Postnoon E-Paper for March 25th 2013 by Scribble Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

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32 PAGES

WEATHER: CLEAR WITH CLOUDY PERIODS; 32°C

JOKER IN THE PACK Will we ever take Jim Carrey seriously as an actor? In his latest outing The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Jim Carrey plays a charismatic street magician

P16&17 and his performance was well-received. We take a look at some of the best films in Jim Carrey’s career that have awed us.

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

In a sudden development, the TDP in GHMC has decided to give the MIM call for help in legislative council polls a miss and field its own candidate. This has left the MIM red-faced and will have great ramifications across the State.

REPORT ON P4

TDP drops MIM like a hot potato

My wife’s face is too small! My husband is too short! We don’t like the same restaurants! Would you divorce your spouse for the above reasons? It seems like people in the City most certainly will.

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

city events

GROUP PAINTING EXHIBITION

Aalankritha Art Gallery presents a group exhibition of paintings by Pradosh Swain and Suchismita Sahoo. The preview is on March 30 from 6pm to 8pm. The exhibition continues till April 10, from 11am to 7pm, except on Sundays.

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

32°C

25°C

30°C

38°C

A mix of cloudy and clear skies.

A mix of sun and cloud.

Sunny with cloudy periods.

New Delhi Mumbai Max 32 Max 31 Min 19 Min 24 Mostly cloudy.

Chennai Max 35 Min 26

Partly cloudy.

Bangalore Max 36 Min 23 Partly cloudy.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES Road no. 12, Sri Ram Nagar Colony, Banjara Hills When: Up to March 30, from 11.30 am to 7pm Contact: 98499 68797

DINING Full moon dine Dine with your loved ones under the full moon. A special thali will be served every full moon. Where: La Cantina When: from March 27, 7.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 6682 4422

Innovating traditions Artists with interest in sculptural forms are invited to participate in this workshop. There will be an interactive use of techniques between Nakashi art and contemporary art practices. Where: ICONART Artist in Residency Premises, 1672 SBI building, 2nd ﬂoor, Road no12, Banjara Hills When: Ongoing Contact: 98499 68797

Daily treats Orange is the fruit of the month at The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace. Dishes include orange blossom cheesecake, orange creme brule and dark chocolate orange tart. Where: Daily Treats, The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace When: Up to March 31 Contact: (040) 6767 6818 Easter brunch This is a family brunch. Items on menu include beef wellington, mushroom pie, Easter eggs and hot cross buns. Where: The Square When: March 31, noon onwards Contact: (040) 6684 4422 Double Easter treat There is an exquisite seafood barbecue, along with Easter classics at Okra. Specially crafted Easter hampers are available at The Hyderabad Baking Company. Where: Okra,Hyderabad Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre When: March 31,

MISCELLANEOUS SPREAD YOUR WINGS: A kingfisher spotted at Chilkur Balaji temple. 12.30pm to 3.30pm Contact: (040) 2752 2567 Holi Special Aam panna, thandai, assorted pakodas and special chat platters are some of the items on the menu. There will also be tattoo and mehendi artistes, musician and bangle seller at the venue. Where: Kailash Parbat Above Ebony Gautier, 2nd floor, Road no. 36, Jubilee Hills When: March 23-31 Lunch: noon to 3.30pm Snacks: noon to 11.30pm Dinner: 7pm to 11pm Contact: (040) 2355 8856 Easter goodies Hot cross buns, Easter Bunnies, and Easter chocolates are part of the spe-

Commissioner & Spl Officer

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

198 155313

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

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

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

N SHIVA KUMAR

cial Easter menu. Where: Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre When: March 25-31

Kalakriti Art Gallery When: Preview: March 28, 6.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 6656 4466

It’s Easter! There is a special Easter brunch. Where: : Seasonal Tastes, The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace When: March 31, noon to 4pm Contact: (040) 6767 6888

Homage to Ganesh Pyne There is an exhibition of mixed media and jottings by Ganesh Pyne. The preview will be followed by a talk and presentation at 7pm by Pranab Ranjan Ray, art historian and activist of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery, Banjara Hills When: Preview: March 22, 6.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 6656 4466

ART French artist B2Fays Alliance Française of Hyderabad, Kalakriti Art Gallery and Park Hyatt Hyderabad present French artist B2Fays. It is an exhibition of paintings and multimedia installations. Where: Preview: Park Hyatt Exhibition continues at

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

155313 23307328 23313163

27505566 23314095 23390933 24600146 27001134 23607777 30418888 30417777 30419000 30416666 39879999

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

Spring Treasure Sale There is a sale of up to 50 per cent off at Taj Khazana. Where: Taj Khazana Taj Falaknuma Palace, Engine Bowli When: March 15-25 Contact: (040) 6629 8600

Thinking form and content An exhibition of art work by Gopal Nayak. Where: ICONART Gallery,

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

The great Oxford sale Discounts on books, magazines, stationery and gift items. Where: Oxford Bookstore, Tresorie, The Park, 22 Raj Bhavan Road When: Up to March 31, Contact: (040) 31002959

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

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

City

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

IS THE CENTRE USING CBI TO SETTLE SCORES WITH OPPONENTS? 89% 11%

YES (A) NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

ARE YOUNG COUPLES INCREASINGLY LOOKING AT DIVORCE AS THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION? A)

YES

CRIME

The histrionic gangs

There is exemplary unity and harmony among them. Only, it is for criminal activity.

TRS to launch programme on April 1

elangana Rashtra Samithi, which has been spearheading the movement for separate Telangana State, has decided to launch a novel programme, Gadapa Gadapaki Telangana (Telangana at every doorstep), from April 1. Senior TRS leader and Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao said all the MLAs and MLCs of the party would be participating in the novel programme. Pointing out to the acute shortage of drinking water in the State capital, the TRS leader said labour minister Danam Nagendar and marketing minister Mukesh Goud of Hyderabad were responsible for this. He also lashed out at MLA Jayasudha for not talking about the problems of the people of her constituency in the Assembly. NSS

Chor market mechs on the run POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

POLITICS

CRIME

NIA, under pressure from higher-ups, is making bicycle dealers’ lives miserable by asking them questions for which they don’t have answers.

Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com onsider this: You are busy shopping in a crowded street or supermarket, and suddenly you feel a hand stealing your wallet. You know the one who took it out and you confront him. He, like a magician, transfers it to the next person and acts innocent. You are in the dock! And the one who got the wallet will accuse you of blaming an ‘innocent’ man. Or you are travelling in a train and you see someone snatching the gold chain of a woman traveller. You raise an alarm and the snatcher is stopped by someone. Flash comes in a do-gooder, slaps the culprit and abuses him, all the while dragging him to the ‘policeman’ in the next coach. And the two vamoose, laughing all the way. All these are not scenes from a masala film. It is the Mangoor gang, named after the gangs of thieves

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camping at Mangoor basti in Afzalgunj, Habeebnagar. The story of the Mangoor gang came out when the commissioner’s task force, central zone, picked up two of them while disposing of stolen gold. In all, cash, gold and other valuables, totally worth over `14 lakh were seized from the duo. Additional deputy commissioner of task force, P Rameshaiah, said the gang is led by Mohd Feroz, a native of Nanded, Maharashtra, and his associate was identified as U Laxman. Only after the arrest it came to be known that six more people are in the gang and that they escaped.

They are: Shyam, 20, Ramesh, 30, Sreenu, 35, Ramaiah, 34, Daya, 22, and Ravi, 27. There are said to be several gangs in this area who have formed syndicates and they develop many strategies to fool the victims. Some even appear suddenly as an outraged lawyer who extracts the gang member accused of pick-pocketing or thievery from a murderous crowd. These are ‘public spirited’ citizens who slap and abuse the gang member if caught to take him out of jam after earning the trust of the people gathered. Thus the brotherhood among them is really thick, police say.

icycle makers and mechanics of Chor market (Jumeraat Bazaar) are running for cover now. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigating the Dilsukhnagar blasts has been dragging them along to the forensic labs and trying every trick of the trade to make them recall suspicious characters who bought or repaired old bicycles before the blasts. It is because two powerful explosions broke out from packets of bombs kept on two bicycles. One portion of a cycle was recovered and it pointed to the handiwork of cycle makers in the market who assemble a cycle with parts from various makers. It has

been found that Jumeraat Bazaar is the only place in the City that has a flourishing bicycle market, and it is only here that expert cycle assemblers are available. In fact, the mechanics here could cobble up a bicycle in 30 minutes flat! The bicycle dealers and repairers are reportedly pleading that they have hundreds of customers coming in; how could they possibly spot a criminal element? But NIA investigators, pulling their hair out in despair, are unwilling to buy the argument and want these men to recall faces that appeared suspicious. A bicycle dealer in this area said all his mechanics had disappeared fearing police persecution.

city MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

CIVIC

LAST YEAR... HERE Fighting piracy

ast year we had reported how the Telugu film industry had inked an MoU with Motion Picture Association (MPA) to fight online piracy. It was the first time that a film industry in India was collaborating with MPA to protect its intellectual property rights. A lot had already been done to combat video piracy, but it was a different ballgame when it came to online piracy.

MARCH 25, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

127 MT

is the approximate amount of plastic waste generated every day in the City. This constitutes around 40 per cent of the total waste generated in Hyderabad.

It is in the best interest of the couple to have premarital and early marriage counselling, to get clarity about the whos, whats, hows and whys of a relationship. Dr V Kartic, psychotherapist See page 6

Wanted: Town planning court FOR REPRESENTATION ONLY

Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com

ccording to civic officials, this would not only provide scope for dealing with cases of unauthorised constructions flourishing under the patronage of the staff, but save a lot of time and effort too. “Once it becomes a reality, the town planning tribunal would deal efficiently with cases of illegal constructions,” said an official of town planning. According to officials, there are 877 illegal constructions and cases slapped by GHMC on 141 illegal buildings. Action was taken against 295, and 441 are pending in court. Officials admit these are the official figures. There could be more such constructions in the GHMC area. Some in town planning have found it convenient to allow illegal structures in a bid to extract money. One way is to advise the unauthorised builder to take it to court where it will lay gathering dust for decades, perhaps. Meanwhile, the GHMC loses revenue and has to spend on cases too. Lack of proper staff is another problem for the town planning wing. For the department, 450-500 people should have

Get manufacturers to clean up their mess. The MoEF has a clause holding manufacturers responsible for their plastic waste, but the government seems loathe to enforce it. Commercial interests win out again over the environment.

Making mountains out of molehills in marriages. The reasons for divorce are getting more and more absurd. A wife’s face was too small, a couple could not agree on which restaurant to go to... seems like all’s fair in love and divorce.

Help the strays survive the summer heat. Animals are the ﬁrst victim of rising temperatures. Put out some water and food to make their lives easier this summer.

Now, a court to deal with illegal constructions. The GHMC wants a town planning tribunal to look at cases relating to constructions in the City.

CM asks Opposition for constructive ideas. Instead of criticism, ideas for the power problem would be welcome.

been working, but the strength is only 74. With five zones, 18 circles and a head office, the total number of employed is only 74. The town planning higher officials have to verify applications, visit courts and the Lokayukta, and attend meetings with public representatives. With all these tasks on hand, the wing is not able to spare time in solving the cases of illegal constructions. Following the nod from the government, it is believed that the corporation will be hiring 2,607 employees, over the Prasad Rao committee recommendations. However, whether these measures will solve the problems plaguing the understaffed town planning wing is yet to be seen.

CIVIC

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

With hundreds of cases related to constructions pending, the GHMC has sought permission to set up a town planning tribunal.

TDP drops MIM like a hot potato POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

he TDP has resolved to put up its own candidate for Hyderabad Legislative Council following the party’s minority cell’s advice to nurture the Hyderabad parliamentary seat for the 2014 elections. Even as the last day for nominations arrived, the MIM, which was making headway by taking into confidence the TDP

We are a secular party and won’t forge a tie-up with communal parties like MIM, BJP. Md Shahbaz Ahmed Chairman, minority affairs

leadership, was left in the lurch. The TDP minority cell, which has been opposing the alliance with MIM, wrote to Chandrababu Naidu to have a second thought in forging the alliance. “TDP is a secular party and will not forge alliance with non-secular parties like MIM and BJP,” said Md Shahbaz Ahmed Khan, City president of the minority cell. Senior corporators, who were supporting an alliance

with MIM, also made a U-turn. Realising that their actions may have repercussions all over the State, they left the decision to the high command. “We shall be fielding our own candidate for these elections. It is up to the MIM to put up its candidate or not. But we feel that antiCongress parties such as the BJP, MIM and YSRC will surely support our candidate,” said Singireddy Srinivas Reddy, TDP floor leader.

NEWS BRIEFS Naidu to end padayatra on April 26

BJP steps up pre-poll exercises in City

Murali Mohan voted president of MAA

Relay hunger strikes continue

DP chief Chandrababu Naidu will not end his padayatra on April 19 as reported earlier but on April 26, sources say. He took the decision in view of the ensuing panchayat elections and the uncertainty at the Centre. All leaders wanted Naidu to be in Hyderabad at the earliest so that he would be able to prepare the party for the developments.

large number of professionals from Nalgonda and Warangal joined the BJP at a function organised in the City yesterday. The party’s AP president, Kishan Reddy, said this was the beginning and much more would come in the days ahead. The party began its pre-poll exercise recently with a special drive for membership.

ctor Murali Mohan was unanimously elected the president of Movie Artistes Association (MAA) yesterday. Shiva Krishna was elected executive vice-president, Naga Babu and Manchu Vishnu were elected vice-presidents Sivaji Raja is the new treasurer. Venu Madhav and Maharshi Gokineni are joint secretaries.

he relay hunger strike by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Employees union entered the 19th day on Monday. All the Light Motor Vehicle employees from zonal ofﬁce took part in the relay hunger strike at the GHMC head ofﬁce on Sunday. According to the GHMEU president, the relay hunger strike will continue for 90 more days.

city MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

ELECTIONS

Local body polls to cost `130 crore extra

Election managers have said that they would be needing `225 crore to conduct the polls in the local bodies across Andhra Pradesh. INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com

he AP government now admits inflation has more than doubled in the past six years. The solid proof of this confession is the additional bill it seeks to get allotted for the local body elections in May. Erosion of the common man’s earning has not been overtly admitted so far. Now, the election managers have said they

In 2006, State had the following local bodies Gram Panchayats Mandals Zilla Parishads

Parties to cough up more All this is apart from an unspecified amount the political parties will be spending. For them, it is semi-final to the State Assembly elections in 2014. Capturing as many local bodies are important as they provide the platform for the larger State polls. The keenest war is being waged between TDP and YSRC. TRS will limit its battle to Telangana and the leftists will be moving out of their bastions this time.

ASSEMBLY

Cong ‘powerless,’ agrees Kiran POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

hief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday confessed that the government has on its hand a serious power crisis issue and sought the Opposition’s constructive suggestions rather than running down the government. Kiran’s intervention came during a short discussion Speaker N Manohar allowed on the ongoing power shortage and proposed a tariff hike. When the Assembly was called to order around 9am, all the parties including TDP, YSRC, TRS and Left parties moved adjournment motions on various issues. But TRS and YSRC wanted discussions on power crisis. However, all parties rushed to the podium demanding adjournment motions on various issues, which led to the adjournment of the

21,600 1,097 22

House till 10am. As the adjournment was announced, minister Sridhar Babu got up and said the government would listen to the power crisis issue if the Speaker allowed it. Accordingly, a short discussion began when the House reconvened at 10am. TDP MLA P Keshav, who opened for the Opposition, accused the Congress government of mismanaging the power front and lying about the power situation. He said 50 per cent rabi crops remain to be sown as farmers face acute power crunch. Many members stood up, intervening to add arsenal to the TDP attack. However, the Chair called for order and asked the TDP to carry on. It was at this juncture the chief minister stood up, admitting the power crisis, and sought the Opposition’s co-operation in tackling it.

would be needing `225 crore to conduct the polls for the local bodies across the State. The amount for the last polls, held in 2006, was `95 crore. There are over 21,600 gram panchayats in Andhra Pradesh. The precise figure is expected in a week’s time. The election wing points out that the prices of all essential commodities and electoral materials have gone up by over 100 per cent. State election commissioner P Ramakantha Reddy,

who had been entrusted with the responsibility of holding the local body elections, also confirmed the figure. The preparation of voter rolls alone is expected to cost the State government about `14 crore. Apart from this, the conduct of elections for all gram panchayats would cost `110 crore and the conduct of elections for ZPTC and MPTC seats is likely to cost another `100 crore for the State’s exchequer.

PROTEST

CPI leader Narayana and others went on a hunger strike over power cuts at Indira Park.

city MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

FAMILY COURTS

Mountains out of molehills

Where 40 per cent of divorces are filed over ‘trivial’ issues, a husband surprised the court by filing one because his ‘wife’s face was small.’ ALEENA ALICE aleena.t@postnoon.com

aju (name changed) got married a year ago. Every weekend, he would take his wife out. However, the couple always had a difference of opinion when it came to the restaurant they wanted to go to. This small difference gave way to huge arguments and fights; eventually, the couple called it quits and approached the court for a divorce, says advocate Gopal Krishna Kalanidhi, who is contesting the case at the court on behalf of Raju. Divorce, once considered a taboo word, is no longer alien to the new-age couples. Instead of dealing with issues by discussing them amicably, they consider divorce to be an ultimate solution to their problems.

In the past few years, nearly 40 per cent of couples who file for divorce have done so for petty reasons. Recently, a case that came to the City family court took everyone by surprise. The husband had filed for a divorce as he found his wife’s face to be small. Such is the seriousness of the cases. Advocate G Veena, who is dealing with the case, said, “Someone had told the husband that he would have a lot of financial problems because his wife’s face is small. Adding to it, the man was already in a lot of debt. So when things got worse for him, he started ill-treating his wife and harassing her. Unable to bear the harassment, his wife registered a case under section 498 A at the local police station. Later, she withdrew the case and the couple are now filing a mutual divorce.”

Psychologists blame it on the lack of adjustment between two individuals. “Earlier, while living in a joint family, children would automatically be trained to adjust and share. Now-a-days, with the emergence of nuclear families, children lose this advantage of learning to adjust,” says Dr Sumalatha, a psychologist. Pre-marital counselling could be a possible solution. Dr Vasuprada Kartic, consultant counsellor and psychotherapist, says, “Trivial things attain greater importance when the foundation of the relationship is not strong. It is in the best interest of the couple to have premarital and early marriage counselling, to get clarity about the whos, whats, hows and whys of a relationship.” Kalanidhi says that somewhere down the line, advocates also play a role in the separation.

DANGEROUS HYDERABAD

M ANIL KUMAR

THE JAYWALKERS

he ‘walk signal’ seems to be of no use in our City. No sooner do pedestrians find a few seconds break in the traffic flow than they go ahead and cross the road, without thinking what would happen if a speeding vehicle is unable to apply the brakes on time. On the other hand, there are no subways or foot-over-bridges for pedestrians to cross safely. At many junctions there are no cops either to regulate the traffic and help pedestrians cross the road. They are left with no option but to find their way between breaks in the

traffic. But despite many junctions having pedestrian crossings, neither the motorists, nor the pedestrians follow the rule. These young girls were found crossing the road at Khairatabad. Many people are confident that the vehicle will eventually stop if they signal with their hands, increasing the risk of accidents at busy junctions. Though they are supposed to cross the road at the zebra crossing, barely anybody follows that rule. Even vehicles do not wait for the signal to turn green before proceeding.

“When a couple approaches the advocate for a divorce, for the advocate it is a case where he can earn his bread and

butter. So instead of counselling the couple who want to separate over a trivial issue, most of them take the case up immediately and contest in the court.”

Citing a few examples he says, “There was once this case where a couple filed for a divorce because the husband felt he was shorter than his wife. He had this complex and would avoid going out with her. Noticing this indifference towards her, the wife left him and went to her parents’ house. Later she filed a case against him under section 498 A. To avoid further complications, the husband offered to pay her a hefty alimony if she withdrew the case. Later they filed a case of divorce by mutual consent.” In such cases the court has to grant a divorce if they want separation on mutual terms, however trivial the issue is, he adds.

City MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

ENVIRONMENT

Making producers pay — a distant dream in Hyderabad PICS: M ANIL KUMAR, S BALAKRISHNA

The City will have several Mount Everests soon — no, not natural mountains, but mounds of non-biodegradable waste, thanks to the callousness of the GHMC and others. RAHUL RAMAKRISHNA rahul.r@postnoon.com

he enormous amount of plastic choking our City dumpyards was long foreseen as a problem. In our situation, profit justifies everything else. You make a product, package it in plastics and just peddle it to the shops and forget it. The producer reaps the benefits, shares a part of it to grease the palm of babudom, and to hell with the future of our City and our children. The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) had introduced the Plastic Waste Management and Handling Rule in 2010, that lays down guidelines for many aspects of waste management policies. But has it been put into practice yet? And more importantly, are businesses producing plastic, aware of the responsibility they hold over the waste? Postnoon finds out.

THE LAW: EXTENDED PRODUCERS RESPONSIBILITY

The Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules was put into effect on February 4, 2011, by the MoEF. What gained prominence was the clause about Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR). Activist and advocate Suhail Ali from Bangalore, explains, “EPR was a policy instrument that made manufacturers responsible for the social and environmental impact of their products. The clause made provisions for waste to be rerouted back to the manufacturer at the end of its life cycle for effective recycling. However, there were several loopholes in the

clause that made it easy for manufacturers to evade their duty.” Suhail’s extensive work with the Jawaharnagar dumpyard as a case study, showed results that indicated immense business potential for power generation from waste, which was kept at bay by the old culprits — Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) and the GHMC. According to Suhail, the individual state pollution control boards were entrusted with making bylaws to necessitate and implement EPR. “Municipal authorities “may ask” the manufacturers for finances to provide the required collection plastic waste centres and leaving the collection of funds at the discretion of the municipal corporation was what the rules specified. This leniency allowed the plastic manufacturers to evade their

Environmental policy

rganisation of Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) defines EPR as an environmental policy approach in which a producer’s responsibility for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage. EPR policy is characterised by: (1) the shifting of responsibility upstream toward the producer and away from municipalities; and (2) the provision of incentives to producers to take into account environmental considerations when designing their products. EPR seeks to integrate signals related to the environmental characteristics of products throughout the production process chain.

responsibility, which is why there are no recycling centres set up by major manufacturers within the City limits,” Suhail said. The APPCB had convened a meeting on June 2011 to implement EPR with the Plastic Manufacturers’ Association and had even issued closure notices to some units in Katedan that remained defiant of the order. Nothing ever materialised out of the meeting or the notices. The GHMC’s fantasies of providing captive power from waste generated at Jawaharnagar and the APPCB’s eyewash plans of making EPR compulsory never materialised. “Crores were sanctioned for the solid waste management project, materialised on tenders and vanished, leaving a lot of plastic behind. This kept everyone happy — the producers and the government agencies,” he said.

WHAT MANUFACTURERS SAY

Given the strain on profits EPR would place, manufacturers are wary about adhering to the rule. Members of the AP Plastic Manufacturers’ Association (APPMA) agree that it is a noble thing to do, but cite business losses as a reason for not implementing the rule. Srikanth Reddy, a former member of APPMA said, “Several members were of the opinion that recycling centres should to be established collectively in order to minimise the cost. However, other issues like cost benefit analysis, effectivity of rule implementation, was what made the rule impotent. Had they made it mandatory for recycling centres to be set up along with waste collection units, and imposed strict fines on those who evaded the law, the law would have worked smoothly.” Other members opine that GHMC and APPCB should first take initiative in fund collection from all manufacturers, not just arbitrarily at the discretion of the municipal authorities, and set up one recycling centre as a pilot project at Jawaharnagar. “When they themselves are not enforcing the rules, how are we to participate?” Arun Kumar Mrudyala, a plastic packaging unit owner from Balanagar, said.

DAILY PLASTIC OUTPUT Hyderabad’s daily plastic generation has been estimated to be 127.072 MT (metric tonnes). This is 40 per cent of the total estimated 3,800 MT of waste generated daily. GHMC experts estimate that the share of plastic is going to shoot up by another four per cent by mid 2014.

city MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

ANIMAL RIGHTS M ANIL KUMAR

When the heat takes its toll

Animals are often the first victims of rising temperatures. Here’s how you can give them relief. AMY ROSE THOMAS amyrose.t@postnoon.com

omeless animals on the streets are the first victims of the soaring temperatures. More often than not, animals and birds end up succumbing to the heat after their frantic search for food and water leads them nowhere. Stray animals fall victim to heat exhaustion, heat stroke and dehydration during this season. Summer in the City has just begun and before the situation takes a turn for the worse, there is a lot one can do to help save lives of many animals. Blue Cross’ Water Bowl project is a step in this direction. “We started this project two years ago. We go around the neighbourhood and provide cement bowls to interested residents who promise to feed stray animals. We use cement bowls and not plastic ones so that dogs don’t spoil them. We fix these bowls to the ground to prevent people from stealing them. We have had more than 100 people calling up and installing these bowls

near their homes last summer. We have made 100 bowls at the start of February this year,” Meeta Paropkari, a volunteer at Blue Cross, says. It is not just food that one needs to be careful about. In search of shade, animals are likely to take shelter under cars and being unmindful can cause the death of the animal. Dr Lakshmi Ramana of Animal Care Clinic says, “We humans are not the only ones affected by the summer. This is the time when food and water is scarce and animals experience a tough time. Heat sucks up all their energy and they easily succumb. A little care can bring about a huge difference in their lives. Apart from giving them water and food, one can also get them homeopathic medicines that can further help animals in coping with the summer. Also ensure that you do not accidently kill any animal taking shelter under your parked vehicle.” These little acts of kindness will go a long way in bettering the lives of these innocent creatures.

DROPS OF MERCY n Feed strays. For animals, you can leave milk, water and rotis; grains and water are good for birds. n Get homeopathic medicines for the heat from medical stores and dissolve them in water before leaving it out for animals. n Refrain from giving food in polythene bags since animals tend to choke on them. n Look under your vehicle to ensure that there is no animal sleeping before you start your vehicle. n Ensure that you give fresh, clean drinking water. Clean the bowl once a day to get the algae out. n You can add a bit of ice to their water once in a while. Also, make sure the bowl is secure to the ground and not something that could be kicked around and played with by the animals. n If you notice any animal exhausted and panting heavily, take it to the vet. You might have saved a dying animal. n You can also get in touch with Blue Cross and get a cement bowl installed near your house. n Younger ones are the most affected by the heat. So, this would be a good time to adopt a young animal and give it a home.

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

focus

UN ENVOY TOURS MYANMAR

Top UN envoy to Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, toured a central city on Sunday destroyed in the country's worst explosion of Buddhist-Muslim violence this year, and called on the government to punish those responsible for a tragedy that left dozens dead in the streets.

A NATION DIVIDED

Tinderbox Myanmar risks more religious strife: Experts Analysts said the violence is the latest sign that the Buddhist-majority nation is struggling to contain festering religious tensions as it emerges from the iron grip of military rule DIDIER LAURAS feedback@postnoon.com

he recent explosion of religious violence in central Myanmar is part of a wider communal fracture that threatens further destabilising anti-Muslim unrest in the fast-changing nation, experts warn. An altercation over a gold hairpin was apparently all it took to spark deadly rioting in the central town of Meiktila that tore apart Buddhist and Muslim communities who have lived side by side for generations. Mobs of men, including Buddhist monks, roamed the streets armed with knives and sticks, while mosques and homes were reduced to ashes before relative calm was restored by army patrols. Analysts said the violence is the latest sign that the Buddhist-majority nation is struggling to contain festering religious tensions as it emerges from the iron grip of military rule, which ended in 2011. “The unrest is of concern,” independent analyst Richard Horsey told AFP. “There are deep faultlines in several parts of the country, and there is a risk of further violence as old prejudices and grievances begin to surface as the country opens up and people have greater freedom of expression than in the past.” The clashes, which left at least 32 dead and dozens injured, were the worst communal unrest since a wave of BuddhistMuslim unrest left tens of thousands of mainly Muslim Rohingya displaced in western Rakhine state last year. Pockets of anti-Muslim sentiment have since flared across the country. “We are in a phase where nationalism is skyrocketing. All the stereotypes projected on the Rohingya have fallen on the Muslims in general,” said independent analyst Mael Raynaud. The international community has called for dialogue amid fears that the violence could

Both the government and main opposition, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, have come under pressure from the international community over perceived weakness in their response to the Rakhine violence. spread — a grave prospect in a country where Muslims account for an estimated four per cent of the 60 million population. Muslims in the country are largely of Indian, Chinese and Bangladeshi descent. They entered Myanmar en masse for the first time as indentured labourers from the Indian subcon-

tinent during British colonial rule. But despite their long history, they have never been fully integrated into the country also known as Burma. Renaud Egreteau, a Myanmar expert at the University of Hong Kong, said it was difficult for many people to see Christian or Muslim citizens

as Burmese. “Membership of the Burmese nation is acquired by bloodline, and thus race. To be Burmese is primarily to fit into the cultural norms of the Burmese majority, its language and Buddhist religion,” he told AFP. Myanmar has been convulsed by several deadly

episodes of religious violence in the past, with Rakhine acting as a flashpoint for tensions. Last year’s violence there left 180 dead and more than 1,10,000 people displaced, presenting a major humanitarian challenge to the government. Matthew Smith, of Human Rights Watch, said the animosity aimed at Rohingya and nonRohingya Muslims in Rakhine state has “certainly raised tensions throughout the country”. “There is a serious risk the violence will reach more horrific levels elsewhere in the country,” he said. HRW has accused security forces of failing to protect Muslims in Rakhine — and even participating in abuses. “It is essential that political and moral leaders in the country do whatever they can to end the violence and ensure calm and accountability, but the ultimate responsibility is with the state, and its record in this area is concerning,” he said. Both the government and main opposition, led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, have come under pressure from the international community over perceived weakness in their response to the Rakhine violence. The Rakhine unrest sparked a firestorm of online vitriol on both sides and observers fear politicians are reluctant to assert leadership on the issue for fear of alienating voters ahead of key 2015 polls, seen as a test of the country’s democratic credentials. Emergency rule was imposed in Meiktila — a significant step by a government keen to show that it has shrugged off the yoke of army rule. With tensions running high, Raynaud said security forces were needed to keep the communities from tearing themselves apart, with more considered solutions left to a later date. “The sparks are ready to fly at any moment,” he said. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

Business

CHINA CONSTRUCTION BANK PROFIT $31.2bn, UP 14.1% China Construction Bank, one of the country’s top four lenders, said its net profit rose 14.1 per cent year-on-year in 2012, lifted by growth in net interest income. Net profit was 193.2 billion yuan ($31.2 billion) last year, rising from 169.3 billion yuan in 2011, the bank said in a statement over the weekend.

WATCH TV ON IPAD NOW

MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

Power of digitisation Powered by digital technologies, the Indian M&E industry grew from `72,800 crore in 2011 to `82,100 crore in 2012, a growth of 12.6 per cent. The UAE’s telecom giant Etisalat has launched its eLife TV iPad app that will allow subscribers to watch more than 150 live TV channels on their iPad or computers whether at home or on the move. eLife TV on iPad and computers includes live streaming of more than 150 live TV channels. Customers can also get “rented on demand” movies. Another great feature is that customers can also tweet from within their eLife TV iPad app and web app about live TV programmes that they are watching. They can also post it on their Facebook page and share it with their friends.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

ot too long ago, the thought of being able to reach and engage with the billionstrong and significantly diverse Indian customer base seemed like a far-fetched idea. Today, powered by digital technologies, growth in penetration of broadband and digital cinema, sophisticated mobile devices, and a regulatory framework that enables growth and change in the industry, the dreams of advertisers, media houses, and telcos are beginning to take steps towards fulfillment. The Indian M&E industry grew from `72,800 crore in 2011 to `82,100 crore in 2012, registering an overall growth of 12.6 per cent. Recent policy measures for the growth of Indian economy along with some improvement in global economic trends prognosis for the Indian economy will also push the growth of the sector. Given the impetus introduced by digitisation, continued growth of regional media, upcoming elections, strength in the film sector and fast increasing new media businesses, the industry is estimated to achieve a growth rate of 11.8 per cent in 2013 to touch `91,700 crore. The sector is upbeat in long term, projected to grow at a healthy CAGR of 15.2 per cent to reach `1.66 lakh crore by 2017, according to recently released FICCIKPMG Indian Media and Entertainment - Industry Report 2013. Talking about 2012, Jehil Thakkar, head of media and entertainment, KPMG in India, says, “It was a challenging year – especially for advertising, however, there are parts of the industry that grew robustly – especially film and new media.

NUMEROLOGY

63.88 Growing curve It was also a year in which significant developments took place – FDI in TV distribution and the roll out of digitisation. These changes will position the industry well to achieve a projected 15 per cent growth figure.” The report forecasts, “In the television industry, digitisation of cable is expected to bring in transparency and increase subscription revenues for Multi System Operators (MSOs) and broadcasters. It is also expected to reduce carriage fees, building a case for the launch of niche channels and investment in content for existing channels. Developments and refinements in viewership measurement systems may bring transparency and also affect the way advertising is distributed among channels.” “The television industry will be transformed in the next few years if the changes that began

Growth of M&E industry: 12.6 per cent Expected growth of the M&E industry in 2013: 11.8 per cent Growth of different media segments in 2012 TV industry: 12.5 per cent Print industry: 7.3 per cent Film industry: 21.0 per cent Radio industry: 10.4 per cent Music industry: 18.1 per cent Out of Home Advertising: 2.4 per cent Animation and VFX: 13.9 per cent Gaming: Digital Advertising:

17.7 per cent 40.9 per cent.

in 2012 are carried through to their logical end. The industry will likely see its revenues from subscriptions go up leading to stability of earnings. It is extremely important for digitization to be carried through in order to ensure the long term health of the industry,” says

Thakkar. “The `22,400 crore Indian print industry grew by only 7.3 per cent from `20,900 crore in 2011, lower than KPMG’s expectation of 8.3 per cent growth last year. The dependence on advertisement revenues resulted in the growth of print industry being dampened by poor macro economic performance of the country. However, 2012 witnessed some improvement in circulation revenues, which increased by 7.3 per cent year on year as compared to only 3.8 per cent in 2011. This was achieved through the launch of new editions and increase in cover prices of established ones. Going forward, the industry may adopt a differentiated pricing strategy by increasing price of established editions in mature markets while holding the prices low in case of tier II and III markets or while entering new markets,” says the report.

10g GOLD `29,900 10g GOLD`31,100 1kg `60,100 1kg SILVER `54,500

24C

yuan is how much Sinopec’s net profit fell to from 73.23 billion yuan in 2011.

for for

DOLLAR `53.79 `54.10 `85.15 POUND `82.47

CYPRUS BANKS HIT The eurozone struck a deadline-day deal with Cyprus Monday to resurrect a bailout for its government but only after a radical downsizing of the island’s Russian-fuelled ﬁnancial sector. Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades battled for 12 hours with currency partners and the IMF, but let one banking chain go to the wall and left major investors in the island’s biggest bank take a giant hit. However, no-one could say when banks on Cyprus would re-open, or when restrictions on cash withdrawals and other capital controls would be eased. They had been scheduled to reopen on Tuesday.

THUS SPAKE During the summit, EU will explain the Cyprus situation while we will discuss the launch of negotiations on Japan-EU economic partnership and political accord, YOSHIHIDE SUGA, JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY

BSE 6,057.70 5,687.70 NSE

20,025.67 18,842.69 44.10 107.19 9.20 36.35

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

nation

UPA GOVT HAS LOST VISION: JOSHI Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi today attacked the Congress-led UPA government, saying that it is neck-deep in corruption and has lost the vision. “When cases of corruption started surfacing, this government instead of taking tough actions started blaming the CAG,” the Varanasi MP said here.

BRICS

DMK MEETING

92 ASIATIC LIONS DEAD

PM to push growth at BRICS Summit

Alagiri skips crucial DMK executive meet

The PM said he hoped to discuss a host of issues with leaders of other BRICS nations, as also those from Africa invited to the summit.

CHENNAI: In further signs of fissures within DMK, party chief M Karunanidhi’s son MK Alagiri today skipped the crucial executive committee meet, which is likely to take key decisions in the wake of the party’s pullout from the UPA. Alagiri left for Madurai by a morning flight, sources said. The Madurai strongman and former union minister’s action assumes significance in the wake of his submitting resignation to PM Manmohan Singh last week separately after Karunanidhi withdrew support to the UPA coalition. Sibling rivalry is not new in DMK with Alagiri and his brother Stalin vying for the coveted “political heir apparent” throne. Recently, the DMK chief had indicated that Stalin would be his successor, drawing flak from Alagiri. PTI

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said he looked forward to the 5th BRICS Summit in Durban in finding ways to revive growth, push investments and sustain macroeconomic stability. In his departure statement ahead of leaving for Durban Monday, the prime minister said he hoped to discuss a host of issues with leaders of other BRICS nations, as also those from Africa invited to the summit, during his bilateral meetings on the margins of the event March 26-27. “At a time when the world is facing multiple challenges, the Durban Summit provides a useful and timely opportunity to consult and coordinate on a broad range of issues with our BRICS partners,” the prime minister said. “We will discuss ways to revive global growth and ensure macroeconomic stability, as well as mechanisms and measures to promote investment in infrastructure and sustainable development,” he added. “India will also urge faster movement on reform of institutions of global political and eco-

nomic governance. It is important that BRICS continue to consult on developments affecting global peace and security.” The BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — together command nearly 26 per cent of the world’s geographical area, and 43 per cent of the world’s population. The bloc commands 17 per cent of global trade and are recipient of 11 per cent of global FDI. The five nations also command 25 per cent of global GDP in terms of purchasing power parity and approximately one fifth of glob-

al nominal GDP (over 19 per cent). The PM is accompanied by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, besides other senior officials. He is to hand over the BRICS chair to South Africa at the Durban summit. Manmohan Singh said this would be the first BRICS Summit on African soil and Africa “will be an important theme of the Durban Summit”. IANS

Ninety-two Asiatic lions have died, including 83 of natural death, in the past two years in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region while there has been no case of poaching. In a written reply to a question asked by Congress MLA from Lathi, Bavku Unghad, Minister of State for Forest and Environment Govind Patel told the state assembly recently that nine lions died of accidents, including by falling in open wells. As per the government data, 46 lions each died in 2011 and 2012. Out of the total 92 lions dying in the past two years, 43 were cubs, 29 female and 20 male felines. “There was no incident of poaching in any part of the state,” Patel said. On the same issue, Amreli Congress MLA Paresh Dhanani raised concerns of scarcity of drinking water in Saurashtra and pointed out that because of it, lions were found moving away.

MINOR RAPED A 15-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by two men inside a government ofﬁce in Odisha’s Bhadrak district, police said Monday. Both attackers were arrested. The heinous act took place in the premises of the child development project ofﬁce.

NEWS BRIEFS Militants attack Manipur govt official’s residence

Tea garden workers seek permission for suicide

HC designates Patiala House Court to try marines

IMPHAL: Militants attacked the house of a Manipur government official in Imphal East district by hurling a powerful grenade, the police said today. The ultras lobbed the explosive at the residence of state forest department ranger Konsam Achouba at interior Pourabi Mayai Leikai village yesterday but the grenade failed to explode. Achouba and his family members were present at the time of the incident, they said, adding that no individual or group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Family members of the official said a militant outfit had demanded a huge sum of money from the family about a month ago but they have not contacted the family after that. In another incident, commandos attached to Thoubal district police in interior Manipur, arrested two insurgents of the banned PREPAK-P yesterday. A 9mm pistol along with some rounds of ammunition were recovered.

JALPAIGURI: Workers of tea gardens in Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal are battling acute poverty and unemployment since the tea gardens shut down 10 years ago. The workers are seeking permission to kill themselves as the situation has driven many to sell their women to the human trafﬁcking trade. Jharna Bagdi is one of the people who’ve written to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, seeking permission to kill themselves at the Dheklapara tea garden in Jalpaiguri, which has been shut for ten years now. Unemployment, poverty and malnourishment has taken a toll on these people. Some people have lost their eyesight and some the power to walk. Every morning men go to pick rocks at the nearby river Kalua to earn `40 per day. “If the government doesn’t give us employment and solve the river issue we will soon fast unto death,” said Sinha Orao, a worker told a website.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has designated the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) of Patiala House Court here for holding the trial of the two Italian marines, accused of killing two Indian ﬁshermen. According to ofﬁcial sources in the high court, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Amit Bansal would be hearing the case. Pursuant to the Supreme Court’s direction of Jan 18, the Centre had on March 23 asked the high court to set up a special court to try the two Italian marines Massimiliano Lattore and Salvatore Girone. The marines, who were allowed by the apex court on February 22 to go to Italy for four weeks to cast their vote in the general elections there, returned on March 22. The apex court while rejecting the pleas of the Italian government and the two marines that Indian courts have no jurisdiction in the case, had directed that the accused be shifted to Delhi.

PICK YOUR

Across Stores

ities Twin C

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

World

GAY MARRIAGE FOES STAGE PROTEST IN PARIS Hundreds of thousands opposed to French legislation allowing gay marriage staged a massive protest march in Paris, with police using force to evict hundreds from the Champs-Elysees. Police used tear gas and batons to remove the protestors who had gathered on the city’s famed avenue.

CENTRAL AFRICAN TURMOIL

JULIA ‘APPALLED’

FACTFILE ON THE CAR GEOGRAPHY: It is bordered by Chad, Sudan, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. Its surface area is 622,984 square kilometres (240,324 square miles). SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard accused her Labor party of self-indulgence after a farcical leadership coup against her, saying she was “appalled” by the events in an election year. In announcing a cabinet reshufﬂe after several key ministers backed former prime minister Kevin Rudd to take her job, the nation’s ﬁrst woman leader admitted that “while purpose has driven us on, unity has eluded us".

POPULATION: 4.5 million inhabitants in 2011 (World Bank) CAPITAL: Bangui LANGUAGES: Sango and French RELIGION: Around four-fifths are Christian. Also animist and Muslim. HISTORY: The former territory of Ubangi-Chari gained independence from the French on August 13, 1960, when David Dacko became head of state. He was overthrown in a coup led by his cousin, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, in 1965. Bokassa dissolved the National Assembly in 1966, declaring himself life president in 1972. In 1976, under a new constitution, the country was named the Central African Empire. Bokassa had himself crowned in December 1977. Dacko deposed Bokassa in a bloodless French-backed coup in 1979. He in turn was deposed in a bloodless coup led by General Andre Kolingba in 1981. Kolingba’s military regime ended in 1993 after his defeat in elections won by former PM Ange-Felix Patasse. In March 2003, the then army chief Francois Bozize seized control in a coup. Bozize installed a broad-based transitional government and was elected president in 2005. In March 2006, Bozize’s office accused Patasse of destabilising the country and training rebels in neighbouring Sudan.

After Mali, CAR goes up in flames Homes, restaurants and offices were looted as armed men roamed the city where power supply were cut. CHRISTIAN PANIKA Agence France-Presse BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Looters and armed gangs roamed the streets of the Central African Republic capital Bangui after rebels seized control of the city on Sunday and the coup-prone country’s president disappeared. The fighters from the Seleka rebel coalition fought running battles with government troops before capturing the presidential palace.

They had resumed hostilities this week in the former French colony and moved rapidly south towards Bangui with the aim of ousting President Francois Bozize, whom they accuse of reneging on promises made in a January peace deal. A high-ranking military source confirmed that Bangui was in rebel hands. “They break down the doors and loot and then, afterwards, the people come and help themselves too," said Nicaise Kabissou, a local.

South Africa troops in Bangui suffered casualties in clashes with rebels, Brigadier General Xolani Mabanga told SAPA news agency, but he was unable to provide any figures. The International Committee of the Red Cross said injured people were flooding hospitals in Bangui. The whereabouts of Bozize, who seized power in 2003, remained a mystery. A source told AFP he had left the country in a chopper, but did not disclose his destination.

NEWS BRIEFS US to cede control of NZ bans foreign students Amanda Knox to find out No foul play found in Bagram to Afghan forces from prostitution if she is finally free Berezovsky death KABUL: Afghanistan is set to take full control of Bagram military jail from the US, drawing a line under one running sore in their relationship as US-led forces wind down. President Hamid Karzai has made the fate of the sprawling detention centre north of Kabul a litmus test of his ill-tempered push to regain sovereignty.

AUKLAND: International students studying in New Zealand, where prostitution is legal, have been told they are to be barred from working in the sex trade. A government immigration website, www.nzstudywork.com, said overseas students have the same workplace rights as all New Zealanders, but lists jobs they cannot do.

ROME: Amanda Knox, the US student acquitted of the murder of her British ﬂatmate, Meredith Kercher, will learn if she and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, are to face yet another trial. If the court decides against them, they could face a retrial in Florence. Otherwise they will ﬁnally be in the clear, and entitled to compensation.

LONDON: Detectives investigating the death of exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky have said there is no evidence of any outside involvement after he was found dead at his Berkshire mansion, reportedly with a scarf next to his body. Berezovsky was discovered by a member of his staff who found the 67-year-old lying dead on the ﬂoor.

NUMEROLOGY

$12

million

Is the amount New York mayor Michael Bloomberg paid for an advertising blitz in a bid to pressure Congress into adopted stricter gun controls.

HK SAYS NO TO MAIDS HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s top court on Monday threw out a landmark case that would have given hundreds of thousands of foreign maids the right to seek permanent residency, ending a legal battle that split the city. In rejecting the bid to give maids the same residency rights as other foreigners, the Court of Final Appeal ruled that there was no need to refer the case to Beijing for a ﬁnal say, which would have sparked new controversy. The ruling means that maids will continue to be speciﬁcally excluded from eligibility to settle in Hong Kong.

I have significant identification with all whistleblowers, but with [Wikileaks’] Bradley [Manning] above all. I’d like to see him get the Nobel Peace Prize. Daniel Ellsberg Pentagon Papers whistleblower

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

THE PAGE DEDICATED TO WOMEN AND THE ISSUES THEY FACE ACROSS THE GLOBE

VANGUARD OF CHANGE

Footballer speaks up for women

merican footballer Justin Hilton pledged his support to a movement to end sex trafficking of women and children in India. Hilton joined Apne Aap Women Worldwide's campaign and signed an online petition asking for strict liability for traffickers and buyers who often pretend that they did not know that the girl they raped or bought was a minor. He also spoke up for legal protection of women.

Sanitation and women

Colours of life

N Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson has urged governments to ensure that everyone has access to sanitation and to put an end to open defecation by 2025. This is especially important for women, as many end up with diseases for fear of being harassed or raped while relieving themselves in the open. Eliasson said, “Open defecation is a fact of life for 1.1 billion people who go out in the open.. Can you imagine the lack of dignity around this act, the risks of being raped if you are a woman or a girl going out at night, but also the health risks?”

reaking the shackles of tradition, around 800 widows will play Holi in ashrams of Vrindavan during the four-day celebrations. “We have organised several events to encourage them to participate in Holi celebrations at Vrindavan,” said Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak. As widows do not play Holi in Vrindavan, the event may need some amount of change in the mindset of the society, he said. PTI

AFP/SHAH MARAI

It’s sad that whether it is Jhansi Ki Rani or Maa Durga, we don’t have the courage to do womenoriented films. We are scared that people will not accept (it).

One in four women (in Zimbabwe) reported they had experienced sexual violence, and one in three aged 15 to 49 years have experienced physical violence.

Seema Biswas Actor

Marcelin Hepie UNHRC Zimbabwe rep

WORKING WOMEN

TWO STEPS BACK

Celebrating women artists across the globe

Free entry if you flash some cleavage

nightclub in Kent, UK, has come under fire for its sexiest promotional posters. The nightclub has offered free entry to all women clubbers who wear low-cut blouses that exposes their cleavage. The ‘National Cleavage Weekender’ promoted at the Casino Rooms has a poster that shows female clubbers in various revealing shots, stating: ‘It’s not about the size, it’s about the presentation.’ MP Tracey Crouch has spoken out against the advert, but the club’s owner, Aaron Stone, has defended the promotion, calling it ‘lighthearted and fun’.

14-year-old gang raped in Ghaziabad

14-year-old was gang raped by three men in Ghaziabad Sunday. One of the accused has been arrested. The victim had stepped out of her house when the accused, who lived nearby, pounced on her, dragged her into their room and raped her. As some others came to the girl's rescue, two of the rapists escaped while a third was caught and handed over to police.The three have been charged with murder too as they tried to strangle her. IANS

Young Afghan girls play on swings near the Kart-e-Sakhi shrine in Kabul.

‘Court sympathy will encourage others’ The Delhi HC said that those who ruined the lives of young girls for the “satisfaction of their sexual lust” should not be let off lightly. GARIMA TYAGI IANS

ustice PK Bhasin remarked in a recent order that letting off rapists who committed such a “grave offence” with lesser punishment would encourage more people to indulge in the crime. The court’s observation came while hearing an appeal filed by Razzi Ahmed against a trial court order convicting and jailing him for six months for kidnapping and raping a 14-year-old girl. Ahmed had pleaded for lighter punishment on the ground that he was a young boy when the incident happened.

“If the courts start getting sympathetic towards persons who commit such serious offences and spoil the lives of young girls for the satisfaction of their sexual lust, more and more persons having such like tendencies would get encouraged and more young girls would become their prey,” Justice Bhasin observed. He said that the convict

knew what he was doing and its serious impact on the girl, and there was “no justification” for letting him off. The court said Ahmed should consider himself “lucky” as he was not awarded a longer term but was sentenced to the minimum punishment for raping a minor. “So, I am not inclined to show any sympathy to the appellant-convict in the matter of punishment," said the judge. The court dismissed his appeal and asked the police to take him into custody so that he could serve the rest of his sentence. The accused was on bail while he filed the appeal in the HC against his sentence.

wan Day, an international celebration of women artists, will take place on March 30. It’s the sixth edition of the celebration, which was the result of a collaboration between Martha Richards, founder and executive director of WomenArts in California, and Jan Lisa Huttner, a Chicago film critic. There have been more than 900 Swan events in the past five years, and it is now celebrated in 23 countries with film screenings, play readings and concerts — all featuring women artistes.

BBC announces women experts’ database

BC recently launched a new resource for TV programme heads looking for female specialist speakers — the BBC Expert Women database and YouTube channel. The database has details of 60 women who have been trained at BBC Academy Expert Women Days. The project aims to address the lack of on-air female representation in certain subject areas, including sports, politics, business, Islam, science, gadgets, crime and security. The YouTube channel has videos of women presenting on their subjects.

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

Comment When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity; when many suffer it is called religion. Robert Pirsig Writer

Collective vs the individual THE HUMAN CONDITION Dean Williams

hould the ambition of the collective always trump the ambition of the individual? On Sunday in the Malaysian Formula 1 GP, opposing answers were made that question. Nico Rosberg opted to put the collective ambition of the Mercedes team ahead of his own and lost a spot on the podium, while Sebastian Vettel put personal ambition first and notched up another victory. So does this mean that individual ambition is greater? This probably is not what Utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham was referring to when he wrote in his Essay on the First Principles of Government: “The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation.” But it’s pretty close. I believe that the collective good almost always trumps individual desires, and though Vettel may have stood on the top step of the podium, the repercussions will reverberate. He has lost the trust of his teammate Mark Webber (who also took the opportunity in the podium interviews to mention that, as usual, Vettel would receive “protection”) and will widen rifts in the Red Bull pits. For fans of motor-racing Vettel did what he should have done: raced. But that’s oversimplifying the issue. The team were looking at the big picture; Vettel knew this. If he didn’t agree he should have said so before the race. As for Rosberg, even Hamilton felt for him. He gave up his ambition for the team’s. The team needs to realise this and make a gesture. If they don’t, the greatest good may suddenly not seem all that righteous.

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS With J&K and Delhi cops slugging it out in public about the arrested terrorist, the home ministry is launching a probe to verify. The only doubt that lingers in one’s mind is that from where did the assault rifles and explosives pop up in Delhi, and who was it meant for.

FEMINISTIC IDEALS

SHOULD WIVES BE PAID? HARD TALK

PK Surendran

ehind every successful woman, there is a man. Well, let me be a man for a feminist view of economy. I am intrigued about what happened to the once-raging view of payment to housewives for their precious services like maintaining home, doing household chores, baby sitting and making food. While there exists some danger of the smart among them tagging TV-viewing along with the rest of the ‘productive works’ there exists a genuine argument for counting their services to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of a nation. While discussing about empowering women, this crucial issue is not taken up. This shows the Indian wives are still led by their ‘patidev’ and inlaws (who often perform like outlaws). Those not in favour of this stance argue like this: GDP is a measure of the total final goods and services produced in a period. The unpaid labour is known as household production in economic terms. Since no money changes hands, technically there is no financial value that contributes towards the economy. Also, as GDP is used to assess the growth and performance of economies, the data must be accurate. It is difficult to reliably measure household production. Well, if the lack of a measur-

ing unit is what is pulling the feminine economy back, then let us pay them. How will you assess their services can be quickly solved. Count the number of heads at home and assign a minimum wage per head. Multiply the number of heads with minimum wage. That’s it! Those in support of this argue like this. We do estimate and count imputed rent in owner-occupied dwellings, so clearly “estimating and adding in” is a viable option. We could do “imputed lawn care”. It’d be as easy to estimate as rent, since there are plenty of comparable paid lawn care instances to base the estimates on.

WHAT OF THE HUBBY? Well, a wit points out (I suspect he is arguing his own case) what of those obedient husbands who do most of household chores and take care of the children beside earning bread for the family (lucky wives!). Well, this remains a ticklish problem for the economists to tackle, I presume.

WHAT OF THE THIEVES? If labour, whether legal or illegal, is all to be counted toward GDP, what of the ‘honest’ thieves’ works? Honest and thieves? Yeah, those who sweat and work hard, you know. Well, this could be termed a non-production since law does not recognises it. But if the All India Thieves’ Union presses for it, political leaders, who are not very different from union members, could work out the case. If wives are paid, much of

the atrocities today we hear about being committed on wives by husbands and in-laws could be prevented. Besides, better economic justice and redistribution of wealth, this would also give every housewife a sense of being productive. Let the just political parties (if there is one) include this in their manifesto 2014 and reap the feminine votes.

TAILEND Unknown to the public, Dr K Ramdas Vaidyan, an Ayurveda physician lived in Kozhikode of Kerala (he’s dead, bless his soul) had practised what pundits still

debate. Without much ado, he deposited `200 (in the early 80’s) in his wife’s account every month and also made one FD in her name, the interest of which will give her a small pension when she attains the age of 60. Well, could you, all the sandwich munching feminists of the world beat this? Instead of talking, he did. We can verify this by searching for his address in Kozhikode because he was a man of wit and nerve in his days and he had made headlines when he organised an ‘ugly contest’ where the ugliest is given a trophy to mock at the beauty contest!

EDITORIALS Khurshid, your kind, not my freedom needs regulation

hough his colleague Kapil Sibal seems to have given up the idea, external affairs minister Salman Khurshid is upbeat about that day when social media will be regulated like freedoms are. He points out during a panel discussion that even constitution puts restrictions on the freedoms that are guaranteed by it through reasonable restrictions. Sounds wonderful. But the issue that is underplayed is that state exercises this power in the most arbitrary manner. Section 66A of the Information Technology Act is abused by powerful people to frame independent-minded youths, settle personal scores and silence critics. The arrest of a West Bengal professor for cartoons lampooning Mamata Banerjee and detention of two girls for the Facebook post

READERS’ VIEWS

pointing out the absurdity of the bandh following Bal Thackeray’s death are just two examples of ﬂawed ‘regulation’. The social networking sites have enough and more options to report abuse and one can customise their user settings to ﬁlter out what they consider blasphemous. Or they always have the option to stay off such places were inconvenient truths are discussed rather bluntly. And by the way Mr Minister, the Constitution is not infallible — the fact that it has been amended more than a 110 times proves that. The social media says many unpalatable things because what happens in the world around us is unpalatable. The Big Brother should go and sort them out, and the need to regulate will fade away.

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

campus

CELEBRATING WOMEN POETS

This Saturday, head to Lamakaan where a confluence of female poets from in and around the City will share their thoughts, observations and dreams.

A EUPHORIC CROWD

Vasavi screams ‘Yo’

15 ALL FOR A CAUSE

Tickets sold like hot cakes as students from across the City made a beeline for Vasavi College to witness Yo Yo Honey Singh in action.

AMY ROSE THOMAS amyrose.t@postnoon.com

asavi College of Engineering and Yo Yo Honey Singh were hot topics of discussion on campuses and in college canteens. Euphoria 2013, a two-day cultural fest at Vasavi College, made all the right noises when it roped in singing sensation Yo Yo Honey Singh for a performance. Tickets sold like hot cakes with students from across the City making a beeline to witness the singer in action. “Without any doubt, Honey Singh’s performance was the highlight of the fest. DJ Arya did the opening act, while we readied ourselves for Honey Singh to take centrestage. His show started at 9.30pm and went on till 11.15pm. He had the students in a

frenzy with everyone dancing the night away,” one of the organisers, Paul C Oommen, says. Another highlight was the group dance competition which had students from different colleges in the City taking part. “The group dance

competition was an interesting watch and attracted a huge crowd. Each of the performances was better than the previous one, putting the judges in a dilemma. At the end, the group from VNR College walked away with the trophy. Vasavi College got the overall trophy. Also, the student who got the maximum number of trophies was from Vasavi,” Paul C Oommen says. The short film competition had filmmaker Santosh

Srinivas on the panel. Anshul Singh from Bhavans College scooped the first prize while Kiran Raj from Vasavi won the second prize. The second day of the fest saw leading Tollywood singers Sharvani Pillai and Krishna Chaitanya rocking the night. “The second night also saw many students turning up but not as much as the first night. More than 8,000 students were in attendance for the Honey Singh concert,” another student Sai Krishna says. Apart from these events, all the clubs of the college including Theme Ballet (musical), Abhinay (drama) and Kriti (art) put up performances. “Each of the clubs had a unique theme for the year. Theme Ballet’s theme was to showcase different forms of dances in the country. Their 45-minute performance had a wide range of dance forms on display including Kathakali, Mohiniyattam and Bharatanatyam. This performance was quite a hit,” Sai Krishna says.

Members of student NGO Street Cause spend the weekend painting blackboards at Government High School, Musheerabad.

UNIVERSITY OF THE WEEK

Harvard

University is an American private Ivy League research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Eight US presidents have been graduates, and 75 Nobel laureates have been students, faculty, or staff affiliates. The Harvard University Library is the largest academic library in the United States.

WORKSHOP

SAI KRISHNA DHONDI

The eighth edition of the Fashion Workshop series conducted by INIFD College showcased a brilliant discussion on the concept ‘Fashion fades, style remains’. The workshop’s panel comprised fashion’s biggest inﬂuencers such as the maestro of bridal and ethnic wear-Tarun Tahiliani, the down-to-earth and experimental Naeem Khan and the editor of Vogue India, Priya Tanna.

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

spotlight 1

BACK TO THE PAST

Are you in love with the music of ‘70s and ’80s? 10 Downing Street is hosting Vintage Monday tonight. Head to the pub and avail discount if you are forty or older.

WEEKEND FUN 2

PARTY DOLLS

Ditching their work and responsibilities for a night, ladies dressed in their stylish best and made a beeline for Kismet. They were seen letting their hair down and having a blast. 6

1 Sonia 2 Nitesh, Disha 3 Ishita, Vinit,

Kanika

4 Priyanka 5 Shanon 6 Tina 7 Kiran, Ankita

8 Sameer, Zara 9 Pari 10 Ashita 11 Sofia 12 Sheshi

S BALAKRISHNA

MUSIC FOR THE SOUL Classical music concert by Rishi Mishra and Varun Mishra was a hit among music lovers in the City. They performed at Saptaparni, Banjara Hills on Sunday.

1 Radhika 2 Amita Talwar, Meera Shenoy

3 Chellaram, Shad

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

health

TWO TESTED POSITIVE FOR H1N1 IN BHOPAL Two more people have tested positive for swine flu in Bhopal, sources said today. The report of their swab samples, sent to the Regional Medical Research Centre for Tribal, Jabalpur, arrived yesterday, tested positive for H1N1 influenza. Both the patients have been admitted to isolation.

SAFE SWIM?

DEEPASHRI VARADHARAJAN

deepashri.v@postnoon.com

t’s summer and there can be nothing better than a dip in a pool of cold water in this scorching heat. While swimming is one of the best exercises to stay fit and refreshed, swimming pools are often a source of contamination and various diseases. We use a common shower room and share the pool with hundreds of people. It’s obviously impossible to vouch for the hygiene and health of each person entering the pool. There may be people with bacterial infections, diarrhoea, and, says Dr Aftad Ahmed, a general physician at Apollo Hospitals, some even urinate in the pool.

PARASITE’S PARADISE According to betterhealth.vic.gov. au, a parasite found in the faeces of infected humans spread to hundreds of people in the late ’90s, when they

Pool hygiene n Take a shower before the

swim. n Avoid

swallowing the water while swimming. n Take a shower after the swim. n Do not urinate in the pool. n Don’t wear contact lenses while swimming. n Wear ear plugs to avoid ear infections. n Stay away from the pool if you have any infection, so that you don’t pass it on. swallowed contaminated pool water, resulting in an outbreak of the disease, called cryptosporidiosis, in several Australian cities. “Most of the diseases are related to water contamination. Most often, people tend to swallow

the water,” Dr Ahmed said. Listing out some of the common diseases acquired from the pool, he said parasitic infections like Giardiasis, which can cause stomach pain and gastroenteritis, are common. “Infections due to E-coli (a bacterium) can cause gastroenteritis (as well). Shigellosis can present itself as diarrhoea or dysentery.” He said over chlorination can also cause redness in the eye, lung and skin irritations.

SKIN PROBLEMS Abroad they are very strict, but in India people just get through easily to the pool with active boils and infections, said Dr Radha Shah, consultant dermatolo-

gist, Apollo Hospital, Jubilee Hills. “Most common is dryness of the skin. If they do not use sunscreen, they can get sun allergies. Pityriasis rosea is a fungal infection. People get bacterial infections like boils. If hygiene is not maintained in the changing rooms, and people walk barefoot in that area, it can cause viral infections like warts.” According to netdoctor.co.uk verrucas occurs on the ball of the foot and releases virus infected cells into the floor. Dr Shah said moisturisers are a must after a swim and shower. People need to reapply their sunscreen if they are in the pool for more than an hour. Anti-bacterial and anti-fungal creams need to be used to treat infec-

Doctors say it’s impossible to have a swimming pool free of bacteria and virus, and that some people even urinate in the pool. You might want to take some precautions before your next swim. tions, and in case of viral ones, it has to be removed by burning or freezing. As essential as it is to choose a well-maintained pool, it is equally important to maintain personal hygiene.

Do you know what you’re

SWIMMING WITH?

APP-LY YOURSELF

HOUSECALL

DID YOU KNOW?

Women's Health Mag

Phenylketonuria

Women’s Health cuts through the deluge of information out there and zooms in on what’s really important: the latest health and nutrition news, the best fat-burning workouts, the savviest love and sex advice, the quickest (and most delish!) healthy recipes, and the easiest look-great-now beauty and fashion strategies.

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an autosomal recessive metabolic genetic disorder, where a person's body cannot break down an amino acid called phenylalanine. Amino acids are necessary to make proteins, which is what the human body is made out of. Phenylalanine only comes from the food we eat. Untreated PKU can lead to mental retardation, seizures, and other serious medical problems.

You can see 50 miles away! The sensitivity of the human eye is so keen that on a clear, moonless night, a person standing on a mountain can see a match being struck 50 miles away. Though more comfortable with daylight, given enough time to adjust, the human eye can, for a time, see almost as well as an owl's.

PIONEERS

Rebecca Lee Crumpler Dr Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the ﬁrst African American woman to earn a medical degree. She devoted her life to improving health in the black community through research and clinic work. When the Civil War ended, she realized that whole communities of newly-freed blacks in the South would urgently need medical care. So she left her Boston home and medical practice and moved to Richmond.

health MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

TUBERCULOSIS

RESEARCH

Smoking pot may lead to nicotine addiction

Extremely drug-resistant NEW DELHI: When the chest pain and racking cough of tuberculosis patient Asha, 31, refused to subside even after six months of treatment, the doctor got her sputum tested again — only to find that she had developed a worrying form of the disease known as Extensively Drug Resistant TB, which is nearly impossible to treat as of now. India is already grappling with the disease burden of MultiDrug Resistant (MDR) tuberculosis, which manifests when a patient fails to take all the TB medicines exactly as prescribed and misses out some doses. The TB bacterium, which remains in the patient, mutates and cannot be treated with the first and second line of treatment. The bacterium has mutated even more as Extensively Drug Resistant TB (XDR-TB) that is resistant to normal drugs. Doctors are now trying combination drugs to treat it. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), India is home to 73,000 patients with MDR-TB. The figure for

study

XDR-TB is not yet known. “XDR-TB is a reality," said Vivek Nangia, director, pulmonology and infectious diseases, at Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj. “XDR-TB develops a couple of years after MDR-TB if it is not treated properly." According to Chand Wattal, chairman of the microbiology department at Sir Gangaram hospital, “Unless XDR-TB is realised as a danger, the situation cannot be controlled." The prevalence ratio of TB in India is about 1:32, according to the Tuberculosis Association of India. India’s Directly Observed Treatment Shortcourse (DOTS) strategy, which is implemented through the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), is aimed at achieving an at least 85 per cent cure rate among new patients. Doctors also said that XDRTB raises concerns of a future TB epidemic with restricted treatment options, jeopardizing the major gains made in TB control and progress on reducing TB deaths among people living

rearing its head in India

The bacterium has mutated even more as Extensively Drug Resistant TB, with no cure as of now.

with HIV/AIDS. The true scale of XDR-TB is not known as many countries lack the necessary equipment and capacity to accurately diagnose it. It is, however, estimated that there are around 40,000 cases per year globally. As of June 2008, 49 countries have confirmed XDR-TB cases. By 2010, that number had risen to 58. Like other forms of TB, XDRTB is spread through the air. When a person with infectious TB coughs, sneezes, talks or spits, TB germs, known as bacilli, are propelled into the air. Inhaling even a small number of these leads to an infection.

According to Nangia: “The Indian TB treatment is not working as our population is larger. Over population is adding to the problem." Wattal said, “The population needs to be tracked. Family members and contacts of patients need to be tracked. In India there is no accountability, no surveillance. Patients need to be put on a data base," adding, MDR-TB doesn’t need long to turn into the extreme form. One in three people in the world is infected with the TB bacteria. Only when the bacteria becomes active do people contract the disease. Bacteria becomes active as a result of anything that reduces immunity, such as HIV, advancing age or medical conditions. Significantly, fewer people are dying of tuberculosis in Southeast Asia today compared to 1990, according to the World Health Organization. The death rate due to the disease has decreased by more than 40 per cent in the past 13 years. IANS

NEW YORK: People who smoke marijuana are at a higher risk of developing nicotine addiction if they try cigarettes, according to a new study. In the study, researchers first exposed mice to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the active ingredient in marijuana) or a placebo for three days. Then, they attempted to train the mice to self-administer nicotine, which was delivered into their blood when they poked their noses through a hole in the cage. Mice don’t always learn how to do this. Presumably, those who successfully learn how to get their own nicotine are more motivated to get a fix. Among the mice exposed to THC, 94 per cent learned how to self-administer nicotine, compared with 65 per cent of mice who’d been exposed to the placebo, MyHealthNewsDaily reported. In addition, THC-exposed mice were willing to work harder to get nicotine — performing up to 17 “nose-pokes” for a dose of nicotine, compared to 11 nosepokes in the placebo group. In a substantial number of cases, people use cannabis before progressing to cigarettes, said the researchers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the United States. The new findings suggest “a history of cannabis exposure might have lasting effects that increase the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine," the researchers wrote in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. However, because the study was conducted in mice, it’s not clear whether the findings translate to people. In addition, there are likely other factors that could contribute to the progression from marijuana to other drugs, including a genetic susceptibility to addiction, and social factors. PTI

Night owls brighter than early-risers LONDON: Research on teenagers by the University of Madrid, found that night owls, who like to work at night and can’t get up in the morning, may be brighter than the much better-regarded early risers. In scientific tests, evening types showed more of the kind of intelligence that has been linked to prestigious jobs and higher incomes.

Larks or morning types, however, tend to get better school grades, possibly because lessons were at the wrong time of the day for night owls, The Independent reported. Nearly 1,000 teenagers took part in the research, which involved a battery of tests that included measures of school performance and inductive intelli-

gence. Academic performance was checked using final grades in the major subjects. Around one in four of the teenagers were classed as morning types, and 32 per cent as night owls, with the remainder fitting neither profile. The results showed that evening types scored higher than

morning types on inductive reasoning, which has been shown to be a good estimate of general intelligence and one of the strongest predictors of academic performance. Inductive reasoning is linked to innovative thinking and more prestigious occupations, and tends to earn higher incomes. PTI

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

Entertainment HEMANTH KUMAR Hemanth.k@postnoon.com

DANCING QUEEN

CINE BYTES

Dev Anand’s

find to sizzle in

Iddarammayilatho Puri Jagannadh has roped in Devshi Khanduri for a special song in his upcoming film Iddarammayilatho. Postnoon gets talking to this newbie who has a lot going for her these days.

chance meeting with Puri Jagannadh last year gave her a new window of opportunity to enter Telugu film industry. Meet Devshi Khanduri, who’s all set to sizzle in a song in Puri Jagannadh’s upcoming film Iddarammayilatho. “I met Puri Jagannadh at a party in Mumbai and we got along pretty well. He saw the work I had done in the past and offered me a chance in Iddarammayilatho,” Devshi reveals. Born in Delhi, she spent all her life in Dehradun where she graduated in Psychology. “I was modelling right from my school days and after graduating from college, I moved to Mumbai along with my family. My parents have been quite supportive about my ambition to act in films. I have also done several ads for brands like Clinic Plus, Fair & Lovely,” she says. Her first film as an actress was Dev Anand’s Chargesheet, which turned out to be the last film he would direct before he passed away in late 2011. Ask her why she chose to make her debut in a Dev Anand’s film, considering that fact that most of his films were huge flops in the last decade, she confesses, “I am a big fan of Dev Anand saab and it was my dream to work with him. I think a lot of people dream about working with Dev Anand at least once in their lifetime. Even an actor like Naseeruddin Shah was part of the cast. The film might have bombed at box-office, but I’ll always cherish the fact that I was Dev Anand’s find.” She’s currently shooting for couple of films and one of them is going to be directed by award winning filmmaker Sunil Babbar. “Sunil liked my work in Chargesheet and offered me lead role in his next film titled Taj. It’s about honour killings and Jeremy Marr Williams is playing the other lead role,” she reveals. Another film The City That Never Sleeps is going to be directed by Haroon Rashid and she says that it’s a multi-starrer film which captures the spirit of a metropolitan city like Mumbai. So how was the experience of working in a Telugu film? “It was fabulous. I am donning a hippie look in the song titled Run..Run..Run and we shot for few days in Barcelona. Puri Jagannadh and Allu Arjun are great fun to work with. It was Puri Jagannadh who suggested that I should start off with a song before moving on to bigger roles in South Indian cinema,” she says, admitting that she could easily relate to the style of dancing in a Telugu film. “There’s a lot more energy in a Telugu song, compared to a song in Hindi. The choreographer, Ganesh master was mighty impressed with my work and I hope I get a chance to do more work in Telugu and Tamil in near future,” she signs off.

AP Government to honour Amitabh Bachchan

ndhra Pradesh state government has announced that Amitabh Bachchan is going to be conferred with NTR National Award for his contribution to Indian cinema. The award will be given in a grand ceremony which will be held on the eve of Ugadi. At the same event, Kaikala Satyanarayana is going to receive Raghupathi Venkaiah award.

Mahesh Babu’s nephew turns actor

ahesh Babu’s nephew Krishna Madhav is all set to make his debut in Tollywood. He’s playing the lead role in a film titled Hrudhayam Ekkadunnadhi. V Anand is directing the film and Anusha and Samskruthi Shenoy are the lead actresses. The film’s first schedule has already been wrapped up.

Baadshah’s censor on March 29

TR, Kajal starrer Baadshah is gearing up for its worldwide release on April 5. The film is currently in final leg of post production and it’s going to be censored on March 29. Sreenu Vaitla has directed the film and Bandla Ganesh has produced it. The songs, composed by SS Thaman, have got a good response in the market already.

Entertainment MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013 CINE BYTES

SIBLING LOVE

Proud sister Huma goes all out for

SAQIB

Save energy during, after Earth Hour: Ajay Devgn

jay Devgn, who has joined hands with WWF-India to pledge his support to Earth Hour 2013, has urged everyone to use energy wisely and save as much as possible. “I think everybody can make a difference. I think if we will teach all this to our children and do it ourselves, there won’t be any need to tell all this to the next generations. They will do it themselves,” he said. IANS

Sajid finds an admirer in Tammannah

ctress Tammannah, set for her Bollywood debut with Sajid Khan’s Himmatwala, a remake of the eponymous 1983 ﬁlm, is all praise for the ﬁlmmaker. She says he thinks from the audience’s point of view. “If some emotional scene was going on, he too used to get emotional. So he is a very passionate director,” she added. IANS

Imran, Anushka to endorse coffee brand?

t seems Imran Khan and Anushka Sharma’s pairing in Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola is working in their favour as they are said to have signed a deal to promote a coffee brand. This is the same coffee brand that was earlier endorsed by Kaminey couple Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, said sources, who added that Imran and Anushka have been testing their coffee-making skills. IANS

oung actor Saqib Saleem’s confident performance in Mere Dad Ki Maruti has multiplied his popularity since last year’s Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge. The proudest is his elder sister Huma Qureshi, who

made her own impressive debut last year with Gangs Of Wasseypur. Huma, who has been busy shooting with Madhuri Dixit for Abhishek Choubey’s Dedh Ishqiya, can barely contain

her excitement at her brother’s persuasive impact in Mere Dad Ki Maruti. “One thing no one can deny about Saqib is that he is a spontaneous and uninhibited performer. Give him any scene and he will do it

naturally and effortlessly. Of course it is difficult for me to judge his performance impartially, since he’s my brother, and I am bound to be biased,” said Huma. IANS

Entertainment MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

LIFE AFTER BIEBER

CINE BYTES

Reese celebrates birthday with hubby

appy birthday, indeed. Reese Witherspoon kicked off her 37th birthday with a bang Thursday, heading to Cabo San Lucas with her husband Jim Toth for a romantic, kids-free vacation. The This Means War star, who rang in her big 37 Friday, and Toth were whisked away from the airport in a chauffeured car to Capella Pedregal, where they were set to enjoy a four-day stay.

Paris Hilton latest victim of swatting

aris Hilton has joined the long list of celebs who have been the victim of a “swatting” prank, TMZ has learned. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ a call came in at 5.22pm saying someone was in Paris’ home. According to sources, cops arrived at the home and did not ﬁnd anyone had broken in and deemed the call a prank.

Ashley Green’s dog dies in fire

SINGLE AND ENJOYING S elena Gomez may have ended her two-year relationship with singer Justin Bieber, but she has no regrets. The actress and singer, 20, stopped by Chelsea Lately with her co-star Vanessa

Hudgens and opened up about her life post-Bieber. When Chelsea Handler asked the former Disney star if she was enjoying life without a boyfriend, a beaming Gomez replied, “Yes, I really am!” Handler then congratulated

LIFE

the star, saying, “Enjoy this, girl. You’re 20 years old. You’ve got a lot of men ahead of you ... have a blast!” Earlier this week, Gomez made an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman and poked fun at her ex, joking

that she made him cry. “The last time he was on, he and I got into a conversation and he said something, then I said something,” Letterman said. “And I made him cry.” “Well then, that makes two of us,” Gomez quipped.

ctress Ashley Green is upset as one of her dogs died in a ﬁre in her apartment. Green’s boyfriend and brother were able to escape after the blaze started. The 26-year-old Twilight actress was seen sobbing, cradling the unfortunate dog. “We were dispatched at 9.50am,” contactmusic.com quoted inspector Quvondo Johnson of Los Angeles county ﬁre department as saying. IANS

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. John Stuart Mill

KAKURO

QUICK CROSSWORD

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 Vehicles with medallions 5 Harbinger 9 Show flexibility 14 Capital of Norway 15 “... borrower ___ lender be” 16 Kitchen gadget 17 Preparatory research 19 Small part for a big name 20 Bedtime, for some 21 Mixologist’s workplace 22 It may be found on a table 24 Network news stars 26 It’s groovy to a carpenter 27 Put a stop to 28 Econ. measure for a country 29 Rex Stout sleuth Wolfe 33 “In your dreams!” 36 Aids for counting to 20 37 Operation Overlord’s time 38 Copycat 39 Regular writing 40 Teensy arachnid 41 Bygone period 42 Units of radiation absorbed 43 Floor-sitter’s instrument 44 Choir voice below soprano 45 Top-of-the-charts number 46 Beach-comber’s shade 47 Marshy areas 49 Bishop’s hat 53 Something carried on road trips 56 Org. with an influential journal 57 Kind of sheet or music 58 Mixtures or medleys 59 Where golfers meet 62 Stately 63 Wedding cake layer 64 Greek cheese 65 Base negotiating amounts

66 Withering 67 Hardly a walk in the park

DOWN

1 ___ Mesa, California 2 Upscale ski resort 3 Fudd’s voice 4 Cover some ground? 5 “Let’s keep moving ahead!” 6 Secures with cables 7 Blow it 8 Exposed state 9 Moved like a pitched softball 10 Site of a valuable extraction 11 Pinnacle 12 Part of a hammerhead 13 Race pace 18 Black hardwood 23 Subscription termination 25 Very generous nature 28 “Johnny B. ___” (Berry classic) 30 Make a change for the verse? 31 Pro ___ (proportionately) 32 ___ and terminer (hearing or trial) 33 California winegrowing county 34 Translucent gem 35 Toward the sunset 36 Cuts across 39 Outlet insert 43 Jazz great Vaughan 46 Tone quality 48 Lessens the discomfort of 49 Eddie ___ (sportswear chain) 50 More based in reality 51 One of the senses 52 Vertically, to a sailor 53 Former European capital 54 Facial tissue additive 55 Taunting remark 60 Prevaricate 61 Frequently, to Shelley

Chai Time MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 26-3-2013

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Businessmen will be able to collect their long overdues which were almost written off. Financial position will be strong. Hurdles and roadblocks in the way of completing good works will disappear. Legal verdict will go in your favour.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

Tensions and misunderstanding at home will vanish. Blood relatives will extend their support. You will make friendships with infuential people which will help you in future. Financial helps will arrive from all expected sources.

Blood relatives will be more affectionate towards you. You will enjoy good rapport with friends. Your self confidence level is so good that you undertake all challenging works without any hesitation. Friends will support and encourage you.

Good news is on the cards. Financial position will improve gradually and deficit will reduce considerably. Your bank balance will swell as your proposal of selling an immovable property will materialise as expected.

You will be successful in achieving your goals with a carefully planned strategy. Good news is on the cards from relatives who are abroad. You will crush your enemies. You will fulfill the commitments given.

Take important decisions after consulting close friends, well wishers and family. You will be given importance at functions you attend. Success will achieved without fail after putting up a hard struggle. Enemies will be inactive.

Financial position set to improve. Debt will be under control. Good turning point likely in court case and verdict will be in your favour. Your pending works will end without any hurdles. Friends and relatives will be more cordial.

Businessmen likely to get good deals, better profits and good name. Your stock is set to pile up and influence in the society is likely to increase. Marriage of your sister or brother will be performed in a grand manner. Health problems will be over.

Setbacks faced by the businessmen will vanish. Some are likely to undertake pilgrimage with family and close relatives. Politicians will be happy as their opposition will be in disarray. You will be accorded a VIP status in the society.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Temperance – There are doubts in your mind about a potential romantic partner. Be patient. Don’t jump to conclusions whether this person likes you or not.

LEO:

Ace of Swords – There’s a job you’ve been hoping to complete soon. But obstacles and delays beyond your control are getting in the way. Keep trying.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Three of Swords – A love affair was too intense. The joy you got out of this relationship was too visible for all. The pain of breaking up is too hard to bear now.

SAGITTARIUS:

Seven of Pentacles – Pay attention to your health. A health issue may crop up because of hygiene. Are you brushing your teeth twice a day? Go to a doctor.

TAURUS:

Five of Wands – No matter how hard you try, you cannot fight back time. There will always be some job that didn’t meet deadline. Don’t blame yourself.

CANCER:

Two of Wands – You enjoy people-watching while sitting at a roadside café or sitting on a bench in a mall. It gives you deeper insights into human behavior. Indulge.

VIRGO:

Ten of Pentacles – You’re waiting for the results of an exam you gave, or a test that life put you through. Whatever has to be, will be. Know that this is not the end.

SCORPIO:

Ten of Swords – if you’re getting a gut feel that you need to back out of a situation, just do it. No point hanging on to something you don’t feel right about.

CAPRICORN:

The Hermit – You may be hurting yourself by being too stubborn about who you hang out with. Keep an open mind and meet people without judging.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Two of Swords – Your diet and lifestyle need attention. Are you indulging your love for food and drink too much? Learn to balance your needs.

NUMBER GAME

Wands – A casual outing with friends will become important. It either gives you ideas for entrepreneurship or you meet a potential partner.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Knight of

POOCH CAFE

Employees are advised to handle important responsibilities on their own without entrusting them to others. Hurdles are most likely during the travel; try and be alert. Health looks fine. Practicing yoga and meditation will do well for you.

for 26-3-2013

Seven of Swords – You may be too worried about what’s happening to a close friend. But maybe you need to look within and figure out what’s worrying you.

NON SEQUITUR

You will earn good name and fame with your hardwork. Be cordial with friends and avoid boasting. Some have bright chance to buy both movable and immovable properties. Social thoughts will influence your mind.

SUDUKO

Good opportunities are likely through your VIP friends, make good use of them. Happy events will take place at home and bring cheer. You will extend possible help to your colleagues and close friends. Be cordial with all.

Boggle LION PUMA COUGAR PANTHER LEOPARD Vol: 2, No 248 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

Entertainment MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

OLD HABITS DIE HARD

CINE BYTES

LINDSAY LOHAN

drinks despite rehab sentence

indsay Lohan continues to drink — and drink often — despite being sentenced this week to 90 days of lockdown rehab... Sources close to Lindsay tell TMZ she was at the bar of her hotel in Beverly Hills just hours after her court hearing on Monday... knocking back vodka sodas. We're told Lindsay did not seem fazed by the irony of the situation. Lindsay went to a club in San Diego called FLUXX last night with a friend, arriving after midnight. Our spies say LiLo was wearing a Yankees cap and a hooded sweatshirt and sat at a VIP table ordering vodka on the rocks all night. Lindsay specifically request that vodka be served from a glass carafe... this way the table would not have any alcohol bottles on it. Sources close to Lindsay tell she is adamant she does not have a substance abuse problem and doesn't feel she needs professional help.

George Clooney starts a snowball fight

ll work and no play? Not for George Clooney. The star proved getting a movie done can be plenty of fun if you've got your friends with you — and you've got a late-season dumping of snow. Which is just what the conditions were when he lobbed a snowball at the star of his wartime drama, The Monuments Men, Matt Damon. Damon responded the only way he could: by whipping a snowball back at the director!

Perry, Mayer were too serious, too soon

aty Perry and John Mayer went splitsville because they were getting too serious. The couple broke up recently because they felt they were coming too close too soon. "Introducing her to his dad was a big deal. It was just too much, too soon. They've also been ﬁghting recently," femaleﬁrst.co.uk quoted a source as saying. IANS

Selena Gomez & Katy Perry Hug Fergie

hile Josh Duhamel took the stage to host the 2013 Kids' Choice Awards, wife and mom-to-be Fergie rivaled him for attention from the audience. Friends Selena Gomez and Katy Perry showered the preggers singer with much love, taking it upon themselves to hug her growing bump. The always stylish singer hasn't given up her unique style, donning an aquarium themed dress, complete with coral and ﬁshes!

sports

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

NBA

Heat continues to boil

LeBron James shot 11-of-14 from the field en route to a game-high 32 points as the Heat continued their march towards making National Basketball Association history.

MIAMI: The Miami Heat won their 26th straight game by crushing the lowly Charlotte Bobcats 109-77 despite playing without their all-star guard Dwyane Wade Sunday at American Airlines Arena. LeBron James shot 11-of-14 from the field en route to a game-high 32 points as the Heat continued their march towards making National Basketball Association history. The reigning league MVP also had 10 assists and eight rebounds. “I think it is on everyone else’s radar now with just where we are being in second place all time in most consecutive wins,” James said of the streak. “For us, we want to just continue to play our game and continue to play the opponents on our schedule.” Chris Bosh chipped in 15 points and Ray Allen had 14 for Miami, who were without Wade because of a sore right knee. The victory puts the Heat within seven wins of matching the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers’ all-time record for consecutive victories. The Heat play at Orlando on Monday. Kemba Walker scored a team-high 20 points and Gerald Henderson finished with 18 for the Bobcats, who have dropped 14 of their last 17 games. James said this streak is already more impressive than the ‘71-’72 Lakers. “Look at how competitive the game is today,” James said. “Back then the leagues were separate. It wasn’t a full league. You had the ABA (American Basketball Association) and the NBA and some of the greatest players weren’t in (NBA) so the competition wasn’t as strong as

IBAYS SUZUKI CUP Jatin sets up close win for 1E

E-HLX-NMC won a close game against Phoenix after Jatin scored 78 off just 58 balls and Gajanand scored 73 off 46, a good effort was made by Fiyazuddin Amer from Phoenix as he scored 63 off 47 balls but in the end Phoenix lost by 3 runs.

Group A:

Zonah 135-6 in 20 overs (Akshay Gupta 48) lost to Tigers CC 136-5 in 18 overs (Qutub Alam 51); Mytrah 133-9 in 20 overs (Anil Joji 55), lost to Kargeens 134-4 in 18.2 (Faizan Khan 25); Rebellion Shields 55/10 (Parthasarathi 14/3) beat Richy Strikers 41/10 (Raj Kiran 6/4)

Group B: Deccan Stallions 102-

9 in 20 overs (M Shaker 15/3) lost to Shivashakti Group Cricket Stars 103-4 in 15.4 overs (Govind CJ 50); Jain Marble House 94/10 (Raj Aditya 6/3) lost to PegaSystems 95-3 in 15 overs (Bhargav Vankalaya 34); 1 E HLX NMC 166-2 in 20 overs (Jatin Mehta 78) beat Phoenix 163-6 in 20 overs (Fiyazuddin Amer 63)

The Heat are the hottest sports ticket in town. Even Novak Djokovic took time out from the Miami Masters tournament to sit courtside. it is now.” The Heat are the hottest sports ticket in town as they inch closer to NBA history. Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic took time out from the ATP Tour’s Miami Masters tournament to sit courtside at Sunday’s game. Djokovic knows a thing or two about

streaks as he had a 22-match win streak halted earlier this month at the Indian Wells tournament. Djokovic even had some fun with the crowd Sunday by using an oversized tennis racquet to hit a similar-sized giant tennis ball into the seats during a break in the game. Charlotte tied the game early in the second quarter, but Miami pulled ahead for good with a 10-0 run for a 33-23 lead. Allen hit a pair of threepointers and scored the final eight points during the run. The Heat led by as much as 14 in the second quarter and seized an eight point, 47-39, lead at halftime.

Charlotte cut the deficit to 54-49 with just over eight minutes to go in the third quarter, but were outscored 19-8 the remainder of the third. Miami opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run and cruised to the final buzzer. “You never know when and where your number will be called and we needed it tonight. It was a great team win,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. Miami has now won 11 straight against the Bobcats, including three games this season. The Bobcats, who own the NBA’s worst record this season, have beaten the Heat in Miami just twice since coming into the league eight years ago.

UHG Corporate T20 Champions Trophy E-11 161/5 (Sohail Khan 32 and 4/19) bt Kony Labs 109 (Bharadwaj 32) by 52 Runs; Team Oxford 198/6 (Riyaz Ali 49) bt JHT 157/7 (Gopal Krishan K 42, Sudheer K 1/27) by 41 Runs; Ybrant Digital 111/3 (Tarun 34) bt UHG 107 (Yashwin Yaski 29 and 1/17) by 7 Wickets, V-Soft 140/9 (Lakshminarayana N 31) bt Corporate Thunder 139/8 (Srikanth S 40) by 1 Wicket; DE Shaw 76/1 (Jamsheed 49*) bt Cox & Kings 75 (Priyaram M 16) by 9 Wickets; MyHome 137/8 (Abhinav 57) TIED MATCH iGREEN 137/8.

BAY HILL

Tiger’s bid for No 1 hits storm snag Woods had just completed the second hole when the horns blew to stop play. Woods’s birdie at the par-three second put him 12-under for the tournament and stretched his lead to three strokes.

ORLANDO: Tiger Woods’s bid to regain the world No. 1 ranking with an eighth Bay Hill title was put on hold when a severe thunder storm forced the final round finish to be pushed to Monday. Woods and playing partner Rickie Fowler had just completed the second hole when the horns blew to stop play. Woods’s birdie at the

par-three second put him 12-under for the tournament and stretched his lead to three strokes over Fowler, Keegan Bradley, Ken Duke and John Huh. Woods won his seventh Arnold Palmer Invitational title here last year. A record eighth triumph in the event would see him supplant Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy atop the world

rankings. The 14-time major champion has spent a record 623 weeks on top of the world. But he has not paced the rankings since October of 2010 after injuries and an infamous sex scandal saw him tumble from the top 50. Sunday’s storm swept across the course with gusting winds toppling a television tower.

sports

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

MIAMI ATP MASTERS

Djoker cruises past Somdev

Djokovic remained on course for a third straight title on the hard courts of Key Biscayne and will battle German veteran Tommy Haas for a place in the quarter-finals. MIAMI: World No. 1 Novak Djokovic cruised into the fourth round of the Miami ATP Masters and WTA tournament on Sunday with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over India's Somdev Devvarman. Djokovic remained on course for a third straight title on the hard courts of Key Biscayne -- a fourth overall -- and will battle German veteran Tommy Haas for a place in the quarter-finals. The 25-year-old Serbian, who won the title in 2007, 2011 and 2012, had little trouble against Devvarman, who has fallen to 254th in the world after a near-seven month absence last season with a shoulder injury. Djokovic, who saw a 22match winning streak halted in the semi-finals at Indian Wells last week, hasn't lost to a player outside the top 100 since 2010. Devvarman never looked like reversing that trend against the Serbian, who has reached the final in Miami every time he has made it past the second round.

MotoGP

Rossi tops time charts JEREZ, SPAIN: Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi capitalised on a drying track to top the time charts on the second day of MotoGP testing at Jerez on Sunday, edging Yamaha factory teammate Jorge Lorenzo. Rossi put in 39 laps with a best time of 1min 39.525sec with reigning world champion Lorenzo, who was fastest Saturday, just 0.015sec behind. Yamaha Tech3's Cal Crutchlow filled out the top three. "Today's test session was very positive for us. I'm so happy, especially because we used a different style of setting," said Rossi. "It is very important for us to understand this setting, which can help and effect my riding style to ride the bike in a better way and stay more constant, especially with good lap times on old tyres. "To make the first position with a time of 39.5 is good.â&#x20AC;?

"Considering the wind, it was a nice day," Djokovic said. "Conditions not so great. It was very difficult to kind of get into the rhythm because you

couldn't really serve at your 100 percent and you had to go more for precision and you had to put twice as much effort in the step adjustments.

"All in all, I'm just happy to get through the rough day." In other men's action, thirdseeded David Ferrer of Spain continued his dominance of Italian Fabio Fognini with a 6-1, 7-5 victory. In the late match, Austria's Jurgen Melzer rallied to beat Tobias Kamke 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-4. Ferrer broke Fognini four times en route to the victory in 79 minutes. It was his third win over the Italian this season and his sixth in six career meetings. Ferrer, winner of two titles already this season, was playing his first match of the tournament after advancing to the third round on a walkover when his scheduled opponent Dmitry Tursunov of Russia withdrew. The 30-year-old Spaniard will battle for a quarter-final berth against 13th-seeded Nishikori, a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Belgian Xavier Malisse. The two have split their four prior encounters 2-2. Ferrer triumphed in their last meeting,

notching a straight-sets victory over the Japanese in the fourth round of the Australian Open. "It's going to be a very difficult match," Ferrer said. "The last time I played him at the Australian Open I beat him in three sets, but I will have to run a lot. We will play a lot of rallies on the baseline. Nishikori has unbelievable shots. He plays with a lot of power." Haas, the 15th seed, set up his shot at Djokovic with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov. Seventh-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic also advanced, beating Kevin Anderson of South Africa 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-0. Tipsarevic will face France's 11th-seeded Gilles Simon, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Slovenia's Grega Zemlja, for a quarter-final slot. Women's third seed Maria Sharapova, seeking a first Miami title after four runner-up finishes, defeated fellow Russian Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-2.

ST PETERSBURG INDY GP

Hinchcliffe wins Indy opener

ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA: Canada's James Hinchcliffe won the IndyCar season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday for his first career victory in the series. Hinchcliffe, driving for Andretti Autosport, passed Helio Castroneves for the lead after a restart on lap 85. He then held off the Brazilian for the remaining 25 laps on the 1.8-mile street circuit. Hinchcliffe is the first Canadian to win a US open-wheel series race since Paul Tracy took the chequered flag at Cleveland in 2007 in a Championship Auto Racing Teams series event. Castroneves, who won here last year, settled for second place, with Hinchcliffe's teammate Marco Andretti third. Brazil's Tony Kanaan and New Zealand's Scott Dixon rounded out the top-five. Australian Will Power started from pole position and was running strongly until he was involved in a late crash with J.R. Hildebrand. He finished three laps back in 16th. Scotland's Dario Franchitti hit a wall immediately after his first pit stop on lap nine. The four-time IndyCar series champion was last in the 25-car field. Reigning IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay was knocked out of contention by mechanical problems, but was eventually classified as the 18th finisher.

sports

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

SA VS PAKISTAN

Misbah praises de Villiers De Villiers hit an unbeaten 95 to guide his side to a six-wicket win after the teams went into the deciding match locked at 2-2.

INDIA vs AUSTRALIA

Dhoni’s dusty friends

The Indian captain had every reason to feel vindicated for ordering pitches to suit India’s strength, spin bowling.

COLIN BRYDEN Agence France-Presse BENONI, SOUTH AFRICA: Pakistan captain Misbah-ulHaq said his opposite number, AB de Villiers, was the difference as South Africa clinched a 3-2 series win in the fifth and final one-day international. De Villiers hit an unbeaten 95 to guide his side to a sixwicket win after the teams went into the deciding match locked at 2-2. The South Africa skipper made 367 runs in the series at an average of 91.75 and took both the man of the match and man of the series awards. De Villiers, who was dropped on one, overcame some hostile bowling on an unpredictable pitch as South Africa chased down Pakistan's 205 all out with six overs to spare.

The South Africa skipper made 367 runs in the series at an average of 91.75 and took both man of the match and man of the series. On a day when most batsmen struggled to time the ball consistently, De Villiers made his runs off just 111 balls, hitting nine fours and a six. A fourth wicket partnership of 87 off 88 balls with Farhaan Behardien (35) made South Africa's victory virtually certain after Pakistan's new ball bowlers, Mohammad Irfan and Junaid Khan, caused early problems on a pitch where some deliveries bounced alarmingly, while others kept low. Pakistan seemed headed for a more competitive total when they reached 151 for four in the 35th over after winning the toss. "It was a 250 pitch and the way we started it was gettable," said Misbah.

SYED SHOAIB

In New Delhi

NEW DELHI: “When a country plays four fast bowlers it is a strategy, and when we play three spinners it is a bad wicket to play cricket on,” said Mahendra Singh Dhoni in response to allegations levelled against him of doctoring un-sportive wickets to win matches. He said this after India’s emphatic victory in the fourth and final Test on Sunday at the Ferozeshah Kotla Ground here. With this series win, India move up to the third position in the ICC Test ranking below South Africa and England. The Indian cricket captain had every reason to feel vindicated after having gone through an extended period of failure in the

longer format of the game, with which came a lot of flak accusing him of ordering pitches to suit India’s strength, spin bowling. The cricket-crazy nation was not going to tolerate nine defeats in Tests from even their most successful captain. A whisper, against the hero of the country’s two World Cup victories, which began during India’s forgettable England tour, got louder with each defeat, culminating in a war cry demanding his head. The biggest weapon used by this orchestra out to oust him was that he demanded that pitch curators produce spin-assisting tracks in the country. So when he got a chance to address it, he did it with a vengeance, albeit with a smile on his relieved face. Ravindra Jadeja, who excelled with both ball and bat in this match, was declared man-of-

the-match and Ravichandran Ashwin man-of-the-series for taking a total of 29 wickets in the four Tests. Delving into the achievements of the past four Tests, all of which India won, to exact sweet revenge against formidable Australia, Dhoni expressed satisfaction over the youngsters coming good. He, though, refused to call it revenge. “Revenge and spirit of the game are confusing vocabulary,” he said, going on to add that when the situation got to the players and they exchanged with their opponents un-pleasantries, both the parties must be allowed to have their say. “I tell the umpires, whichever team starts the verbal contest, the other team must be given equal opportunity to say their bit. A little bit of chit-chat is fine.”

Refusing to join the speculation on Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement he said, “No ifs and buts about it, just do not speculate over the issue. Way back in 2005 you’ll said it could be his last series on home soil, it wasn’t to be, and this may well not be it either.” Addressing the coaching issue, the captain said that Duncan Fletcher needed understanding for the team has had a tough time under him, and he has spent a tough time because of that. “I am glad that Fletcher is around during these tough times,” he said, answering queries concisely. On plans for the future that included the away series to South Africa, Dhoni said, “I stay in the present. We are now going to take a couple of days off and get back to business on Saturday.”

ENGLAND vs NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand have England on the ropes England were in immediate trouble in their run chase with Nick Compton out for two. England ended the day reeling at 90 for 4. AUCKLAND: New Zealand were in command of the seriesdeciding final Test on Monday as they set England a record 481run target after Peter Fulton notched up his second century of the match. England were 90 for four at stumps on the fourth day of the third cricket Test after being set a

target of 481 by New Zealand at Eden Park on Monday. Alastair Cook was out for 43 and Jonathan Trott 37. The pick of the New Zealand bowlers was Kane Williamson who has two for five. New Zealand declared their second innings at 241 for six with Peter Fulton making 110 and

Brendon McCullum not out 67. England were in immediate trouble in their run chase with Nick Compton out for two and they went to tea at 45 for one with Jonathan Trott on 24 and Alastair Cook on 19. There are four sessions remaining in the Test with the series locked at 0-0 after the first

two, rain-affected, encounters were drawn. Only four teams have scored more than 400 in the fourth innings to win a Test, with the record held by the West Indies who reached 418 for seven to beat Australia in Antigua in 2003. Fulton set up the mammoth New Zealand total with his second century of the match.

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013

sports

MESSI WARY OF BOLIVIAN HIGHLANDS Argentina may be cruising towards the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but world player of the year Lionel Messi is still nervous ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Bolivia. The South American heavyweights are four points clear at the top of the qualifying table and enjoy an 11-point gap.

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

Spain head for big test For Spain it is uncharted waters to be in such a position in their qualifiers and coach Vicente Del Bosque will be looking for a much sharper performance. PIRATE IRWIN PARIS: World champions Spain and perennial underachieving title contenders England face tough 2014 World Cup qualifying away trips to their respective group leaders France and Montenegro on Tuesday. Defeats for both would see them trail by five points with only three games remaining for France and Spain while Montenegro and England would have four each to play. For Spain it is uncharted waters to be in such a position in their qualifiers and coach Vicente Del Bosque will be looking for a much sharper performance than the one which saw them held by unfancied Finland last Friday. However, Del Bosque’s team will face a France side that looks to be a vastly improved version under Didier Deschamps from the one that produced a limp performance in a 2-0 defeat then coached by his fellow 1998 World Cup winner Laurent Blanc in last year’s Euro 2012 quarter-finals. England travel to Montenegro in better heart than the Spanish having demolished San Marino 8-0 while the hosts also retained their unbeaten record with a 1-0 win away over Moldova. However, England captain Steven Gerrard — who sat out

the San Marino win — has warned his team-mates not to react to what will be an intimidating atmosphere. It cost England dearly last time they were there as volatile striker Wayne Rooney was sent off during the Euro 2012 qualifier — the match ending 2-2 — leading to him being suspended for

the first two games at the finals. Fellow European heavyweights Germany and Italy face less taxing tussles with the Germans — five points clear of Sweden though having played a game more — hosting a Kazakhstan side they beat 3-0 away on Friday. Italy — who lead Bulgaria by

a point and also have a game in hand on the Bulgarians — travel to pointless Malta. The Dutch have recovered from their humiliating first round exit at Euro 2012 and bid for their sixth win in six qualifiers at home to Romania, who along with Hungary — who travel to Turkey — trail them by five points.

Tuesday’s qualifying fixtures At Novi Sad, Serbia Serbia v Scotland At Swansea, Wales Wales v Croatia At Brussels Belgium v Macedonia At Yerevan Armenia v Czech Republic At Copenhagen Denmark v Bulgaria At Valetta Malta v Italy At Dublin Republic of Ireland v Austria At Nuremberg Germany v Kazakhstan At Tallinn Estonia v Andorra At Istanbul Turkey v Hungary At Amsterdam Netherlands v Romania At Baku Azerbaijan v Portugal At Belfast Northern Ireland v Israel At Odessa, Ukraine Ukraine v Moldova At Warsaw Poland v San Marino At Podgorica Montenegro v England At Paris France v Spain Group A is one of the tighter groups which sees Belgium and Croatia tied on 13 points, the Belgians will host Macedonia on Tuesday while the Croats face a potentially tricky trip to Wales.

FOOTBALL BRIEFING Ethiopia snatch dramatic victory to top group DAVID LEGGE JOHANNESBURG: Ethiopia snatched a dramatic 10 home victory over Botswana on Sunday to keep alive hopes of a first appearance at the World Cup in Brazil next year. Substitute Getaneh Kebede, who replaced fellowstriker Adane Girma for the second half in Addis Ababa, snatched the lone goal two minutes from time in the high-altitude east African city. Ethiopia returned to the top of Group A with seven points, two more than overnight leaders South Africa. Tanzania scored three second-half goals to thrash four-time World Cup qualifiers Morocco 3-1 in Dar es Salaam and climb to within a point of Group C pacesetters Ivory Coast. Thomas Ulimwengu broke the deadlock a minute after half-time and there was a brace for Mbwana Samata before Youssef El Arabi reduced the arrears four minutes into stoppage time.

Scolari admits Russia game vital GRAHAM MOODY LONDON: Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari admits Monday’s friendly against Russia is a vital part of his preparations for the 2014 World Cup because he still doesn’t know his strongest line-up. Scolari is yet to secure the first win of his second spell as Brazil manager after losing to England 2-1 and drawing with Italy 2-2. And the former Chelsea boss concedes he is a long way from knowing who will make up his team come the Confederations Cup later this year or, more importantly, the World Cup, which will be hosted by Brazil next year. That makes every warm-up fixture a valuable exercise for Scolari and he will continue to experiment against Fabio Capello’s Russia at Stamford Bridge. “We are playing in friendly games trying to get together a group, sort out our system and the way we are going to play," Scolari said on Sunday. “I have played only two games so far with this squad.”

Gerrard refuses to condemn Rio abuse LONDON: England captain Steven Gerrard has refused to condemn the fans who taunted Rio Ferdinand in San Marino following the Manchester United defender’s controversial withdrawal from the squad. Ferdinand was called up by Roy Hodgson for the World Cup qualifiers in San Marino and Montenegro after previously being ignored by the England coach. But the 34-year-old turned down the chance to add to his 81 caps, claiming he was unable to join up with the England squad as it would disrupt his detailed pre-planned training and medical programme. Some speculated that Ferdinand’s decision was in part provoked by a desire to get revenge for Hodgson’s decision to select John Terry ahead of him earlier in his reign when the two players were at loggerheads over Terry’s alleged racist abuse of Rio’s brother, the QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.