Epaper 25 july 2013

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013 HYDERABAD

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WEATHER: HAZE; 27°C

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TURNING THE GREYS INTO COLOURS

Fashion designer Aniket Satam shares with us some tips to make fashion for the monsoons colourful.

PG 23

GUARDIANS UNGUARDED HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

THEMSELVES REPORT ON P4

THE HOUSE OF WINDSOR

Those who are supposed to be the guardians of children’s rights are themselves in need of care and protection. Meet the Child Welfare Committees of Andhra Pradesh.

PICTURE FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY

PG 16&17

‘TDP’S LEAD SIGNALS RESURGENCE’ Party’s organising secretary PL Srinivas attributes the splendorous success to Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s mass contact programme and Congress’s misrule.

PG 6

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THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

city events

PRESSING ISSUES

National seminar on Caste and Dalits: A way forward will be held.

Where: Hyderabad Central University, Gachibowli When: Till July 25, 9.30 am Contact: 2313-3461

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

24°C

21°C

Cloudy with showers likely.

Morning

Afternoon

24°C

29°C

Cloudy

Cloudy with showers likely

Cloudy

New Delhi Mumbai Max 32 Max 29 Min 26 Min 26 Showers likely

Chennai Max 34 Min 27

Cloudy with chances of thunderstorms

Cloudy

Bangalore Max 25 Min 19

Cloudy with chances of thunderstorms.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES Have fun while you burn calories at this aerobics workshop.

Where: Colorama printers, Begumpet When: Till July 26, 4.30-6.30pm Contact: 2373 0328

SHOWS

Theatre workshop Theatre workshop for children in the eight years and above age group. It offers a rich mix of outdoor theatre activities, readings, analysis, discussions and performances.

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

Unfolding history 160 years of indian railways South Central Railway (SCR) presents '160 Years Of Indian Railways'.

Where: Salarjung museum, Near Estate Talkies, Afzalgunj.

When: On till July 26, 10am-5pm Contact: 040 2452 3211 Performance time Phoenix band will be performing live.

Where: Hard Rock Cafe, Banjara Hills When: July 25, 9 pm Contact: 6463-6375

Just for fun History of India Viritten will be performed by stand-up comedian Vir Das. Where: N-Convention, Madhapur When: July 27

SPLASH OF COLOUR: Preparations for Bonalu festival are underway near Charminar in the Old City.

Contact: 8790432354

Contact: +91 40 23554485/86

Tribal art exhibition Kalakriti Art Gallery presents Dots and Dashes, a Gond tribal art exhibition, curated by Rati Khemka Malaiya.

Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery, Banjara Hills When: On till July 28, 11am to 7pm Contact: Kalakriti Art Gallery on Facebook

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

Where: Alliance Française of Hyderabad

State of the Art Voyage of exploration, a collection of paintings, drawing and sculptures by students of MFA programme 2013 from Sarojini Naidu School of Art & Communication, University of Hyderabad is on.

Where: Shrishti Art Gallery, Jubilee Hills When: Till July 25

Commissioner & Spl Officer

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

198 155313

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

DINING

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

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

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

M ANILKUMAR

When: July 24, 6:30pm Contact: +91 40 23554485/86 Party all night DJ Nancy Hope, one of the listed Top 8 super model DJs in the world is coming to Movida soon.

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

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

Where: Chill, Radisson Blu, Banjara Hills When: On till July 31 Contact: 040 6733 1133

Stand-up comedy by Raja Sekhar Mamidanna.

Where: News Cafe, Madhapur When: July 25, 8 pm Contact: openmic@newscafe.co

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

Where: Viva, Taj Vivanta When: Till Aug 7, 5.30-11.30pm

WORKSHOPS Aerobics

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

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

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, JULY 25, 2013

news

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

DO THE LAWS HAVE ENOUGH SAFEGUARDS TO PROTECT MEN? YES (A) NO (B)

33% 67%

Vagabond eunuchs attack bizmen The police choose to ignore them as they have nothing to gain from catching this lawless group.

FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY

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HYDERABAD: The so-called middle sex, who are mostly found to be vagabond males masquerading as eunuchs have

are posing a threat to the public, reports say.

On Tuesday two men who came from Uttar Pradesh on business purpose were taking a stroll in a City park in the evening. Suddenly a gang of

eunuchs accosted them and demanded they shell out some money. The duo said they refused, after which an altercation ensued and the gang began frisking them. When the two resisted, the eunuchs beat them and snatched a purse containing `10,000, a gold bracelet and a watch. The gang attacked them with blades and small knives.

Bleeding the two approached the Nampally police station and lodged complaints.

According to civic groups in the City, the police hate to touch eunuchs and they are indeed afraid of them. There is therefore no protection to law-abiding citizens from this nuisance. It is a dangerous situation, activists say.

CRIME

Man attacked in running train POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: In a horrific incident a 25-year-old youth was found bleeding in the toilet of a running train yesterday.

The victim, Ramarao, 25, who works in a private company in City was found with a deep cut on his neck and blood was oozing from the wound. The youth was found unconscious.

A)

YES

B)

NO

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

CRIME

Mohd SHUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com

TODAY’S QUESTION

IS ENOUGH BEING DONE TO REIN IN EUNUCH MENACE IN THE CITY?

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He has been shifted to Gandhi Hospital.

The incident happened in the Secunderabad-Warangal passenger train. Upon seeing blood coming out of toilet, some passengers alerted the railway police. The police

found some identity card that gave idea about the youth’s name and company he works.

He is a resident of Qutubbullapur in Jeedimetla. A passenger in the train told the police the youth had boarded the train from Bhungir in Nalgonda and after a while went into the bathroom. It is not sure if he was accompanied by anybody or how he was attacked.

POLITICS

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JFK’s daughter to be ambassador to Japan WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated Caroline Kennedy to become US ambassador to Japan, in the biggest foray into public service for John F Kennedy’s sole surviving child.

The former first daughter, who long resisted running for public office, if confirmed will enter a limelight not seen since her childhood as she becomes the face of the United States in one of its closest allies.

Japan hailed the announcement, saying that Kennedy — a crucial early supporter of Obama’s presidential bid — enjoyed the “deep confidence” of the president.

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AFP

NAMING HONOUR

Australia gifts Prince George a baby crocodile SYDNEY: Australia’s tropical Northern Territory presented an unusual gift to Britain’s new royal baby, Prince George, on Thursday — a crocodile hatched on the day his conception was announced.

The tiny reptile, named George after its recipient, was unveiled by Adam Giles, chief minister of the outback province, who described it as a “unique gift”. “(Its) egg was hatched on December the 3rd, the same day that Kate and William announced to the world that they were expecting a child,” Giles told reporters.

The gift is in keeping with tradition. George’s parents Prince William and his wife Kate were presented with a pair of crocodiles

by Darwin, the territory’s capital, to mark their engagement. Giles

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said he hoped the gift would lure the prince and his parents to northern Australia for a visit.

The government has established a George the Royal Croc Facebook page so the prince can follow his activities from afar.

AFP

CITY BRIEFS Botsa wishes for a United Andhra

Kancha Ilaiah calls for Telugu Nadu

Flood-affected areas being taken care of

CV Anand orders wine shops be closed on polls

State EC unable to curb corruption, says EW

The APCC strongman and minister Botsa Satyanarayana has finally come out with his opinion on Telangana. He said as a person belonging to the Seemandhra region it was his wish that the State should not be divided. He said the party High Command was still thinking as a family elder thinks when brothers want to separate.

Floating a new theory Prof. Kancha Ilaiah on Wednesday demanded carving out a separate State calling it the Telugu Nadu with 12 districts, including Kurnool and Anantapur.

Ilaiah urged the Centre to take steps to create Telugu Nadu State as a solution to the T-tangle. This would also give prominence to backward castes and minorities.

Medical and Health Minister Kondru Murali has said precautionary measures were being taken to control epidemics and viral fevers in the flood-affected areas. Kondru said the CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy was reviewing the situation with the district Collectors, medical officers and in-charge ministers in this regard.

CV Anand, Cyberabad Commissioner of Police-cum-Additional District Magistrate has ordered that all toddy and wine shops, including Bars and Restaurants (excluding bars in star hotels) shall remain closed from 5pm on July 25 to 6am on July 28 in Shamshabad, Moinabad, Narsingi police limits under Shankarpally mandal due to gram panchayat elections on July 27.

Ennikala Nigha Vedika (Election Watch) has alleged that the State Election Commission has failed to curb distribution of money and liquor to the voters by candidates in the ongoing gram panchayat polls. The chief secretary Kaki Madhava Rao, Election Watch convener V Lakshmana Reddy alleged that the contestants spent over `4 crore to bribe the voters in 15 days.

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News THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013 LAST YEAR... HERE No lessons learnt

L

ast year we had reported how the minister for minister for municipal administration had asked the civic body in the City to make sure that the nallahs are clean before the monsoons. A year later, the monsoons are now in full swing, and the state of the City remains the same with overflowing drains and open manholes. No lessons learnt.

JULY 25, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

1.4 mn

year-old small flint knife was unearthed at an excavation site at an archaeological complex in northwestern Spain.

There are no contenders because there has never been a race for leadership in BJP, which is the only party with such a healthy tradition.

Rajnath Singh , BJP Party President, See page 8

THINGS WE 5LEARNT TODAY

The column that teaches everyone something new about the way the world functions.

1

Guardians of child welfare in the State find no recognition Children are taken to the police station instead of being produced before the child welfare committees. They are not recognised by the police, or supported by the labour department or the judiciary.

2

Baby George gets an Australian friend The royal baby has a friend and a namesake, albeit a reptile. Australia named a crocodile George, after the Prince of Cambridge.

3

Don’t ever mess with this Chinese snakeman A Chinese spiritual adviser allegedly threatened a reporter who questioned his powers with death.

4

Tackling serious issues through humour, Cathaayatra’s here Cathaayatra will be performing Doric Wilson’s 1979 classic play, A Perfect Relationship. It will be held at Ravindra Bharathi on August 4.

5

After WikiLeaks Assange now up for elections in Oz WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday officially launched his political party to contest Australian elections this year.

CHILDREN’S WELFARE

Guardians struggling to function efficiently

The existence of the child welfare committees in the State remains largely unknown even among law enforcement authorities and magistrates themselves.

PADMINI C padmini.c@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: In 2000, a landmark judgement that changed the child rights movement in India was enacted. With the Juvenile Justice Act, for the first time ever, a dedicated legal framework of justice was set up at the Centre and in the States for Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) and Children in Conflict with Law (CCL).

In addition to extending the age of a minor to 18, a salient feature of the Act was the provision to set up Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) in every district of the country and authorising them with powers equivalent to a metropolitan magistrate or a judicial magistrate of the first class.

By 2006, almost all 23 districts in AP had CWCs in place.

Each board consisting of a chairperson and four other members, waiting for the police, NGOs or any other competent authority to produce cases of rescued, abused, trafficked, neglected or a homeless children before them.

Seven years later, the existence of these committees still remains largely unknown even among law enforcement authorities and magistrates themselves. “Even today, children are taken to the police station instead of being produced before us. We are not recognised by the police, or supported by the labour department or the

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judiciary. Or even the ministry of women and child welfare, under who we are constituted.

No one even responds to our legal summons,” exclaims Chandra Sekhar Gannoji, Child Welfare Committee member, Mahabubnagar.

As voluntary members elected to the posts, these CWC receive no physical infrastructure, no transport facilities, and no recognition or support from any government leading to more and more district committees

struggling to function efficiently.

Members say that even the token amount of `500 a month that’s supposed to be paid to these committee members is also not given regularly.

“There’s a lot of work to do, so many cases that are pending.

But there are not even the basic facilities. We have to sometimes go do rescues ourselves, then issue summons to the offenders in child labour cases, which they’ll ignore, so we have to go and follow up on the cases, provide counselling to families, organise awareness meetings, etc. At the end of it all, we are left to feel as if we are on some

crusade for our own personal gains and not for helpless children,” says Jayakar Kotte, a CWC member from Rangareddy. Moreover, as these members are picked randomly from a pool, activists, advocates, social workers are spread out over the district, there’s no coordination or communication between them. As a result, some CWC committees have even stopped convening.

“In our district, there’s no co-ordination between the members. So some members are informed, others are not. The mandatory meeting once-aweek is also not fixed. I’ve lost interest. And most weeks, it does not happen. Now, if some child is produced before me, I take up the case or else, I do nothing,” admits A Ankitha, an advocate and member of CWC Nizamabad.

Still alarming, is the fact that there is no accounting, review or supervision of the cases being handled (or not being handled) by the CWCs. Even as they are required to send periodic reports to the Department of Women Welfare and Child Development, given its apathy and disregard of the committees, whether this is practised in either letter or spirit is anybody’s guess.

“We all came forward to help children that are in need of care or protection. But turns out that it’s ultimately us that’s are most powerless to help,” rues a committee member.

SCIENCE

New species of Hero Shrew

Now for the first time, scientists have found a new, smaller-skulled species of the Hero Shrew which they have called Scutisorex thori.

LONDON: A new species of the mysterious “Hero Shrew” has been discovered in Africa.

Scientists first described the Hero Shrew, nicknamed for its extraordinary strength, over a century ago.

Now for the first time, scientists have found a new, smallerskulled species of the Hero Shrew which they have called Scutisorex thori, reported the BBC. The

authors propose in Royal Society journal: Biology Letters that its unique interlocking vertebrae give it the strength to move large objects.

The new species has fewer lower vertebrae and more robust and flattened ribs than its relative.

Bill Stanley, from the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, US, said: “The expanded backbone and the strength of

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this animal has fascinated biologists for over 100 years. Until now there has been only one species known with this bizarre vertebral column. “We hypothesise that

this shrew —with its expanded backbone and associated musculature — can crawl in-between the trunk and leaf bases of trees to allow access to concentrated food resources that would normally be protected from predation.

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News THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

MYSTIC CHINA

BILATERAL TIES

No change in India's Sri Lanka policy: PM Response to Jayalalithaa's letter on 13th amendment to the Lankan constitution.

CHENNAI: Manmohan Singh has assured that there is no change in the country's policy regarding "reconciliation and devolution of political powers in Sri Lanka", said a letter which the prime minister wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

Singh said in the July 16 letter: "There is absolutely no change in government of India's stand on the question of reconciliation and devolution of political powers in Sri Lanka."

"We have long advocated the creation of an environment in Sri Lanka in which all communities, particularly the Sri Lankan Tamils, are masters of their own destiny within the framework of a united Sri Lanka. We will continue to work towards this end," he added in the letter's text distributed to the media here Thursday.

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Manmohan Singh was replying to Jayalalithaa's letter July 14 in which she had urged the former to exert pressure so the Sri Lankan government did not repeal or dilute a constitutional provision (13th amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution), ensuring autonomy to provinces and minorities.

Jayalalithaa also requested the central government to ensure the process of democratic decentralisation, integral to the survival of Tamils in Sri Lanka, was not jeopardised.

She added this should eventually lead to Tamils of Sri Lanka realising their legitimate aspirations.

IANS

Snakeman threatens reporter BEIJING: Billionaires, movie stars, snakes and curses all figure in a scandal swirling around a Chinese spiritual adviser after he allegedly threatened a reporter who questioned his powers with death.

Wang Lin, 61, a self-proclaimed master of Qigong, a spiritual martial art, claims to be able to conjure up snakes from thin air, cure disease and retrieve an incinerated banknote intact from an orange.

He came to public attention in recent weeks when he was reportedly visited by Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, for reasons unknown.

Pictures soon circulated on Chinese social media of Wang with former railways minister Liu Zhijun, convicted earlier this month of corruption and given a suspended death sentence, martial arts star Jet Li, and various senior officials.

The Beijing News ran an interview with Wang on Monday, saying that he claimed to have been assessed continuously by a team of 17 Japanese scientists for seven days and

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nights.

US intelligence agencies offered him 70 green cards to try to persuade him to emigrate, he said, but he rejected the offer because he "could not tear himself from his home town" in the eastern province of Jiangxi, the paper reported.

Wang claimed to have cured many patients including Indonesia's former president Suharto, the newspaper said,

adding that he had made a fortune from his admirers.

He owns a five-storey villa and keeps a Rolls-Royce and three Hummers, the report said.

However the paper questioned his powers, suggesting he had mastered sleight of hand rather than the supernatural.

Wang had been spotted buying snakes rather than summoning them with his spirit, it added, and accused him of building up his wealth through networking with influential people and illegal moneylending.

AFP

NORTH KOREA

Memories of a commando mission after 45 yrs A miscalculation prevented 31 elite North Korean commandos from assassinating the then S Korean President.

GILES HEWITT Agence France-Presse SEOUL: Kim Shin-Jo has no doubt where the mission went wrong — a crucial miscalculation that prevented his team of 31 elite North Korean commandos assassinating then South Korean president Park Chung-Hee 45 years ago.

"Had we killed them all, no alert would have been raised and I suspect we would have been able to achieve our objective," Kim told AFP. The "them" were four South Korean villagers the commandos

Kim was captured, while another commando reportedly made it all the way back to the North where he later became a general.

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divides the two Koreas shortly before midnight on January 17, within 30 meters of a manned US military position.

The infiltration went smoothly and they made rapid progress towards the South Korean capital when they suddenly came across the four villagers who were out cutting wood.

According to Kim, a fierce debate ensued over whether or not to kill the villagers. They let them go with a stern warning not to raise the alarm. The villagers promptly went to the police and the alarm was duly raised.

The commandos still managed

to get within a few hundred meters of the Blue House before they were confronted by South Korean security forces.

A vicious gunbattle broke out and the commandos scattered, only to be picked off in a series of encounters that lasted more than a week as South Korean troops swept the surrounding countryside.

In the end, all but two of the infiltrators were shot dead.

Kim was captured, while another commando reportedly made it all the way back to the North where he later became a general.

encountered on January 19, 1968, some 36 hours into what remains the most daring cross-border raid carried out in the six decades since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The commandos' target was the presidential Blue House in

Seoul where they planned to corner and execute Park, the military strongman who had seized power in a military coup in South Korea seven years earlier.

His assassination would, Pyongyang hoped, trigger a popular insurrection against the government and the US armed forces in the South and, eventually, a fullscale conflict.

The team had cut through the wire fence of the heavily-mined demilitarised zone (DMZ) that

Delhi rape: Ruling on juvenile accused today

Verdict today in Batla House shootout

National level boxer held in carjacking case

Police interrogates Tata Steel officers

Bariatric surgery performed on 6-yr-old

NEW DELHI: The first verdict on the role of a minor accused in the December 16, 2012 gang-rape case is expected on Thursday. The Juvenile Justice Board was supposed to give the verdict July 11. It deferred it till July 25, while holding him guilty for the separate robbery charge. The victim died in hospital a few weeks later.

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court Thursday will pronounce its verdict in the 2008 Batla House shootout in which a suspected IM operative Shahzad Ahmad is facing trial. The prosecution had contended that it had "sufficient circumstantial evidence" and phone records to prove that he Ahmad was present in the flat in Batla House.

NEW DELHI: A 21-year-old national level boxer was arrested from Gurgaon along with his cousin in connection with a carjacking, police said. Boxer Sumit Dahiya and his cousin Aman, 20, were arrested from Hotel Primero in Gurgaon during a raid in the intervening night of July 23-24 by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police.

NEW DELHI: A six-member Mumbai police team has interrogated five officials of Tata Steel in connection with the alleged suicide of the company's former chief of Corporate Communication, Charudutta Deshpande. Police said interrogation was on and would continue even today.

BHOPAL: A six-year-old boy, who weighed more than 60 kilograms, underwent bariatric surgery at a Indore hospital, becoming the youngest patient in the country to go under the scalpel for weight loss, doctors attending on him said today. The surgery was performed at Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences

NATION BRIEFS

6

News THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

POSTNOON POLITICAL SPECIAL

‘TDP lead signals Naidu ascendance’ Party’s state organising secretary PL Srinivas attributes the splendorous success to Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s mass contact programme and Congress’s misrule Srinivas. It was tragic that Gandhiji’s swaraj was made his namesake family ‘apna raj’ the betrayal of four crore Telangana people was another cardinal sin of the Congress, Srinivas opined.

The organising secretary said his party when returns to power will ensure that the ‘land-liquor’ mafia partnership is broken and the women given leadership in many areas of socio-economic life. Only Naidu can save the State, as he alone had implemented novel schemes for the masses such as self-help groups for women’s emancipation and rytu bazaars for farmer-consumer bonhomie. During the TDP reign all sections of society benefited while in the Congress rule, only the land-liquor mafia and the rich benefited.

INKESHAF AHMED email

T

he TDP camp is in a festive mood.

After a long drought, good rains and bumper harvests. The party’s reporting great win in the first phase of panchayat polls has enthused the party’s leaders and cadres.

In the Central Coastal Andhra Pradesh districts the party bagged the largest number of sarpanch seats when results were announced on Tuesday.

According to reports the TDP won 1945, the Congress 1686, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) 1297, TRS 456, Leftists 65. The TDP clearly won majority number of seats in 10 districts of the state.

Party’s senior leader and organising secretary PL Srinivas attributed the success to two factors: the impact of party president N Chandrababu Naidu’s mass contact programme Vastunna Mee Kosam lasting 208 days for 2817 km in 16 districts of the state and the Congress

What TDP pledges According to Srinivas, following is what TDP would do n Our leader Naidu would waive farm loans. n Abolish existing illegal belt shop system which is supplying illegal liquor to people, spoiling their life. n A special sub plan for BCs, Minorities and implement numerous schemes for the empowerment of women. n 33% percent reservation to women in Legislature after taking a lead in forming a nonBJP, non-Congress govt.

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betraying common man on many poll promises.

“The party of ‘aam aadmi’ betrayed him terribly,” said Srinivas. “Its rule saw prices of essential commodities and lands galloping to 200-300 percent. They swear by common man, but when comes to power the party let him badly down.” He said. “While the TDP is seen to be a party that has a far-sighted strong leader, the Congress party is seen as a group of self-seeking people who have no regard for its promises,’ the party leader said.

Srinivas said all segments of economy suffered during the Congress Party rule. Industry lost one-third of its production and work force due to erratic power, farmers lost their livelihood, middle class and poor saw high inflation eating into their hard earning.

“What all the Congress produced was scams of all sorts,” he ridiculed.

‘Brand Hyderabad’ has suffered the worst of all during the Congress rule, say the party’s fire brand organising secretary. He said, “During Naidu’s rule Hyderabad was in the world map and it prospered. Now under Congress, fear of terror and crime stalk the City. In fact the whole of AP was pulled back to 25 years.”

NAIDU ON A COMEBACK TRAIL The party’s organising secretary believes the good panchayat poll result was the harbinger of good news that Naidu was going to play a crucial role not only in the State but at the Centre too. “He is the nation’s hope,” said

The party leader ridiculed the Congress and YSRCP for aping the TDP and its leader. He observed that after Naidu began the mass contact programme, all parties including the Congress and the YSRC fol-

‘Brand Hyderabad’ has suffered the worst of all in the Congress rule, say the party’s fire brand organising secretary. lowed suit. “After the historic announcement of Naidu for 100 assembly seats to the Backward Castes, the Congress went ahead and appropriated it.

Similarly, many ideas of

Naidu and Lokesh were ‘stolen’ by the rivals.

However, the party has scores of schemes in mind for the common weal when it returns to power next year.

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News THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

GO GREEN

Stone in a musical

THE LIGHTEST AND THINNEST JAPAN, TOKYO: Japan’s University of Tokyo professor Takao Someya displays the world’s lightest and thinnest (2 micrometers) flexible integrated circuits and touch sensor system for stress-free wearable healthcare sensors at a press conference in Tokyo on July 24, 2013. The flexible electrical circuit, onefifth the thickness of food wrap and weighing less than a feather, could give doctors the chance to implant sensors inside the body. The device can be used to monitor all sorts of physical data, such as body temperature and blood pressure as well as electronic pulses from muscles or the heart. AFP PHOTO / YOSHIKAZU

The star and Cat Stevens will take part in a musical for Mikhail Gorbachev’s green group.

GENEVA: Sharon Stone and Cat Stevens will take part in a musical in September honouring an environmental group founded by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, organisers said Wednesday. The musical 2050: The Future We Want will be performed on September 3 at the United Nations in Geneva to mark the 20 years since Gorbachev, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, founded Green Cross International to address environmental issues as well as poverty and insecurity.

The US actress and the British musician, who since the late 70s has gone by his Islamic-convert name Yusuf Islam, will be joined

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by a cast of 40 youths from around the globe, aged eight to 25, and a 100-strong choir.

“I can’t wait to start working with young artists from all over the world who, 20 years after president Gorbachev launched his global mission, are showing that there is a way forward, but only if we act now," Stone said in a statement.

Stone will function as the storyteller in the piece, guiding the audience back through time from 2050 to today.

TSUNO

PLAYTIME

Cathaayatra’s in the city ARUN D YELLAMATTY arunyellamatty@postnoon.com

Discussing issues with a tincture of humour, that’s the community theatre group Cathaayatra’s style. In their latest offering, they will be doing Doric Wilson’s 1979 classic, A Perfect Relationship.

HYDERABAD: Discussing issues with a tincture of humour, that’s the community theatre group Cathaayatra’s style. In their latest offering, they will be doing Doric Wilson’s 1979 classic, A Perfect Relationship. This comedy explores and tries to explain what makes a perfect relationship: is it chemistry, physical attraction, practicality or something more intangible?

Through two men, their gregarious landlady, her many boyfriends and the villain, the play attempts to break the stereotypes associated with sexuality, masculinity, friendship, choice and the oft-misunderstood lives of the people who make those choices. Cathaayatra, which a few years ago completed a marathon travelling theatre caravan with 100 Performances over 55 consecutive days in Punjab, does things with a difference.

Sameer Thakur, Co-Founder of

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What: A Perfect Relationship When: August 4 Sunday, 7pm.

Where: Ravindra Bharathi.

Free entry. the Group, explains, “The play is a situational comedy and it is something people will enjoy, it’s about choices. The best part of the play is that the actors are local well-known Hyderabad people."

“Every city we perform in, we use their local talent and practise in the same city and later stage it, so that the local audience can connect to the play. No point calling people from outside and perform and leave. This will also build local talents.”

Cathaayatra started its journey in 2004 exploring and explaining through plays issues that required debate. “We talk to people about their daily issues.

We research and visit the place and perform. We are self-funded most of the time,” Thakur.

Thakur speaks highly of the support of the US Consulate, which is organising the show here in the city). “Such support helps us to achieve more and do more,” he says, adding the US Consulates in other cities had hosted their shows earlier, too.

Support and sponsor is very important for artists to take up theatre full-time, says Thakur.

“It’s hard work; we have faced a lot of trouble, too, but we have to wait and stand tall. I feel Hyderabad already has some good support and more should flow in," says he, who proudly says they have not had seats empty at their shows.

Thakur has some advice for upcoming artists. “Life will be tough, but they need to work hard and do their best so that the audience have a good time and get something out of the play."

You can follow the group on www.cathaayatra.com

WORLD BRIEFS Gunmen kill 14 truck drivers in Iraq: official

Cuba heavy metal band seeks asylum in US

Koreas resume Kaesong talks amid fading hopes

UN envoys in Damascus for chem weapons talks

Mexican President to go under the knife

KIRKUK: Gunmen killed 14 truck drivers and stole their vehicles on a highway north of Baghdad on Thursday, while dozens of other militants attacked a nearby town, a local administrative official said. The gunmen killed the drivers about 10 kilometres (six miles) south of the town of Sulaiman Bek, Mohammed al-Bayati said.

MIAMI: Six members of a Cuban heavy metal group requested political asylum after touching down in the United States, a band member told AFP on Wednesday. The musicians, who left Havana on Sunday night, touched down in Miami in the early hours of Monday morning en route to a concert in Oakland, California.

SEOUL: North and South Korea held fresh talks Thursday on reopening a joint industrial zone amid growing concern that their last symbol of peace might be heading for a permanent shutdown. Officials from both sides have already met five times this month but failed to narrow their differences on rescuing the Seoul-invested Kaesong zone.

DAMASCUS: Two UN envoys were in Damascus on Thursday on a mission to persuade the Syrian government to let in inspectors to investigate alleged chemical attacks during the 28-month conflict.

Meanwhile US Secretary of State John Kerry was set to meet with the new leader of the Syrian opposition at the UN in New York.

MEXICO CITY: Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will be operated on next week to have a benign thyroid nodule removed just months after the 47-year-old was sworn in. A presidential spokesperson later emphasized that the nodule was benign “as determined by a biopsy” in Mexico City recently.

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BJP POLL STRATEGY

NSA SNOOPING

House rejects surveillance fund cuts AROUND THE

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WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives on Wednesday narrowly beat back an effort to cut funding to NSA programs that scoop up telephone data on millions of Americans. The amendment, following disclosures about the sweeping US surveillance programs, was backed by an unlikely coalition of ideological opposites — Tea Party Republicans and liberal Democrats — but their bid fell short in a 205-217 vote.

The legislation, introduced

by Michigan Republican Justin Amash, was opposed by the White House and several senior members of Congress, including the House Republican leadership and the heads of the Senate and House intelligence committees.

The amendment would have limited such data collection and retention to those Americans who are the subject of a specific investigation. Another amendment, which addressed US surveillance but was seen as having far less of an impact, passed with overwhelming support, by 409-12.

AFP

‘Looking for post-poll allies’ Denying that Modi was a polarising figure, BJP president Rajnath Singh said there was indeed a consensus within the party over the leadership of the Gujarat CM. WASHINGTON: Downplaying the impact of the Narendra Modi issue on Bharatiya Janata Party’s poll prospects, party president Rajnath Singh has asserted that it would have no dearth of potential allies in a post-poll scenario.

“Our first effort would be to see that BJP gets the required 272 seats (to form a government) on its own. That’s our target," he said. “But if it fell short, there would be no dearth of AROUND THE

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coalition partners." He cited the example of the BJP-led 24-party post-poll coalition government formed after the 1998 Lok Sabha poll that in his words “made history” by lasting six years.

Asked which parties was it eyeing as possible allies or if it had received feelers from any other party, he parried: “No party should disclose its poll strategy."

But would the projection of the Gujarat chief minister as party leader not pose a problem

No modification to visa policy: US

in finding allies? “No, Modi or anyone, there would be no problem” over the leadership issue, Rajnath Singh insisted.

But he hastened to add that he had never projected Modi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate during his interaction with the media in New York Saturday. It was for the party’s central parliamentary board to project its prime ministerial candidate “at a suitable moment".

Asked who the contenders were for the top job in the event of BJP coming to power, he said: “There are no contenders because there has never been a race for leadership in BJP, which is the only party with such a healthy tradition."

WASHINGTON: Even as the visiting BJP president Rajnath Singh denied he had come to get Gujarat CM Narendra Modi a US visa, the State Department said its policy had not changed. “Well, our policy on this has not changed," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday in response to a question.

“If Chief Minister Modi applies for a visa, his application will be considered to Denying that Modi was a polarising figure, he said there was indeed a consensus within the party over the leadership of the Gujarat chief minister. “Had it not been so, would he have named Modi as the party’s election campaign chief?" he asked.

“Narendra Modi is a very popular leader. A very very popular leader of my country," he added.

The BJP chief also sought to dispel the impression that he had come to the US get the visa

determine whether he qualifies for a visa in accordance with US immigration law and policy," she said.

“He would, of course, be considered if he were to apply." ban lifted on the Gujarat chief minister, who has been denied a US visa since 2005 for his alleged role or inaction in 2002 Godhra riots.

“This is a US administration issue, not our issue," Rajnath Singh said though he did think it was a “paradox” that while the US Congressional Research Service had praised the leadership of Modi, the administration continued to deny him a visa.

IANS

THE GOOD SAMARITAN

WIKILEAKS Assange launches party for Oz

One step at a time to 12,000 km

Max Chandra is on a mission to walk 12,000 km to raise money for his charity foundation that promote education, school equipment and help people in disaster zones.

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SYDNEY: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday officially launched his political party to contest Australian elections this year, saying a victory for this candidates would be akin to planting the country’s “best investigative journalists” in the Senate.

He said the WikiLeaks Party would field seven candidates for upper house Senate seats in the states of New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.

Despite being holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than a year, the 42-year-old will run in Victoria, saying he planned to be “an independent scrutineer of government activity".

AFP

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esembling Darth Vader of “Star Wars", this sixfoot-tall figure in a hooded kurta and a rucksack on his broad shoulders walks on the Indian road unfazed by the curious gaze he receives from passersby. These sartorial fashion choices are a deliberate attempt to attract attention, says Max Chandra, who is on a mission to walk 12,000 km across India for raising funds.

The 47-year-old’s ambitious project is generating funds for his charity foundation — One Step at a Time — that has various projects to promote education, provide school equipment and help people in disaster-hit zones.

And to generate money for these activities, he has chosen the unusual way of walking and covering 28 states on foot.

“When people look at me on the road, they wonder who is

this ninja guy," Chandra told IANS in an interview.

“It is a deliberate attempt to make people curious. The more people know about my mission, the more people will talk about this unusual way of generating funds, and more helpful it will be for my foundation," he added.

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and an Indian mother, Chandra was brought up in Britain. He started his epic journey in Novembner 2011 from Goa and has crossed Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. He reached the capital recently after covering Rishikesh, Chandigarh, Simla, Manali and then back to Delhi

via Punjab and Haryana.

He has so far covered 6,000 km in 15 states. He has an equal distance and 13 states to go.

“It will take me another year to complete the walk," says Chandra, who has been self-financing the effort. He tries to cover 40 km a day.

“I can’t plan in advance as there are so many factors: weather, terrain and area. So, it is an everyday process," he explained.

It wasn’t by chance that Chandra decided to quit his job as a CEO in London after his first visit to India in 2005. His mother had given him a fairytale description about the country. “She would talk of cobras and snakes. It was so mythical. But later I discovered for myself what it meant to be in real India."

IANS

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News THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

TRAIN TRAGEDY

77 killed in Spain train mishap A spokesman for the Galicia high court said that some of the carriages had not yet been fully searched, leaving the prospect that the toll from one of Spain’s worst rail disasters could yet increase.

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA: At least 77 people died and 143 were injured when a train hurtled off the tracks along a high-speed line in northwest Spain Wednesday.

Rescue workers have recovered 73 bodies from the wreckage of the train while four other victims died in hospital, a spokesman for the Galicia regional high court told AFP. Four carriages overturned in the smash, smoke billowing from the wreckage, as bodies were lain out under blankets along the tracks.

The wagons piled into each other and folded up like an accordion. One was ripped apart by the force of the crash, one of

Deadly high speed “Deadly High Speed” the El Mundo daily’s headline ran. The paper reported that the train had been travelling at 220 km per hour in an urban zone with a speed limit of 80 kph.

One of the worst

T

he disaster was one of the worst in the history of Spain’s rail network.

n

In 1944, hundreds were killed in a crash also between Madrid and Galicia.

nIn

Derailed cars at the site of a train accident near the city of Santiago de Compostela.

its ends pushed up into the air.

Disaster struck at 8:42 pm (1842 GMT) as the train carrying 218 passengers and four staff was about to enter Santiago de Compostela station in the northwestern region of Galicia.

A spokesman for the Galicia high court said that some of the carriages had not yet been fully searched, leaving the prospect that the toll from one of Spain’s worst rail disasters could yet increase.

A total of 143 people were injured. Francisco Otero, 39, who was inside his parents’ home just beside the section of the track where the accident happened, said he “heard a huge bang. As if there had been an earthquake.”

The train had left Madrid and was heading for the town of Ferrol as the Galicia region was preparing celebrations in honour of Saint James.

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“The first thing I saw was the body of a woman. I had never seen a corpse before. But above all what caught my attention was that there was a lot of silence,

some smoke and a small fire,” he told AFP. “My neighbours tried to pull out people who were trapped inside the carriages with the help of pickaxes and sledgehammers and they eventually got them out with a hand saw. It was unreal.”

The train had left Madrid and was heading for the town of Ferrol as the Galicia region was preparing celebrations in honour of its patron saint James.

A witness told radio Cadena Ser that carriages overturned several times on a bend and came to a halt piled up on each other.

Public television TVE said the train may have derailed because it was speeding at the

1972, 77 people were killed in a derailment in Andalusia in the south.

time of the accident but a spokesman for state railway company Renfe said it was too soon to say what caused the accident.

“There is an investigation underway and we have to wait.

We will know what the speed is very soon when we consult the train’s black box,” a Renfe spokesman said.

“Deadly High Speed” the El Mundo daily’s headline ran. The paper reported that the train had been travelling at 220 kilometres (136 miles) per hour in an urban zone with a speed limit of 80 kph. The El Pais suggested the train was travelling at 180 kilometres per hour when the accident happened.

QUACK, QUACK!

Yellow duck to debut in Taiwan

Keelung city council speaker Huang Jing-tai expects duck fever to sweep Taiwan as it did Hong Kong and to draw many tourists to Keelung, which borders the capital Taipei.

TAIPEI: A larger version of the giant inflatable yellow duck that captivated Hong Kong will grace a port city in Taiwan later this year, officials said Wednesday.

Keelung city council speaker Huang Jing-tai said he has signed an agreement with Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman to create an 18-metre-tall (59-feet) version, which is expected to go on public display around midDecember and will remain permanently in Taiwan.

Huang expects duck fever to sweep Taiwan as it did Hong

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Kong and to draw many tourists to Keelung, which borders the capital Taipei.

Hongkongers cheered when Hofman’s original 16.5-metretall duck, a giant replica of a bath toy, was towed into the harbour in May. Shops sold numerous models of it, restaurants created special duck dishes and thousands turned out to admire it.

Taiwanese travel agencies

got into the act by touting “visiting yellow duck” trips to Hong Kong, while copies appeared in several cities in mainland China.

The duck even became embroiled in mainland politics in the run-up to the 24th anniversary on June 4 of the Tiananmen suppression of prodemocracy activists by China’s army.

Internet searches on the mainland for “yellow duck” were banned after users circulated a mocked-up image of a famous 1989 photo, with tanks replaced by plastic ducks.

AFP

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ECO DISASTER

CHINA

Black death hits Caoayan!

Instead of tall sand dunes that have for centuries protected the small farming town of Caoayan in the Philippines from the powerful waters of the South China Sea, trenches cut through barren beaches.

Bo charged with graft, power abuse BEIJING: China’s once high-flying communist politician Bo Xilai has been indicted for bribery and abuse of power, state media said on Thursday, following a scandal that exposed deep divisions at the highest levels of government.

The former party chief of the southwestern city of Chongqing has not been seen in public for more than a year since the controversy surrounding him was exposed, triggering one of China’s biggest political scandals AROUND THE

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in decades.

“The indictment paper was delivered” to a court in Jinan in the eastern province of Shandong, Xinhua said, citing prosecutors in the city.

Bo “took the advantage of his position to seek profits for others and accepted an ‘extremely large amount’ of money and properties,” it said, quoting the indictment.

AFP

CECIL MORELLA Agence France-Presse CAOAYAN: Catholic priest Sammy Rosimo followed truck tread marks to a coastal mine in the northern Philippines, where a stockpile of fine black sand presided over scenes of a desert apocalypse. Instead of tall, brush-covered sand dunes that have for centuries protected the small farming town of Caoayan from the powerful waters of the South China Sea, trenches cut through barren beaches.

“This is the death sentence of the people of Caoayan,” said Rosimo, a local priest, as he accompanied AFP to the recently abandoned mine.

“The dunes are the natural barrier to the salt water, like a sea wall. Without them the sea floods inland at high tide.”

As with many other beaches in the Southeast Asian archipelago, Caoayan’s coast has been stripped in recent years for its magnetite, an iron ore that is in huge demand by China’s steel mills.

Environment groups, national authorities and the nation’s big miners all blame small-scale mining firms, most of them allegedly Chinese and often operating in collusion with shady local government officials, for the devastation.

“They’re giving the industry

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a bad image,” Ronald Recidoro, vice-president of the country’s Chamber of Mines, which groups 35 large miners said.

Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan, a coalition of environment groups, said the problem was particularly acute in four northern provinces, where dozens of beaches were in retreat and river banks crumbling.

“There was a school that was swallowed up by the sea water because of black-sand mining,” Bautista said.

While the ocean has yet to spill into San Vicente or Caoayan, locals believe it is only a matter of time.

“We fear being swept out to sea. We asked our local officials to stop the mining, but they ignored us,” a white-haired elderly woman from Caoayan told AFP. The woman declined to give her name, saying she was wary of openly antagonising local officials whom she accused of conniving with the miners.

The mine at Caoayan was shut in January by the national government’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau, part of the environment ministry, for breaching a law against mining

close to the ocean.

The firm’s earthmovers, trucks and conveyor belts lay abandoned nearby. Officials from the company, which the bureau and provincial officials said was Chinese, could not be contacted for comment.

Carlos Tayag, regional chief of the mines bureau, said blacksand miners regularly flouted a law that banned all forms of mineral extraction inside 200 metres of the water’s edge at low tide. “The main impact is coastal erosion,” Tayag told AFP. Luis Singson, interviewed

by AFP shortly before his threeyear term as governor of Ilocos Sur province ended last month, confirmed to AFP that he autho-

rised several Chinese firms to mine for magnetite in Caoayan and San Vicente.

But he said residents had supported these projects, and the firms built village roads and school buildings as payback for the host communities.

“Why should I stop progress in those villages?” Singson said.

Singson also insisted mining magnetite was good for the environment, saying the black sand had washed down from the mountains “millions of years ago” and prevented vegetation or crops from growing along the coast.

“Black sand is not natural in those areas... it should be removed,” he said.

IMMIGRATION

‘Military solution to boatpeople’ SYDNEY: Australia’s conservative opposition unveiled plans on Thursday for a military-led response to repel boatpeople, branding the problem a “national emergency” after the government declared a radical new policy aimed at crippling peoplesmuggling.

With tens of thousands of asylum-seekers risking their lives on leaky boats to reach Australia, the Tony Abbottled opposition said they would put a senior military AROUND THE

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commander in charge of a joint agency taskforce to deal with the problem if it comes to power.

A three-star commander would report directly to the immigration minister, with Abbott saying the scale of the problem “requires the discipline and focus of a targeted military operation”.

AFP

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THE KILLING GROUND

Death stalks Iraq’s football fields Eighteen headstones, some of them bearing pictures of the victims and small fluttering Iraqi flags, have been placed as a symbolic memorial at one end of the football pitch, near the spot where the bomber struck.

SALAM FARAJ Agence France-Presse BAGHDAD: Umm Ibrahim stood weeping near a symbolic gravestone at the football pitch in Baghdad where her 13-yearold son was killed in one of a spate of recent deadly attacks on Iraqi grounds.

“Why did they kill our children? They have nothing in this life but playing football,” said Umm Ibrahim, which means “Mother of Ibrahim”.

Her son was one of 18 people killed in February when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt at the football pitch in the Shuala area of Baghdad, followed by a car bomb that exploded nearby.

Eighteen headstones, some of them bearing pictures of the victims and small fluttering Iraqi flags, have been placed as a symbolic memorial at one end of the football pitch, near the spot where the bomber struck.

Abu Amir, a retired army sergeant who lost three of his nephews, aged 11, 12 and 15, in the attack, was also visiting the site. “These children are innocent victims; they don’t have any guilt,” he said.

With Iraq’s football grounds hit by a series of attacks, there was no longer a place for children to play, lamented Abu Amir. He called on security forces to “protect the fields from criminal bastards”.

Iraq has been plagued by the worst violence to hit the country since 2008, killing more than 2,900 people so far this year.

Football pitches and even cafes broadcasting matches have become a target for attacks by militants, and the violence has taken a toll on the much-loved sport in Iraq. In Iraq, football is one of the few uni-

Iraq’s national team won the Asian Cup in 2007, providing a unifying source of pride during the height of bloody Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence in which tens of thousands of people died. the children, is an ugly crime against humanity,” said Abdulamir Abboud, a prominent Shuala resident who works for Iraq’s Olympic committee. “Children are far from politics and conflicts.”

Abboud said that the number of people coming to the field in Shuala to play football fell after the attack, and some-

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(Above) Iraqi youths play football in a working-class neighbourhood of Baghdad; (right) an Iraqi man mourns at a gravestone for his son at the site of a suicide bomb attack, that took place in the Shuala neighbourhood of Baghdad.

AFP/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

times no one came to watch the children play. He called on the Iraqi government to curb the spiralling violence.

“The bloodshed must stop... Killing one child might topple a whole government in another place,” he said.

In the Zafraniyah area of Baghdad, players have returned to a pitch where a car bomb killed five people and wounded 10 in June.

“The Zafraniyah explosion had a negative effect on the spirits of the players, but it did not stop us,” said Saif Abdulhussein, the captain of a local Zafraniyah football team.

“Terrorism wants us to walk on its path, but we will not stop playing football,” he said.

fiers among the country’s divided religious and ethnic communities. Iraq’s national team won the Asian Cup in 2007, providing a unifying source of pride during the height of bloody Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence in which tens of thousands of people died.

And this year, during the current surge in unrest, Iraqis tuned in to see their team place fourth in the Under-20 World Cup. “Targeting the people, and especially

THE ROYAL BABY

All hail the ladies’ man

HONG KONG: Britain’s royal baby will grow up to be determined but introverted — and a big hit with the ladies — Chinese fortune tellers predicted on Wednesday.

The young prince, born in the sixth month of the Chinese Year of the Snake, will find romance abroad, Hong Kongbased fortune teller Mak Lingling told AFP. “It’s likely he will have to go overseas, perhaps representing

Pick

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the army or going to a boarding school. He will also find romantic relationships overseas. His marriage will arrive between 30 and 35 years of age,” she said.

Au Chung-tak, who like Mak is a practitioner of the art of feng shui in Hong Kong, warned that the new prince should live near trees to coun-

at the

teract his strong appeal to the opposite sex. “If he wants to be stable [in marriage] he must not live close to water. Instead, he should live by the trees,” Au said. “He is stubborn because he has a high sense of responsibility. He will always try to achieve his goals with great endurance,” said Mak. The baby’s “Bazi” — the fate-setting traits linked to the exact time and date of his birth — also mean that he is likely to have siblings.

airport,

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TECHNICALLY SPEAKING NT BALANARAYAN

BEST OF THE BEST

GOOGLE’S GOOGLY

Good, excellent, all right, OK & hmmm TILE

T

his tiny little device can communicate with smartphones and can be attached to keychains, bags or any other small device so you can find them easily later on. It works with an app that helps a user locate the object these Tiles are attached to. It can even help you find lost items provided it had a Tile stuck to it. It is currently under pre-order for $24.95.

GMAIL TABS

G

oogle has finally opened up its new tabbed interface to the public and it automatically sorts your email into different categories depending on the sender. For example all mails from Facebook, Twitter and Google+ automatically goes into social tab, while all mailing lists you have subscribed to have a tab of their own. Also, mailing groups and forum updates related mails get a dedicated tabs, leaving you with only the most important mails in the inbox. Users could earlier do the same via filters but the process is now automated making it more convenient for the public.

GEEK SPEAK DEBUG CONSOLE

A

debug console is a special version of a gaming console that is used by game developers to build and test their game. In most cases they look like a regular PC but runs the same operating system and software that powers a gaming console.

Microsoft is now trying to change the concept of a debug console by announcing that every new Xbox One can be used to build and test games. This move could encourage smaller developers who till now could not afford to pay up for a developer console that is not only costlier but also difficult to procure.

Google made a flurry of announcements last night during a fireside chat with the media. Though most of these features and announcements have been speculated about, they still managed to evoke surprise at the venue. Oh, there weren’t any mention about the new Motorola device at the event in case you were wondering. Here are some of the big announcements that were made by the company.

CHROMECAST

There are plenty of streaming devices meant for your livingroom in the market right now, but Chromecast blows everything out of the water with its simplicity and compatibility with all systems. This small dongle that plugs into HDMI port of your TV can stream any content that you have on your browser ranging from YouTube video to Netflix movies. The device will be competing against costlier peripherals such as Apple TV, Miracast player and gaming consoles. As if the price is not good enough, everyone who buys the device and has Netflix service, will get three months free access to the service.

That won’t make much sense for Indians, but for those in the West it makes a big difference.

NEXUS 7

Everyone expected to see the new mobile phone from Motorola, instead we got the an updates version of Nexus 7 tablet. The new version sports full HD resolution and stereo speakers while shedding 2mm of fat.

Prices range from $230 to $329 depending on the antennas you want in your device; the higher-end tablet comes with an LTE packed in, which FYI won’t work in India. It runs on 1.5GHz quad-core S4 Pro from Qualcomm that comes paired with an Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM again, a small bump from the previous iteration. The ASUS manufactured device will be available in US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Spain.

ANDROID 4.3

The leading mobile operating system gets a small update though it may not reach all Android users for ages going by the update the time it takes for OEMs to push them out to the public.

The update itself however brings some good features the OS introducing limited profiles so kids can play games without access to your email, while being unable to accidentally purchase items in games. The update

Hugo Barra, Vice President, Android Product Management at Google, works on a new Asus Nexus 7 tablet.

also adds Bluetooth Smart technology, which basically reduces the amount of battery used by bluetooth add-ons such as hands-free. Apart from that the OS also adds support for OpenGL which will make it easier for developers to come out with games for the operating system. OpenGL is a library that can be used by games for adding effects within games and is used in many browser-based and Linux-based games. The OS will be rolled out to Nexus device owners very soon. Oh also the OS now supports Hindi natively.

GAME CENTRE

By adding a game centre to Android Microsoft is finally catching up to Microsoft and Apple which have had this feature for a while. The new app is expected to create a new network for gaming among Android users.

Most probably the company would be using Google Plus contact information and social connections to drive the backend of the service. Gamers would be able to see scores and progress

made by their friends using this app and Microsoft already had this via Xbox games app in Windows 8 while Apple has had Game Centre for a while. It needs to be seen if Google will do something truly ambitious like live multiplayer gaming on mobile phone instead of depending on asynchronous data such as high scores alone.

TEXTBOOKS

This is more of a me-too by Google and they are trying to catch up with Apple who had already launched support for textbooks and other studying material in iTunes early last year. With this new feature Android users will be able to rent or purchase textbooks from all five of the major academic publishing houses.

Additionally, the app will also have a “night reading” mode that will keep things readable at low light levels; this will reduce strain in the eyes and also avoid distraction for others while reading at night not to mention the benefits for battery life.

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

Business

UP MULLS PRIVATISING WATER SUPPLY

The Uttar Pradesh government is tinkering with the idea of privatising the household water supply, an official said. The state government has given nod to a pilot project to be run on a trial basis in Ghaziabad.

STOCK PRICE SURGE

Mobile lifts Facebook

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US HOUSE SALE INCREASES

Facebook surprised Wall Street by showing it can make money from folks on smartphones and tablets, causing the leading social network’s stock to rocket.

GLENN CHAPMAN feedback@postnoon.com SAN FRANCISCO: Revenue of Facebook for the quarter that ended June 30 climbed to $1.81 billion, up 53 per cent from the same period a year earlier. The profit of $331 million compared with a loss of $157 million the California-based company posted in the same quarter last year.

“The work we’ve done to make mobile the best Facebook experience is showing good results and provides us with a solid foundation for the future,” said Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg as the social network reported a quarterly profit of $331 million.

Facebook said 41 per cent of its ad revenues came from mobile, compared with 30 per cent in the prior quarter and virtually nothing a year ago.

“We’ve made good progress growing our community, deepening engagement and delivering strong financial results, especially on mobile,” Zuckerberg said.

Facebook shares leapt more than 19 per cent but gave back a bit of the gain, settling closer to $31.03 in late after-hours trading.

Facebook is expected to increase its share of the $116.82 billion global digital ad market to 5.04 per cent this year, according to industry tracker eMarketer.

The leading social network’s portion of the mobile ad market will more than triple to more than $2 billion this year, eMarketer forecast.

Forrester analyst Nate Elliott expressed fear that Facebook may be “pulling the mobile ad lever too hard” and be hitting users with too many marketing messages in an effort to prove itself. Facebook has made a priority of following its more than

one billion members onto smartphones or tablets as lifestyles increasingly revolve around accessing the Internet from mobile devices.

Facebook’s stock took a beating after the company’s initial public offering, largely because of criticism that the social network wasn’t making

money from mobile users. The shares sank from an offering price of $38 and have still not recovered.

“We are worried that Facebook seems to have taken the affront of not being able to monetize on mobile a little too much to heart,” Elliott said.

“If they feel the need

We’ve made good progress growing our community, deepening engagement and delivering strong financial results, especially on mobile.

Mark Zuckerberg Facebook chief

to keep proving their mobile chops, this is going to get ugly for the user,” the analyst continued. “I think they have already pumped in too many ads.”

Ads make up about five per cent of the posts streamed to news feeds on people’s profile pages, according to Facebook.

There has been no “meaningful drop” in user satisfaction, but “people have told us they notice the ads more,” Zuckerberg said during an earnings call with analysts.

“Our goal is to increase the quality instead of just increasing the number of ads shown,” Zuckerberg said.

Facebook’s stellar growth rate is, understandably, continuing to flatten out, Elliott noted.

The social network reported that it had 1.15 billion active monthly users as of the end of June in a 21 per cent increase from a year earlier.

The number people accessing the social network from mobile devices each month jumped 51 per cent to 819 million during the same time period.

“It is up to emerging markets to accelerate growth in active users, and China is the obvious choice,” Elliott said.

“There are 400 million people waiting for a crack at this platform if Facebook could just sit down with the Chinese government and work things out.”

Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg was optimistic about the social network’s potential to grow across Asia and elsewhere.

“Our mission is to reach everyone, not just people in developed countries,” Zuckerberg said.

Facebook on Monday boasted that it has surpassed 100 million users a month using an application designed for “simple” mobile phones widely used in developing nations.

AFP

GOLD`27,500 10g SILVER `41,500 1kg

24C

for

for

DOLLAR `58.97 POUND `90.47

Sales of new single-family houses in the US rose to a five-year high in June, which is evidence of sustained recovery of the housing market despite higher mortgage rates, the US Commerce Department said. Sales increased 8.3 percent from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 497,000 units, the highest since May 2008, Xinhua reported. The median sale price of new houses sold in June was $249,700, up 7.4 percent from a year ago. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of June was 161,000 units, which represented a supply of 3.9 months at the current sales rate.

NUMEROLOGY

$105.39

is the World oil price after it slumped $1.84 on Wednesday following weak manufacturing data in China, the world’s leading consumer of energy.

BROADRIDGE BAGS AWARD Broadridge Financial Solutions (India) is pleased to announce that it has been honoured with the Emerging: Great Place to Innovate award by the Zinnov Awards and Recognition Programme conducted at their annual globalisation conference — Confluence 2013. “Great Place to Innovate” is a companywide award to recognise those MNC R&D centres that are focused on innovation.

The company was recently recognised as one of the Top 100 best companies to work for in India, by Great Place to Work Institute. It has been ranked as the 4th Best Companies to Work for in ITeS Industry and 71st in the overall category in India.

THUS SPAKE The economy grew at rates well below its potential in H1 of 2013, and little appears likely to lift GDP growth into the next year.

GLENN LEVINE, SR ECONOMIST, MOODY’S ANALYTICS

BSE NSE

20,049.38 41.30

5,973.75 16.75

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

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

Abraham Lincoln Former US president

Mecca work downsizes Saudi hajj pilgrimage ABDUL HADI HABTOR Agence France-Presse

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ears of an outbreak of the deadly MERS virus in Saudi Arabia and construction in the holy city of Mecca have forced cuts in the numbers of pilgrims permitted to perform this year's hajj.

Millions of Muslims during the annual pilgrimage head to Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest sites, providing a possible means for MERS to spread around the globe as pilgrims who may become infected return to their home countries.

Fearful of such a scenario, the authorities have reduced by half the number of pilgrims coming from within Saudi Arabia, and by about 20 percent those from abroad.

"This is an exceptional and temporary decision," Hajj Minister Bandar Hajjar announced last month.

MERS, short for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus which can lead to acute pneumonis and renal failure, claimed its first victim in Saudi Arabia in June 2012.

Saudi Arabia, which has already recorded 69 MERS cases, 38 of whom have died, has urged the elderly and chronically ill, as well as children and pregnant women, not to perform the annual hajj that falls this year in October.

But the health ministry so far has not taken any special measures at airports to detect visitors who may be infected with MERS, deputy health minister Ziad Memish told AFP.

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS

A Namakkal firm in Tamil Nadu produces 4MW of electricity every day with 300 tonnes of poultry waste. Subashri Bio Energies has a joint venture invitation from a US company. It is a model for clean energy and pollution control of food waste in cities of India.

GROUNDBREAKING

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SINDHI GENES

ple, “the invitation says 8pm why isn’t the hall open yet?”). The medical way to diagnosis this condition is to see if someone tells you, “ya ya ill be there in 5 minutes” and they show up two hours later to pick you up.

BUT... SERIOUSLY

Ajay Hotchandani (a Sindhi)

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n the recent issue of India Genetics Dr Rajinder Pishu Gobin Lalit Daktarani concluded his three-year research on the composition of the Sindhi Genes. The findings were astounding and groundbreaking. It finally gave the community hard evidence regarding issues they once believed to be myth.

A brief lesson as to what genes are and how it affects our lives. The colour of our hair, eyes and skin are all determined by genes. So if your mother has brown eyes and your father has brown eyes then you will have brown eyes. If your mother has brown eyes and your father has brown eyes and you have green eyes, it means your dad is not really your dad!

Besides what has already been established as common knowledge amongst the scientific community, Dr Daktarani discovered some other features that were unique to members of the Sindhi community.

CHROMOSOME 4

Plastic container gene This gene is believed to be responsible for the obsessive nature of Sindhi's to save any plastic container they come in contact with. The individual does not discriminate on what kind of container it is. Some of the more common containers found in some of the patients home were butter, yogurt, cream cheese,

CHROMOSOME 11

mayonnaise jars, pickle/achar jars, old Tupperware with lids that don't match and the blue tin that once contained Dutch Butter Cookies. Lids that don’t match, yellow colored from the pickle oil or curry stains, nor bent out of shape because you microwaved it even though it clearly says NOT MICROWAVE SAFE, will cause the person throw away the container, because the containers are needed to for what was discovered on Chromosome 8.

CHROMOSOME 8

House guest must be given food to eat when they arrive/ house guest must take food with them when they leave This gene is responsible for typical characteristic of Sindhi families to entertain and feed visitors.

If one were to show up to a house with the intention of running a simple errand they would find themselves being forced to stay (almost kidnapped) so that they can be feed a buffet of fried items, coke and mithai. During this time

gossiping tends to occur amongst women and business discussions amongst men. As if that were not enough, when you try to leave without taking anything with you, you run the risk of having rumours started about you. So it is in your best interest to take the food they packed for you in the old plastic containers and be on your merry way. The catch to this is, you will have to stop by again to return the containers and it would be embarrassing to your mother if they were returned empty so they are often returned with food in them. This is how the cycle of getting fat is started.

CHROMOSOME 9

5-minute gene This gene is in charge of keeping time and being on time.

Somewhere along the evolutionary metamorphosis of our genetic make-up this gene was damaged.

A Sindhi showing up on time or a Sindhi function starting on time is unheard of (which confuses and irritates the hell out of white peo-

Suitcase gene This gene is responsible for the desire to store as many suitcases in your house as possible.

An investigational team of reports were sent to the homes of 100 Sindhi homes and found a minimum of 5 suitcases that were filled (over the 50kg limit) in 125 homes. It was discovered that all 100 homes had at least 5 suitcases.

When asked to identify the contents of the suitcases the majority had no clue what was in them, they just knew they paid for it so they won’t be throwing it away.

CHROMOSOME 13

Rhyme words gene This gene was discovered to be associated with the development of the language part of the brain.

All though not present at birth, the characteristic of this gene becomes more pronounce when a person is in their late 30's early 40's. This gene causes one to automatically rhyme words to emphasise the word or their point. Examples of this would be, “Sit and eat some dal bal!”, “Yes bes, of course I can!”, and “Tamaam suto buto hai!” All though not detrimental to ones verbal communication capabilities, it has been found to confuse the white people, especially when you shake your head in two different directions when saying “yes bes”.

EDITORIALS Re-look into weapon licenses could check crime Cyber crime on the rise

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he Anantpur police’s decision to reduce the number of licensed weapons in the district calls for attention. They need to chalk out an action plan to implement after gram panchayat elections to reduce the number of licensed weapons in the district. The 1,000 licensed weapons in Anantpur, is being used to extort money via private settlements in Hyderabad, Bangalore and other cities. Even with no threat from rivals, many leaders use licensed weapons as a status symbol. Despite reduction in faction fights in the last few years, the threat perception report for licenses has not mitigated. Licenses are issued on the basis of history of attack by rivals, threats from dacoits and wild animals for those residing in the outskirts. Police need to check on misuse of licensed weapons. There is an increase in the use of illicit weapons in parts of Rayalaseema. Licenses of weapons of political leaders, who have procured it after producing bonafides from Hyderabad, need to be cancelled. The police should also shortlist all the weapon licenses after reviewing people who need it genuinely.

READERS’ VIEWS

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izag is emerging as the State’s cyber crime capital with increasing cases of youngsters making obscene calls or sending messages amounting to sexual harassment through emails or short message services.

The target is girlfriends or strangers. A majority of the offenders commit cyber crimes under the influence of alcohol and youth are propelled into these both by alcoholism and Internet addiction. Punishment for breaking cyber laws is stringent and alcoholism gets additional punishment in cyber crime.

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

Editor: Dean Williams

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THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

tELEVISION FASHION SCHOOLS ON TV

TURNING HEADS America’s most in-demand costume designer Janie Bryant will helm a fashion design competition with reality TV show called Janie Bryant’s Hollywood. Known for bringing the ‘60s fashion to the small screen in Mad Men, Janie inspires us to list five such TV shows.

1: PROJECT RUNWAY

Hosted by super model Heidi Klum, Project Runway is one of the most popular TV shows based on the fashion industry. Aired on TLC, Project Runway uses progressive elimination to reduce the initial field of 12

or more fashion designers down to 3 before the final challenge. Each non-finale challenge (the scope of one episode) requires the designers to develop one or several pieces of new clothing to be presented at a runway show.

Michael Vartan

Zoom TV’s Indian reality television series Let’s Design is somewhat similar to the concept of Project Runway.

In this annual series, contestants compete with each other in every episode to create the best possible clothes. They are usually restricted in time, materials and theme. Their designs are judged, and one or more designers are eliminated each week.

rinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine, are best known for being fashion advisors, presenters and authors for BBC's What Not To Wear. The two style divas used their knowledge on fashion and harsh comments to reform the appearances and style of the participants on the show.

They are renowned for their poking and prodding of the contestants and their straight-talking advice. Estimated to be jointly worth £10 million, the duo is now hosting TLC's Trinny & Susannah's Australian Makeover Mission.

will be filling a key Bates Motel vacancy when the A&E thriller returns for its second season.

TVLine has learned exclusively that the Alias alum has been cast as a new romantic interest for Norma (played by Emmy nominee Vera Farmiga).

NIDHI BHUSHAN nidhi.b@postnoon.com

T

Criminal Minds Criminal Minds showrunner and onetime Alias scribe Erica Messer has enlisted no less than “Sark” to play a Season 9 UnSub.TVLine has learned exclusively that David Anders will guest-star in the coming run’s third episode as Anton Harris, a serial slayer whose M.O. involves the (gulp) lobotomization of his victims. Anders’ recent (of many) TV credits include Necessary Roughness, Once Upon a Time (as Dr. Whale/Dr. Frankenstein)

CASTING NEWS...

2: LET’S DESIGN

3: TRINNY & SUSANNAH’S AUSTRALIAN MAKEOVER MISSION

NEW RECRUIT

TRENDING...

5: I’M TOO SEXY-GET THE LOOK

A

4: WHAT NOT TO WEAR

Indian edition of BBC's What Not To Wear is hosted by Bollywood diva Soha Ali Khan and acclaimed stylist Aki Narula. The series shows the two hosts help women from all walks of life spruce up their wardrobes.

These women are typically nominated by their family or friends who care. Each episode is therefore a personal journey of a woman – housewife, fast-track professional, entrepreneurs, etc – who wants to reinvent herself through the world of fashion.

mbika Anand and Mohan Neelakantan are back on NDTV Goodtimes with their relaity TV fashion series I'm Too Sexy-Get The Look.

This season, the series will showcase stylish closets of Bollywood fashion divas Sonam Kapoor and Chitrangada Singh, Arjun Rampal and Paris Hilton.

The two hosts will also help viewers discover off-beat styles and DIYs that make one fashionable right at home.

Onetime Grey’s Anatomy nurse Lauren Stamile will guest star in the Season 6 premiere of CBS The Mentalist, TVLine has learned exclusively.The actress will plays Madison Yardley, the wife of a murder victim whose body is discovered two years after he was reported missing.

Stamile’s TV credits include recurring gigs on Community and Burn Notice.

Terrence Howard has joined Matt Dillon and Carla Gugino in the cast of the Fox network’s M. Night Shyamalan thriller Wayward Pines.

Howard will play a small-town sheriff in the event series that revolves around a mystery uncovered by a federal agent (Dillon) when he arrives in an Idaho town in search to two missing agents.

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THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

spotlight LUXURY UNLIMITED

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Accessory queens

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The launch of TS Luxury Collection on Wednesday at Banjara Hills was a grand affair.

Trushna and Shruti Tibrewala played perfect hosts at the do.

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1 Ritu 2 Sheika, Sonia 3 Anjali 4 Deepika 5 Sweety

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FIT AS A FIDDLE

Members of Gorgeous Girls club rocked the oor at Mozzarella, Banjara Hills when they assembled for a zumba session on Wednesday.

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1 Hitika

4 Ashima

7 Sahiba

2 Yamini, Neha

5 Silky

8 Trushna, Ashwin

3 Vinita Surana, Shresha

6 Sheetal

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SPARKLE & SHINE Sasya launched the festive collection at the Banjara Hills store on Wednesday.

Collection includes anarkalis, suits, chudidars, lehengas and lahchas.

A DELECTABLE FEAST

Iftar party hosted by Shazia at Regency Hotel Management School was a hit among her friends. Spotted at the do were Aamer Zaved, Moon Moon, Pradeep and others.

1 Samia Khan,

3 Fareen, Tania,

Fazil Ali Khan 2 Affan, Shazia

Zahoor 4 Aamer Zaved,

Fatheafan 5 Moon Moon,

Pradeep

6 Sohail,

Siraj

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

health

SINGLE MEN SHOW HIGHER RISK OF CANCER-LINKED ORAL HPV It’s rare for men to contract an oral HPV infection, but single men and smokers face a relatively greater risk, a new study suggests.The study, published online recently in The Lancet, followed more than 1,600 men to chart rates of oral infection with HPV, or human papillomavirus.

UNDERSTANDING THE EAR PART IV

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Do not manipulate the ear Dr Vishnu Swaroop Reddy, HOD, Chief consultant ENT and Facial Plastic Surgeon, Care Hospitals, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, tells us to take care of the ears. His advice is not to manipulate the ear with cotton ear buds which can precipitate ear canal infections and can damage the ear drum and hearing. else it can be done under general anaesthesia.

Flies and mosquitoes are usually suctioned out. At home if an insect gets into a someone's ear then one should pour water or few drops of olive oil into the ear, to suffocate the insect and then visit the doctor as soon as possible.

FLEME VARKEY fleme.v@postnoon.com What are the causes of ear diseases in children?

Both in children and adults, the problems are varied. Children usually present with two types of problems — Otitis Media with effusion and Acute Suppurative Otitis media (ASOM). The former is caused due to fluid formation in the middle ear, it causes mild hearing loss and there is little or no pain. It could be because of frequent attacks of cold and upper respiratory tract infections and enlarged adenoids behind the nose blocking the eustachean tubes which connect the nose to the middle ear. It affects commonly children aged 3-6 years. In case of ASOM, there is severe pain and pus builds up behind the ear drum, the pressure causes it to rupture. With ASOM there is usually history of recent cold or cough as well.

What are the causes of ear problems in adults?

Adults present with Chronic Suppurative Otitis media (CSOM), which involves there being a perforation in the eardrum or the tympanic membrane and it is also accompanied by ear discharge and conductive hearing loss.

Antibiotic steroid eardrops can help to make the ear dry. If the discharge persists or recurs, it can cause damage to the three-bone chain attached to the eardrum in the middle ear. These are the malleus, the incus, and the stapes.

Together they form a chain in the middle ear and transmit vibrations caused by sound waves from

Dr Vishnu Swaroop Reddy

HOD, Chief consultant ENT and Facial Plastic Surgeon, Care Hospitals, Banjara Hills.

the eardrum membrane to the fluid in the inner ear. If this is damaging, then one can experience hearing loss over the years.

Though rare but some adults also present with cholesteatoma, an abnormal skin growth or cyst in the middle ear behind the eardrum. This is risky as it can cause erosion of the ear structure and if untreated the infection can spread to the brain as well.

Otosclerosis is another common cause for hearing loss. It is due to abnormal fixation of stapes bone in the middle ear. This is a hereditary condition, common in females and 70 per cent of the times it affects both the ears. In all these above problems hearing can be restored through corrective surgery like masoidectomy and Tympanoplasty. Where as in the case of children and adults with

ANEWS PP-LYBRIEFS YOURSELF

severe to profound hearing loss cochlear implant surgery will help to hear and develop speech in children. However, when it is ageinduced hearing loss named Presbyacusis,(seen in people above 55 years age) it is called high tone sensori-neural deafness. Depending on its severity, one may need hearing aids.

What are the threats posed by headphones to the ears?

Noise induced deafness is a common complaint with people working in high-noise environments like factory workers, armed forces, printing press, mine workers, DJs etc..This sort of deafness can be prevented if the people avoid noisy environments for long periods of time.

Headphones in that sense are

HOUSECALL

good as they help to control the decibel levels, but if one hears sounds too loud for the ears, then it can cause Noise Induced Hearing Loss.

How can hearing problems be detected in children?

In children its usually the parents who notice if there is anything wrong and bring them in.

For testing hearing in children we use the BAER (Brainstem auditory evoked response audiometry). It is used for children below the age of four years to detect the hearing thresholds.

How to deal with foreign bodies in the ear?

Foreign bodies in the ear can be removed by microscopic suction toilet, if permitted by the child, or

DID YOU KNOW?

How to clean your ears? Newborns and adults alike The ears do not need any cleaning, they can clean themselves (self cleaning action of ear canal skin). Even ear buds can damage the ear canal skin. It can cause swelling of the ear canal and probes such as keys, match-stick ends, toothpicks, pencil and ends of pen can damage the eardrum.

Very few people suffer from the problem of excessive impacted ear wax, this can be solved by applying ear drops and one can get the microscopic suction done by an ENT doctor.

What is the difference in approach to hearing problems between India and other countries?

I was in the UK practicing for over ten years. There the nurses conduct a hearing test for the baby on its birth by using OAE (Oto Acoustic Emmission test) There the problem if any is identified and corrected immediately, but here in India very few private hospitals have that facility.

The advantage of early detection of hearing loss is to treat the child appropriately based on the problem and provide hearing to prevent speech and language delay.

PIONEERS

Collect App

Gynecomastia

Up for a heart surgery?

Virginia Apgar

It’s a simple concept– download the app on your iPhone, and it will remind you to take a picture at the same time every day. One of the best ways to judge the effectiveness of your sun care routine is with daily photos. If you’re looking markedly darker than you did a month ago, it may be time to reevaluate.

Gynecomastia results from an imbalance in hormone levels in which levels of estrogen are increased relative to levels of androgens (male hormones).

Gynecomastia that occurs in normallygrowing infant and pubertal boys that resolves on its own with time is known as physiologic gynecomastia.Gynecomastia caused by transient changes in hormone levels with growth usually disappears on its own within six months to two years.

A new study suggests you might fare better or worse depending on the moon’s cycle at the time of the procedure. Researchers found that patients who had a heart surgery called acute aortic dissection repair during a waning full moon were less likely to die than if the same operation happened at other points in the lunar cycle.

American doctor Virginia Apgar developed the first system of tests, known as the Apgar score, to assess the health of newborn babies. She was also the first woman to be a full professor at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.From 1959 until her death in 1974, Apgar worked for the March of Dimes Foundation, directing its research program to prevent and treat birth defects.

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THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

Technology BUY-OUT OFFER

Is that good enough?

Dell buy-out offer boosted; vote postponed.

We believe that $13.75 per share is a full and fair price... The will of the majority of the unaffiliated shares voting on the transaction should not be thwarted by an unfair standard that counts unaffiliated shares not voting as 'no' votes.

The statement from Michael Dell and Silver Lake

SOPHIE ESTIENNE feedback@postnoon.com NEW YORK: Dell founder Michael Dell and his investor allies modestly boosted their buy-out offer for the struggling computer giant Wednesday, but only if the board agrees to change the vote requirements.

The move came amid a hotly contested battle over the bid to take Dell private, a plan opposed by key shareholders as undervaluing the former number one computer maker.

The new offer from Michael Dell and the private equity firm Silver Lake was increased to $13.75 per share, from $13.65 a share, on condition of a change in the shareholder vote process.

The proposal seeks an approval process that would require a majority of shares voted, instead of a majority of all outstanding shares held by the unaffiliated stockholders. The new bid adds some $150 million to the $24.4 billion offer, according to a letter to shareholders. A shareholder meeting set for Wednesday after a postponement last week was rescheduled for August 2, the company said.

The letter to shareholders said the new offer was "our best and final proposal" and set a deadline of 2200 GMT Wednesday for the board to endorse the proposal and new voting procedure. "We are not

willing to discuss any further increase in the merger consideration, nor are we willing to increase the merger consideration to $13.75 per share without the change to the Unaffiliated Stockholder Approval requirement," the letter said.

The move came amid stiff opposition to the buyout by some shareholders who argued that Michael Dell's bid undervalued the former number one computer maker. Opponents have been galvanized by corporate raider Carl Icahn, with some other institutional investors also opposing the effort. The Wall Street Journal last week estimated that holders of at least 30 per-

cent of Dell shares opposed the plan.

Michael Dell and his affiliates hold some 15.6 percent of Dell shares but cannot participate in the shareholder vote.

Icahn and an investor group which has backed him, Southeastern Asset Management, together hold some 13 percent.

A statement from Michael Dell and Silver Lake said an estimated 27 percent of unaffiliated shareholders had not yet voted, suggesting that the plan could fail under the previous procedures.

"The presumption that these shares should be treated as if they had voted against the transaction is patently unfair," the statement said. "We believe that $13.75 per share is a full and fair price... The will of the majority of the unaffiliated shares voting on the transaction should not be thwarted by an unfair standard that counts unaffiliated shares not voting as 'no' votes."

Icahn proposed an alternate plan that would pay $14 per share for up to 71 percent of Dell stock, and recently sweetened the deal by adding one warrant for every four Dell shares, entitling the holder to one share of Dell at $20.

The buyout aims to take Dell private to allow the company to restructure in a rapidly changing tech landscape. While Dell is flush with cash it has been losing market share and has failed to make an impact in the growing area or mobile computing.

Dell shares got an early boost from the news, but in late morning trade were nearly flat at $12.86.

Analyst Brian White at Topeka Capital Management said the buyout saga "reached new levels of absurdity" with the new proposal. "We have to believe that Carl Icahn will have a vitriolic rebuttal to this new proposal and we would surprised if we don't hear from him this week," White said.

There was no immediate statement from Icahn but he tweeted: "All would be swell at Dell if Michael and the board bid farewell." On Tuesday, he and Southeastern issued a statement blasting the Dell board for "unconscionable" conduct in the matter, and warned against another postponement.

Dell, once the world's biggest PC seller, has fallen behind rivals Lenovo and HewlettPackard and faces pressure because of slumping computer sales.

ONE-DERFUL Microsoft's Xbox One is getting decidedly more indie-friendly with today's confirmation from Microsoft that its forthcoming game console will double as a developer debug unit. In so many words, each $500 unit purchased at retail this holiday will also run in-progress game code, enabling developers to get in on the action all the more affordably (debug versions of game consoles cost far more than retail game consoles, and tend to look slightly different from their retail counterparts). "Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One can be used for development," Xbox corporate VP Marc Whitten said in a statement.

LET THE STATS TALK

Google’s Sundar Pichai provided an update on some of the company’s stats for tablet activations and Google Play content downloads last night. While noting that revenue per user on Google Play has increased 2.5X over the last year, Google announced that it now has 70 million tablet activations, up from around 10 million last year. It also announced it is now at 1 million apps on Google Play with over 50 billion app downloads. During holidays 45 per cent of Android tablets sold in Japan were Nexus 7.

Bolt from the blue The mobile-based future is here, and publisher Electronic Arts is reaping the rewards.

EA reported today that it made more money through Apple’s App Store than any other retail distributor. That includes its own Origin digitaldownload service. EA pointed out a few well-performing mobile games that include The Simpsons: Tapped Out, Real Racing 3 and The Sims Freeplay.

The Simpsons: Tapped Out had its biggest quarter ever. It launched in August, but it made more money in the three-month period ending June 30 than in any other quarter.

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THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

Entertainment IN THEATRES SOON

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ahul Venkat, Anisha Ambros e starrer Alias Janaki is releasing on July 26, against all odds.

The film is hitting the theatres across the state just five days before the release of Ram Charan starrer Yevadu and it’s almost certain that most of the theatres in which Alias Janaki would release will be allotted for Yevadu from July 31.

No wonder, Neelima Thirumalsetti, the film’s producer, is going all out to promote the film and grab as many eyeballs as possible.

The film is also going to be made available for online streaming on the same day of the release, especially for audience abroad.

Directed by Dayaa, the film is about a young man who must take a stand against the system to protect those who are close to him.

Shravan is the music director and Sujith Sarang is the cinematographer.

Alias Janaki's risky business CINE BYTES Charmi's next set to release

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rema Oka Maikam has completed its censor formalities and the regional censor board members have cleared it with A certification. Charmi, in lead, plays the role of a call girl. It is a triangular love story between a call girl, a singer and a writer.

Rahul and Saranya will be seen opposite Charmi.

Dasari to play Raveena's father

D

arsakarathna, Dr Dasari Narayana Rao, will be seen in a special role in Manchu family multi-starrer. He is playing father to well-known Bollywood diva Raveena Tandon. King Dr Mohan Babu, Manchu Vishnu and Manchu Manoj are in lead along with Hansika, Praneetha and Raveena Tandon.

Manjula passes away

W

ell known actress, a favourite of both Telugu and Tamil movie lovers, passed away in Chennai. The actress was also the wife of actor Vijaykumar. Manjula is survived by her husband and three daughters. Manjula made her debut in 1969 with Shantinivasam. Her Telugu hits include films like Dorababu and Mayadari Malligadu. Many film personalities have expressed their shock and sadness at this news.

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

fashion

JACQUELINE SAYS ‘I DO’

JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ is the brand ambassador of Aamby Valley India Bridal Fashion Week (AVIBFW) that just kick-started in Delhi. Jacqueline said, “I am honoured to be a part of this fashion week that helps consumers gain access to the best designs that the Indian fashion industry has to offer.

VINTAGE CHARM WITH A CHANGE Rina Dhaka, currently showcasing at Aamby Valley Indian Bridal Week in Delhi, speaks to Postnoon about her obsession with cotton and how she perceives fashion.

KANCHAN AGARWAL kanchan.a@postnoon.com In February, you announced your mission was to discard silk and bring cotton back. What is your plan of action on that? How has your clientele responded?

Thirty to 40 per cent of real life garments that we present are cotton. By using clever ways like blended cotton fabrics we make the fabrics breathable. The clientele response has always been good for the cotton apparels.

Have you imbibed this revolutionary idea in your collection for the Indian Bridal week?

Yes, you will see it in my collection. I am presenting vintage collection as contemporary.

Why do you feel there is a need for such a change in our choices now?

Fashion means change, there is a change needed with changing times. One trend comes and goes, and comes back after some time. As designers we need to bring and introduce trends, designs and fashion to the society. Above all, it is very important to maintain individuality.

Do you believe cotton can someday be a quintessential part of our grand social events like weddings?

I am absolutely obsessed with cotton. I think soon there will be a day when

the Gandhi Time would be back where people would wear hand-woven khadi clothes. I call myself as “traditional cotton farmer’s daughter”.

Tell us about your childhood — where you grew up, events and people that made you who you are, things that had last impressions on you.

As a child, I was influenced by Mrs Indira Gandhi. She was a savvy woman. Her pointy face, her hair, her sarees..she was a figure who made lasting impressions on me.

As a kid I was a dreamer, wearing a chunni on my head for long hair, dreaming all day.

As a designer, how do you perceive fashion?

Has this perception changed over the years?

Fashion is for change. I always look at bringing a change with fashion.

How did you find Hyderabad in terms of fashion?

Yes, Many times. I see good looking, stylish, fashionable people in Hyderabad.

When Pinky and Rinku Reddy are in Hyderabad how can it not be fashionable?

What is your personal style?

During day time at work I wear loose cotton breathable clothes which are comfortable and easy to go. It's very boyish. When not at work, it’s sexy.

FASHION SCOUT NAMES ITS FUTURE STAR

YULIA KONDRANINA is Fashion Scout's spring/summer 2014 Merit Award winner. The Central Saint Martins graduate, known for her ethereal fringed silhouettes, will be given a fully sponsored catwalk show and exhibition at both London and Paris Fashion Weeks, as well as £25,000 to put towards her business.

Turning the greys into

22&23

COLOURS Fashion designer Aniket Satam shares with us some tips to make fashion for the monsoons colourful. n During the monsoons, wear vibrant colours and bold prints to contrast the grey climate.

Avoid colours for lower garments like pants and skirts that can get stained. n Choose your rain gear to match your clothes. You can go for metallic trench coats, neon windcheaters, and transparent raincoats in candy shades. Go for a quirky umbrella in an unusual shape or interesting print. n Don’t wear crocs. Choose colourful wellies with innovative patterns or simply sport girly jelly shoes in transparent citrus colours. n Tie your hair with broad hair bands in bold block colours, sequins bands, funky scrunchies in neon shades or even colour-coordinated hair clips. n Do not wear cottons or clingy satins since they stick to the body. Go for dry poly blends synthetics which dry easily and tunic styles or body conscious silhouettes. Avoid long ankle length clothes and go for

ABOUT THE DESIGNER:

A

niket Satam introduces fall monsoon collection christened as ‘Neo-Tropicana’, to help you beat the monsoon blues. Their colourful pastel neon shades, add zest and zing to the dull monsoon mood. They instantly uplift your spirits and help you celebrate the refreshing showers. So don’t stay closeted indoors but go out, flaunt this beautiful, colourful collection and enjoy the rains.

shorter lengths like bermuda, culottes ,trouser shorts, pleated tennis skirts and capri styles for bottoms to avoid them getting wet. To keep snug, you can opt for cardigan sweaters and printed stoles. Use water resistant mascara and blush.

FOR MEN

n Men can opt for the classic khaki three fourths with lumberjack checkered shirt and metallic olive parkha matched with dark brown all season sandals.

n Avoid socks and scarfs, leather and open footwear, as well socks. Match clothes with a tote in pvc material and wellies in fancy prints. Plastic slip-ons and jellies works well for monsoon. n Go for open sandals like a sturdy neutral strapped footwear with woven texture detailing.

Women can go for funky colour blocked plastic sandals in bold neon colours.

Transparent jellies in sombre candy shade are the latest trend. Also in vogue are gum boots in lego colours. Printed Wellies in retro patterns also gives the funky monsoon look.

Entertainment THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

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Entertainment THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

25

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

One important key to succsss is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.

Arthur Ashe

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 Places that allow rats 5 Hammed it up 10 Leave nothing to chance 14 Way into a mine 15 One carrying on a trade 16 First-rate 17 Unreal quip (Part 1) 19 Repetitive teaching technique 20 Martha Washington’s exclamation of surprise?

21 Up and about 22 Hosp area for critical cases 23 Cab passenger or payment 25 Unreal quip (Part 2) 32 Inscribed pillar 33 Piccata meat 34 Miracle-___ (brand of gardening products) 35 ‘Blue’ entity, on an old TV show 36 Patch or pipe material (Var) 38 Jumping stick 39 Tic-tac-toe winner 40 Barbecue nugget 41 Put ___ to (end) 42 Unreal quip (Part 3) 46 Forefather 47 Name in Cambodian history 48 Greeting with the lei of the land 51 Like some spiders and snakes 56 Shout heard on Manhattan’s streets 57 Unreal quip (Part 4) 59 ‘Back to you,’ in radio talk 60 They blow with the wind 61 Dust Bowl st 62 Closely confined (with ‘up’) 63 From then until now 64 Atlanta QB

DOWN

1 Mary’s charge 2 ‘Forever and ___’

3 Kind of cherry 4 Eyelid annoyance 5 Quick impression 6 Become blocked 7 Sort 8 Elder elver 9 Musical Dr 10 Astronomical unit of distance 11 Steal goods during a riot 12 Against 13 ‘... ___ the twain shall meet’ 18 Speaker’s asset 21 Seed jacket 23 Let loose 24 A long way off 25 ‘Here’s looking ___, kid’ 26 Find a new home for, as a plant 27 Days of yore, in days of yore 28 You prefer the lesser of these two 29 ‘___ Extremes’ (Billy Joel hit) 30 Common inert gas 31 Shoe-tying maneuver 32 One with a superiority complex 36 Swine with tusks 37 Appraise 38 ‘Gangnam Style’ performer 40 ‘Pet’ that sprouts 41 ___ nothing (betting option) 43 Souvenir garment 44 ‘Gimme a minute’ 45 Failure to utilize 48 Riding piggyback 49 Cleanse with soap and water 50 Yoked pair 51 ___ diagram (illustration used in logic) 52 ‘Dial ___ Murder’ 53 Tasting of wood, as some wines 54 Home of the Bruins 55 Connery of 007 fame 57 Commercial products?

58 Yes, in Tokyo

Chai Time THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 26-7-2013

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Indirect attack by enemies is likely, be careful. Businessmen will see a flourishing time and profits jump beyond expectations. Self employed also will do well. Women will ensure and keep the family away from unwanted tensions.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

A pilgrimage might be undertaken by you with family members. You will get a chance to meet your close relatives after a long gap in a marriage or any other get together celebration.

Businessmen will be successful in attracting new customers.

Those recently married will have ‘good news’. Some are successful in buying new vehicle with exchange of old vehicle. Those in the business of readymade garments, textiles and FMCG products will see a boom time and earn good profits.

Speculative deals need to be avoided. You will be taking bold decisions which will yield desired results. Businessmen will be upset as there are chances of misunderstanding with partners. Sudden journey is likely to be undertaken.

Superiors will share their personal matters with you and extend full support. Avoid murmuring when other opportunities are given to you as you will have future gains in a good way if you complete the works well. You will get a chance to show your skills.

Comforts are set to improve and financially a strong position is also likely. A peaceful atmosphere will remain at home.

Your expenses are set to go up for fulfilling the wishes of your children. Minor misunderstandings are likely between couple.

Health needs to be given good attention. Those deprived of a child for long time will get favourable news. Your mind will become crystal clear and hence take decisions easily without any hesitation. Comforts will increase.

Financial situation is likely as the expenses are likely to go beyond expectations. Avoid giving guarantee or commitments to anyone as you might not be able to fulfill them easily as expected by you. Avoid anger.

Avoid negligence in Govt. related issues. Tension and work burden are likely to make you upset but keep your cool and proceed with slow and steady. Avoid getting emotional in any circumstances. Chance of misunderstanding with mother likely.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Page of Swords – Your public speaking abilities are put to the test. You will end up having to speak to a large group about the work you do.

LEO:

Ace of Swords – A job offer is likely to come your way. You feel positive about this offer. But before you accept it, run a background check on the employers.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Eight of Cups – When you crowd your thoughts too much with unnecessary things, you will not be able to think clearly — like a road crammed with parked cars.

SAGITTARIUS:

Temperance – If you want to avoid getting caught in the web of deceit and ill planning, then make plans on your own. Do your research.

TAURUS:

The Devil – Temptation is the mother of all evil.

You are in a place where you’re tempted to be lenient with yourself.

Watch out for the ill effects of this.

CANCER:

The High Priest – You need to steer clear of pointing fingers at someone and being arrogant and rude. This is definitely not the time to do that.

VIRGO:

The Emperor – You have the ability to make it really big and shake the world of work in your field. Remain focused and do what you instinctively feel is right.

SCORPIO:

Page of Pentacles – Planning is key. Whether it’s about a Monday morning presentation or a Friday movie and dinner, unless you plan, it won’t go too well.

CAPRICORN:

Six of Pentacles – Someone is cooking up a cock and bull story and you are ending up buying into it. Distance yourself from the story.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Three of Cups – You are very hardworking, and like an ant, you slowly and steadily put your work together and move forward in the right direction.

NUMBER GAME

Swords – When travelling, make sure you keep everything you need within reach. A book, sunglasses, sandals, sun screen, etc. Make yourself comfortable.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Eight of

POOCH CAFE

Expenses must be kept under strict control. Politicians will gain upper hand and get appreciation from the high command too. Businessmen will get profits as per their expectations and hence look cheerful.

for 26-7-2013

Six of Cups – You are in the mood to sack someone from your personal life. You expected a lot from this person and he/she may not be delivering.

NON SEQUITUR

Properly planned works will get completed successfully.

Businessmen need to be extra careful, as some of the staff might cheat them and share company’s secrets with third persons. Identify such culprits and chuck them out.

SUDUKO

You will clear that haunting debt issues and feel relaxed.

Good effects to take place which will keep you happy.

Employees will get proper recognition after a long expectation, which make them cheerful.

Boggle BAY SEA LAKE POND GULF OCEAN Vol: 3, No 5 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, JULY 25, 2013

HEART-TO-HEART

AN AFFABLE VILLAIN Gargamel might be wicked and mean in The Smurfs, but that doesn’t stop you from liking this character. In an exclusive interview with Postnoon, Hank Azaria who plays Gargamel talks about his role and his journey. funny occasionally. And really the married relationship with the cat. He’s continually bickering with the cat, which I find amusing.

Q. You must have been delighted with the success of the first movie…

HA: The number that it reached was beyond our wildest dreams.

We thought it had a good chance to do okay. I think we would all have been thrilled with three or four [US$100 million] so it was amazing what it reached [US$563 million].

Q. It was your idea to really amplify the relationship between Gargamel and his cat, right?

HA: That was something I am proud of — one, because I thought it was funny and two, he was always making these evil pronouncements, which I thought was really generically evil in a bad way. That is sort of clichéd and boring but if he is talking to the cat then that’s funny.

Q. Apart from the fact that it is an existing and popular property, why do you think that THE SMURFS was such a hit?

HA: Two things, I guess. First, it is hard to tell how much we just didn’t screw it up on the first one! The appeal of the Smurfs was so large that no matter whatever got thrown out there, it might have been okay! How much we did right, I don’t know. I really don’t know.

I do know that the first movie had genuine heart and we felt that it had a sweet message.

And secondly, the Smurfs were really well done. They looked beautiful and they delivered what you expect from these little guys.

Q. What did your son respond to when he saw the first film?

HA: He was on set and was only one year old when we were shooting the first movie, and he was just barely two at the premier. I had him on my lap thinking he would probably only stand 20 minutes of the film, being so young, but he was happy throughout the whole movie. He couldn’t catch story at that point. He knew me as Gargamel because he’s seen me enough in that get-up and when I would leave the screen he would go, ‘Where dada go?’ He was really cute and it was really sweet having him on my lap saying that. But we are not going to let him watch this one because he is old enough now to know that Gargamel is being very cruel and I think it might flip him out a little bit. We will have to wait a few years when I know that he can handle it and know that it is ‘make believe’. Right now he believes movies are real.

Q. As you say, Gargamel is arch and evil but there’s also some pathos there.

How do you try to

Q. You mention slapstick there. Was that the type of comedy you enjoyed when you were growing up?

HA: Sure. It is funny when people have pies in their face or get hit in the head. It’s just funny. I don’t know why it is funny. We can’t help it. We seem to fall down — even in real life it’s funny.

Q. What do you enjoy most about playing Gargamel?

HA: It’s fun to be that nakedly mean to everyone you see and that openly frustrated. And I think we all feel that way very often, especially dealing with our children, and it’s fun to be able to express that. We all have an inner Gargamel, I feel, and mine, after two hours of makeup, gets to actually come out. bring out our sympathy for the character?

HA: You look at a guy who lives with a cat and that is his primary relationship! He talks to a cat.

He is either out of his mind or extraordinarily lonely or both, at least one. And we made this justifiable obsession with Smurfs that felt human and real to me — which is that in our Smurf universe he probably went to some kind of Harry Potter wizard academy, always insisting that capturing Smurfs and extracting their essence was the way to be the most powerful wizard. He was probably laughed at for that and then he has spent his life trying to prove that he was correct. He is in rags. It has ruined his life but he is caught in an obsession and he can’t let it go.

Q. What inspired your voice for Gargamel?

HA: There was a generic evil voice from cartoons in America in the ’70s. It was almost so bad it was good. I thought it was so stupidly on the nose that it just

felt like that would work. Then it got a little raspier as time went on and it just felt right to me.

What are some of the great comedic moments for you in THE SMURFS 2?

HA: There is a nice gag and I laugh despite myself. I was really unsure of it at script level.

I thought, ‘I don’t know, guys.’

Gargamel is in the streets of New York and a cabbie yells at him. He gets annoyed with the cab driver, lifts the cab off the ground with his magic wand and calls the guy a moron as he is walking away. But, of course, he forgets that he has left it up there and the cab falls and flattens him. It is pretty funny.

Most of Gargamel’s funny moments are fairly slapstick. He is verbally

Q. How has becoming a dad affected your career — has it encouraged you to do more family movies?

HA: Yes, although that’s not the only reason. I would probably have done these jobs if I didn’t have a child but it certainly made it more attractive — the idea that your child can enjoy the movie some day. You can be hero to them when they are eight. Probably the downside is that you are a hero when they are eight but by the time they are14 you are a real dork. They really don’t want to know. ‘Oh, my dad is Gargamel. God!’ What he revels in when he is eight he will probably be embarrassed by when he’s 14!

sports

29

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

SWIMMING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Oz looks for redemption

Australia’s one-time flag-waving sport has been greatly diminished amid massive changes in the fallout from their dismal Olympics.

ROBERT SMITH Agence France-Presse SYDNEY: The James Magnussen-led Australian team is seeking redemption for an under-achieving London Olympics, and the tumultuous 12 months which followed, when swimming’s world championships get underway this Sunday in Barcelona.

London was Australian swimming’s first Games without an individual gold medal since the 1976 Montreal Olympics and its worst record haul — of one gold medal, six silver and three bronze — since 1992 in Barcelona.

Two independent inquiries into what went wrong in London pointed to a squad lacking leadership and found “toxic” incidents such as drunkenness and bullying had gone unchecked.

Among the revelations were that members of the six-man 4x100m freestyle relay squad had taken sleeping pills banned by the Australian Olympic Committee and played pranks at a pregames training camp.

Australia’s one-time flagwaving sport has been greatly diminished amid massive changes in the fallout from their dismal Olympics.

Magnussen, who lost the Olympic 100m freestyle title by just onehundredth of a second to American Nathan Adrian, goes to Barcelona with the year’s fastest time and a renewed commitment.

The sport’s president, chief executive and head coach have all gone, while the loss of a major sponsor, a cut in government funding and sanctions for some misbehaving swimmers point to bleak times. All six relay members in London, including defending world 100m freestyle champion Magnussen, were

handed fines and suspended bans for misbehaviour including misuse of sleep drug Stilnox.

As a consequence Australia will send its smallest team in eight years to the Barcelona world championships as the team rebuilds from the postOlympics wreckage.

Magnussen, who lost the

Olympic 100m freestyle title by just one-hundredth of a second to American Nathan Adrian, goes to Barcelona with the year’s fastest time and a renewed commitment. Nicknamed “The Missile", Magnussen says he is a changed man since the damaging sleep-drug scandal.

“I started to believe my own

DOPING IN CYCLING

O’Grady comes clean on doping The confession comes just three days after the 39-year-old Olympic gold medallist and 17-time Tour rider announced his retirement from the sport.

SYDNEY: Newly-retired Australian cycling great Stuart O’Grady has admitted using the banned bloodbooster EPO before the 1998 Tour de France, reports said Thursday.

The confession comes just three days after the 39-yearold Olympic gold medallist and 17-time Tour rider announced his retirement from the sport.

“Leading into the Tour I made a decision, I sourced it (EPO) myself, there was no one else involved, it didn’t involve the team in any way," O’Grady told News Limited newspapers.

“I just had to drive over

the border and buy it at any pharmacy.

“The hardest part of all this is I did it for two weeks before the Tour de France. I used extremely cautious amounts because I’d heard a lot of horror stories and did the absolute minimum of what I hoped would get me through.”

O’Grady, a former track cyclist who won medals at three Olympics, including gold in the Madison at the 2004 Athens Games, took the first of his four career Tour stage wins that year in a race that was overshadowed by the Festina doping scandal.

Festina was kicked off the

race after a medical team member was arrested at the French border and customs officers seized banned substances, including EPO. News Limited newspapers said O’Grady had been named in a French Senate inquiry into sports doping which looked at the 1998 Tour and found the top three finishers, Italian Marco Pantani, Germany’s Jan Ullrich and American Bobby Julich, were taking EPO. “When the Festina affair happened, I smashed it, got rid of it and that was the last I ever touched it,” O’Grady said.

“That’s the hardest thing

to swallow out of all this — it was such a long time ago and one very bad judgement is going to taint a lot of things and people will have a lot of questions.

“You win Olympics, Paris-Roubaix and now all of that is going to be tainted by this action and I wish it could be changed but it can’t.”

The Australian Olympic Committee reacted swiftly to the report, calling for his immediate resignation from its Athletes’ Commission.

press a bit, started to think I was The Missile rather than just myself," said the 22-year-old.

“I am trying to be relaxed and humble, not beating my chest trying to be the alpha male of the team. “So I feel really comfortable with how I am conducting myself around the pool and my teammates — hopefully people are taking note of that."

Magnussen said he is targeting both the 50m and 100m events in Barcelona.

“Both events will be very competitive with many swimmers in great form and it will be a big challenge for me, but I am really looking forward to it," he said.

The men’s 4x100m freestyle team, a disappointing fourth in London, will also have a new look in Barcelona with the inclusion of Matt Abood. Five-time London Olympic medallist Alicia Coutts faces a busy schedule in Spain where she has qualified for five individual events, plus the prospect of swimming in three relay teams.

Coutts, who holds the year’s fastest times in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley, along with the world’s topranked sprinter Cate Campbell represent Australia’s best hopes in the women’s events.

sports

30

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

ANNIVERSARY GAMES

Bolt aims to revive athletics’ spirit

Bolt, scheduled to appear on Friday and Saturday, returns to the arena where he retained his Olympics 100m crown, while also claiming gold medals in the 200m and the 4x100m relay.

GARY FITZGERALD Agence France-Presse LONDON: Usain Bolt will aim to restore sprinting’s battered reputation when the Jamaican star returns to London’s Olympic Stadium for the Anniversary Games.

Bolt, scheduled to appear on Friday and Saturday, returns to the arena where he retained his Olympics 100 metres crown, while also claiming gold medals in the 200m and the 4x100m relay.

Having failed to live up to his fastest man on the planet tag so far this year, Bolt will want a

Powell, Simpson vow to run again SPRINTERS Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson, still awaiting their fates in the doping scandal that has rocked Jamaican athletics, have vowed to return to the sport.

“I have never thought about it [retiring],” Powell said in comments published in the Jamaica Gleaner, adding that he was “shocked” when he learned he had tested positive for the banned stiumulant oxilofrine at

Jamaica’s world championship trials in June.

Powell and Simpson, who tested positive for the same stimulant, were both awaiting the results of their B samples and the impending hearing that will determine their fates.

Both face a possible threemonth ban and both are expected to miss next month’s IAAF World Championships in Moscow.

quick time at the Anniversary Games, being held in Stratford to mark one year since the London Olympics.

He will also use the latest of the Diamond League meetings to fine-tune his preparations for next month’s World Championships in Moscow.

But, just as significantly, the absence of Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, as they await the potential punishment over their recent drugs controversy, means athletics needs Bolt to deliver a memorable performance for the good of the sport.

Gay, the 30-year-old American who is the fastest man in the world this year, tested positive for a banned substance and immediately withdrew from the World Championships.

Jamaica’s Powell, a former 100m world record holder, confirmed that he had tested positive for a banned stimulant at his country’s national trials for Moscow, but denies any wrongdoing.

Despite the absence of Gay and Powell, six-time Olympic champion Bolt will come up against two runners who have gone faster than him this year.

Fellow Jamaican Nesta Carter and Britain’s James Dasaolu will keep Bolt well and truly on his toes.

Veterans Kim Collins and Dwain Chambers will try and keep pace with Bolt as will young guns Christophe Lemaitre and Rakieem Salaamit.

CANDIAN OPEN PREVIEW

DeLaet looks to make Canada proud DeLaet has five top-10 finishes this season and leads the tour in greens reached in regulation.

OAKVILLE: Graham DeLaet heads a healthy home challenge at the US PGA Tour’s $5.6 million Canadian Open this week, seeking to put the trophy in Canadian hands for the first time since 1954.

DeLaet, a 31-year-old still seeking a first victory on the PGA Tour, is enjoying a solid season, making the cut in 17 of his 20 starts. He has five top-10 finishes this season and leads the tour in greens reached in regulation.

“Coming into this tournament the previous four times

Graham DeLaet, a 31-year-old still seeking a first victory on the PGA Tour, is enjoying a solid season, making the cut in 17 of his 20 starts. that I played it, I always came in wanting to play good, and I believe this year that I can play well,” DeLaet said. “Whether I do or not, that’s going to be found out on Thursday through

Sunday ... but my confidence is high.”

Ending the home drought in his national Open isn’t DeLaet’s only goal this week, when a good performance at Glen Abbey would also boost his bid to become just the second Canadian, after former Masters champion Mike Weir, to play for the International Team in the Presidents Cup. DeLaet enters the tournament ranked 13th in the International standings. Of 18 Canadians entered this week, five are US PGA Tour regulars.

SWISS OPEN

Wawrinka battles back to win Wawrinka was pleased with his great escape in front of home fans at this elite alpine venue located at 800 metres above sea level.

GSTAAD: Second seed Stanislas Wawrinka gave away a double break but regained the initiative to beat Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) on Wednesday in a nervous, but winning, start to the Swiss Open.

The Lausanne player looked to be cruising to a straightforward success against number 62 GimenoTraver.

But the Spaniard had other ideas, recapturing both second set breaks — Wawrinka had a match point in the 12th game — and forcing the clay contest into a tiebreaker.

A 12th ace from the bighitting 10th-ranked Swiss earned three more match points in the decider, with Gimeno-Traver saving the first with an ace before finally going down through a backhand error.

Wawrinka, winner of the clay title this year in Lisbon and runner-up at the Madrid Masters to Rafael Nadal, will take on another Spaniard when he plays Feliciano Lopez on Friday.

The fifth seed from Madrid earned a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Russian Andrey Kuznetsov.

Wawrinka was pleased with his great escape in front of home fans at this elite alpine venue located at 800 metres above sea level.

“It was not an easy match and I’m just glad to win it,” said Wawrinka, a 2005 finalist in Gstaad.

“It is always tough conditions here on fast clay and there was also wind.

“I’m very happy to go through, I’m having a good season and it’s important for me to try and follow through with this performance.”

The 2004 champion, and 17-time Grand Slam title winner, Roger Federer takes the top seeding but will not start until Thursday when he faces German Daniel Brands.

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THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

INDIA IN ZIMBABWE

Cap’n Kohli sees record tumble Kohli became the fastest batsman in the history of the game to score 15 one-day international hundreds.

TRISTAN HOLME Agence France-Presse HARARE: India captain Virat Kohli became the fastest batsman in the history of the game to score 15 one-day international hundreds as India cruised to a six-wicket victory over Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday.

Kohli’s 115 from just 108 deliveries helped the tourists chase down a target of 229 with 31 deliveries remaining to go 1-0 up in the five-match series, and also saw him eclipse Pakistan batsman Saeed Anwar’s record.

While Anwar required 143 one-day matches to score his first 15 centuries, Wednesday’s match was Kohli’s 106th game.

India’s greatest batsman, Sachin Tendulkar, scored his 15th oneday century in his 182nd match.

Kohli was aided by debutant Ambati Rayudu, who shared in a 159-run stand for the third wicket after openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were dismissed relatively cheaply.

“Virat is playing the best cricket possible and I feel he’s the best player in the world in the one-day format right now, so it made it a lot easier for me

SCRORE BOARD

Zimbabwe innings (50 overs maximum) V Sibanda lbw b Mishra 34 Sikandar Raza b Mishra 82 SC Williams b Raina 15 H Masakadza b Mishra 11 BRM Taylor*† c Raina b Unadkat 12 MN Waller b Mohammed Shami 2 E Chigumbura not out 43 TC Mutombodzi c Dhawan b Vinay Kumar 8 P Utseya not out 8 Extras (b 2, lb 7, w 4) 13 Total (7 wickets; 50 overs) 228 Bowling O M R W R Vinay Kumar 9 1 57 1 M Shami 10 1 45 1 JD Unadkat 10 1 39 1 RA Jadeja 10 3 33 0 A Mishra 10 1 43 3 SK Raina 1 0 2 1 India innings (target: 229 runs from 50 overs) RG Sharma c †Taylor b Chigumbura 20 S Dhawan c Waller b Jarvis 17 V Kohli* c Sibanda b Utseya 115 AT Rayudu not out 63 SK Raina c Sikandar Raza b Utseya 0 KD Karthik† not out 8 Extras (lb 1, w 5, nb 1) 7 Total (4 wickets; 44.5 overs; 175 mins) 230 Bowling O M R W KM Jarvis 8 0 40 1 TL Chatara 9 0 30 0 E Chigumbura 5 0 30 1 P Utseya 10 0 34 2 TC Mutombodzi 7.5 0 65 0 SC Williams 3 0 18 0 H Masakadza 2 0 12 0

to bat with him,” Rayudu said.

Kohli and Rayudu made serene progress throughout the afternoon as Zimbabwe failed to apply pressure with either tight bowling or slick fielding, until Kohli was caught on the longoff boundary off the bowling of Prosper Utseya as he looked to finish the match quickly.

Utseya then had Raina caught at cover two balls later, but Rayudu crunched a drive to the extra cover boundary three overs later to finish the job and end unbeaten on 63.

India’s victory was largely set up by their bowlers, who took advantage of some lateral movement up front to restrict Zimbabwe early on.

Openers Vusi Sibanda and Sikandar Raza opted for a patient approach in a 72-run opening stand, which was broken when Sibanda was trapped lbw by an Amit Mishra googly.

Raza increased the tempo as the innings wore on, but lost partners at regular intervals as Zimbabwe’s middle order struggled against India’s disciplined bowling. “All three of their seamers bowled really well, but it wasn’t just them the spinners came on and bogged us down.”

PAKISTAN IN WEST INDIES

Pakistan scramble to victory

Replying to the hosts’ total of 242 for seven, skipper Misbah-ul-Haq’s innings of 63 again piloted the visitors to their target although they made heavy weather of it.

GROS INLET: Pakistan scrambled a four-wicket victory off the penultimate ball in the fifth and final one-day international against the West Indies at the Beausejour Stadium on Wednesday.

Replying to the hosts’ total of 242 for seven, skipper Misbah-ulHaq’s innings of 63 again piloted the visitors to their target although they made heavy weather of it at the end, Kieron Pollard missing the stumps at the non-striker’s end and Saeed Ajmal dashing home for the winning run to the relief of his teammates.

Pakistan take the five-match series 3-1 with one tied and now both teams shift focus to the two Twenty20 internationals to be played on Saturday and Sunday in St Vincent Misbah, who was dismissed at the start of the final over with the scores level, took both the

man of the match and the man of the series awards. Not for the first time over the five matches, the fate of the match hinged on his contribution with the bat.

But from the West Indies

standpoint, they were left to lament a controversial moment when they were convinced that the Pakistani captain was caught off the glove by stand-in wicketkeeper Lendl Simmons off a fiery

Tino Best. On 49 at the time, and with the score standing at 190 for four in the 43rd over, his dismissal then with 53 runs still needed could have been pivotal.

Umpire Paul Reiffel’s not out decision was challenged by West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo but the Decision Review System (DRS) upheld the on-field verdict, much to the dismay of the Caribbean players on the field.

“A key decision went against us and that was the turning point in the game,” said Bravo at the end of the match in a less-thanveiled reference to the Misbah incident.

Ahmed Shehzad contributed a top score of 64 at the top of the order, but after being becalmed in the middle of the innings by some determined bowling from the West Indies, Misbah found an able ally in Umar Akmal.

AFP

THE ASHES

Warner sends Oz a reminder A swashbuckling 193 by Aussie David Warner could see him picked for the third Ashes Test.

JOHANNESBURG: Controversial Australian batsman David Warner sent a timely reminder to the struggling Ashes team with a 193-run innings against South Africa A Wednesday in Pretoria.

Warner was booted out of the senior team before the five-Test Ashes series against England after punching home batsman Joe Root in a bar.

Sent to Africa to rediscover his form, the Australian began disappointingly with innings of six and 11 in an 80run defeat of a Zimbabwe XI in Harare.

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

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SUAREZ SHOULD REPAY FANS’ FAITH: RODGERS

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has urged want-away striker Luis Suarez to repay the faith placed in him by supporters after Liverpool's emotional 2-0 win on their pre-season tour in Australia.

GOLD CUP

Landon Donovan scored in the 27th and 53rd minute and assisted on the first goal of the contest for the Americans who have now won a national team record 10 matches in a row.

US through to Gold Cup final matches in a row. The USA will attempt to clinch its first title since 2007 in the biennial North American regional tournament on Sunday when they face the winner of the other semi-final between Mexico and Panama.

Donovan, who had three points in Sunday's quarter-final victory, assisted on the opening goal of the contest. Donovan

DALLAS: The United States men's national team advanced to the CONCACAF Gold Cup final by beating Honduras 3-1 Wednesday behind two goals from Landon Donovan.

Donovan scored in the 27th and 53rd minute and assisted on the first goal of the contest for the Americans who have now won a national team record 10

Bayern thump Barça Although Barcelona left new Brazil signing Neymar at home, first-team regulars like Lionel Messi all played.

RYLAND JAMES Agence France-Presse

Champions League winners victory over the Catalan giants at a sold-out Allianz Arena in front of 71,137 fans.

With the Uli Hoeness Cup

scored halfway through the first half to make it 2-0. Nery Medina scored as Honduras pulled a goal back in the 52nd minute.

However, the US answered back a minute later as Bedoya and Donovan joined forces again to restore the their two-goal lead. The Americans have now scored 25 goals in six wins. AFP

REAL MADRID vs LYON

PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY

MUNICH: Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich enjoyed a 2-0 win at home against his former employers Barcelona in Wednesday's friendly as the Spaniards only played their stars until the break.

Although Barcelona left new Brazil signing Neymar at home, first-team regulars Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano, Adriano, Alex Song and Alexis Sanchez all played the first-half in Munich.

Goals by Philipp Lahm and Mario Mandzukic either side of half-time were enough to give the

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on offer, in honour of Bayern's president, this was Munich's second pre-season title in four days having won Sunday's Telekom Cup final with a 5-1 win at hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach.

"It was a good preparation for Borussia Dortmund, " said Guardiola whose Bayern travel to Dortmund for the German Super Cup on Saturday in a repeat of May's Champions League final. "Barcelona are always a good team and they were a good test for us.”

With 23 players involved in his match-day squad, Guardiola said there will be talks about the possibility of reducing that number.

Real rally to draw with Lyon PARIS: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti saw his side come back from two goals down on his return to France on Wednesday as they held Lyon to a 2-2 draw at Stade Gerland.Ancelotti, who quit Paris Saint-Germain after winning the French title in his first season, fielded a strong lineup including Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, Germany's Mesut Ozil and former Lyon star Karim Benzema.

The two teams know each other well after crossing swords in the Champions League 10 times since 2005 with spoils shared at three wins apiece and produced an entertaining evening of pre-season football in front of a packed house.

Midfield youngster Clement Grenier gave the partisan crowd a fair return for their money after just 20 minutes with a spectacular goal from distance that flew under the bar and past Diego Lopez.

Argentine Lisandro Lopez,

Midfield youngster Clement Grenier gave the partisan crowd a fair return for their money after just 20 minutes. who has been at the centre of transfer rumours in recent weeks, then gave the seven-time champions a cushion with a close range finish before Real began their comeback with 11 minutes remaining.

AFP

ARSENE’S TIME IN JAPAN

Wenger’s legacy lives on in Japan The serious Frenchman left a lasting impression on his colleagues at Nagoya Grampus.

SHIGEMI SATO Agence France-Presse TOKYO: Nearly 20 years after his brief stay in Japan Arsene Wenger's influence still echoes, following its rise from a backwater of world football to one of its emerging powers.

The serious Frenchman left a lasting impression not only on his colleagues at Nagoya Grampus,

where he was manager for 18 months in 1995 and 1996, but also on the Japanese game as a whole.

"Pass the ball to the future.

The side pass is present and the back pass is past," Wenger was fond of saying at the time, according to former Nagoya midfielder Tetsuo Nakanishi, 43, who doubled as his interpreter.

"He advocated positive attacks with thrusts forward. It

was entertaining to watch and the players enjoyed it," Nakanishi said. When Wenger returned to Nagoya for the first time this week with Arsenal, a largely red-clad crowd of 43,000 turned out to greet him, waving banners such as "Welcome home, Bengeru [Wenger]".

Before Arsenal's 3-1 win over Nagoya, former players of the club — including current manag-

er Dragan Stojkovic — played a commemorative game in honour of the Frenchman. "Manager Wenger remembered the name of everyone," mused former striker Takafumi Ogura, now 40. "I felt nostalgic when I saw them [Wenger and Stojkovic] together." Excitement is understandable in Nagoya after Wenger transformed the club, in the early years of the J-League.