly cloudy
Morning
Afternoon
Mumbai Max 35 Min 27
Chennai Max 34 Min 28
Partly cloudy
Bangalore Max 33 Min 23
Partly cloudy
Mostly cloudy
AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES Banjara Hills When: Till April 25 Contact: (040) 6652 3939
WEEKEND GETAWAY
Mega mugs TGI Friday's announced TGI Friday’s mega mugs offer to coincide with the start of the IPL.. Where: Thank God Its Friday RK Cineplex When: Ongoing Contact: (040) 4015 1925
SHOWS
Fit for royalty The Taj Group of Hotels is offering Royal Retreat packages for their customers. One can avail these packages at Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur, Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur and Taj Falaknuma Palace. When: Ongoing, Till September 30
WORKSHOPS The joy of reading Oxford Bookstore in association with GHAC and LICH is organising an informative, exciting and fun-filled workshop in social sciences and Humanities for kids. Where: Begumpet When: Ongoing, Till May 12, 9:30 am to 2:00 pm Contact: 92461-12461 Summer camp Tailoring training camp for children between the age group of 6 and 16 is being organised. Where: Shilparamam, Madhapur When: Till May 20, 11 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 4 pm Contact: 97013-83359 Pop art Summer Jam A craft designing session for all age
BEFORE SUNSET: After the recent cloud cover, sun breaks through in the City. groups on the subject of Hyderabadi pop art will be organised. Where: Lamakaan, Opposite GVKOne Road No 1, Banjara Hills When: April 26 Contact: 98661 63899
School, Nanakramguda Road, When: Ongoing 9 am onwards Contact: (040) 20042460
Filmmaking workshop for children Yavanika Films will conduct a unique filmmaking workshop this summer vacation for children. Where: Begumpet When: Ongoing, 2pm to 7pm, Daily classes except on weekends Contact: 94901 00404
Art, Vivanta & Jewellery A show featuring furniture by Neeta Kumar, jewellery by Tansi and art will
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
ART
23262266 24166666R ENC 23225267 Engineering 23220418 MCH Tankbund 23225397 Emergency MCH Circle I&II 24525842 MCH Circle III 24736912 MCH Circle IV 23326975 MCH Circle V 23326976 MCH Circle VI MCH Complaints 1100 Head Office 23225397 IVRS CUM MANUAL ENQUIRY PHONE NUMBERS (TRAIN & RESERVATION) RAILWAYS Rail Nilayam 27833169, 27824216 Railway Information 131 Reservations 135 Recorded Information 1345 Enquiry (IVRS) 1331, 1332, 1333
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
N SHIVA KUMAR
be organised. Where: Taj Vivanta, Begumpet When: April 27, 7 pm The Deviant Digital art on canvas by Aekka Yadagiri Rao. Where: ICON Art Gallery, Road no 12 Banjara Hills, When: On till May 3. 11.30 am to 7pm Contact: www.iconart.in
DINING Malvani cuisine Taj Deccan is hosting Malvani Food Festival at Spice Junxion. Enjoy a scrumptious spread of classic dishes. Where: Spice Junxion, Taj Deccan, Road No 1,
Summer camp Oakridge is conducting a camp for children in which they can learn story telling, clay modelling and more. Where: Oakridge International
Commissioner & Spl Officer
Helpline
ELECTRICITY General Complaints Breakdown Section
Mime skit Students of Annapurna International School of Film & Media will be staging two mime skits titled Struggle to Success and Who Gets Her Boss. Where: Lamakaan, Opposite GVKOne Road No 1, Banjara Hills When: April 25, 6:30 pm
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
Contact: 9963107235 A laugh riot "It's Not Funny! - Stop Laughing!!" by clown Shiven will be organised. Where: Muffakham Jah College Of Engineering And Technology, Banjara Hills When: April 26, noon Contact: 2335-0443 Little wonders Children’s play Amanush will be staged by Nishumbita Where: Lamakaan, Opposite GVKOne Road No 1, Banjara Hills When: April 26, 7 pm
Airport Director 27903785, 27906001 For Air India Flight Information Toll free (from any network) for IC Flights 18001801407 And for All Flights: 1800227722 Air India has revised its flight timings. For more information call (Toll free) 18001801407, 1800227722 from BSNL/MTNL 04023430334 from other lines and mobile Website; www.airindia.in TOURISM OFFICES AP Tourism, Hyd 23262152/53/54 Sec-bad 27893100 Dept of Tourism 23453110 India Tourism 23261360 AP Tourism information Centre (24x7) 23450444, 23455999 UK VISA OFFICE VFS India Pvt Ltd Building, 8-2-542/A, Sunil Chamber, Road No. 7
Beside Meridian School, Banjara Hills34. Working hours are from 8 AM to 1 PM And 2 PM to 3PM. MUSEUMS Salar Jung Museum AP State Museum Nizams Museum
24523211 232431300/7641 24521029
Readers’ views
We invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to feedback@postnoon.com or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500 033 or even by way of a call on 4067 2222
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
city
YESTERDAY’S QUESTION
WILL WORLD BANK SUCCEED IN REDUCING POVERTY TO 3% BY 2030? 25% 75%
YES (A) NO (B)
TODAY’S QUESTION
WILL MANMOHAN SINGH BECOME THE PM FOR THE THIRD TIME? A)
YES
B)
NO
To vote visit www.postnoon.com
CRIME
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Ten held for IPL betting Major sporting events always cause a spurt in illegal betting activities and the ongoing IPL is no exception. Cops cracked down on the offenders.
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he police arrested 10 people who were running illegal satta betting operations for the sixth edition of IPL on Wednesday. The accused were arrested from different places in the City and large amounts of cash, mobiles and TVs were recovered from their possession. In the first incident, a special team of central zone arrested six people from Players Paradise Gaming House in Abids. They recovered `10,500 in cash, a TV, four mobile phones, receipts and other materials from them, said deputy commissioner of police (central zone) VB Kamlasan Reddy. Those arrested include the owner of the gaming house Mohd Abdul Kabeer Kashif, manager Shaik Abdul Kaleem, agent
Mithun Singh, and three other employees of the gaming house who were betting on the matches. Kabeer, who had been making losses in his business, started a satta betting operation with the help of his manager, Kaleem. The manager contacted Mithun, who got in touch with a main agent, Datta, who is in Pune. They then began betting large amounts on matches, as well as on centuries, half centuries, wide and no balls and wickets. In another case, the central zone task force team arrested M Karunkar Reddy, 30, a resident of Moosaram Bagh in Malakpet. They seized `56,000 in cash, a colour TV and other evidence. Reddy allegedly had taken a house on rent a few days ago just for satta betting on IPL matches. He had paid `50,000 in cash in
advance to the house owner, police said. He was trying to run his operation from the house before the cops arrested him. A crime team of Kadapa also busted a racket of satta betting in
Akoolavedi village and arrested three people. The accused have been identified as Shaik Mastaan, Shaik Dasatgeer and Nayeemuddin. The police have recovered `1.25 lakh in cash, three
mobile phones, a TV set and satta chits from them. The accused were running the racket for the past few days from a house. The police acted on a tip-off, raided the house and arrested the trio.
CRIME
CIVIC
Bike thief arrested
GHMC chief on budget variation
The 28-year-old had taken to crime to clear his gambling debts, say police. POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com
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he crime team from Musheerabad police station recently arrested a man who has allegedly been involved in dozens of bike thefts at different places in the City The accused, M Narsing Goud (in pic), was a gambler, say police. Unable to pay the huge amount he incurred as debt on gambling, he turned to theft, said deputy commissioner of police (central zone) VB Kamlasan Reddy. The 28-year-old accused, a resident of Lower Tank Bund, had been working as a driver for a private office for the past few years. He recently lost his job. On a tip-off, the crime team of Musheerabad police station, led by crime inspector Mohammed Riyazuddin, laid a trap at Metro Cafe junction at
Musheerabad and apprehended Narsing, who was riding a stolen bike. On interrogation, he spilled the beans and confessed to have stolen the bike from near the fish market in Musheerabad. He also confessed to having stolen seven
more bikes from Musheerabad and Gandhi Nagar areas. The remaining seven stolen vehicles were recovered from his residence and from his friends, to whom he had mortgaged the bikes. It emerged that he was a habitual gambler, who had lost a lot of money indulging his habit. The value of the eight bikes stolen by Narsing is estimated to be around `3 lakh. Seven bikes have been returned to their owners. The police are unable to track the owner of a Honda Activa (bearing Reg No. AP-13-P 7347), as he vacated the address available on record. The police have asked the owner of the bike to approach the inspector at Musheerabad with the relevant documents to claim his bike. The arrested accused has been remanded in judicial custody, DCP Reddy added.
Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com
T
he GHMC commissioner will be holding a special meeting with department officials to ‘reappropriate’ the revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2012-13. The report will be presented to the standing committee in the next meeting to be held at the end of this month.
In response to questions raised by the standing committee in the recently held meeting that there was variation and discrepancies in recording budget heads, commissioner MT Krishna Babu (in pic) blamed the ERP section for not recording budget heads properly. “ERP is in a developmental stage. Proper budget heads are not recorded,” he explained. He said that there were State codal provisions for the capital works, which provides scope for 200 per cent expenditure. “As R&B bridges and flyovers take longer process, the estimates are revised several times, as ‘spillover’ crosses budget. For instance, `100 crore is estimated, but the budget amount could be `200 crore given the time span of project,” he points out, ruling out discrepancies in the budget.
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city THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
CIVIC
LAST YEAR... HERE The water thieves
L
ast year we had reported how, despite efforts by concerned citizens and the district magistrate of Hyderabad, the illegal water mafia continued to thrive in the City. In the Amberpet area, thousands of gallons of water are illegally pumped out everyday for commercial uses. The accused often had strong political ties, said officials.
‘Not a drop will go waste’ This is what concerned Resident Welfare Associations in the City promise, as the concept of rainwater harvesting hasn’t caught on in Hyderabad as yet.
APRIL 25, 2012
NUMEROLOGY
5,14,852
cases of traffic violations have been recorded this year by the Hyderabad traffic police which, they insist, is a marked improvement from the previous years.
The change in the syllabi will help the medical aspirants. Now the burden of referring to hundreds of books and model papers has come down to quite an extent. Divya Prasad, student See page 7
THINGS WE 5LEARNT TODAY The column that teaches everyone something new about the way the City functions.
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NTR’s slogan revived for Telugu artistes. Following the agitation by Telugu TV artistes demanding the ban of dubbed serials, the TDP has yet again revived NTR’s famous slogan, Pride of Telugu People.
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Traffic violations go down in City, say police. Over five lakh e-challans have been issued so far this year over traffic violations. But the police say this is much less compared to the previous year. Seeing the mess on the roads, we doubt it.
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Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com
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he Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) have tightened their belts, promising ‘not to let go a single drop of water’ in the next rainy season. As part of promoting rainwater harvesting pits (RWHP), they have launched a campaign in GHMC Secunderabad. A meeting held under the auspices of United Federation of Resident Welfare Associations (UFERWAS), in co-ordination with GHMC, tried to sort out the issues, which were causing a hindrance at community level. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Rao Chelikani, president, UFERWAS, sought complete support from the GHMC, as the depleting water resources in the City was a ‘reality’ that should be addressed. “Each drop must be secured before rainy season starts,” he emphasised. During the meeting, it came to light that even though an
RWHP costs between `3,000 and `7,000, residents from individual houses did not show interest in considering this option. Only well-organised RWAs came forward in the past. According to the GHMC (north zone) commissioner, Hari Krishna, Bangalore was far more advanced in securing rainwater. Almost all the residents of Bangalore install the rainwater harvesting filter, which is available in the market. The zonal commissioner, acknowledging the fact that GHMC lacked initiative in this direction, blamed the lack of engineers in the corporation. “We have only 50 per cent engineers, who are engaged in various activities. They don’t have time,” he explained. Omim Maneckshaw Debara, general secretary for Forum for a Better Hyderabad, tried to focus on how grim the situation was in the City, where water bodies are completely polluted. He said Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar, that provided
The zonal commissioner, acknowledging that GHMC lacked initiative in this direction, blamed the lack of engineers in the corporation. drinking water to the City, have been grossly mismanaged by the government. “We win together or drown together,” he noted.
SOME EARLIER SUCCESS STORIES Deendayalnagar in Malkajgiri constructed around 450 pits at a cost of `3,000 each. One of the interesting features was calling of tenders for this by the RWA. According to Subrahmanium, who represented the locality, all RWHPs were in working condition. Similarly, Balaji Apartment residents in Tarnaka have made
arrangements that all the water goes down to RWHP near the water bore installed. This was made in 2000. During the meeting, several residents came forward to work as volunteers in their respective localities. The RWAs of Tarnaka, Alwal, Malkajgiri, SR Nagar and LB Nagar were actively involved in this.
GHMC’S SOLUTION GHMC has offered to bear 70 per cent cost for rainwater harvesting pits. Either the corporation will construct them after doing a survey or the RWAs can come forward to make this structure. According to GHMC commissioner MT Krishna Babu, engineering colleges were being invited to adopt five colonies in this direction. The students will help in these community projects. “Powerbore recharging can be done by constructing a RWHP, which improves percolation,” said the commissioner, while speaking to the media.
NEWS BRIEFS
Don’t place your bets on the IPL... ...Because you might land up in jail. Ten people were arrested recently for running IPL betting organisations in the State.
25 die due to unseasonal rains
Rowdy-sheeter arrested in Chilkalguda
GHMC employee hangs himself in Attapur
Gold, silver stolen from Secunderabad home
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Students get a revised reprieve. With the new science sylabbi, students are going to find it easier to score well in both intermediate and competitive exams.
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Residents take up the call for rainwater harvesting. They promise to not let a single drop of water go to waste.
he death toll due to unseasonal rains across the State has touched 25. A total of 12 others have been reported injured. As on April 22, 13 deaths were reported. On Tuesday, 11 more died and one more person died on Wednesday taking the death toll to 25. Most of the deaths were due to lightning bolts, say officials.
he Chilkalguda police have arrested a rowdy-sheeter, Kalyan Kumar, a 25-year-old resident of Namalgundu. They also recovered one knife from his possession. The Chilkalguda police had started a special drive on Hanuman Jayanti, keeping an eye on known criminals. Kumar was near Warasiguda when they found him with the knife.
GHMC employee, A Krishna, 44, committed suicide at his home in Attapur. The habitual drinker used to have rows with his wife over his heavy drinking. The deceased, who worked in circle 8, came home in an intoxicated state and quarreled with his wife. Soon after, he hanged himself from the ceiling, say police officials.
early ten tolas of gold, silver articles and some cash were stolen from the home of an ex-military man, N Murthy, in Manovikas Nagar of Secunderabad. Murthy lodged a complainant with the Karkhana police station and stated that he went to Banglore when someone broke in. He said he suspects one of his servants.
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city THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
POLITICS
TDP revives NTR’s slogan
The popular slogan ‘Pride of Telugu People’ has returned to the State with aplomb, following recent agitations by television artistes demanding the ban of dubbed TV serials from Telugu TV channels. INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com
N SHIVA KUMAR
In his letter to the chief minister, Naidu said that dubbed Telugu TV serials have turned into a threat for the rich Telugu culture, language and heritage
‘P
ride of Telugu people’ — this is the slogan that not only rocked the entire State in early ‘80s, but also led to the end of the prolonged rule of the Congress party in the state by NT Rama Rao, the founder of Telugu Desam Party. The Legendry actor of Telugu cinema was the architect of this slogan, banking on which his party won the Assembly elections with a thumping majority in the year 1983 and floored the entire nation after marking the end of one-party rule in the State since Andhra Pradesh’s formation. The popular slogan has returned to the State with aplomb and fervor, following recent agitations by television artistes demanding the ban of dubbed TV serials from Telugu TV channels. The Telugu TV artistes also went on to attack local popular TV channels like MAA TV. Now the entire issue has taken a political dimension, with the intervention of the key political parties of the State. As expected, the main opposition Telugu Desam Party, which was the numero uno beneficiary of the slogan in the early ‘80s, is leading the agitation. Without wasting any time,
TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu wrote a letter to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, requesting him to take steps to immediately ban serials which are being dubbed into Telugu from Hindi and Tamil and do justice to the Telugu People. He specifically highlighted the issue of pride of Telugu peo-
COURT
HC slams State
ple and said that such serials are leading to a loss of self-respect of Telugu people. In his letter, Naidu further said that dubbed Telugu TV serials have turned into a threat for the rich Telugu culture, language and heritage, and added that the telecast of the dubbed serials was also leading to the loss of liveli-
hood of Telugu artistes. Reacting on the issue, a TDP senior leader told Postnoon that they have got an opportunity to revive the slogan, which turned the course of history in the State. “The slogan ‘Pride of Telugu People’ has a strong emotional string attached to it. It strikes an instant chord with the people of
the State. Our intention is to leverage on it,” he said. He added that there is a need to invoke the slogan, given the present political circumstances in the State. The ruling Congress has also taken up the cudgels to cash in on the situation. AP official language commission chairman Mandali Bhudha Prasad extended his complete support to the Telugu TV artistes’ agitation. Speaking to Postnoon, he agreed that the dubbed serials have become a threat to Telugu language and culture and felt that the State government should immediately solve the problem. “I was the first person to extend my support to the issue. There is no doubt that it has turned into a threat to the Telugu language and culture. We must see that these serials are banned from the State,” he said. Other political parties like YSRC have raised the issue, knowing its importance.
WELFARE SCHEME
The State government found itself in the dock on Wednesday over the issue of non-constitution of the AP minorities commission since 2009. POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com
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eacting on a contempt petition filed by advocate Mohammad Aqeel over the delay in the reconstitution of the minorities commission, a division bench consisting of acting Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justice Vilas V Afzul Phurkar said that the State government is trying to mislead the High Court by making false undertakings over the commission’s constitution before the division bench. Passing strictures against the State government, the division
bench gave three days time to the AP government’s advocate general to reply in this regard. Speaking to Postnoon on the issue, Nazeer Ahmed Khan, the counsel for petitioner Aqeel, confirmed the news and said that the bench will hear the matter again on April 29. The bench’s decision came when the government pleader declined to accept that he had given any such undertaking before the earlier bench. The bench summoned advocate general A Sudharshan Reddy immediately. Reddy apologised and sought time till Monday next week.
People gathered as the CM visited Chittoor yesterday for the promotion of Amma Hastam, a scheme that was launched to provide essential commodities to people below poverty line.
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city THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
TRAFFIC
City’s roads get safer? Traffic police say the credit for the decline in number of e-challans issued and road accidents recorded goes to active monitoring by the police and increased awareness among citizens. RAHUL RAMAKRISHNA rahul.r@postnoon.com
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hanks to the intense traffic monitoring and traffic awareness among citizens and road users, the Hyderabad traffic police have noticed a decline in the number of e-challans being issued for traffic violations. Officials say that this is the beginning of a trend that has long been overdue and is a welcome change in the City’s traffic situation. In 2011, the Hyderabad traffic police registered the highest number of e-challans issued, which stood at a whopping 13,34,603 cases. These cases were mostly signal jumping, free left lane violations, etc. The amount generated through these e-challans alone stood at `11 crore (to be specific, `11,24,96,045). Speaking to Postnoon, inspector of e-challan, Traffic
Command Centre, M Narsingh Rao says, “We have noticed a decline in moving traffic violations especially from 2011 which saw a peak number of traffic violations. In 2008, the number stood at over five lakh; by 2009 it increased to six lakh; by 2010 it jumped to 11 lakh and 2011 saw the highest number of violations recorded so far.” In 2012, the number of violations dropped to 12,04,705. “We believe it is because of the active role played by camera monitoring, PDAs, laser gun monitoring, etc. Vehicle drivers have realised that violating traffic norms will ultimately bring a fat challan on their heads and this is a good sign of traffic enforcement,” says Rao. So far, in 2013, up to April, the traffic police have registered 5,14,852 cases which, they insist, is a low figure compared to previous years. “Last year’s
e-challans issued up to this month were a little over seven lakh,” says a senior official from the traffic police.
ACCIDENT ANALYSIS According
HANUMAN JAYANTI
As the City gears up for Hanuman Jayanti, celebrations were in full swing at Shali M ANIL KUMAR Banda in Old City.
to
traffic
police
records, the number of accidents have also reduced, albeit slowly. In 2010, a total of 2,797 cases of fatal, serious and simple accident cases were registered. In 2011, the number went down to 2,651 and in 2012, it stood at 2,576.
The current number of accidents recorded by the traffic police stands at 617, up to March 31. The number of injuries sustained by commuters has also shown declining trends. In 2010, the total number of injuries sustained stood at 2,662, 2,528 in 2011, and 2,473 in 2012. The total number of deaths, however, has shown fluctuating statistics. While the number dropped from 494 to 441 from 2010 to 2011, 463 deaths were recorded in 2012. The current number of deaths stand at 128. “Increased awareness through online and offline interaction with road users and effective usage of technology is bringing down accident levels and raising awareness among vehicle users in the City. We hope this trend continues until the number of accidents become almost negligible in count,” says Rao.
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News THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
EDUCATION
REVISED INTER SYLLABI FAVOURS STUDENTS The new syllabi will enable students to crack exams like JEE advance, IIT, NEET and AIEEE. This will reduce the burden of referring to various books to a great extent.
ALEENA ALICE aleena.t@postnoon.com
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he revised multicolour textbooks for Intermediate second year science students has come as a great relief. The AP Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) changes the syllabi once in every five years. Following the orders of the Central government to develop the syllabi as per the National Core Curriculum guidelines and keeping in mind various national level common entrance exams, the BIE has adopted the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) pattern to bring out the textbooks with revised CBSE syllabi for botany, zoology, mathematics, physics and chemistry. The Board took assistance from various experts to revise the textbooks. The BIE secre-
tary Ramsankar Naik, speaking to Postnoon said, “National level subject experts, lecturers of junior as well as degree colleges and professors from various universities have prepared and finalised the content to be published in the new textbooks. Nearly 40 per cent changes have been made
in the science textbooks. The Telugu Academy took the responsibility of publishing and releasing textbooks.” Though many changes were made in the botany, zoology, physics and chemistry text books, the contents in the mathematics textbook were not majorly revised. “There are various sections that were included by NCERT in CBSE botany and zoology textbooks which were not added to the Intermediate syllabus. But the contents in our mathematics textbooks were on par with the NCERT. So, the experts advised us not to make drastic changes. Hence,
we did not revise the mathematics syllabus majorly,” said Ramshankar Naik. The change was welcomed by the private as well as the junior college lecturers’ associations. “The change in the syllabi will definitely help the students. Earlier, for any national level entrance exam, students would have to read the State as well as the CBSE textbooks; now the Intermediate textbooks are more sufficient. Even as lecturers we can help students to learn better for the Intermediate public exam and to prepare for other competitive exams too,” said a lecturer from Sri Chaitanya Junior College. “The new curriculum will enable students to crack exams like JEE advance, IIT, NEET and AIEEE. This will reduce the burden of having to refer to various books to quite an extent,” said Upender Reddy, assistant professor, BIE. Meanwhile, students say that they feel relieved. “We used to see our seniors having problems referring to a number of textbooks for various national-level entrance exams and the last minute struggle to appear for Intermediate public exams. But now we can
Preparation
I
n the past, students used to refer several books for competitive exams like JEE advance, IIT, Eamcet and AIEEE. Now, the revised textbooks will help students to prepare for Intermediate public exams and competitive exams at the same time without referring to other books in the market. . concentrate on both the examinations while referring to the new textbooks. This will help us score more marks too,” said Sai Sudhir, a second-year Intermediate student. “The change in the syllabi especially in botany and zoology will help the medical aspirants. Now the burden of referring to hundreds of books and model papers has come down to a great extent,” said Divya Prasad, a second-year Intermediate Student.
URDU AND TELUGU TEXTBOOKS YET TO BE RELEASED The new curriculum text books in Telugu and Urdu are yet to be printed. According to the officials in BIE, the textbooks in Telugu will be released by May and the textbooks in Urdu will be released by June. “We have taken the copyrights and are only waiting for the textbooks to be printed,” said an official.
ARTS SYLLABI SET TO CHANGE FROM NEXT YEAR
The Arts group subjects like economics, civics, commerce, psychology, history, home science, geology, fine arts, music, sociology and public administration will have a revised syllabi from the next academic year, i.e. the textbooks will be available in the market by 2015-2016.
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city THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
PROFILES
T
he Deevuru community in Karnataka deemed their dwelling place so sacrosanct and special that they’d spend days adorning their walls with intricate geometrical paintings. Any spare time would be used to decorate walls and utensils with motifs of nature and community revelry. Their folk painting, reminiscent of Warli paintings of Maharashtra, is an ancient art tradition that’s struggling to find relevance in today’s busy world. Unlike Warli, few know of Chittara that’s being kept alive through the persistence of a few artists. At the beginning of the century, Shailaja was a part of young students from Shimoga who began to learn the art of her community under the guidance of guru Eshwar Naika. “By this time, it was obvious that Chittara was diminishing rapidly. It had no use even in the community, with people finding little time to paint. People could just buy prints from the market.” Each painting done freehand requires a minimum of three to four days, she says, and time is a luxury that’s rather scarce even in her community now. In Deevaru community it’s usually women who painted in leisure and these paintings were never to sell, she says. Most of the paintings were based on special occasions, mainly marriages and har-
SHAILAJA
vest rituals. Being a community that worshipped nature, animal motifs and patterns such as butterflies, cattle, sugarcane, mango leaves, marriage couple etc signifying celebrations are common. Unlike the Warli paintings that use recurrent human stick figures, geometrical patterns dominate in Chittara.
Even in adapting to the market, artisans paint on bamboo baskets, terracotta or handmade paper made from rice, Shailaja says, keeping the tradition as natural as it always has been. The young artist explains that using natural paints is integral to the art — white colour is derived from soaked and ground white rice, green is borrowed from cow dung, black is made from burnt rice, yellow is derived from a flower, gurige haralu, and red is made from red mud. Brushes used to paint are extremely fine and made from a grass called pundi naaru. Even in adapting to the market, artisans paint on bamboo baskets, terracotta or handmade paper made from rice, she says, keeping the tradition as natural as it always has been.
CHATTING WITH CRAFTSMEN ELIZABETH SOUMYA
elizabeth.s@postnoon.com
In our shopping frenzy at craft fairs, we forget to even pause and spend time with artisans. We stop by a few craftspeople and hear their stories.
D
alava Srinivas is not the best salesman. He inhabits a small stall in the company of stunning colourful puppets. Puppets of Hanuman, Ram and Sita dangle their feet a little above him. On his right is a curtain of butterflies that sway reluctantly to the occasional waft of breeze in the otherwise unkind hot afternoon. Srinivas’s facial expressions lack persuasion as his words. He communicates in Hindi along with sparse hand gestures and never asks anyone to buy from him. It’s the last day of a craft mela in Bangalore and he’s not too happy with the sales. There’s another puppet shop ahead of his and chances are most shoppers have already stopped there, he complains. Srinivas, though looks older, guesses his age to be somewhere between 32 and 33. He comes from a family of leather puppet-makers from Nimmalakunta in AP. The village is home to several puppet artisans’ families, who are skilled at producing life-size shadow puppets with goat hide. The leather is first cleaned, and artisans draw their figures freehand on either side before cutouts are prepared, he says. Then they are dotted with perforations to let light pass through them. The puppets are finally dyed with natural colours and left to dry. Limbs are attached as separate cutouts to make them movable. The translucent leather
DALAVA SRINIVAS
puppets that filter light faintly like stained glass are part of an ancient tradition of storytelling that went on through the nights. Light that fell on the puppets would create shadows on cloth. Called tollu bommalatta in Telugu, shadow puppetry is popular in AP. The craft dates as far back as 200 BC, when rulers of Satvahana dynasty were its patrons. The puppet craftspeople of AP are believed to be part of Marathi Balija community that migrated from Maharashtra. Srinivas says that years ago, puppet theatre was popular in villages. Crowds would throng to see shadow puppetry while singers, dancers and instrumentalists accompanied the puppet manipulator. The themes are from religious texts such as Ramayana and Mahabharata and required as many as hundred puppets. Srinivas is the youngest in his family of five comprising his uncle, aunt, mother and grandmother. “My dad’s a state award winner. Both my dad and grandmother have travelled all over the world, including America, Germany and Japan,” he says proudly. A Class VII dropout, he says while puppet-makers do grow some crops, the craft is their only source of livelihood. “I can’t do anything apart from making puppets,” he confesses. A product takes forty days to be completed. Puppetmakers have diversified their creations to include table lamps, wall hangings and decorative puppets, he points out.
9
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
focus
MASTERPIECES ON DISPLAY
During a trip to Florence in 1857, Manet painted a reproduction of Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” - which still hangs today in the Uffizi Gallery.
ART
Nude classics go face to face PASCALE MOLLARDCHENEBENOIT Agence France-Presse
T
wo naked seductresses separated by three centuries of history went face to face for the first time in Venice on Wednesday in an exhibition devoted to French painter Edouard Manet with his “Olympia” alongside Titian’s “Venus of Urbino”. Manet completed his painting of a prostitute being waited on by a black maid in 1863 — a controversial masterpiece which caused a stir at the time but was largely inspired by old master Titian’s own groundbreaking work from 1538. “Olympia” usually hangs in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris and the painting has never left France. It was driven to Italy for the show and then ferried across the Venice lagoon to St Mark’s Square on a barge to be exhibited in the Ducal Palace. The works were “scandalous” in their times, said Guy Cogeval, head of the Musee d’Orsay. And they still have the capacity to shock. “Olympia” was not used in publicity posters because of
local sensitivities in Venice. “I didn’t want to put ‘Olympia’ next to St Mark’s Basilica, out of respect,” said Gabriella Belli, director of Venice’s museums and a cocurator of the show together with the Musee d’Orsay. The exhibition entitled: “Manet: The Return to Venice” is organised by the city in conjunction with the Musee d’Orsay and features 23 paintings and 20 sketches by the French painter (1832-1883). They are hung alongside 80 works by Italian Old Masters including Carpaccio, Guardi and Lotto — a way of underlining Manet’s Italian inspiration, which is only now being fully appreciated. “Italy was a fertile, stable and permanent inspiration for Manet’s genius,” said Stephane Guegan, a consultant for the show. “It was impossible to say this for a long time since his influence by Spain is always put forward,” Guegan said.
THE EXHIBITION LASTS UNTIL AUGUST 18
During a trip to Florence in 1857, Manet painted a repro-
“Olympia” usually hangs in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris and the painting has never left France. It was driven to Italy for the show and then ferried across the Venice lagoon to St Mark’s Square on a barge to be exhibited in the Ducal Palace.
duction of Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” — which still hangs today in the Uffizi Gallery. Bringing the Titian to Venice “required the help of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius”, Belli said. She said the loans of “Olympia” and the “Venus of Urbino” from their respective museums were linked. “One would not have come without the other.” Cogeval said that to avoid controversy on the departure of “Olympia” from France for the first time he “got permission from French President Francois Hollande” - even though an authorisation from the culture ministry would have sufficed. The moment the painting was lifted with a crane from a barge moored at St Mark’s Square was particularly stressful, said Jean Naudin, incharge of international exhibitions at the Musee d’Orsay. Belli said she appreciated “Olympia” — “a modern woman, petite but full of energy and character”. But Cogeval said he had been “overcome” by Titian’s work.
The painting was meant for the bedroom and was intended as a stimulation for the couple Jean Naudin In-charge of international exhibitions “It is one of the most beautiful paintings in the world,” he said. Guegan said the “Venus of Urbino”, which was commissioned by the duke of Urbino following his marriage, had more than a purely aesthetic intent. “The painting was meant for the bedroom and was intended as a stimulation for the couple,” he said.
A woman looks at Edouard Manet’s “Olympia” (Left) and Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” in Venice
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
Business
SOUTH KOREA’S ECONOMY SOARS
South Korea's economy grew at its fastest pace in two years in the first quarter of this year as exports bounced back despite competition from a weak yen, the Bank of Korea said Thursday. This will likely dent expectations of a central bank interest rate cut later this year.
RETAIL
NEW CARAT RECORD
The perfect cuppa
Dare to think beyond your morning cup of tea. Dilmah, the Ceylon-based specialty tea producer, has brought a wide variety of teas, tea-based cocktails, mocktails and much more to Hyderabad. S BALAKRISHNA
PRUDHVI RAJU K prudhvi.k@postnoon.com
W
hat is more soothing than having a cup of tea in the afternoon? How about bringing the tea out of the traditional afternoon cup and having it as part of food and other beverages? This is exactly what Dilmah is successfully doing in many parts of the world. The Ceylon-based specialty tea company is offering a wide variety of teas and enabling tea drinkers to experience the joy of having tea-based cocktails, mocktails, T-shots and Tshakes in its T-bars. Dilmah’s first t-bar in India has started at Radisson BLU in the City. Often people are conservative in drinking tea; they add milk and sugar. However, a customer who has an appreciation of gastronomy and mixology can enjoy tea as part of food or other beverages. The company is working with various chefs around the world to integrate tea as an ingredient in different types of food. Chefs do a sensorial match of different foods with different tea flavours by understanding each of their tastes. When asked about the retail plans, Dilhan C Fernando, director, MJF Holdings, said, “One can be only in mass retail with certain set of requirements, which are based on the price points. The quality, value preposition and philosophy make it very difficult for us to offer the product at low price levels. However, we have plans to reach customers through premium retail stores. The retail sales which have already started in Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai, will spread to other cities. As of now, the company offers the tea in a number of star hotels; Hyderabad is the first to
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An extremely rare blue diamond sold for 6.2 million pounds at a London auction today, setting a new world record for price per carat. The deep-blue diamond weighing 5.30 carats sold at Bonhams Fine Jewellery sale for $1.8 million per carat, beating the previous record of $1.68 million. The gem, which was bought by international diamond house Graff Diamonds, attracted bids from within the auction room and around the world via 25 telephone lines and smashed pre-auction estimates of 1.5 million pounds. The diamond is set in a 'Trombino' ring made by Italian jeweller Bulgari around 1965. "We are delighted with the price it has made," said Jean Ghika, director of Bonhams Jewellery.
NUMEROLOGY
$1.8
mn
per carat is the new record for price per carat, set today with the sale of a rare blue diamond in London. The stunner weighs in at 5.30 carats, selling for a record 6.2 million pounds.
Most add milk and sugar to tea, but a customer who appreciates gastronomy and mixology can enjoy tea as part of food or other beverages. have the concept of a T-bar.” The company has tried and tested tea gastronomy at a personal level in Sri Lanka. It proved successful in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the Middle East with its High Tea concept. “Chefs want good quality fresh ingredients, whether it is a salad or soup. That is very much possible with tea as it is a fresh and healthy ingredient. The selling strategy of the company should not always be only to sell but should be beyond. This will increase the consumption levels
of tea and also give a variety and choice to the appreciators of tea,” he added. Talking about the tea industry, he says, “Tea consumption and prices are growing with time. However, producers (farmers) are not getting the right deal and price for their hard work. There is a need to replicate the Dilmah story, wherein the producer himself takes it to the consumer by excluding middlemen. Uncompromising quality will definitely bring successes to these producers.” Although there were many family business tea companies who strived for quality, they were acquired by other companies. For an outsider, it is the numbers that count and not the finest quality. The company is offering around 300 different flavours of tea but made 30 different teas available for tea drinkers at Radisson BLU. “Each of the 300
flavours has its own taste. Some are light and others are intense, which are not quite suitable for the Indian market. We chose top 30 varieties and are offering those to the customers here. Also, it is difficult in terms of logistics to have 300 varieties all the time fresh in the bar,” he said. About the beverage trends, he said, “Tea is a highly consumed beverage after water. Youth in China and India are looking at coffee for a change with the advent of coffee chains. Tea and coffee are compatible but don’t eat away the markets of each other. With the evolution of specialty teas and T-bars, the young crowd will have a choice of a variety of flavours. However, the customers in the West, who traditionally consumed coffee, are trying out tea.” The company is also serving the poor with its foundation by dedicating 10 per cent of its global profits.
GOLD `27,000 10g SILVER `43,800 1kg
24C
for
for
DOLLAR `54.15 POUND `82.91
VICTORY FOR WIKILEAKS WikiLeaks has said it has secured a victory in Iceland's Supreme Court against the financial blockade imposed by Visa and MasterCard on donations for the secret-spilling site. Visa and MasterCard were among half a dozen major US financial firms to pull the plug on WikiLeaks following its decision to begin publishing about 250,000 US State Department cables. It said yesterday that Iceland's Supreme Court had upheld a district court's decision that MasterCard's local partner, Valitor, had illegally terminated its contract with WikiLeaks' payment processer, DataCell.
THUS SPAKE Considering the situation our company faces in the US, it would be difficult for the US market to become a primary revenue source for our carrier network business in the foreseeable future HUAWEI IN A STATEMENT
BSE NSE
19,312.27 132.91
5,887.20 50.30
11
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
nation
JAPAN’S IMPERIAL COUPLE TO VISIT INDIA
Japan’s Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will visit India, probably around autumn, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, media reports said. The imperial couple has been invited by the Indian government.
GORAKHPUR BOMB BLASTS
SARADHA GROUP SCAM
Case against key accused dropped T
he Uttar Pradesh government Wednesday withdrew the case against Tariq Qasmi, prime accused in the Gorakhpur bomb blasts of May 22, 2007 which left six people, including a woman, injured. The move followed a recommendation from the district administration to the state home department that the case against Qasmi, resident of Azamgarh, be withdrawn. Following this, the home department late Wednesday issued orders for the withdraw-
The case history
Q
asmi was picked up by the Special Task Force (STF) after he was found to be in touch with HuJi activists. This is the first case of terror charges being withdrawn against any one since the Akhilesh Yadav government was sworn in last year.
Reactions
T
he Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) however lashed out at the SP government over the development and slammed it for “dangerously playing with national security for minority vote gains.”
ing the cases against the accused. Qasmi was picked up by the Special Task Force (STF) after he was found to be in touch with HuJi activists. This is the first case of terror charges being withdrawn against any one since the Akhilesh Yadav government was sworn in last year. The Samajwadi Party (SP), from time to time, has been assuring the minority community that “false charges” slapped on “innocent Muslims” would be withdrawn. Home Secretary Sarvesh Mishra said the district magistrate of Gorakhpur has been directed to file an affidavit in the concerned court, informing it of the government decision. All India Sunni Board president Mohammad Mushtaq welcomed the decision and lauded the SP government for beginning to fulfill its promise. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) however lashed out at the SP government over the development and slammed it for “dangerously playing with national security for minority vote gains.” “This is a clear and sad example of how the SP government has decided to shake hands with terrorists to get the votes of minorities” Vijay Bahadur Pathak, spokesman of the BJP, told IANS.
KUMBH MELA SPECIAL
A study about the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage in India will be presented at an annual symposium on South Asia hosted by the Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The two-day long symposium in the University’s South Asia Institute (SAI) will focus on the timely appeal of South Asia to the humanities at the intersection of religion and civil society, ancient arts and cutting edge technologies, organisers said.
DAWOOD’S SHOOTER HELD
Police officials escort chairman of Saradha group Sudipta Sen (C), to a police van outside the airport on his arrival in Kolkata on April 24, 2013. Centre may probe Saradha group cos The Corporate Affairs Ministry is likely to order a probe into Saradha group companies amid growing controversy over the Kolkata-based entity allegedly duping thousands of investors. Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot along with senior Ministry officials would today hold a meeting to look into the functioning of various chit funds including issues related to Saradha group companies.
A shooter of notorious underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who was on the run for the last two decades in custom officer LD Arora murder case, has been arrested in Uttar Pradesh, Alimuddin alias Baba was arrested late Wednesday from a house in Fatehpur, around 120 km from here, after police received a specific tip-off, an official of the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Special Task Force told IANS. Alimuddin’s movements were being monitored through electronic surveillance for some time and police zeroed in on him while he was staying at the house of Shamim alias Shammu. He has admitted that mafia-turnedpolitician Babloo Srivastava, then an associate of Dawood Ibrahim, offered him money to kill Arora.
NEWS BRIEFS Maoists kill two in Odisha
SP leader shot dead
Unleashing fresh violence, Maoists killed two persons suspecting them to be a police informers and torched a mobile phone tower in Odisha’s Malkangiri district, police said today.Armed ultras had abducted three persons from Kiang area recently and killed two of them while freeing another, Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Akhileswar Singh said. The bodies of Gopi Pujari, a shop-keeper, and Hatiram Pujari were found on a forest road this morning with their throats slit and bearing gun-shot marks, he said, adding another person Padmanav Pujari was set free by the rebels. While Gopi had been kidnapped from a village festival venue on April 19, the other two were abducted on April 22. The victims were suspected to have been killed last night when over 50 armed Maoists had also stormed the area and set afire a mobile phone tower, the SP said.
Party national executive member Chaman Bhati was shot dead by assailants in Dabra village here, triggering protests by villagers who demanded arrest of the killers. The assailants scaled the boundary wall of the house of 35-year-old Bhati, yesterday and shot him dead. The attack came on a day when the two gunners provided for his security were on leave, police said today. Bhati, who was earlier in the property business, was provided with gunners due to a threat to his life. SP(rural) Brijesh Kumar Singh reached the site and pacified the villagers, who were not allowing the body to be taken for postmortem. The villagers were demanding arrest of the killers. Last year, Bhati’s brother-in-law was shot dead by assailants. Village Pardhan Billoo Singh and his son Billoo Singh were made accused in the case.
MALKANGIRI (ODISHA):
GREATER NOIDA: Samajwadi
HC confirms lifer on rapist
MUMBAI: Observing that there was enough evidence to nail the guilty, the Bombay High Court has upheld the life imprisonment awarded to a Pune resident for raping and killing his minor niece eight years ago. A Pune sessions court had awarded life imprisonment to Bhiva Chapte on two separate counts of rape and murder of the victim. He was also handed down 7 years jail term for causing disappearance of evidence. All the three sentences were to run concurrently. The high court, hearing the appeal filed by Chapte against his conviction, found him guilty on all the three counts and observed that there was enough evidence to connect him with the crime. It was prosecution’s case that the appellant, a resident of village in Pune district, had lured the 11-year-old daughter of his cousin to a nearby forest on February 15, 2005 on the pretext of giving her money to buy sweets and raped her there before throttling her.
PICK YOUR
@
Across Stores
ities Twin C
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
World
PERU’S FIRST LADY TO BE INVESTIGATED FOR SPENDING Fist Lady Nadine Heredia, a popular Peruvian figure tipped as a likely presidential candidate, will be investigated for spending at the request of opposition lawmakers, officials said Wednesday.
BOSTON BLASTS
YES: IT’S PUTIN ON LINE
Both CIA, FBI had flagged suspect over terror ties The revelations raised fresh questions over why US authorities did not further investigate Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and in doing so possibly prevent the attacks.
B
oth the CIA and the FBI flagged the deceased Boston bombing suspect over possible terror ties, but he slipped through the fingers of investigators, officials said Wednesday. The revelations raised fresh questions over why US authorities did not further investigate Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed during a shootout with police last week, and in doing so possibly prevent the attacks. The CIA asked the top US counterterrorism agency to add Tsarnaev to a terror watchlist more than a year before the bombings, a US intelligence official said. The spy agency made the move after Russian officials contacted their CIA counterparts in September 2011 about their concerns over Tsarnaev. His younger brother Dzhokhar, 19, has been charged with federal terror offenses including the use of a weapon of mass destruction in the twin blasts on April 15 that killed three and wounded 264 people at the Boston Marathon’s finish line. Because the older Tsarnaev was a legal permanent US resident, the CIA then shared the information with the appropriate federal departments and agencies, telling them that he may be “of interest” to them, a US intelligence official told AFP. The data from Russia’s Federal Security Service was “nearly identical” to information
12
President Vladimir Putin today holds his first nationwide phonein with Russians since he returned to the Kremlin for a third term against the background of protests and a crackdown that critics compare to Soviet repression. The phone-in has become a traditional event during Putin’s 13-year domination over Russia, usually lasting a marathon span of up to five hours as the Russian strongman fields questions on everything from plumbing in Siberia to Kremlin’s foreign policy in the Middle East.
NUMEROLOGY
6.2
A strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit several areas of Pakistani cities including Punjab and KP on Wednesday at about 2.25 pm. It also jolted southeastern part of Afghanistan, India and some parts of Kashmir.
NOT MANY TAKERS A band plays along Boylston Street near the site of the Boston Marathon bombings on April 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. Boylston Street, the site of both bombings, finally fully reopened to the public today. MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES/AFP
the FBI received six months earlier in March 2011, the official added. It included two possible dates of birth, his name in Cyrillic letters and a possible variant of his name. But a review of his activities turned up nothing deemed actionable. “No information was incorrectly entered in the watchlisting system, and all the information was shared precisely as the foreign government provided it,”
They wanted to ‘party’
T
he brothers suspected of carrying out the deadly attacks on the Boston Marathon planned to head to Manhattan to party after the explosions, New York City’s police chief said. Either Dzhokhar or Tamerlan said “Manhattan” in a conversation overheard by the driver of the sports utility vehicle they carjacked.
the official said. Tsarnaev’s name was added to the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, although it was unclear which agency placed it there. The National Counterterrorism Center maintains TIDE, the main US terror database. The database feeds information to several government watchlists, including the FBI’s main Terrorist Screening Database and the “no-fly” list of the Transportation Security Administration.
NEWS BRIEFS Thousands remember war dead on ANZAC Day
Report: 2 Tibetans self-immolate in China
Mexican teachers set ruling party office afire
Harry to join Oz Army for six-month duty
SYDNEY: Tens of thousands of Aussies and Kiwis turned out to honour their war dead, with tributes and calls not to forget those injured in conflict. The commemorations are held every year on the April 25 anniversary of the ill-fated 1915 landing of the Oz and Kiwi Army Corps (ANZAC) at Gallipoli in modern-day Turkey during World War I.
BEIJING: Two Tibetans in southwestern China died after setting themselves on fire, rights groups said, the latest in a series of such protests against Beijing’s rule. Lobsang Dawa and Konchog Woeser set themselves ablaze on Wednesday in Sichuan province’s Aba prefecture, where many such incidents have occurred.
CHILPANCINGO: Teachers angered at education reform stormed the offices of political parties in southwestern Mexico on Wednesday, breaking windows and setting fire inside the ruling party’s local headquarters. Thousands of members of the CETEG teachers’ union, marched in the capital of Guerrero state, Chilpancingo.
LONDON: Planning is underway for Britain’s Prince Harry to spend six months on secondment to the Australian army, a report said Thursday. The 28-year-old younger son of Prince Charles could be formally embedded with an army unit or make an extended visit as an observer, News Limited newspapers said.
Fewer than 20 women have applied for frontline combat roles in Australia since new policies allowing all military positions to be filled on merit rather than gender, officials said Thursday. The defence force opened up its most demanding and dangerous frontline jobs to women in January in a move hailed as an important step in improving a military culture tarnished by sex abuse and harassment allegations. In doing so Australia became one of only a few countries to do so. Others include New Zealand, Canada and Israel.
I don’t want to rest. I want to follow the example of president 41 (Bush, Sr.) and, you know, sprint into the grave. Painting has changed my life in an unbelievably positive way. I love to paint. George W. Bush about his new-found ‘love’
13
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
Technology CELL WORLD
The new face of
ANDROID
NEW YORK: The Galaxy S4, Samsung's latest and greatest, has a cute feature we'll probably see in a lot of phones soon: you can shoot both yourself and your surroundings at the same time, using the front- and back-mounted cameras. It's a bit like having a two-camera film crew follow you around. But other than that, it's hard to point to anything that will set the world on fire in the new phone, revealed Thursday at an event in New York. The S4 has what you'd expect from a new smartphone: a bigger screen and a faster processor. It may prove to be unfortunate that didn't stop there when it presented the successor to its hit Galaxy S III, as the phone has a grabbag of features that don't come together as a pleasing whole. Samsung provided reporters with some hands-on time with pre-production units, which revealed the S4 to be, in terms of hardware, a solid successor to the III. The screen is slightly larger, at 5 inches on the diagonal compared to 4.8 inches for the III and 4 inches for the iPhone 5. It boasts a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, that of a high-definition TV set. This should mean that the resolution chase is over in the smartphone area: the eyes just can't discern any more pixels on these small screens. Competing top-line Android phones already have the same resolution, so Samsung isn't breaking new ground here. The bigger screen is crammed into a chassis that's actually a hair narrower and thinner than the S III's. This is quite a feat. Samsung shrank the frame surrounding the screen to make room. Shrinking other internal components allowed it to make the battery 20 per cent larger than III's: whether that translates into longer battery life, the added battery power could be eaten up by software and hardware changes, no idea. The body is still dominated by softly molded plastic, and the S 4 doesn't really advance the aesthetics of its predecessor the way competitors Apple, Sony
Samsung gives its flagship device a speedbump while adding many features, but is it worth buying?
and HTC have. Apple a n d H T C have put a lot of sweat into machining metal into jewel-like enclosures; Samsung doesn't seem to care about looks. Samsung does care about trying to push the envelope on what the phone does, but it may have poked through the envelope, tearing a hole or two in it. It's probably not a disaster, because most of its features can be turned
off, but first-time users could be confused. However, Samsung is taking the whole “touch screen'' thing further: you don't even need to touch the phone to make it react: hovering over a thumbnail of a picture in the Gallery will reveal a bigger thumbnail, and hovering over one email in a list will show a preview of its first lines. The idea is similar to the “mouse hover'' feature on a PC, w h i c h sometimes
reveals things before the mouse is clicked. Implementing it on a smartphone is trickier, though. On the PC, you have to use the mouse, so you'll discover the hover functions in the normal course of use. But since the feature is new in a smartphone and there's normally no reason to have your finger hovering over the screen, users are likely to discover this feature by chance. That wouldn't be so bad if all applications responded to hovering in a consistent manner, but very few applications react to it all. On the S 4, the “Email'' app will show previews, but the “Gmail'' app won't. The built-in “Gallery'' app will show picture previews, but other photo apps won't. I suspect users will get tired of trying to hover with their fingers. The hovering feature also sets the phone up for another problem. In my testing, I found that the phone sometimes registered a close hover as a touch. In other words, the screen was overly sensitive, thinking I was touching it when I wasn't. This may be fixed by the time the phone is in production, but it's potentially an annoying issue.
NEXT XBOX IS HERE! Microsoft has sent out invites for the unveiling of the next Xbox for May 21. The next version of the company’s media play has been expected for a while, especially as Sony unveiled most of its PlayStation 4 at an event a few weeks ago. The next Xbox, which is code-named Durango, has been heavily rumored to include a large focus on entertainment and television content as well as games. A new, far more sensitive Kinect sensor has also been rumored for the event. The console is also expected to have PC like specs according to rumours.
COFFEE WITH APPLE CEO? Zynga’s revenues for the first quarter of 2013 declined 18% year-overyear to $264 million as the company is in the midst of doing a big pivot onto mobile platforms. The company swung to a profit from a year ago though, with net income of $4 million. Last year, during the same quarter, Zynga earned $321 million in revenue. Analysts had estimated on average that the company would pull in $209.8 million in revenue and lose 4 cents a share. So this is an earnings beat — thanks to FarmVille 2. But shares are down 9.6 percent in after-hours trading.
Coming soon? According to a Charitybuzz release today, Apple CEO Tim Cook is holding a charity auction (the listing says ‘donated by Tim Cook’) for coffee and a chat with him at the company’s headquarters. The auction benefits the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights and just went live this morning and it’s a listing that covers a visit for two people after a security screening. The bidding is currently at $5,200, but the estimated value is marked at $50,000. This is the first time that Cook has ever auctioned off one-on-one rights for charity. Charitybuzz says that the coffee meeting is expected to be anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour long.
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
Comment Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. Winston Churchill Former British PM
A brutal reminder HIROSHI HIYAMA Agence France Presse
F
or Japan’s neighbours the leafy Yasukuni shrine is a brutal reminder of Tokyo’s imperialist past and wartime aggression, but for many ordinary Japanese it is merely a place to worship ancestors who died fighting for their country. The controversial war memorial is a flashpoint in a bitter dispute between Japan and its Asian neighbours, particularly China and South Korea. The long-simmering issue made international headlines this week when nearly 170 Japanese lawmakers made a pilgrimage there to mark a spring festival, angering Beijing and Seoul and sparking diplomatic protests. Critics of the shrine point to the inclusion of the names of 14 war criminals among the 2.5 million honoured at the wooden temple, while the nationalistic museum on the site also draws fire. For many, however, walking down Yasukuni’s stone paths lined with cherry trees and past imposing gates dedicated to Shinto — an animist religion with elements of Japanese history — is part of a ritual far removed from politics. Hideo Chikuni choked back tears as he explained that he had travelled more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) to honour his brother, a Japanese soldier who died during World War II. “If you have lost family members, you would understand,” the 65year-old told AFP as a light rain fell. “Japanese politicians visiting the shrine seem to cause all this controversy... but I don’t think other countries have any business in this. People who are enshrined here suffered and died for the nation. They fought to protect Japan. And it is thanks to them that we live in a prosperous time today. We cannot forget that.”
HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS
A grandfather recently took to Facebook to sell off his grandson, whom he had kidnapped shortly after birth. Sure, baby selling is common in India, where poverty leaves no choice for the parents, but rarely do we see such callous, albeit hi-tech, methods of this practice.
ELECTIONS IN PAKISTAN
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Still stuck in Dark Ages THE INSIDE STORY Sami Zubeiri
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ext month’s elections should mark the first democratic transition of power in Pakistan, but Taliban threats, social taboos and poor organisation will likely deprive millions of women their right to vote. Out of a population of 180 million, 37 million women and 48 million men are registered to vote in the May 11 polls in a country that has been ruled by generals for half its life and where military coups have repeatedly interrupted democracy. But in the conservative northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, adjoining tribal areas on the Afghan border and southwestern province Baluchistan, few women voted at the last election and officials fear it will be the same again. “We waited the whole day... but not a single woman turned up because of a ban imposed by tribal elders,” remembers Badama Begum, a 33-year-old teacher who worked at a polling station in 2008 in the northwestern district of Mardan. Election authorities set up a separate station staffed only by women to guarantee around 350 registered female voters complete privacy, but it was a waste of time.
“We closed the polling station in the evening, returned the blank ballot papers and empty boxes to the election commission, and left,” she said. In 2008, not a single vote was cast at 564 of 28,800 women’s polling stations — 55 percent of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, officials said. In the most conservative areas, officials estimated women’s turnout at 10-15 percent of those registered. That year, 76 women ran for parliament and 16 won seats. The election commission says there are more women candidates this time, but had no precise number. Registering to vote is a routine process conducted by officials who go door-to-door to compile a list of adults with ID cards in each household But this in itself leaves millions of women disenfranchised. Women’s rights activist Farzana Bari estimates that at least 11 million eligible women will not be able to vote simply because authorities have not granted them national identity cards. The elections themselves present further barriers to women, with some religious leaders believing women voting is un-Islamic. Voting for a man they do not know, some mullahs counselled in 2008, was grounds for automatic divorce — a social taboo few are prepared to entertain. “Our society does not allow us to bring our women to vote,” said Sharif Khan, 50, a solar energy dealer in Miranshah, the
main town in the tribal district of North Waziristan, the most notorious Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold in Pakistan. “We are afraid of the Taliban. They oppose women voting, so why should we take the risk?” he asked. In tribal communities such as these, women live in purdah, confined to women’s only quarters at home. They do not go shopping, they do not work outside the house and they only go to the hospital in a dire emergency. Literacy rates are low, even lower for women. General disillusionment also runs high in some of the most remote and deprived parts of the country. “Women in our area don’t even know how to vote,” said Miranshah cloth merchant Adam Khan, 35. “Our MPs do nothing for our welfare. So it’s not just our women, I won’t vote
this time either,” he fumed. In urban areas, politicians lay on transport to ferry voters to and from polling stations, but in the countryside it becomes more complicated when women are not allowed to travel without a close male relative. Aware of the problem, the election commission tried to introduce reforms that no candidate could win with less than 10 percent of the women’s vote in his constituency, but it was rejected in parliament, said spokesman Khurshid Alam. He says the commission will try to enforce legislation against those who try to stop women from voting, although it remains unclear how. “Preventing a person from casting his vote falls in the purview of corrupt practices and is punishable by three years in jail and fine of rupees 5,000 ($50) or both,” Alam told AFP.
EDITORIALS Not so fast, PC! Bhutto a terrorist?
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hidambaram says he does not aspire to be the Prime Minister. As media houses and think tanks wrack their brains to find who shall be the next Prime Minister, the man that features atop their lists says he has no such ambitions and with the little time that remains to him, he wishes to do some other things like travel. One would not know what sort of a PM would he make, but he is definitely qualified for the job: he has a deep knowledge of the economy, global and national having served and still serving as the Union finance minister. When given charge of the home affairs department, there were signs that PC did not relish the chance much, but he went along. One can’t claim all was well, but that has been the state of the nation for quite some time no matter who was in the seat. So is Chidambaram being very modest about his future? A decade ago no one had any clue about Manmohan Singh. May be even he had not any. This is politics, something as unpredictable and unforeseeable as the sea. It’s calm at times, it’s stormy at times. And what remains after the storm passes, no one knows. So, PC: before you pack your bags, tarry a bit. What’s in store for you, only He knows, or in your case, she?
READERS’ VIEWS
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ne of Pakistan’s mainstream newspapers have called Benazir Bhutto a terrorist, inadvertantly or not, you may see for yourselves: “The Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), which ruled Pakistan for four times since its inception, is now principally relying on hi-tech modes of election campaign rather than organizing huge public meetings because it did not want any of its top stalwarts to fall prey to terrorists like Benazir Bhutto.”
We invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to feedback@postnoon.com or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500 033 or even by way of a call on 4067 2222. Editor: Dean Williams
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
tELEVISION
SHERLOCK 3 FINALE TO BE DIRECTED BY NICK HURRAN
Doctor Who director Nick Hurran is to helm the Sherlock third series finale. Hurran's online CV with talent agency Curtis Brown has revealed that he will direct the third and final film in Sherlock's next run.
REVIEW
OF HUMAN BONDAGE
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FUTURAMA
Sundance Channel's new drama Rectify is one of the best TV shows of the year and it's extremely poignant in its style of depicting how one man, who has been sentenced to prison for almost 20 years, struggles to fit into the world around him.
HEMANTH KUMAR hemanth.k@postnoon.com
Futurama has been axed for a second time. The animated comedy will not be renewed by Comedy Central when it reaches the end of its seventh season, Entertainment Weekly reports. Devised by Simpsons creator Matt Groening, sci-fi comedy Futurama originally aired on Fox between 1999 and 2003. Following a series of successful direct-to-DVD episodes, Comedy Central brought the show back to television, ordering two 26-episode seasons. Futurama will now conclude with the second half of season seven— the new run will begin airing on June 19 in the US.
T
here are so many good American TV shows these days that it makes you wonder if there’s space for yet another TV show to take your breath away. Even if there is one, will it be able to compete with the existing TV shows like Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Homeland among many others? Yes, there is. Sundance Channel’s new TV show Rectify proves just that. Created and written by Ray McKinnon, the series follows Daniel Holden, played by Aden Young, whose life takes a dramatic turn after he’s exonerated for a rape and murder charge after almost 20 years. We are told that he was just days away from his death when a newly found DNA evidence contradicts the claim that Daniel had raped his girlfriend. All those years of solitary confinement have made him a pessimist and Daniel has absolutely no clue what to make out of this dramatic change in his life. Upon his release from prison, he tells the media, “Optimism served no useful purpose in the world where I existed. Obviously, this radical belief system was flawed, and was ironically a kind of fantasy itself.” He’s completely clueless about what to do next or how to interact with his extended family. On the first day, he hardly ever smiles except when he’s with his sister Amantha (Abigail Spencer) and takes a long time to come to terms that he’s not in a prison. His mother, who’s happy that he’s back, has no idea how to interact with Daniel. The only person in the family who’s not happy with the change is Daniel’s step-brother Ted Talbot Jr (Clayne Crawford), who’s afraid that Daniel's return will dent the family business. Moreover, only Ted believes that Daniel is still guilty of the crime the latter was charged with 20 years ago. Rectify is as much a story of how Daniel struggles to embrace the present as it is about the police officials and
DID YOU KNOW...
Homeland rest of the people in the town not in a mood to forget the crime Daniel had committed. The DNA evidence doesn’t necessarily prove that Daniel is innocent and the police officials, particularly those who prosecuted Daniel, try hard to gather new evidence to prove that they were right from the very beginning. The first episode of the series is filled with poignant
moments about a family trying to make Daniel feel comfortable, about a sister who's fiercely protective of her brother, about Daniel himself who looks at the world around him with a new perspective. It's not clear why Daniel took the blame on himself that he murdered his girlfriend but what's even more intriguing is that he finds it difficult to fit in.
The world around him has changed drastically. He tells his mother that he doesn't want to learn how to use mobile phones or computers, but he prefers a TV with a movie player. He even says that he cannot get a hang of “concept of time” since he had trained himself to follow a specific routine when he was in prison. Brilliant cast, cinematography and writing are some of the many things which leave a long lasting impression right from the first episode of the series. The pace with which the story unfolds is quite slow, but then the attention to detail and emotions is impeccable. Rectify is a beautiful character study about people whose lives take a new turn when they least expect them to happen. There are tears, moments of joy and above all there's unrelenting hope that everything's going to be normal. If there ever was a show about what it feels like to be dazed and confused, then we have a perfect example in Daniel. Rectify is one of the best TV shows of the year. A must watch.
next season will focus on a bombing plot, it has been announced. Showtime's entertainment president David Nevins confirmed the details of the terrorist drama's third season to Deadline. Homeland actors Diego Klattenhoff (Mike Faber) and David Marciano (Virgil) will not return to the show next season as series regulars.
TRENDING...
Mad Men star Jon Hamm has hinted that the current season will explore Don Draper's psyche more than ever before. Past seasons have delved into Don's troubled family life and why he ultimately chose to assume another man's identity, but Hamm recently teased to AMC that there are more revelations to come.
Kristen Wiig has admitted that she had a hard time adjusting after leaving Saturday Night Live last year. The Bridesmaids star made her final appearance on SNL last May, in a star-studded episode where Steve Martin, Mick Jagger and Jon Hamm paid tribute to her. The actress worked on SNL from 2005 to 2012.
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THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
spotlight
LOUD AND CLEAR
The Shakey Rays, an independent rock ‘n’ roll band from Chennai, will be performing at Hard Rock Cafe tonight. Fun begins at 9 pm.
S BALAKRISHNA
STARS GALORE
Woman’s world
Ladies had a gala time at the first kitty party organised at Westin Hyderabad. The event was hosted by Aaliyah Bilgrami and Samia Alam Khan. 1
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Movie matter The music launch of Tadakha was a fun affair with the cast and crew of the movie in attendance at Shilpakala Vedika where the event was held.
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ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE
Oakridge students organised a road safety awareness road show on Wednesday. They held placards and posters and distributed leaflets with messages on safe driving as part of the Road Safety Awareness Campaign conducted by the school.
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THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
health
SMOKING BAN TO SAVE 200,000 LIVES A YEAR: MEDVEDEV Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said new legislation banning smoking in public places could save up to 200,000 lives annually in the country. "I hope that it (anti-smoking law) will contribute to reducing this factor (smoking)," Medvedev said. IANS
DYSENTERY
The stomach is one of the most sensitive organs of our body. How we treat it determines its health, and, in fact, our overall health as well. Affecting the gastrointestinal tract is another bowel-related problem: Dysentery. Here’s what you need to know. FLEME VARKEY
fleme.v@postnoon.com
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ysentery is not an easy problem to deal with. It’s uncomfortable, painful and drains a lot of your energy. Come summer, hospitals in the City notice a rise in the number of cases related to diarrhoea and dysentery. Many of us think they are one and the same. According Medilexicon's medical dictionary, dysentery is ‘A disease marked by frequent watery stools, often with blood
POTENT FACT
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STOMACH CHURNING and mucus, and characterized clinically by pain, tenesmus, fever, and dehydration.’ Dr Ketki Shah, a general physician practising in Mumbai, says, “Like cholera, dysentery is spread by faecal contamination. Especially places where the sanitation facilities are not up to the mark, there is indication of such cases. Children are more susceptible since they are often playing in the mud or forget to wash their hands after going to the bathroom. At home, if we forget to wash vegetables properly or have contaminated water, then these become vehicles for these bacteria to thrive.”
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he two primary causes of dysentery are the Shigella bacterium and an amoeba. Shigella can cause severe disease and epidemics, although it responds well to treatment. Dysentery caused by the amoeba is milder than its bacterial cousin, although it is quite difficult to treat and cure and often becomes chronic.
ANEWS PP-LYBRIEFS YOURSELF
TYPES OF DYSENTERY n n
Bacillary dysentery: Caused by a bacterium called Shigella. Amoebic dysentery, also known as amoebiasis: This is caused by an amoeba (called Entamoeba histolytica). It is found mainly in tropical areas; so this type of dysentery is picked up abroad.
SYMPTOMS OF DYSENTERY INCLUDE Abdominal pain n Fever and chills n Nausea and vomiting n Watery diarrhoea, which can contain blood, mucus or pus n Pain while passing stools n Fatigue n
INTERMITTENT CONSTIPATION
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ther symptoms may be intermittent and may include recurring low fevers, abdominal cramps, increased gas, and milder and firmer diarrhoea. You may feel weak and anaemic, or lose weight over a prolonged period. Mild cases of bacillary dysentery may last four to eight days, while severe cases may last three to six weeks. Amoebiasis usually lasts about two weeks.
HOUSECALL
My24
Self-harm
Download the application and get access to club information and fitness tools from the palm of your hand. Nonmembers can download the app and get access to a free three-day pass at any of the 400+ 24 Hour Fitness clubs. You can check membership prices and sign up right on your device. itunes.apple.com
Self-harm is when somebody intentionally injures their body. It is a way of expressing deep emotional feelings such as low self-esteem, or a way of coping with traumatic events, such as the death of a loved one. Self-harm is an expression of personal distress, rather than an illness. It is most common in is most common among 15-19-year-olds, and those suffering from anxiety and depression. nhs.uk
TREATMENT
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r Shah says rehydration therapy is the best. “Doctors usually ask patients to drink lots of fluids as watery diarrhoea results in loss of water leading to dehydration. Even vomiting does cause a lot of water loss. If the symptoms are severe, then the patient has to take intravenous fluid replacement. After conducting laboratory tests further dosage or antibiotics is prescribed” If amoebic dysentery is diagnosed, the patient will probably start with a 10-day course of an antimicrobial medication, such as Flagyl (metronidazole).
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
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n most cases, dysentery is caused by poor hygiene. Individuals can take measures to reduce their risk of infection by regularly washing their hands, especially before and after using the toilet and preparing food. n Drink only bottled water or water that has been boiled for at least one minute. n Do not eat fresh fruits or vegetables that you do not peel yourself. n Do not eat or drink unpasteurised milk, cheese, or dairy products. n Do not eat or drink anything sold by street vendors.
DID YOU KNOW? You can sniff an apple and stop migraine An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but it turns out they may have specific health benefits beyond that. A recent study of 50 people by The Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago found the odour of green apple helped reduce the severity of migraines. bodyandsoul.com.au
PIONEERS Marco Abbondanza Marco Abbondanza is an Italian medical doctor and eye surgeon, best known for his treatment of keratoconus. In 1994 Abbondanza developed a new surgical technique, improved in 2005, called the Mini Asymmetric Radial Keratotomy. Abbondanza introduced in Italy the excimer laser in the late '80s and contributed to the global wide spread of the cross-linking, parasurgical treatment for keratoconus. en.wikipedia.org
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health THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
RESEARCH
STUDY FINDING
QUIT SMOKING? Vitamin E may give extra boost to heart health WASHINGTON: Taking a specific form of a vitamin E supplement can accelerate the health benefits that occur when people quit smoking, according to new research. US researchers found that the improvement in blood vessel function associated with the added vitamin E in the study participants could drop the future risk for cardiovascular disease by an estimated 19 per cent. Smokers were recruited to participate in a study to quit smoking for seven days, with blood markers of inflammation and blood vessel function measured before and after the trial. After seven days of not smoking, participants saw an increase in their vascular function by an average of 2.8 per cent. Those who quit smoking and also took the gamma-tocopherol form of vitamin E showed a 1.5 per cent additional improvement. While these changes in vascular function may appear to be small, previous large-scale studies suggest that every 1 per cent increase in vascular function — or improvement in the blood vessel’s ability to dilate — translates into a 13 per cent drop in risk of developing heart disease later in life. “This is a very short-term study that shows very promising effects," said Richard Bruno from The Ohio State University and senior author of the study. “The underlying rationale is that we know it takes many years before the risk for cardiovascular disease of a former smoker matches that of a non-smoker. We hope to develop a therapy to combine with smoking
cessation that could accelerate the restoration of vascular function and reduce cardiovascular risk," Bruno said. The supplement in the study is not the same as the average vitamin E available on most store shelves. Vitamin E occurs in eight forms based on their chemical structure, and the most well-known form belongs to a variety called tocopherols. In this study, researchers tested the effects of the gamma-tocopherol form. The most common form of vitamin E, and the one for which humans have a dietary requirement, is alpha-tocopherol. Though taking gamma-tocopherol is safe, Bruno noted that longer-term studies with more participants would be required to nail down specific dietary recommendations related to smoking cessation. A total of 30 smokers in their 20s who had smoked at least half a pack per day for a year participated in the study. All participants stopped smoking, and 16 received 500 milligrammes daily of gamma-tocopherol while 14 received a placebo. Participants who took the supplements showed greater improvements in vascular function and also had lower levels of two inflammation-related proteins in their blood than did participants who received a placebo. PTI
It was found that improvement in blood vessel function associated with the added vitamin E could drop future risk of cardiovascular disease by 19 per cent.
Participants who took the supplements showed greater improvements in vascular function and had lower levels of two inflammation-related proteins in their blood.
‘Toggle switch’ that can melt ‘love handles’ identified BERLIN: Researchers have decoded a “toggle switch” in mice which can significantly stimulate fat burning and may help combat obesity. Scientists at the University of Bonn working with Dr Alexander Pfeifer, Director of the Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, have spent years using animal models to explore how the undesirable white fat can be converted into brown fat. “In this way, excess pounds may be able to simply be melted away and obesity combated," said Pfeifer. The researchers have now decoded a “microRNA switch” in mice which is important for brown fat cells. Micro-RNAs are located in the genome of cells and very quickly and efficiently regulate gene activity. They studied a specific microRNA: MicroRNA 155. The gene regulator inhibits a certain transcription factor,that controls brown fat cell function. Surprisingly, researchers found that the transcription factor also regulates the levels microRNA 155 establishing a tight feed-back loop that works like a toggle switch. Bonn researchers and their colleagues from the Federal Institute of Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) and from the University of Regensburg worked with so-called transgenic and knockout mice in whom the gene for micro-RNA 155 was either increased or silenced. The mice then had significantly more brown fat cells available than did the control group and had even converted white fat cells into brown fat cells. The micro-RNA functions as an antagonist to the brown fat cells. These findings help scientists better understand the causes of lipid metabolism diseases. The study is being presented in the scientific journal Nature
BREAKTHROUGH
Radical gene therapy: Hope to cancer patients MELBOURNE: Australian doctors are using a radical gene therapy to treat a rare and aggressive childhood brain cancer, offering hope to young sufferers. The clinical trial, which would help patients to tolerate higher doses of chemotherapy, is underway at a Sydney-based Westmead Hospital. However, the doctors are yet to see it as a breakthrough but it
is said that the gene therapy will eventually have a wider application in the treatment of many types of tumours, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) report today. The trial sponsored by a charity is being conducted on a young Adelaide girl Erin Griffin. The report said that initially it was thought she had a lowgrade brain tumour which
could potentially be treated with chemotherapy, but at 12, she was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a rare and aggressive cancer. According to Erin’s mother Amanda, Erin was given a prognosis by one consultant of just six to nine months. After two brain operations and 30 bouts of radiation therapy, Erin had
exhausted all conventional treatment options. Griffin went online for answers, only to be overcome by the lack of awareness and federal funding. “But, only 4 per cent of the federal funding goes towards childhood cancer research and out of that only a really small fraction goes to brain tumour research," she said. PTI
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THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
Entertainment CINE BYTES
A new record in Nizam
awan Kalyan's upcoming P film in Trivikram Srinivas' A direction has already set a new record. Global Cinemas, a distribution company, has bought the Nizam rights for an undisclosed amount and buzz is that this is the highest figure for any Telugu film in Nizam. Samantha and Praneetha Subhash are the lead actresses.
Tadakha's audio launched
Aditi Chengappa joins Rudrama Devi's cast
diti Chengappa, who was last seen in Thakita Thakita, has joined the cast of Gunasekhar's upcoming film Rudrama Devi. She will be playing the role of Princess Ganapamba, the sister of Rani Rudrama Devi. Anushka and Rana are playing the lead roles.
T
he audio of Naga Chaitanya, Sunil starrer Tadakha was launched in style last night at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad. Tamannaah and Andrea Jeremiah are also playing the lead roles in the film.
REACHING FOR THE STARS
I believe in destiny:
ISHA TALWAR
Isha Talwar, who was recently seen in Gunde Jaari Gallanthayindhe, talks about her journey so far and why she believes in destiny.
HEMANTH KUMAR hemanth.k@postnoon.com
T
he first thing that strikes you while talking to Isha Talwar is the confidence with which she articulates her thoughts. It's not everyday that you come across debutantes like her and in the end, not surprisingly, she convinces you that she was meant to be in films. And why not? Anyone who's that smart and armed with a zeal to explore new territories and work hard irrespective of the language, deserves our attention. However, a day before the release of Gunde Jaari Gallanthayindhe, her debut film in Telugu, she confesses that she's excited and nervous at the same time. "There's so much happening in my life right now that I am completely blank. I just hope the film does well at the box-office," she told Postnoon. Now after the film’s release, she has all the more reasons to smile. Gunde Jaari Gallanthayindhe is expected to be the biggest hit in Nithin's career and it's a clear winner this week at the boxoffice. "I am thrilled that the film is doing extremely well. I have always believed in destiny and in fact, Gunde Jaari Gallanthayindhe, in a way, is about destiny. That was quite a coincidence," she smiles. Born and brought up in Mumbai, Isha Talwar has had a strong connection with films right from her childhood. "My father Vinod Talwar is a director, producer and distributor. Currently, he is working closely with Boney Kapoor and handles the distribution for his films. I am aware of how the industry works and I'm definitely not here for the glamour part of it. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do and once I made up my mind that I
wanted to act in films, I worked really hard for it," Isha says. So was her father a major influence in her decision to take up acting? "Not at all. He never asked me to act in films. While I was studying at St Xaviers, Mumbai I began getting quite a few modelling offers and later on I did couple of ads with Hrithik Roshan and Shahid Kapoor. Once I decided to act in films, I took a break for a year after graduating and took part in several acting workshops. I love dancing and trained in contemporary dance, jazz, hip-hop from Terence Lewis and Kathak from Vijayshree Chaudhary, who's a disciple of Pandit Birju Maharaj," she reveals. Isha Talwar made her acting debut in Vineeth Sreenivasan's Thattathin Marayathu, which went on to become a blockbuster in Malayalam in 2012. She says, "It's not like I wanted to make my debut in Malayalam. I never had a strategy. When I was offered the film, I fell in love with the script so much that I signed the film. A lot of people discouraged me saying that I had made a wrong move, but that film has done wonders for my career. Gunde Jaari Gallanthayindhe is the fourth film in my career and I bagged all recent three roles because of my work in Thattathin Marayathu. This is precisely why I believe in destiny. If you are meant to do something, things will somehow fall into place." So what was her favourite part in Gunde Jaari Gallanthayindhe? "I loved the situational comedy in the film and it was a fabulous team to work with. Nithin has worked hard and his energy, especially in Emaindho Ee Vela song, is unbelievable," she confesses. After Malayalam and Telugu, she'll soon make her debut in Tamil. She's playing the lead role in Thillu Mullu opposite Shiva and the film is slated to release in May. "To be honest, juggling between three languages is quite exciting. I never dreamt that I wanted to be an actress but now that I am here, I am doing my best. I am very ambitious. I think that's quite essential, in addition to hard work and luck," she smiles.
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
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It's bright, it's vibrant, it's strong, it speaks for itself, and it makes you a headturner no matter what! It is red. Wear it with white, black, blue, pink, green, orange, brown, yellow, and what not! We picked up some hot red pieces from Shoppers Stop, and threw in a pair of shorts, a couple of skirts, and voila! We are set to do the red!
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STELLA MCCARTNEY NAMED DESIGNER FOR TOMORROW PATRON
Compiled by Kanchan Agarwal Store: Shoppers Stop at Begumpet or Inorbit Mall, Hi-tech City
STELLA MCCARTNEY has been named as the new patron of Designer for Tomorrow - a competition for emerging designers based in Germany. The British designer succeeds Marc Jacobs in taking up the role, who served as the initiative's first high-profile ambassador for the past two years.
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Entertainment THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
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THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
Chai Time
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. Carl Sandburg
KAKURO
QUICK CROSSWORD
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SUDOKU How to play kakuro Kakuro is a popular game similar to sudoku in some ways. But is also suitably different. The key question: ‘How do you play kakuro?’, well here are the rules of kakuro. The answer: The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers. However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number. Within each collection of cells — called a run — any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once. Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on... So, how do you work out the actual combination? Well, this is done through elimination and cross-referencing. For instance, as you work out the answers for other kakuro clues, this will naturally limit the valid combinations, and hence the answer for this particular run. Note the second cell in row two — it contains two numbers, 30 and 11. The 30 refers to the vertical run underneath the number 30 and the 11 refers to the two cells to the right, horizontally, of the number 11.
ACROSS
PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER
SCRIBBLING PAD
1 Brothers or sisters 5 Japanese room divider 10 School fund-raising gps 14 Farm tool 15 ‘___ Pop’ (Dr Seuss classic) 16 Lower leg part 17 ‘Or ___!’ (threat ultimatum) 18 Sounding shocked 19 Aviation-related prefix 20 First half of things we all memorized 23 Put in the oven again 24 ‘___ thinketh in his heart, so is he’ 26 Orator’s delivery 29 Choir’s platform 31 Pigeon sound 34 Motorist’s crime, briefly 35 ‘What ___ Got’ (Carly Simon tune) 36 What we memorized 40 Treat with leniency 41 1998 role for Angelina Jolie 42 Have a light repast 43 Young’s partner in accounting 44 Cliff Huxtable’s oldest 47 Common periodical name 49 ‘I ___ say it ...’ 53 Second half of things we all memorized 56 Noncom rank 58 Long for 59 ‘You never had ___ good!’ 60 Curled-lower-lip expression 61 Rid of rodents 62 ‘Battlefield Earth’ author Hubbard 63 Big name in dog food 64 Sticks around 65 Ocean route
DOWN
1 Headhunter’s weapon 2 ‘Well ___!’ (‘Fancy that!’) 3 ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ painter Hieronymus 4 Borg and Edberg, eg 5 Handed a raw deal from 6 Hazzard County boss 7 Brilliantly colored food fish 8 Biblical king who abolished idolatry 9 Dressed for bed, briefly 10 King David, as a writer 11 Commoners 12 Filling for some guest mattresses 13 Commercial word with ‘Cone’ and ‘Cap’ 21 ‘The Raven’ writer’s monogram 22 Gold purity unit 25 Jacket of the ‘60s 27 Woolly farm female 28 Exxon competitor 30 Breathing-related (Abbr) 31 Place for some birds 32 Common prayer opener 33 Finally becoming communicative 35 Recruits, in the lingo 37 Absolutely must 38 Take ___ in the right direction 39 Vietnam Wall designer Maya 44 Easy or Sesame 45 ___4 (Toyota SUV) 46 Whenever your heart desires 48 Carpet meas 50 More than required 51 Mike with a punch 52 ___ layer (upper atmosphere part) 54 ‘The Crow’ star Brandon 55 Cafeteria item 56 Place to be pampered 57 Costa del ___
Chai Time THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013 Thiruvaikumar
STAR POWER for 26-4-2013
27
As per Hindu panchang thiruvaikumar@yahoo. co. in, 040-27177230 / 9177596118
ARIES
TAURUS
GEMINI
CANCER
LEO
VIRGO
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
PISCES
Employees need to work hard to achieve recognition. After facing a dull period you are likely to enjoy good effects and feel cheerful. Though you face hurdles in certain work you have the capacity to face them and go ahead with determination.
STRIP TEASE AGNES
You express your opinions without hesitation. Difficulties you were facing will be over. You complete all work successfully and at a fast pace. Dull period for businessmen will be over and they will march ahead on the victory path.
Though minor setbacks likely, there will be a happy atmosphere at home. All worries and confusion in the family will disappear. You will be more courageous in completing all undertaken work. Businessmen will be successful in their projects.
A happy situation is likely to prevail at home. You act wisely and complete all work in a clearcut way and get appreciation from all. Unexpected minor tensions and disputes likely but you come out of the same soon. New efforts might get delayed.
All new and innovative efforts become successful. Good effects likely to take place to a maximum extent. Disturbances because of children’s wrongdoings will get resolved making you happy. Avoid committing to stay out of trouble.
Financial position looks more comfortable. You give due respect to others’ feelings and suggestions. All undertaken work will be successfully accomplished. Comforts likely to improve. Influence is set to rise as your bad phase ends.
Minor financial losses and hurdles likely for some. Businessmen achieve greater heights in their business as their innovative efforts succeed. Administrative capabilities get sharpened and you will be appreciated by all. Still, be alert.
Minor misunderstanding with spouse likely but will be resolved in no time. Financial situation likely to be very strong. Debts get cleared and you relax. As expenses are likely to be beyond expectations, you need to be careful in spendings.
Employees to be entrusted with additional responsibilities. Financial position to become very comfortable. Unexpected good turning points likely to take you to dizzy heights. Blood relatives will get closer and extend help in time of need.
TAROT READ
Sumaa Tekur
tarotreadhyd@gmail. com
ARIES:
GEMINI:
Page of Wands – Austerity steps needed now to see yourself and the family through these tough financial times. Don’t take any chances and protect your savings.
LEO:
Nine of Swords – These are difficult times for you with things not going your way no matter how much you plan. You only consolation is a friend’s continued support.
LIBRA:
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE
Eight of Cups – A personal motive may be behind someone asking you to sign up. Do it only if you’re completely convinced and not because you’re being forced.
SAGITTARIUS:
Ace of Wands – You may get caught in the middle of a fight without being in it: your only crime being that you’re at the wrong place at the wrong time.
TAURUS:
Judgement – You discover the joy in the simple pleasures of life. It could be in a scoop of ice cream or in getting wet. It won’t hurt to be a little impulsive today.
CANCER:
Ten of Wands – You need to perform your best under testing times to breach limits of your potential and reach the next level. Bosses are happy with your results.
VIRGO:
Seven of Swords – Be prepared to get back into the game. You will be able to utilise skills in a profitable way to make a good re-entry into the chosen career.
SCORPIO:
The Tower – Delays cause frustration but there’s little in your control. Go with the flow and do things as they’re supposed to be. Keep a check on anger.
CAPRICORN:
The Moon – Beware of getting into a financial scheme. You need to check documents carefully before signing, and also do a thorough background check.
PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS
PISCES:
Death – Take steps to stabilise relationships and career. Changes are on the way and it may threaten to throw everything off gear. Keep a cool head.
NUMBER GAME
ds – Eating too much to deal with stress? You sure have a problem and need to deal with it correctly. Consult a therapist for ways to reduce stress.
SCRABBLE
AQUARIUS: Nine of Wan-
POOCH CAFE
Chances of minor misunderstanding with friends and relatives likely; avoid this. Only by working hard and on a continuous basis will you be able to taste success. However, you will do it with ease and earn a good name from all.
for 26-4-2013
Ten of Pentacles – You have become aspirational and desire to indulge in pleasures that were previously restricted only to the super-rich. Enjoy the experience!
NON SEQUITUR
Those staying away from family on deputation are likely to rejoin them. Marriage talks will progress well and get finalised soon. Businessmen flourish and expend their horizon. Your stock is set to pile up. Employees likely to attain great heights.
SUDUKO
You fulfill needs and wishes of all family members. Good turning points and improvement likely in the family. Financially, a comfortable position is predicted. Hurdles disappear and all work get completed. Avoid unwanted arguments.
Boggle BEE ANT MOTH BEETLE CRICKET Vol: 2, No 279 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon. com and for subscription, please call 040-4067 2222, Fax: 040-4067 2211
28
Entertainment THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
EMINENT JURY?
CINE BYTES
VIDYA BALAN
JOINS CANNES JURY PANEL
Richa finds Madhuri perfect combo
M
adhuri Dixit is an ideal combination of a good actress and dancer, says Richa Chadda and adds that the Bollywood diva is like mirchi. “Madhuri Dixit is like a 'mirchi'. She can dance and act equally well. So she is very fit to be an actress,” said Richa, who debuted with Dibakar Banerjee's Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! But Richa grabbed attention after her work in Gangs Of Wasseypur. IANS
Anurag Kashyap’s movie in Cannes
A
nurag Kashyap's Ugly is the latest Bollywood movie to be selected for the Cannes film festival's Director's Fortnight sidebar. After his movie got selected, the count of Indian films at the festival rose to four. Other films that will be screened at the festival are Bombay Talkies, Monsoon Shootout and Dabba.
Mallika sees her Mr. Right in Karan Johar
A
ollywood actress Vidya Balan joins the jury panel of 66th edition of Cannes International Film Festival, which has names like Hollywood star Nicole Kidman, director Ang Lee and jury president Steven Spielberg. The film fest will start May 15. The jury will select films in competition section for the awards, which will be announced during the closing ceremony May 26, reads a statement on the official website of the film fest. Eight international movie personalities will help Spielberg award the prizes. The othr names on the jury panel are Japanese director Naomi Kawase, British scriptwriter-director-producer Lynne Ramsay, French actor-director Daniel Auteuil, Taiwanese director-producer-scriptwriter Ang Lee, Romanian scriptwriter-director-producer Cristian Mungiu and Austrian actor Christopher Waltz. IANS
ctress Mallika Sherawat, who will soon be seen on a reality show hunting for her Mr. Right, feels filmmaker Karan Johar could be a right match for her. The Murder girl will be seen in TV reality show The Bachelorette India — Mere Khayaalon ki Mallika, in which she will scout for her soulmate. "Karan Johar. I just like him. He is just the perfect bachelor for me," she told the reporters. IANS
sports
29
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
NBA
Sport Snippets Meersman wins Romandie first stage
Thunder edge Rockets for 2-0 series lead
LAUSANNE: Belgium's Gianni Meersman, of the Omega Pharma team, won the first stage of the Tour of Romandie on Wednesday, but Britain's race favourite Chris Froome remained in the overall lead. Meersman won the 176km stage between Saint-Maurice and Renens, in the Lausanne suburbs, in a sprint finish from Italy's Giacomo Nizzolo and Roberto Ferrari. "It was a difficult day but the team did excellent work," said 27-year-old Meersman.
James Harden scored a game-high 36 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. OKLAHOMA CITY: Kevin Durant (right) and Russell Westbrook each scored 29 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder over Houston 105-102 Wednesday for a 2-0 lead in their first-round NBA playoff series. The Thunder squandered a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter as Houston, playing without Asian American star Jeremy Lin because of a third-quarter muscle bruise, rallied with a 21-2 run for four-point lead in the late going. Oklahoma City answered with a 10-2 run to win the game, topped by a go-ahead 3-pointer from Durant, who scored 21 points in the first half, and the playmaker's key pass to set up a Thabo Sefolosha jumper. "I saw the opening for the
three and made that and that gave me some confidence," Durant said. "I have confidence in Thabo and everybody else. If they are open I will give them the shot. If they miss we will live with it." "We stayed aggressive. That's why we were able to make some in that fourth. We've got to continue to trust the pass and trust each other that we are going to make those shots when it counts." The best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series continues with games three and four on Saturday and Monday at Houston, where the Rockets went 29-12 in the regular season and split two games against Oklahoma City.
Grizzlies' Gasol voted top defender NEW YORK: Spanish center Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies was named on Wednesday as the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, outpolling Miami Heat superstar LeBron James to capture the award. Gasol averaged 1.7 blocked shots and 1.0 steals a game in addition to 7.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists. "We were 15 down -- we could have given up and thought about the next game but we didn't," said Rockets guard James Harden, a former member of the Thunder backcourt. "We have a lot of confi-
Sky name strong team to back Wiggins Giro bid
dence going back home." Serge Ibaka added 12 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots for the Thunder, who lost to Miami in last year's NBA Finals. AFP
AUSTRALIAN WORLD CHAMP TRIALS
Swimmers in troubled waters ROBERT SMITH Agence France-Presse
SCANDALS 'OUT OF PROPORTION': MAGNUSSEN
SYDNEY: Australia's world championship selection trials begin in Adelaide on Friday as fallout from last year's mediocre performance in the pool at the London Olympics continues to haunt the team. In the eight months since the nation's worst Olympics swimming medal tally in 20 years a massive shake-up has taken place. A new administration and support team have been installed, the search for another national head coach goes on, government funding has been slashed and swimmers have
SYDNEY: World 100m freestyle champion James Magnussen said Thursday Australia's swimming scandals have been blown out of proportion and hopes he will be able to move on at this week's national trials. Magnussen, 22, was among six swimmers who were fined.
been fined and threatened with suspension for poor behaviour. Swimming is Australia's highest profile Olympic sport but that did not stop the government-backed Australian Sports Commission (ASC) this week from cutting its annual funding allocation by 5.8 percent to Aus$8,165,000 ($8,389,000). The ASC cited a need for Swimming Australia to "demonstrate effective leadership and governance of the sport" in a rare cost-cutting ultimatum. Six swimmers, including world 100m freestyle champion James Magnussen, were earlier this month fined and slapped with deferred suspensions for taking banned sleeping pills.
DOPING SCANDAL FALLOUT
Sheikh orders Godolphin lockdown
LONDON: Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Wednesday spoke of his anger at the doping scandal engulfing his Newmarketbased Godolphin stable which he has put in lockdown. Sheikh Mohammed's racing empire was rocked to the roots on Monday when it
emerged that 11 horses at Mahmood Al Zarooni's classic-winning yard had tested positive for anabolic steroids. Al Zarooni has admitted to "a catastrophic mistake" and the 37-year-old faces a lengthy ban when he appears before a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary hearing on
Thursday. Whatever his fate Sheikh Mohammed now faces the uphill task of rebuilding the shattered reputation of his prized Godolphin racing operation. In a statement on the eve of Al Zarooni's hearing Sheikh Mohammed pulled no punches at the sensational events in Newmarket.
"I was appalled and angered to learn that one of our stables has violated Godolphin's ethical standards and the rules of British racing," he told Godolphin's official website. "I have been involved in British horse racing for 30 years and have deep respect for its traditions and rules.�
LONDON: British cycling great Bradley Wiggins has labelled the team selected to help him achieve his dream of adding the Giro D'Italia to his Tour de France and Olympic time-trial crowns as as good as the one who helped him to victory in the Grand Boucle last year. The 32-year-old will be backed up by a strong team including Italian Dario Cataldo - 12th in the past two editions - and Spaniard Rigoberto Uran, who was seventh last year.
Mayweather vows jail will not weaken him LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: Unbeaten American boxing star Floyd Mayweather says neither jail time nor ring rust from a one-year layoff will diminish him next week when he returns against compatriot Robert Guerrero. "Of course I feel unbeatable. I'm in the sport where I'm the best," Mayweather said in a Wednesday teleconference call. "I'm not going into the fight thinking I'm beatable." Mayweather will defend his WBC welterweight title against Guerrero.
sports
30
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
WTA STUTTGART OPEN
BRIEFS
Guan tees off at New Orleans NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: Chinese 14-year-old schoolboy Guan Tianlang, two weeks after an historic Masters debut as the youngest player at Augusta National, tees off again Thursday at a US PGA Tour event. Guan will face a top tour lineup at the $6.6 million Zurich Classic of New Orleans, hoping to advance his career after making the cut at the Masters and taking the Silver Cup as the best amateur at the year’s first major tournament. “I spent a month here last year and it’s a great place for me,” Guan said. “I feel great to come back here this year, especially after The Masters. It feels pretty good right now and I hope to play good.” Guan has not changed his preparation from what he used at the Masters, where he toured the course with world number one Tiger Woods and other idols in practice rounds, gaining precious knowledge to help improve his game. AFP
Wozniacki swept aside
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki exited the WTA Stuttgart Open, losing 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 to Spain’s Carla Suarez in their first round clash. STUTTGART: Denmark’s former world number one Caroline Wozniacki exited the WTA Stuttgart Open on Wednesday, losing 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 to Spanish clay court specialist Carla Suarez in their first round clash. Wozniacki, seeded seven and a finalist in the tournament in 2011, had only herself to blame after letting a 3-0 lead in the first set slip away to lose in a hard fought tie-break. However, Suarez, ranked 27th in the world to Wozniacki’s 10th, eased through the second set against a demoralised Danish opponent to seal victory on her first match point and claim the scalp of a top-10 ranked player for the sixth time in her career. Suarez, who has yet to win a WTA event despite reaching
four finals, will meet Kazakh player Yaroslava Shvedova, ranked 10 places below her, in
TEXAS LPGA SHOOTOUT
Play resumes at Ballantine’s SOUTH KOREA: First round play resumed Thursday at the Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea after a two-hour delay caused by rain and fog. Players returned to the course, a little over two hours after opening round action at the $2.8 million tournament was suspended due to poor visibility. Johan Edfors was top of the leaderboard at five-under through 10 holes when play was halted. AFP
Park, Lewis fight for top spot
IRVING: World number one Park Inbee of South Korea and second-ranked American Stacy Lewis will fight for the top spot again this week at the inaugural Texas LPGA Shootout that starts on Thursday. The $1.3 million event is the first LPGA stop in the “Lone Star” state in more than 20 years and features 144 players with a cut to the top 70 and ties after 36 holes and a second cut to the low 50 and ties after 54 holes. Lewis has won two titles this
ASHES SERIES
Best of a bad lot
SYDNEY: The recall of two 35-year-old veterans for the Ashes series against England shows the lack of quality coming through the Australian ranks, with the squad the “best of a bad lot”, media said. Selectors picked Brad Haddin and Chris Rogers, with five openers among seven specialist batsmen alongside just one spinner, Nathan Lyon, for the fivematch series starting in Nottingham on July 10. Given the sorry state of Australian cricket following an ignominious 40 Test series drubbing in
the second round. Fifth-seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic later
enjoyed a 7-5, 6-7(0/7), 6-3 win over wild-card Annika Beck, but only after the German put up a tough fight in the second set. “I still don’t feel really good on clay, but it’s getting better,” said Kvitova. “It’s better than it was in Katowice, but I want to improve more before Madrid. “It’s hard to keep the concentration high after the Fed Cup, but it’s always fun to play with the girls,” added Kvitova, who was part of the Czech team whose hopes of defending their Fed Cup title disappeared on Monday when they lost to Italy in the semi-finals. Australia’s Samantha Stosur crashed out in the first round as she lost in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to former world number one Jelena Jankovic. AFP
India last month, pundits bemoaned the lack of options. “The resurrection of previously discarded veterans Brad Haddin and Chris Rogers for the Ashes has merely confirmed the soft underbelly of Australian cricket,” Sydney Daily Telegraph cricket writer Malcolm Conn said. “That the selectors were forced back to the future for a 16-man touring party is a poke in the eye of every batsman in state cricket who fancies himself as a future Test player. Given that Haddin
and one-Test wonder Rogers are both 35, and Ricky Ponting was Sheffield Shield player of the year aged 38, Australia is in danger of losing a generation when it can least afford it.” Australian newspaper columnist Patrick Smith said the Ashes squad was the “best of a bad lot”. “The essential question that needs to be asked is: can we make that Test squad bound for England any better by fiddling with the work of (chairman of selectors) John Inverarity and his mates?
Australia’s Chris Rogers, poses at Lord’s cricket ground on Wednesday after he was named in Australia’s squad for their upcoming Ashes tour to England. AFP/CARL COURT
Park Inbee and Stacy Lewis will fight for the top spot again this week at the inaugural Texas LPGA Shootout from Thursday. season and became the first US player to claim the top ranking, holding the spot for four weeks until Park took over one week after her major victory at the
Kraft Nabisco Championship earlier this month. “For sure I’m really happy with that,” Park said. “I’m very happy with the way I played with the pressure.” Park won her first major title at the 2008 US Open and also won last year’s LPGA Championship, a crown she is set to defend in June. In the past 10 months she has won four times and finished in the top 10 on another 11 occasions worldwide. AFP
Aussies will prove critics wrong: Pup SYDNEY: Skipper Michael Clarke says Australia will prove their critics wrong and bring the urn home from England despite his team being panned as the “worst Ashes squad”. Clarke has backed his 16-man party named on Wednesday to do the job in five Tests against England, starting at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge ground on July 10. Sections of the British press have slammed Clarke’s touring party with The Daily Mail declaring:” Aussies name worst Ashes squad in memory”, adding gloatingly: “Is that it, Australia? Is that all you have got?” Clarke said the reaction does not surprise him following Australia’s ignominious 4-0 Test series rout in India in March. “It didn’t come as much of a surprise when an English reporter described us as Australia’s ‘worst Ashes squad’ at yesterday’s team announcement,” Clarke wrote in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph on Thursday. AFP
IPL 6
31
BATTLE OF THE TITANS
METRE
6 S 260
Chris Gayle (RCB)
34 4S 875
M Hussey (CSK) C Gayle (RCB)
35
HIGHEST SCORE
175*
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013 Chris Gayle (RCB)
BEST BOWLER
4-13
Sunil Narine (KKR)
Dhawan back with team The best news for us is that Shikhar Dhawan is back and will be playing his first IPL match this season. It will be a big boost to our batting. Krish Srikkanth SRH mentor
Chris Gayle (RCB) 432 runs
Sunil Narine (KKR) 14 wickets
‘We want to improve our bowling’
C
hennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said that he was not unduly worried by his side’s death bowling issues but would look to improve the overall bowling when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match. “I am not worried about death bowling. There is always pressure in 20-20 cricket. There are very good hitters in the game now. Look at Villiers and Steve Smith even if you bowl well they have got the ability to reverse sweep or stand on the leg stump and hit it on the covers. So, it is very tough skill. I think Bravo is doing well for us. But, we want to do better rather. In fact, we want to do better with our bowling performance,” he said. PTI P
W
L
T PT
RCB
8
6
2
0
12 +1.254
CSK
7
5
2
0
10 +0.648
SRH
7
5
2
0
10 -0.104
RR
7
4
3
0
8 +0.588
KXIP
7
4
3
0
8 +0.343
MI
7
4
3
0
8 -0.135
KKR
7
2
5
0
4 -0.014
PWI
8
2
6
0
4 -1.467
DD
8
1
7
0
2 -0.954
P-played; W-win; L-lost; T-tie; NR-net run rate; PT-points
NR
G APARNA SAI
aparna.s@postnoon.com
T
he Sunrisers Hyderabad, currently placed third on the points table, have been boosted with the arrival of In dian batsman Shikhar Dhawan in the side as they take on Chennai Super Kings at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium today. Dhawan is yet to make an appearance in this season’s IPL as he was out of action due to an injury he had sustained on his left hand during a Australia’s tour to India in March. Dhawan who scored his maiden ton on his Test debut, was last seen in action during that match. The SRH are all pumped up and believe that the hard hitter’s presence would help the team in posting bigger totals, a task which the side has consistently failed in doing. But it remains to be seen
SRH VS CSK AT 8PM ON SET MAX
SCORECARD
how the Sunrisers from Hyderabad perform today, as they played their last match on April 17, eight days before they play against Chennai today. Meanwhile, the Chennai Super Kings, who are a notch above SRH on the points table have had a good run on their home ground. They managed to defeat Rajasthan Royals in the previous match when the two met on the former’s home ground on Tuesday. They chased down a formidable total of 185 runs which was posted by the Royals. It will be difficult for the Sunrisers Hyderabad to defeat the Chennai Super Kings on their home turf especially with most of the players being in top form. The CSK, who have already won the trophy on two occasions earlier, not only look formidable on paper but have also proved to be good on the field. It remains to be seen if the newest team in the IPL are able the keep the Chennai giants away.
FEET ABOVE THE GROUND
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS VS MUMBAI INDIANS Mumbai Indians innings (target: 160 runs from 20 overs)
Kolkata Knight Riders innings (20 overs maximum) Y Pathan c Harbhajan b Johnson
19
DR Smith c sub (BB McCullum) b Narine 62
Gambhir* c Harbhajan b Ojha
26
SR Tendulkar b Narine
JH Kallis c Sharma b Ojha
37
KD Karthik† lbw b Senanayake
MK Tiwary b Malinga
33
RG Sharma* c & b Narine
34
KA Pollard c Tiwary b Bhatia
33
AT Rayudu not out
13
EJG Morgan c Sharma b Johnson 31 DB Das† b Malinga
6
R Bhatia not out
1
Extras (b 1, lb 3, w 1, nb 1)
6
Total (6 wickets; 20 overs)
159
Bowling
O
M R
W Econ
Harbhajan
2
0 35
0 17.50
MG Johnson SL Malinga
4 4
0 26 0 25
2 2
2
Harbhajan Singh not out
7
7
Extras (lb 4)
4
Total (5 wickets; 19.5 over)
162
Bowling
O
M R
W Econ
L Balaji
4
0 24
0
6.00
6.25
Iqbal Abdulla 4
0 35
0
8.75
4
0 17
3
4.25
4
0 50
1 12.50
3.5
0 32
1
6.50
PP Ojha
4
0 21
2
5.25
SP Narine
KA Pollard
2
0 14
0
7.00
Senanayake
YS Chahal
4
0 34
0
8.50
R Bhatia
8.34
Mumbai Indians won by 5 wickets
Mumbai Indians’ Harbhajan Singh celebrates his team’s victory over Kolkata Knight Riders during their Indian Premier League match in Kolkata on Wednesday. PTI/SWAPAN MAHAPATRA
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013
sports
TORRES REFRESHED BY EUROPA EXPLOITS: BENITEZ Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez says his club's Europa League run has helped Fernando Torres rediscover his confidence and he is banking on the Spanish striker to maintain his form in Thursday's semi-final first leg at FC Basel.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL REVIEW
Thrashing may bring end of an era for Barça
Teutonic night!
MADRID: Barcelona's humiliation in their 4-0 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich on Tuesday night confirmed the suspicion of the clash between the two coming at a crossover point between a Barcelona on the wane and a Bayern ready to impose its own era of dominance. Bayern are hardly newcomers to the European top table - should they complete their passage to next month's final at Wembley it will be their third final in four years - but the fact they still haven't won the competition since 2001 creates the impression that their best is still to come. As good as the German champions were in Tuesday's semi-final first leg, it was the destruction of a Barca side lauded the world over for the past five years that captivated most. Semi-final disappointment is nothing new. Indeed in their sixth consecutive trip to the last four of the Champions League, this will surely be a fourth defeat.
SUAREZ’S BITE SAGA
Robert Lewandowski led the charge in Borussia Dortmund's 4-1 win over Real Madrid. RYLAND JAMES Agence France-Presse
KIERAN CANNING Agence France-Presse
32
DORTMUND, GER MANY: Poland striker Robert Lewandowski (in pic) netted all four goals in Borussia Dortmund's 4-1 win over Real Madrid in Wednesday's Champions League semi-final, first-leg to strengthen the possibility of an all-German final at Wembley on May 25. After Bayern Munich's 4-0 hammering of Barcelona on Tuesday in the other semi-final, Borussia followed the German champions' example. Dortmund were as clinical as Bayern as they floored Jose Mourinho's Real who narrowly avoided suffering their worst defeat in the competition - AC Milan beating them 5-0 in what was then the European Cup in the 1988/89 campaign. "We have taken only the first step, but of course we are happy," said Lewandowski, who became the first player to score four goals in a
Fans' reaction pleases boss
C
oach Jurgen Klopp praised Borussia Dortmund's fans after the anticipated angry backlash to Germany midfielder Mario Goetze's controversial move to rivals Bayern Munich failed to materialise in the win against Real Madrid. Dortmund routed the Spanish giants 4-1 on Wednesday night with Poland striker Robert Lewandowski becoming the first player to score four goals in a Champions League semi-final. Dortmund fans had reacted angrily when news broke on Tuesday that Goetze will join Bayern on July 1 after actioning a release clause in his contract. An Internet campaign had threatened a hostile response during the Real match.
Champions League semifinal. "I am pleased with the four goals, but now we want to reach the final." Real coach Jose Mourinho, already a twotime winner of the trophy with Porto and Inter Milan, conceded that Dortmund had been the better side but insisted his side could pull off a remarkable comeback. "I have learnt that anything can happen in football, it will be tough next week, but nothing is impossible and my footballers will try to show that next Tuesday," said Mourinho. Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp had promised his players would not be destabilised by the news on Tuesday that 20-year-old midfield star Mario Goetze was to join Bayern Munich next season and his prophecy proved correct. "We have to force ourselves to stay focused, we still need to go to Madrid, which will be no walk in the park," said Klopp referring to next Tuesday's return leg in Madrid. The night belonged to Lewandowski who the opening goal, then added a second-half hat-trick to put Dortmund on the verge of their second Champions League final having won in 1997.
FOOTBALL BRIEFS Nigeria game stopped after police shooting
Kagawa rues limited contribution to United
Levski fined for Hitler birthday banner
Indonesian given life ban for punching referee
LAGOS: A Nigeria league match between champions Kano Pillars and Heartland was abandoned on Wednesday after police shot a fan at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano, northern Nigeria. "The match was called off after Heartland refused to continue the game after a fan was shot and the fans protested," media officer Idris Malikawa said.
TOKYO: Manchester United's Shinji Kagawa was hailed by the Japanese press after his club clinched their 20th Premier League title, but the midfielder said he could have contributed more to the historic feat. Kagawa was kept out of contention for two months after sustaining a knee injury in October.
SOFIA: Top Bulgarian football club Levski Sofia has been fined almost 20,000 euros after fans displayed banners with swastikas and praise of Adolf Hitler during a recent game, the country's football federation said on Wednesday. It also called on the club to slap a two-year stadium ban on the authors of the incidents.
JAKARTA: An Indonesian player was handed a life ban Wednesday for punching a referee in the face, with officials saying the outburst of violence had "tarnished the image of Indonesian football". It was the first life ban for a player in the country since 2008, and adds to the woeful state of football in Southeast Asia's biggest nation.
Benitez stays tight-lipped on Suarez bite ban BASEL, SWITZERLAND: Rafael Benitez refused to be drawn on the 10-game ban imposed on Liverpool striker Luis Suarez (above) on Wednesday for biting the Chelsea manager's Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic. Suarez was handed the heavy suspension by the Football Association in response to an incident during Sunday's 2-2 draw at Anfield in the Premier League in which the Uruguayan appeared to sink his teeth into Ivanovic's arm. Benitez refused to discuss the incident at the time and he was similarly reluctant to give an opinion on what had happened when he was asked to comment on Thursday. "We know that was wrong and after the decision, it is not something we can say too much (about)," he said. Asked whether Ivanovic had suffered any ill-effects from the incident, Benitez said: "He's fine." The Spaniard was speaking prior to his side's Europa League semi-final first-leg match against Swiss side FC Basel on Thursday.
We know that was wrong and after the decision, it is not something we can say too much (about). Rafael Benitez Chelsea interim manager