Epaper 26 october 2013

RAINS SET TO CONTINUE AS DEATH TOLL MOUNTS Heavy rains triggered by a low pressure area over Bay of Bengal lashed several parts in the State for the fourth consecutive day.

Robin Thicke talks twerking with Snoop Robin Thicke will take the stage when the show goes down in Amsterdam on Nov 10, as will recently announced performer Snoop Dogg.

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Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

OCTOBER 26, 2013 HYDERABAD

32 PAGES

`3

ON SATURDAY

AFTER THE

TRAGEDY, CITY REACTS ON

After the recent gang rape, the CM has sought central help to set up surveillance cameras everywhere to prevent crimes against women.

REPORT ON PG 3

2

PAGE TWO SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

MUSICAL NIGHT

Samahaara Weekend Theatre Workshop Find time only on the weekends and want to learn the basics of stagecraft, this workshop is ideal for you. Refresh yourself from your daily grind, learn something new and unique, meet like minded people and bring out the creative side in you.

Where: Lamakaan,Lane next to CBAY, Off Road No.1, Banjara Hills When: Until December 7 10am to 12pm, Saturday & Sunday Contact: (040) 6666 3939

Midnight Buffet

Looking for an awesome midnight meal? Head to Viva at Vivanta by Taj and relish the best of culinary indulgences served at the midnight buffet Where: Vivanta By Taj Hotel,Mayuri Marg, Begumpet When: Until October 26, 11.30pm2.30am Contact: (040) 67252626

Two bands, Swarathama and Raghu Dixit, performed at the Hard Rock Cafe putting up a spectacular show and entertaining crowds on Friday night.

Sizzler Weekend Special Nothing beats the weariness out of

When:Until October 31, 7pm to 8pm Contact: 040 - 23456789

Drenched In Color

Little Blue Planet Commissioned by Jindal Steel Works foundation, this show titled 'The Little Blue Planet' aims at presenting the occurrence of rapid cli-

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

Pinktober Go pink this October! The hot spot of music lovers, Hard Rock Cafe lends its support to the subject of breast cancer this month.

Where: Hard Rock Cafe, GVK One Mall, Road No. 1, Banjara Hills When: Until October 31, 12pm to 1.30am Contact: 7569016340

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

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

CINEMAS

life than the combination of good food and a refreshing drink!

Experience the best of two worlds at Truffles Café this weekend.

Complement your culinary treat with exotic cocktails like Bombay bramble and a night in Bangkok.

Where: Truffles Cafe,Plot No. 376, Road No. 10, jubilee-hills When: Until December 8, 12pm onwards Contact: 040 - 2355 0105

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

Where:360 Degree Fitness, Croma Building, 2nd Floor, Road No. 36, Jubilee Hills

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

Everyday Baking Learn to make yummy baked goodies in a class that will remove all your baking fears. This class is suitable for beginners and teenagers.

Where: 407, Venkat Enclave, Whitefields , Kondapur When: October 26,10:30 am to 2pm Contact: 040-40206289

mate change.

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

Fashion yatra Renowned fashion designers, best artisans across the country are presenting their designer sarees, dress materials, gold jewellery, imitation jewellery,hand bags and all types of lifestyle accessories at the exposition.

Where:hop No. 8-6-949/1/B , Kamma Sangam, Ameerpet When:Until October 27, 10am to 8:30pm Contact: 040-23456789

Big Cinemas, Ameerpet, 30581470; Cinemax, Banjara Hills, 44565555; Cine Planet , Kompally, 61606060; INOX, Banjara Hills, 447677770, Prasads, Tank Bund Rd, 23448888; PVR, Punjagutta, 08800900009; Talkie Town, Miyapur, 40214175; Tivoli, Secunderabad 27844973

3

CITY SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Traffic diversions at LB

Bus fares to be hiked

HYDERABAD: City Police

HYDERABAD: APSRTC managing

Commissioner Anurag Sharma, today notified vehicular traffic restrictions in connection with ‘Samaikya Shankaravam’ public meeting by YSR Congress Party to be held at LB Stadium on Saturday from 11am to 9pm. Anurag Sharma advised the motorists to avoid routes which fall at the radius of 4km from LB Stadium.

Railways clamp down on firecrackers Postnoon News feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: In view of the upcoming Diwali festive season, South Central Railway makes an appeal to all its passengers not to carry firecrackers or inflammable substances in trains or in Railway premises.

Carrying of such items in trains or in stations poses grave threat to safety and creates a highly unsafe situation for all the passengers around. Any unintentional pressure applied on fire crackers or a small spark can lead to a big mishap with dire consequences.

Stringent action will be taken against any offender who is found carrying such articles.

As per section 67, 154, 164 and 165 of the Railways Act 1989, carrying inflammable and explosive articles on Railways is a punishable offence with a punishment up to three years Jail or fine up to `1000 or both, besides being liable for the loss or damage caused.

South Central Railway requests the passengers that in case they notice firecrackers or any other suspicious, dangerous explosive or inflammable material in trains or at stations, they may immediately alert the nearest Railway Staff or call on 04027833366 to enable the Railways to initiate necessary action.

Apart from checks to prevent carrying of these unsafe articles, SC Railway is making concerted efforts to sensitise people of the danger posed.

director AK Khan has said an exercise was on to raise the bus fares to a reasonable level. Speaking to the media, Khan said the Corporation was ready to ply additional buses in the IT Corridor. He said the Corporation has incurred `900 crore additional burden due to price hike in diesel.

The Chief Minister has agreed to set up Fast Track Courts to try Abhaya cases in the State including the present one under the Nirbhaya Act.

feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: The Lok Satta Party is seeking people’s participation in its ‘Safe Hyderabad’ movement.

All that one has to do to take part in the movement is to give a missed call to 18004193007.

Dosapati Ramu, President, Greater Hyderabad Lok Satta Party, in a media state-

three-day exhibition was organized by My Identity organisation, with an objective of promoting designers, women entrepreneurs and artisans. Dr Seetha Vuppala, Kuchipudi dancer, Rotary Past Dist Asst Governor and Hyderabad socialite Shravani Reddy inaugurated the lighting traditional lamp at Kamma Sangham hall.

Women workers’ safety a priority 5,000 cameras to watch city 24x7

I

n the wake of the shocking rape of a techie by two cab drivers this week, CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy has written to PM Manmohan Singh for a comprehensive surveillance system. The state government has already proposed to set up integrated surveillance camera system by installing 5,000 cameras.

Kiran directed the chief Secretary to constitute a committee to suggest immediate measures and a long-term plan for the safety of women employees.

Postnoon News feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has reiterated that safety of the women employees is the top priority of the government and directed the officials of various departments including the police to make all efforts for the safety of the women employees, particularly the IT women staff. He said safety measures should be stepped up in all IT Corridors, ORR and surroundings of Cyberabad, Gachibowli etc, particularly for women employees on nightshifts.

The CM has agreed to set up Fast Track Courts to try Abhaya cases in the State including the present one under the Nirbhaya Act. The CM reviewed the progress of the case of “Abhaya” and proposed safety measures to be taken for the IT women employees, at a highlevel meeting held at Secretariat yesterday.

Loksatta call for people’s participation Postnoon News

Style & Weaves launched HYDERABAD: Styles & Weaves, a

The CM has directed the Chief Secretary to constitute a committee to suggest immediate measures to be taken for the safety and also a long-term plan and said funds will not be a problem.

He has also directed to send a reminder to the letter already addressed to the PM requesting for a Comprehensive Surveillance System for Hyderabad. In the letter he stated that the safety measures for short-term and long-term including installation-maintenance-continuous

systems on the ORR, lighting of the ORR, survey of working women hostels, service hostels, etc.

He has also asked the officials to speed up the work relating for implementation of Public Safety Act, which was recently passed by the state legislature.

Kiran has appealed to all sections of society to take-up awareness campaigns about safety and security measures, and dos and don’ts as many of the female IT employees come from rural areas.

HMR chief refutes charges

Postnoon News

feedback@postnoon.com ment said that the party is striving for installation of at least 3,000 CCTV cameras in the city with a population of nearly a crore immediately.

The other items on its agenda are ushering in of community policing, local courts and police reforms.

Prevention of political interference in crime investigation and provision of modern training to police personnel form part of police reforms.

monitoring of the CC Camera system, Visible policing, increasing check-posts in IT corridors, policing on the ORR, barricading, vehicle-checking, controlling and monitoring of private transport, branding of taxis by specific colour, registration of all the autos and taxis with the police, establishment of Pre-paid taxi, auto centres in the vicinity of IT Corridors, increasing of public transport (RTC buses), MMTS-RTC bus connectivity, electronic toll-gate management, high-traffic management

HYDERABAD: Responding to allegations made by the Convenor, ‘Citizens for Better Transport for Hyderabad’ and a few others through media statements that 71.39 acres of excess land has been given to the Concessionaire for the Hyderabad Metro Rail project, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad), managing director, Hyderabad Metro Rail NVS Reddy has clarified that not even a square yard of additional land has been or will be given to the concessionaire beyond what is indicated in

the Concession agreement.

As per the Concession agreement signed in September 2010, the government of Andhra Pradesh was to provide 269 acres of land (212 for depots and 57 for parking and circulation areas) to L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad), for building three Metro rail depots at Miyapur, Uppal and Falaknuma (212 acres) and for creation of parking and circulation areas at 25 identified locations (57 acres) by early 2011.

However, due to court cases in the form of individual writ petitions, and PIL (public interest litigation) petitions, agitations instigated by vested inter-

ests, etc, the process of handing over the identified land has been delayed in some cases and completely stalled in others.

To facilitate the Concessionaire to achieve financial closure, the government made alternate land allotments at other locations.

So far, 210 acres out of 212 acres have been given for the depots and 57 acres for parking and circulation areas at different locations. HMR MD stated that Metro Rail project is being executed in a transparent manner and citizens have been getting the required information through different sources.

4

CITY SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Rains set to lash state as death toll mounts

Heavy rains triggered by northeast monsoon and a low pressure area over Bay of Bengal lashed several parts in the State for the fourth consecutive day.

Postnoon News feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: Normal life across Andhra Pradesh was affected following incessant rains that lashed several parts of the state for the last four days and claimed 26 lives damaging crops in lakhs of acres.

Heavy rains triggered by northeast monsoon and a low pressure area over Bay of Bengal lashed several parts in the State for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday, prompting the authorities to evacuate thousands of people from lowlying areas.

According to official figures, 26 people have been killed in various rain-related incidents in the state and crops in hundred of acres suffered damage. Commissioner of Agriculture Madhusudhan Rao said crops in 4.34 lakh acres have been damaged in 15 districts due to heavy rains. The crops damaged in the heavy rains include paddy, cotton, maize and groundnut.

Two girls were washed

TDP

T

TO AID RELIEF

DP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu has directed the party cadre to plunge into the flood relief activities.

Naidu organized teleconference with party leaders across the State. He directed the party cadre to provide food, safe drinking water and butter milk to the flood victims on behalf of NTR Memorial Trust. He also asked the party to organize special medical camps in all the affected districts where rains are heavy.

away in the swirling waters of a rivulet in Kurnool district near Bandi Atmakur.

The state government declared a holiday for schools in the districts of Srikakulam, Guntur, Nalgonda and Prakasam. Several places in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema districts bore the

YSRCP

AIDS FLOOD VICTIMS

Y

ISSUED A FORECAST STATING THAT HEAVY TO VERY HEAVY RAINFALL IS LIKELY TO OCCUR IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

SRCP Chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed his party cadre to plunge in flood relief activities in marooned areas.

On Friday, Jagan held discussions with important party leaders at YSRCP central office in Jubilee Hills. He asked the party cadre to respond immediately and shift the people from low lying areas to safer places and shift the poor to flood relief centers immediately.

brunt of nature’s fury while low-lying areas continued to remain under knee-deep water.

In Guntur district, 36 relief camps have been opened for 11,000 people, who were evacuated from rain-ravaged villages, official sources said.

The river Krishna is in spate with a heavy inflow of flood water. Consequently, 70 crest gates were lifted at the Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada to discharge 1.18 lakh cu-secs of water into the Bay of Bengal.

In Srikakulam district in north coastal Andhra, more than 45,000 people have been shifted to relief camps as heavy rains continue to lash the district. Several rivers, including Vamsadhara and Bahuda in north coastal Andhra and rivulets were in spate at many other places. Heavy rains disrupted buses and train services in north coastal Andhra.

Hyderabad and various parts of Telangana also received heavy rainfall for the last few days, which led to water-logging on roads and also several residential colonies.

The downpour and water log-

ging resulted in traffic jams making it difficult for motorists to find their way through.

As the railway track at Golantri remained under a sheet of two-feet water, train services between Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar were cancelled.

In East Godavari district, headquarters town Kakinada remained submerged, throwing life out of gear.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy spoke to the Collectors of Srikakulam, Prakasam, Guntur and others late last night and directed them to give top priority to rescue operations, shifting people to safer places and organising relief measures, official sources said today.

He directed the officials to help the farmers and take steps to strengthen bunds of tanks and other water bodies.

The CM also asked the Chief Secretary to coordinate with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) police.

The weather office issued a forecast stating that heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in the next 24 hours.

THE WEATHER OFFICE

CM Postnoon News feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: BJP senior leader Bandaru Dattatreya has alleged that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy failed miserably in taking up flood relief measures in the low-lying areas submerged under

Musi flowing at danger mark Postnoon News feedback@postnoon.com

GHATKESAR: The Musi river was flowing at the danger mark due to incessant rains in the state for the past four days. Due to a heavy flow from upstream the river has been rising hour on hour and flood waters flowed over the Anantharam Kathwa bridge between Ghatkesar and Hayathnagar in Rangareddy district.

IGNORING RELIEF WORK , SAYS

water.

Speaking to the media here on Friday, Dattatreya alleged that the Chief Minister, who supposed to extend assistance to the flood victims, has left the administration to the wind in the name of Samaikyam. He said it was atrocious on the part of

The flood flow over the bridge affected vehicular traffic in Hayathnagar, Ghatkesar, Pochampally (Nalgonda) and Bibi Nagar (Nalgonda) mandals.

Farmers and employees did not dare cross the bridge as the water was flowing over Anantharam Kathwa bridge.

Hayathnagar-Ghatkesar road, a link road to Warangal and Vijayawada highway saw major traffic jams due to flooding.

DATTANA

the Chief Minister to remain a silent spectator instead of directing reconstruction and relief work.

He also alleged that the ministers were busy sending reports to Delhi.

The BJP leader asked the state government to direct Agriculture and Revenue officials to visit

the flood-affected areas and estimate the losses to standing crops and extend help to farmers.

He also demanded that the State government pay `5 lakh ex-gratia to the kin of 13 members killed in the rain havoc and build permanent houses to the victims.

5

CITY SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Last ball not bowled yet, insists Captain Kiran Postnoon News feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: The Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy who is skippering the integrationists in AP has written a letter to the President and Prime Minister pointing out the incongruities of the Telangana creation process.

Kiran stated that a cabinet is not mandated with a decision on a crucial issue such as bifurcation of a state. Only parliament can. And in the aftermath of such a decision, the Centre has not sent the Antony panel as it announced nor the Group

of Ministers consists of ministries of crucial areas such as water resources, power and urban development. Water sharing and the question of Hyderabad are the two great impediments to a division of the State, he pointed out.

Kiran is on record that the bifurcation after wellthought out policy could be all right. But in the wake of strong opposition by the twothird parts of the State, it was imperative to take a cautious approach and remove apprehensions of all regions so that the division follows a peaceful

The CM, considered the skipper of the Untied Andhra team, believes that creation of T is not easy.

KCR wants T, but no strings

path.

As to today, it has generated acrimony, ill-will and enmity.

Indications emanating from Delhi point out that the T cre-

ation may get delayed as it faced many hurdles. Legal issue and lack of support for the cause in Parliament are worrisome factors. Now the JRD too is not supporting the Congress and the NCP, a ruling ally, is advising caution on T. Maharashtra itself faces the issue of Belgaum.

Meanwhile, staking leadership of the Seemandhra, the YSRC organised a massive rally at the LB stadium today. The party is demanding that the state be kept united and not divided in a hurry at the cost of the other two regions.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said the report would be ready before the commencement of the parliament session during the first week of December.

Postnoon News

feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao asserted that people wanted an unconditional Telangana State.

Speaking after party’s executive meeting on Friday, KCR said, “We want Telangana without any condition” and a party delegation led by senior leader K Keshava Rao would meet the GoM to get a clarification on Hyderabad.

A 12-member party delegation led by Keshava Rao would meet GoM and submit a report seeking clarification on various issues related to Telangana state as well as expressing party’s vision on new state.

The TRS chief also made it clear that the party would not merge with the Congress and there should not be any confusion on the party’s merger.

He, however, said on having alliance with the Congress, a decision would be taken at the time of elections. He said the party would think about a merger if Telangana was formed without any conditions. The party would play an important role in the development of the new state, Rao said.

After the announcement of the bifurcation, the TRS which spearheaded the movement for a separate Telangana, has now decided to play a role in its development. To begin with, TRS leaders wanted to visit rain-affected areas in Telangana following torrential rains that lashed several parts of the state.

GoM report nearly complete: Shinde Postnoon News feedback@postnoon.com

NEW DELHI: The sevenmember Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, constituted by the UPA Government to take forward the process of Telangana State formation, seemed to be working at pace to ready its report before the commencement of the Winter Session of Parliament.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde disclosed to the media that the GoM report would be ready before the commencement of the parliament session during the first week of December.

The most contentious and tricky issue on which the central officials would have to tread cautiously to arrive at a solution was with regard to the status of

Hyderabad.

Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan, who has been in the national capital for the past four days, had a series of meetings with the officials of the Home Ministry and those of various other departments and provided the required inputs based on which the departmental heads are expected to compile their reports.

Once this exercise was completed, the GoM is expected to finalise its report including the status of Hyderabad on which the governor was stated to have provided his own assessment and guidance.

Informed sources disclosed that once the GoM report is ready, the Ministry of Home Affairs would prepare the draft Bill for carving out a separate state of Telangana which would be discussed

in parliament during the Winter Session.

These sources said that the UPA government was keen that the entire process of readying the T and ensuring its smooth passage through Parliament by December 9 should coincide with the birthday of AICC President Sonia Gandhi.

Keeping in view the upcoming general elections in 2014, the Congress party is keen to ensure the formation of Telangana as a birthday gift of the party chief and to the people of the region, and thus not only safeguard but also consolidate its vote bank in Telangana, these sources explained.

It is pertinent to note here that the Seemandhra leaders have openly expressed their ire over the manner in which the GoM was going ahead with the processes of T formation.

Division more painful than cyclone: Konathala Postnoon News feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: YSRCP senior leader Konathala Ramakrishna has said the State bifurcation issue was much more severe than the cyclone and hence they decided to organise ‘Samaikya Shankaravam’ to be held today.

Speaking to the media , Konathala advised the party cadre involved in the flood relief activities not to come to Hyderabad on October 26.

He alleged that the Congress was moving forward on division of the state though a majority of the people were opposing the division.

Bemoaning that the Congress was not rethinking the division, he said AICC leader Digvijay Singh asserted that the Telangana Bill would be sent to the Assembly on November 15.

He said the ‘Samaikya Shankaravam’ was important as both the Congress and TDP were extending support to the division of the State.

Shobha Nagireddy said they would organise the meeting as per schedule and hoped there would be no obstruction to Samaikya Shankaravam.

Seemandhra leaders keen to stay in Hyderabad: Rapolu Postnoon News feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: Rajya Sabha member Rapolu Ananda Bhasker has alleged that the Seemandhra leaders were contemplating remaining in Hyderabad even after the 10-year period ended.

Speaking to the media after releasing Telangana Congress Monitoring Group (TCMG) report to be submitted to the Group of Ministers, Rapolu said Seemandhra leaders were keen on staying in Hyderabad even after 10 years, without shame.

He asked Seemandhra leaders to stop deceiving the people of their region. He advised them to clear the doubts of the Seemandhra people on the division of the state and demand a good package for their region.

Rapolu said they asked in their report that the Centre keep the law and order of Hyderabad city in their hands. He advised Seemandhra leaders to plead for special package from the Centre.

6

NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

THE WHIRLING DERVISH

Hunt on for 47 others linked to Neetu Dabodha NEW DELHI: Police are on the

A physically challenged dancer of the Ability Unlimited Foundation (AUF) performs the Sufi whirling on wheelchairs, a form of meditative dance usually performed by dervishes, at an event in Bangalore.

AFP/MANJUNATH KIRAN

Every document filed in court not public NEW DELHI: Industrialist Ratan Tata Friday contended in the Supreme Court that every document filed in the court could not be carried by media by deeming it being in public domain.

"First of all this public domain theory is wrong. Simply that something is filed in the court is assumed to be in public domain," senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Tata, told a bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice Gopala Gowda.

Tata has moved the apex court seeking to restrain media from publishing the transcripts of the tapes of the former corporate lobbyst Niira Radia's tapped phones.

Radia's phones were under surveillance by the income tax department.

Not questioning the government'

right to tap the phones but its responsibility to keep the recordings secure, Salve said: "My privacy has to be protected. Government can't throw up its hands and say that I had tapped it and if it gets leaked, then I can't do anything about it."

Alleging that it were the investigating agencies that were leaking the information, Salve said, "Truth is that investigating agencies use the media... it is very dangerous. Why were they leaked.

Whom were they aimed to embarrass."

Contending that media was not above law, Salve said that he has no doubt that original leaks took place because of corporate rivalry.

He said that media was not above law and had the option of seeking to access information through RTI.

Now, new house in 'Bigg Boss-Saath 7' MUMBAI: After dealing with hell and heaven, the participants of "Bigg BossSaath 7" will be subjected to yet another separation with the introduction of 'The Caravan' - a motor vehicle with a living space.

"Bigg Boss- Saath 7" comes on Colors and when the show started the house was divided into two parts - heaven, which had all the modern facilities, and hell side where contestants had to survive with bare minimum things.

The new twist will be revealed in the Saturday's episode. It will also introduce new faces - current contestant Kushal Tandon's ex-girlfriend Candy Brar, model-actor Ajaz Khan, and British singer-actress Sofia Hayat, said a release. The caravan will be put in such a place so as to isolate it from the other contestants as well as the outside world. The inmates placed in this house will be allowed to step out in a small open area.

lookout for 47 members of a gang of extortionists and paid killers who operated under the leadership of Neetu Dabodha, who was gunned down here a day ago, along with two associates.

"We were trailing Dabodha for over one year, and we have a dossier on him. Till now, 47 members of his gang are on our wanted list," said Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) S.N. Srivastava.

The Haryana-based criminal, Surender Malik alias Neetu Dabodha, 29, was killed in an exchange of fire Thursday along with Alok Gupta and Deepak Ray near the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Vasant Kunj area of south Delhi.

"The trio were taken to AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) where they were declared dead," the officer said.

Srivastava said Gupta and Ray were not in the dossier, but

during investigations, Gupta's role in five criminal cases came to light.

"We are verifying Ray's background, to ascertain whether he was involved in any criminal case or if he had only joined Dabodha's gang recently," said the officer.

Explaining the sequence of events, Srivastava said a tip-off was received, and the accused were spotted travelling in an I20 Hyundai car near a petrol pump in the Vasant Kunj area.

"When our team signalled to them to stop, they sped towards the Grand Hyatt Hotel using the C-5 link road. “After a few minutes' chase, our team in a bullet-proof Scorpio intercepted them near the hotel," said Srivastava.

He said the criminals rammed their car against the police vehicle and opened fire.

"We retaliated in self defence and after 18 minutes' exchange of fire, the trio were gunned down," said Srivastava.

7

WORLD SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Women hit the road

Nigeria kills 95 militants

LONDON: The former flatmate of late

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia was braced for

MAIDUGURI: Nigeria's army said

BBC presenter Jimmy Savile was to appear in court Saturday having been charged with a series of sexual offences against young girls. Ray Teret, 72, Savile's former flatmate and chauffeur, was charged Friday with 32 offences involving 15 different victims who accuse him of sexual abuse between 1962 and 1996.

possible protests after women activists declared an "open driving campaign" against the kingdom's ban on women behind the wheel. Activists had originally planned a "drive-in" Saturday but cancelled it after threats of legal action, instead declaring an openended campaign in the only country that forbids women from driving.

Savile flatmate arrested

Friday it had killed 95 suspected Boko Haram fighters in raids in the country's northeast, as gunmen from the Islamist group battled security forces in a neighbouring area. The army, which is battling to crush a four-year Islamist uprising in Nigeria, said it deployed bombs and ground troops to destroy insurgent camps in Borno on Thursday.

Spy scandal is another blow to fretting US allies STEPHEN COLLINSON

WASHINGTON: In Europe, America's friends are furious, in the Middle East they are mystified and in the Pacific, they are merely puzzled.

Mounting questions over the direction of US foreign policy and sweeping espionage operations are threatening to undercut the Obama White House's claim to have repaired relations with key allies that frayed under president George W. Bush.

The world is also looking on in alarm at political dysfunction in Washington and wondering whether it will curtail America's global role: Secretary of State John Kerry warned in a speech that US partners were now asking "can we be counted on?"

President Barack Obama, already beleaguered over the chaotic rollout of his health care law, now has another foreign policy headache. Europe is in uproar over explosive new leaks from secrets scooped up by fugitive analyst Edward Snowden.

European publics, who once swooned over the president, are fuming at claims the secretive US National Security Agency logged details of millions of their phone calls, and even apparently tapped the phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Heather Conley, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia in the Bush administration, said that the White House response so

far had done little to placate its allies.

"Their approach has led the leaders to up the volume because we are not understanding how significant this issue is for public opinion," said Conley, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In Washington, some officials privately disdain Europe's fury as overly theatrical -- because some of the outraged governments are partners in counterterror spying themselves and US intelligence has thwarted attacks in Europe.

Car bomb kills 40 in Syria DAMASCUS: A car bomb outside a mosque near Damascus killed at least 40 people on Friday, an NGO said, as a top UN official expressed mounting concern over hundreds of thousands of trapped civilians.

Dozens of people were wounded in the car bombing in the town of Suq Wadi Barada, said the Britainbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists and other witnesses.

The Syrian government and opposition exchanged blame for the carnage.

Suq Wadi Barada is under rebel control and ringed by troops loyal to the regime of President Bashar alAssad. Car bombings have plagued Syria in recent months, killing scores across the country.

The attitude that spying is rampant everywhere, and Europe should just get over it, is also widespread.

"Everyone spies on everybody," Republican Senator Marco Rubio told CNN. "These leaders are responding to domestic pressures. None of them are truly shocked about any of this."

With Europe and the United States bound by cultural, political and military ties and common security vulnerabilities, it is unthinkable the alliance will buckle. But it is also clear that trust in the United States among

key allies has been undermined in a way that is forcing the political hands of European leaders.

This explains unusually blunt readouts by aides to Merkel and French President Francois Hollande of their bosses calls to Obama over the affair this week.

Some foreign affairs experts here fret that the controversy could limit the political space allied leaders have to back key US foreign policy priorities, including a proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Already, the European parlia-

'Internal error' downs NSA website: official WASHINGTON: The National Security Agency's website went down Friday, but the US spy service known for hacking into computer networks blamed the outage on a technical mistake and promised to resolve it soon.

The website, NSA.gov, went down in the afternoon, setting off speculation on Twitter that the site may have suffered a denial of service attack by hackers.

But an NSA spokesperson denied the claims, saying they were "not true." "NSA.gov was not accessible for several hours tonight because of an internal error that occurred during a scheduled update. The issue will be resolved this evening," the spokesperson added. "Claims that the outage was caused by a distributed denial of service attack are not true."

ment has cast a non-binding vote to freeze a data exchange agreement with Washington on financial transactions, which intelligence agencies use to trace terrorist financing.

So far, Washington's public statements are mostly notable for a lack of contrition and have been delivered by mid-level officials. "We have worked through our regular diplomatic channels to address some of those tensions," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday, insisting that US ties with allies were "deep and broad."

Obama's counterterrorism chief Lisa Monaco is the most senior aide to address the snooping storm since the Merkel allegations surfaced. But her choice of venue, the USA Today newspaper, could hardly be described as an effort to placate foreign public opinion. The initial response to the Merkel claims meanwhile was counterproductive.

Obama spokesman Jay Carney's statement that Washington is not and will not spy on Merkel's communications outraged Germans with the clear implication that it had done so in the past. Obama himself, who has ordered several reviews into the scope and breadth of US surveillance activity is yet to comment publicly on the Merkel allegations.

Officials meanwhile declined several requests to discuss how Washington would handle Europe's anger going forward.

No Facebook for priests: church SKOPJE: Macedonia'a Orthodox Church on Friday ordered its priests and nuns not to use Facebook or be ready to face unnamed sanctions, church officials said.

"Everyone among the clergy will face sanctions if using Facebook," the church's spokesman, Bishop Timotej, told reporters.

The bishop did not reveal the reasons for the ban, but sources from the church said the measure would be "imposed especially for those expressing personal attitudes on Facebook."

The ban seemed to show the rift between senior and junior priests, who have often used social networks to attract younger generations to the church. by offering them religious education and advice.

8

COMMENT SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

NSA SCANDAL POST 9/11, NSA virtually unchecked

R

evelations of America's surveillance have painted an alarming picture of the National Security Agency as a spy service operating virtually without limits since the 9/11 attacks, experts say.

Disclosures from intelligence leaker Edward Snowden have revealed how far the NSA has pushed the envelope in its digital snooping after being granted sweeping powers by Congress in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The Patriot Act and other laws adopted after 9/11 "basically unleashed what we see today," said Gordon Adams, a professor at American University who served as a senior official in Bill Clinton's administration.

"In a climate of fear, we basically took the reins off of accountability for the intelligence community."

Congress "opened up a floodgate" and both president George W Bush and Barack Obama justified the approach by citing the threat posed by AlQaeda, Adams told AFP. "This is a bipartisan project," he added. "The reality is the law gave them (NSA) immense running room and they have seized every inch of that running room and then some."

Revulsion at spying abuses led to reforms in the 1970s empowering a surveillance court to review NSA eavesdropping and envisaged Congress as a watchdog to check excesses.

But rights advocates argue that Congress has failed to hold the NSA to account over the past decade, and that the spy agency also failed to give lawmakers a true picture about its vast digital dragnet of online traffic and other espionage.

The agency's soft-spoken director, General Keith Alexander, insists his deputies have gone to great pains to keep Congress informed and to ensure NSA surveillance remained lawful.

Concerns about an "out of control" spy agency will not subside unless the government begins to lift the veil of secrecy that surrounds the agency, said Jim Harper of the CATO Institute think tank. Secrecy is "a cancer" that has to be removed to allow checks on the NSA's authorities, Harper said.

Terror’s new home War on terror SERGE DANIEL

A

major anti-Islamist military offensive in Mali by French, Malian and UN troops has highlighted worries over the possibility of renewed attacks in the run-up to nationwide polls, say analysts.

The troubled west African nation and its allies launched Operation Hydra on Sunday after being taken aback by a recent upsurge in violence in the north, according to JeanHerve Jezequel, an analyst in Dakar for the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.

About 1,500 troops are involved, including some 600 French, 600 Malians and 300 UN soldiers, and the operation is expected to last "at least 10 days", according to a Malian military source.

French leader Francois Hollande said Friday Hydra marked the first time that such a large deployment from each of the allies had worked together in Mali to fight "terrorism" which he said had become

entrenched in the north and in other parts of Africa's Sahel region.

France launched a military intervention in January to oust armed groups linked to AlQaeda that had occupied the vast desert north for the previous nine months, meting out beatings and executions as part of a brutal regime of Islamic sharia law.

Hollande said the infrastructure of terrorism in Mali had been damaged but "not defeated" by the operation.

Under heavy attack in the cities of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal, the Islamists retreated into the desert and the cover of the Ifoghas mountains.

But the fragile peace did not last, and on September 28 the militants resumed their deadly insurgency, killing a dozen civilians and UN peacekeepers across the north in three weeks.

France's announcement of the launch of Hydra came after two Chadian UN peacekeepers and a civilian were killed in northern Mali on Wednesday.

Al-Qaeda-linked militants said they were behind the attack on a United Nations checkpoint in the far northern town of Tessalit.

AL-QAEDA-LINKED MILITANTS SAID THEY WERE BEHIND THE ATTACK ON A UNITED NATIONS CHECKPOINT IN THE FAR NORTHERN TOWN OF TESSALIT. The UN Security Council strongly condemned the attack, which followed an urgent request by the UN mission in Mali for more troops.

The upsurge in violence comes with just a month to go until parliamentary elections which are supposed to mark the completion of Mali's transition back to democracy following a military coup in March last year that precipitated the fall of the north to the Islamists.

A presidential election in August which saw former prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita voted in as the first postconflict head of state was staged without incident, in all likelihood because the recentlydefeated Islamists had not had time to regroup.

The ICG's Jezequel believes

however that elections such as November's legislative polls could be ideal targets for the type of attacks carried out by armed Islamist groups.

France had planned to reduce its 3,000-strong force to 1,000 by the new year but the fresh violence has forced Paris to rethink its timetable.

Some 2,000 troops will now remain until the end of December, with the withdrawal of a further 1,000 to be completed by the end of January 2014.

The UN peacekeeping force, known as MINUSMA, is eventually expected to comprise about 12,600 troops and police but the prospect of France's departure from its former colony -- even deferred -- is still worrying the Malian army.

"MINUSMA alone cannot do the job," said a Malian soldier in Gao, the largest city in the north and the site of a rocket attack by Islamists on October 7.

"The French army is needed in the north. The Islamists have begun to seriously reorganise."

Another Malian military source told AFP the French army had helped with the recent arrest of terror suspects in Gao -- evidence, he said, "that the danger is ever-present".

9

COMMENT SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Serbia puts last vestige of Yugoslavia to rest The old guard ALEKSANDRA NIKSIC

T

he widow of the former Yugoslav leader Tito will be buried in a Belgrade mausoleum on Saturday with full state honours as the last symbol of the communist federation that broke up in the 1990s.

Jovanka Broz, who died of heart failure at the age of 88 on Sunday, will be buried next to her husband Josip Broz in the House of Flowers, where the communist strongman was laid to rest in 1980.

Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic will give a speech at the funeral, to be held with full military honours as Broz was a decorated member of the Yugoslav anti-fascist partisan movement in World War II, the government said.

Ordinary citizens will also be paying their respects after the funeral, it added.

Once a symbol of elegance and adored among the Yugoslav, Broz lived the last three decades of her life as an outcast.

Blamed by Tito's political

Urban sketches VISWAPRASAD RAJU

friends of plotting a coup, she was placed under virtual house arrest a few years before her husband's death.

Her last public appearance was at Tito's state funeral in May 1980, attended by more than 200 top world dignitaries, among them Margaret Thatcher, Saddam Hussein and Leonid

Brezhnev.

After Tito's death Jovanka Broz was forced to leave the former Serbian royal palace where the couple lived in splendour, and spent the following years in isolation and poverty.

"They chased me out ... in my nightgown, without anything, not allowing me even to

Gurgaon

take a photo of the two of us, or a letter, a book," Broz said in a rare interview in 2009.

Since then, "I was in isolation and treated like a criminal... I could not leave the house without armed guards," she told the Politika daily.

Her identity papers were confiscated and only returned

by Serbian authorities in 2009, when she was given a pension.

Broz, who was Tito's third wife, met the charismatic communist leader after she had joined the partisans at the age of 17. She remained in the trenches until the end of World War II, attaining the rank of captain.

As Yugoslavia began turning its back on its wartime ally Russia, then under Stalin's rule, Broz was hired as Tito's secretary in 1948. The date of their marriage is unclear, as are most details of Tito's private life.

Some biographers set it in 1952.

Tito was 31 years her senior and the couple had no children.

Often described as the "first lady of the Non-Aligned Movement" she toured the world with her husband.

Broz rarely spoke in public, seemingly satisfied with being a silent first lady, inseparable from her husband during his frequent jaunts, often sailing to their summer residence on the island of Brijuni aboard the official yacht.

She and other Tito heirs initiated an inheritance procedure, although the size of his estate has never been made public and the claims are still pending.

Global edits The Guardian (UK)

The bald truth

A

cure for baldness is just round the corner! Again! This is the new alchemy, the midas touch for the drug companies.

Only this week, observers of the royal christening remarked unflatteringly on the relative hairiness of Prince William and his son, Prince George.

No wonder the pharmaceutical industry anticipates that the millions of pounds they invest in the search for a treatment will be returned many times over when this holy grail of male vanity is finally found. Only adding, of course, to the millions already made from treatments for hair loss.

The Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, a man with a notably full head of hair, is particularly scathing about the mismatch between the scale of the funding and the seriousness of the condition.

In the past, he has lambasted the infamous weave of Silvio Berlusconi as a typical example of a rich person who spent more on his hair transplant than on philanthropy. Earlier this year, at

BILL GATES, A MAN WITH A

NOTABLY FULL HEAD OF HAIR, IS PARTICULARLY SCATHING ABOUT THE MISMATCH BETWEEN THE SCALE OF THE FUNDING AND THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE CONDITION. the Royal Academy of Engineering Global Challenges summit, he blamed capitalism for the fact that more was spent on curing baldness than preventing malaria. World Health Organisation figures put the spending on malaria control at $1.8bn; on hair loss at $2bn.

As Mr Gates acknowledged, this is partly about capitalism. Private money goes where returns are most likely.

Baldness cures are a kind of perfect product: unlike, say, private jets or superyachts, many millions of people agonise over hair loss. There is an almost infinite current demand and, barring unexpected evolutionary developments, it is inexhaustible. But what a travesty of priorities if baldness becomes treatable before malaria is defeated.

10

BUSINESS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

UK backs fracking

McDonald’s drops Heinz

Cuba woos investment

BRUSSELS: Britain mounted a fresh

WASHINGTON: McDonald's said

HAVANA: Cuba is setting up shop for

crusade to slash EU red tape London says strangles business — with a core demand that Brussels does not interfere with legislation on fracking. PM David Cameron gathered leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italy's Enrico Letta to present a 30-point plan he said would save billions of euros each year.

Friday it was dropping ketchup king Heinz as a supplier of the key hamburger condiment, citing management changes at Heinz that put the company closer to rival Burger King.

McDonald's said it was ending a relationship of over 40 years as it axed Heinz from its supplier list. Heinz is used by McDonald’s in two US cities.

JPMorgan Chase to pay $5.1bn settlement The Federal Housing Finance Agency had accused the bank of causing ‘billions of dollars’ in losses to the two mortgage finance companies.

John BIERS

NEW YORK CITY: JPMorgan Chase will pay $5.1 billion to settle charges it overstated the quality of mortgages and mortgage-backed securities sold to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, US officials said Friday.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates the two government-backed financing giants, had accused the bank, and two subsidiaries, Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, of causing "billions of dollars" in losses to the two mortgage finance companies.

The settlement resolves part of the tab as the US's biggest bank proceeds with negotiations with the government over a broader pact to resolve mortgage-related violations.

The larger ($4 billion) of the two settlements relates to $33.8 billion in residential mortgagebacked securities sold by JPMorgan to Fannie and Freddie between 2005 and 2007, according to the FHFA's 2011 complaint. The remaining $1.1 billion concerns claims JPMorgan made about singlefamily mortgages it sold Fannie and Freddie.

JPMorgan "falsely" told Freddie and Fannie the underlying mortgages met the two agencies' standards for quality. In practice, the assets were much lower quality than claimed.

Many loans that were billed as safe later defaulted or were foreclosed upon.

The FHFA said JPMorgan's conduct "constitutes negligent misrepresentation, common law fraud and aiding and abetting fraud," the FHFA complaint said.

The FHFA's litany of allegations included the charge that the bank permitted bad loans to be pooled into securities in exchange for underwriting and

securitization fees.

The securities were sold to Fannie and Freddie by JPMorgan itself and also by Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, which were acquired by JPMorgan in 2008.

FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco said the settlement "provides greater certainty in the marketplace and is in line with our responsibility for preserving and conserving Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's assets on behalf of taxpayers."

"This is a significant step as the government and JPMorgan Chase move to address outstanding mortgage-related issues."

A JPMorgan statement called the agreement "an important step towards a broader resolution of the firm's (mortgagebacked securities)-related matters with governmental entities."

Friday's settlement comes as negotiations continue between JPMorgan and the Justice Department over a larger pact to resolve mortgage-related violations before the housing bust.

Negotiations have centered on an agreement of around $13 billion, with $4 billion in consumer relief and $5 billion in penalties, in addition to the $4 billion announced Friday, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The Justice Department negotiations also involve a number of other entities, including the state of New York, which filed its own suit against JPMorgan in October 2012, and the US Attorney from the Eastern District of California, which has launched a criminal probe into JPMorgan's conduct during this period in parallel with a civil suit.

The impending Justice Department settlement is not expected to include the California criminal case.

foreign investors interested in getting in on its upgraded port in Mariel and a surrounding duty-free zone. Oscar Perez, head of the government's office of business evaluations, said a new office will open November 1 to handle foreign investment in the port's so-called Special Development Zone.

Boeing, Lockheed team up for new American bomber Boeing is acting as the prime contractor, and Lockheed is the main teammate in the bid to supply the Air Force's Long-Range Strike Bomber program.

WASHINGTON: Boeing and Lockheed Martin said Friday they have teamed up to bid for a new $55 billion US Air Force bomber program.

Boeing is acting as the prime contractor, and Lockheed is the main teammate in the bid to supply the Air Force's Long-Range Strike Bomber program, the companies said in a joint statement.

"Boeing and Lockheed Martin are bringing together the best of the two enterprises, and the rest of industry, in support of the Long-Range Strike Bomber program, and we are honoured to support our US Air Force customer and this important national priority," said Dennis Muilenburg, president and chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

Air force spokesman Ed Gulick said the program aims to build between 80 and 100 of the new, long-range stealthy bombers, a top priority as the US military seeks to replace its aging bomber fleet.

The cost of each plane is estimated at $550 million, he said, putting the total value of the program if all 100 planes are built at $55 billion.

Deliveries are due to begin in the mid 2020s, "before the current aging fleet goes out of service," he said.

Shares in Dow member Boeing were up 1.6 percent and Lockheed's stock gained 0.9 percent in afternoon trade in New York.

Both US companies have projects underway for the air force. Boeing is developing the KC-46 refueling tanker and Lockheed is working on the

newest stealth F-35 fighter jet.

In 2011, then-defense secretary Robert Gates launched the next-generation bomber project. According to the Pentagon, the new bomber should be designed using "proven technologies" to create a long-range, nuclear-capable and optionally remotely piloted aircraft that will be able to operate and survive in highly contested areas densely protected by air defenses.

The air force has budgeted $292 million in fiscal year 2013 that ended September 30, and $379 million in fiscal 2014 for its development.

"We're confident that our team will meet the system requirements and deliver a world-class Long-Range Strike Bomber within the budget and timeframe required," said Orlando Carvalho, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

11

FOCUS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

FAT AIN'T FIT

One of the most common advertisements in both the print and electronic media is that of weight loss programmes that promise magical transformation from a fat to a fit figure. Doctors, however, express doubt over the efficacy of such programmes.

Azera Parveen Rahman

NEW DELHI: Doctors say that obesity, a problem increasingly consuming present-day society and leading to a host of other health complications, needs to be approached more holistically, right from prevention mechanisms targeting children.

"Barring a few programmes that are scientific in nature, most weight loss programmes are absolutely ineffective," Deep Goel, director of the department of GI Oncology and Bariatric Surgery at B.L. Kapoor hospital, told IANS. In a country where obesity is becoming a mammoth issue, and in turn invites the burden of other problems like cardiovascular disease, kidney problem, high blood pressure, diabetes, even cancer, such weight loss pro-

grammes are luring people with new gadgets and diet schedules.

"But truth be told, most of these programmes harbour misconceptions. Liposuction, for instance, is not a weight loss procedure but a contouring procedure. This means that you lose fat in minimal inches - say from 36 inches to 34 inches - but gain it back in three-four months.

Starving and crash diets are also ineffective, so are your sauna belts, and many so-called herbal medicines have diuretics which makes you urinate often and lose water, and thus weight, which comes right back after some time," said Goel.

Agreed Sumeet Shah, senior consultant of Max Institute of Minimal Access, Metabolic, and Bariatric Surgery. "In 99 percent cases these weight loss programmes are ineffective, unless under the guidance of a nutritionist and done in a scientific way," he said.

A more effective means to tackle the problem, doctors say, is a healthy lifestyle, with proper eating habits and exercise that can lead one to lose two-three kg of weight a month in a non-drastic manner.

"In a severe case, when the body mass index is more than 40, surgery is needed," Shah told IANS. But more than the "fire-fighting"

n Worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980. n In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight. Of these over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese. n 35% of adults aged 20 and over were overweight in 2008, and 11% were obese.

65% of the world's population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.

More than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2011.

Obesity is preventable. approach of treatment, preventive mechanism that takes root right from childhood is the need of the hour, doctors emphasise.

Childhood obesity, after all, is increasingly becoming a nightmare in urban India.

"Childhood obesity is the biggest epidemic of the nature of a non-communicable disease," said Sarita Sahi, a

Pick

Delhi-based paediatrician, adding that India may become the world capital of diabetes and obesity by the year 2030.

"Many surveys have been done, by the National Family Health Survey, as well as by NGOs, on this problem and the Delhi high court order banning junk food in schools is a step to reform this unhealthy trend," she said.

According to Rahul Nagpal, paediatrician at Fortis hospital, there has been a 10-15 percent rise in childhood obesity in the past five years. "Quite a few public schools organise lectures on dietary habits and the importance of exercise, and I have been invited in some to talk on the same," Nagpal said.

One of the culprits for children adopting bad eating habits, according to Shah, is food becoming a source of entertainment.

"Come weekend and most families' idea of entertainment is a trip to the mall and to eat in the food court.

Eating high-calorie food with a lot of unsaturated fat on a regular basis, with hardly any outdoor activity, is inviting trouble," he said.

at the

Another misconception when it comes to obesity is that it's a "rich man's disease".

"Obesity is not only about overeating but also about eating wrong. Food high in unsaturated fat can cause health problems and so obesity is not restricted to one section of society," Goel said.

Considering that of four preventable causes of cancer, obesity is one, according to WHO, and that 2.8 million people die the world over each year as a result of being overweight or obese, beating the bulge is a serious health concern.

airport,

-

12

TECHNOLOGY & MEDIA SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Yahoo closing Cairo office

Samsung posts record profit

Google rolls out PC

SAN FRANCISCO:Yahoo has

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics’s quarterly

LONDON: Google has report-

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

This decision is part of Yahoo’s global effort to streamline operations, encourage collaboration by bringing more Yahoos together in fewer locations, and build a strong global business that is set up for long-term growth.

operating profit surged 26% to a new record, matching estimates and powered by a strong recovery in its memory chip business as smartphone sales growth eases sharply. Profits at its chip business doubled to 2.06 trillion won, the highest in three years, reflecting stronger chip prices this year and tighter supply. Shares in Samsung, worth $222 billion, rose 10% over the past three months

edly introduced parental control to its Chrome web browser allowing parents to monitor and control the browsing behaviour of their children. The feature called ‘supervised users’, lets ‘managers’ or parents to set up profiles of the people they want to monitor.

Web giants slam Brazil database A proposed amendment to ensure that all Brazil-based clients have their data stored on Brazil-based servers is proving controversial.

BRASÍLIA: Web giant Google and other Internet companies say they oppose creating Brazil-based databases of local customer information, proposed by a Brazilian government determined to crack down on espionage.

Google says in principle it supports proposed legislation enshrining an Internet civil rights framework, dubbed Marco Civil de Internet in Brazil, the company told AFP. But a proposed amendment to ensure that all Brazil-based clients have their data stored on Brazilbased servers is proving controversial.

“Google has long supported Marco Civil as an important piece of legislation that will protect freedom of expression and the ability of the Internet to generate economic growth,” a Google statement to AFP read. But it added: “The proposed amendment to Marco Civil requiring Internet companies to store Brazilian user data in Brazil risks denying Brazilian users access to great services that are provided by US and other international companies.”

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has urged her country’s Congress to pass the measure as a matter of urgency, having in the past month rebuked Washington for eavesdropping on Brazilian communications, including some from her own office and also from oil giant Petrobras.

A total of 45 associations representing a swath of Internet giants including Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple this week wrote to the Brazilian Congress to state their opposition to the proposal that data from Brazil-based clients must be stored in the Latin American country.

The companies believe the requirement may

ultimately prove prejudicial to web-based commerce and hence to users of such services.

And they believe that a government demand that “data centers” be created across Brazil could not just load on extra costs but potentially lessen web security for clients — the opposite of what the Brazilian bill hopes to achieve.

Google stated Friday that “Marco Civil was built in a democratic fashion with the goal of securing an open, global and innovative Internet.

“Society should not accept any rushed attempts to change these core principles of the bill.

“Security has nothing to do with the localization of data,” Jorge Sukarie, president of the Brazilian Association of Software Firms (ABES), told AFP. ABES is a signatory of the letter urging the Brazilian Congress to rethink.

Further signatories to the letter include the US Council for International Business and international chambers of commerce from countries including the United States, Chile, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Mexico.

According to Sukarie, the goal should be to “incentivize people and firms to develop new businesses which use technology to boost productivity and competitiveness,” rather than infringe users’ options by measures such as dictating where their data is stored. He warned that additional costs would arise for consumers if the country’s technological infrastructure proved inadequate.

Brazilian lawmakers must vote on whether to push through the Marco Civil bill before Monday and then send it up for debate in the senate or else the issue will block the lower chamber’s agenda.

YouTube to launch paid music service The new plan would still allow users free access for the vast amount of music and music videos available on YouTube.

WASHINGTON: Google’s videosharing arm YouTube is preparing to launch a subscription music service to allow consumers to watch videos and listen to music ad-free, industry sources said Friday.

Sources familiar with the plans told AFP the service is likely to launch sometime next year.

The new plan would still allow users free access for the vast amount of music and music videos available on YouTube but would allow an option for a paid service without ads, with some extras such as the ability to store and listen to songs offline.

A source familiar with the plan said YouTube is not setting up a “pay gate” for music and would continue to allow people to stream music on any device for free if they choose.

The move however is the latest effort to monetize YouTube, which Google bought in 2006 for $1.65 billion and which is believed to generate a modest amount of advertising revenues.

YouTube recently launched a number of paid channels for television programs.

Earlier, Billboard magazine and The New York Times reported that the premium subscription designed for mobile devices would cost around $10 a month

and would compete with services such as Spotify, Rdio and Rhapsody.

The reports said the deal would allow record companies to get bigger royalty payments than they currently get from free services.

Billboard said a paid service would give YouTube more flexibility in packaging and selling music with fewer restrictions. It also said a premium service could be paired with other Google products in the future, including Google Glass.

Creating a paid service would help YouTube move away from the sharing of free music videos, which often face copyright violations. YouTube currently allows verified music publishers and other copyright holders the ability to block infringing videos or to place an ad over the video to generate revenue.

A YouTube spokesman declined to comment on the specific reports of the new paid service but said: “We’re always working on better ways for people to enjoy YouTube content.”

Billboard said the new paid service could allow YouTube the ability to stream full albums, which are not usually available because artists generally select one or two tracks from any single album.

13

ANIMAL KINGDOM SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

PET NEWS Sting me

T

Aboriginal Hunting

he painful, potentially deadly stings of bark scorpions are |nothing more than a slight nuisance to grasshopper mice, which voraciously kill and consume their prey with ease.

I

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Animal welfare

n Australia's Western Desert, Aboriginal hunters use a unique method that actually increases populations of the animals they hunt, according to a study co-authored by Stanford Woods Institute-affiliated researchers Rebecca and Doug Bird.

O

ntario province will implement sweeping reforms to protect animal welfare in Ontario, the Star has learned. Changes include more power and money for the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

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040-2779 7458, 9848645350 Claws & Paws 98662 82772 All Creatures Animals Clinic 040-2773 0885 BIRDS Govt Veterinary Hospital 040-2331 9656, 2753 5755 Bird Watcher’s Society 040-2355 6166 Friends of Birds9391048315 SNAKES Friends of Snakes 8374233366

Ban on wild animals in UK circuses The RSPCA has said it is very relieved the Government has finally confirmed it will ban ALL wild animals in circuses.

T

here were fears that only big cats and elephants would be banned from travelling circuses after MPs’ recommendations early this summer.

But now there has been confirmation from Government ministers that a ban on the use of all wild animals in circuses in England will go ahead by the end of 2015.

Many leading charities and animal welfare organisations such as the RSPCA, Born Free Foundation, the British Veterinary Association and the Captive Animals’ Protection Society have campaigned together against wild animals being used in circuses.

The RSPCA has been particularly outspoken, warning that wild animals are likely to suffer from being dragged around the country from pillar to post just so audiences can be “entertained.

RSPCA senior scientist Dr Ros Clubb said: “It is a great relief that the Government has listened to reason and we are back on track to getting a proper ban on the use of all wild animals in circuses.

“As the Government has pointed out, there is absolutely no basis for protecting only a select group of wild animals, and no desire to do so from MPs, the public or animal welfare groups. No wild animals belong in a circus.

“Now we need to leap over

the final hurdle and get a definite date for this legislation to be passed and end this outdated practise.

“Animals have already been waiting too long and another two years is still a long time to

endure the constant travel, cramped temporary cages, and noisy conditions of a circus. The licensing scheme that is running in the meantime is not good enough to safeguard the welfare of these majestic animals.”

The RSPCA and Born Free Foundation have offered to help Defra and circus owners rehome the wild animals currently being used in circuses.

In July, the animal welfare groups had expressed concern

THE RSPCA AND BORN FREE FOUNDATION HAVE OFFERED TO HELP DEFRA AND CIRCUS OWNERS RE-HOME THE WILD ANIMALS CURRENTLY BEING USED IN CIRCUSES. over a report by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) select committee which recommended that any prohibition on animal use in circuses should be limited to a ban on big cats and elephants, while continuing to allow species such as zebras and snakes to be used.

Defra minister Lord de Mauley has confirmed suggestions to limit the scope of the ban has been rejected by the Government and that the ban will apply to all wild animals when introduced.

A spokeswoman for the animal welfare organisation added: “We are relieved to hear that the Government has firmly rejected the opinion of the EFRA Committee on this matter, and that circuses will be prevented from using wild animals in performances from the end of 2015.

The decision reflects the strong public and Parliamentary will on this issue; a travelling circus is no place for any wild animal. We will continue to work to ensure the best possible long-term outcome for the animals.”

14

BOOKS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

SHORT READS Title: The Circle Author: David Eggers Publisher: Knopf Mae Holland feels she has been given the opportunity of a lifetime after she is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company. The captivating story of one’s woman ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about the limits of human knowledge.

Title: The Rosie Project Author: Graeme Simsion Publisher: Simon & Schuster Don Tillman ,a professor of genetics has very few friends and is simply not wired for romance. But a friend tells him that he could make the perfect husband and so he embarks upon the Wife Project where he meets Rosie Jarman.This is a hilarious novel for anyone who has tenaciously gone after love or life challenges.

Title: The Help Author: Kathryn Stockett Publisher: Penguin Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger.The story revolves around three different characters as they document their lives on the different side of the racial barrier.

Title: The Good Lord Bird Author: James McBride Publisher: Penguin Henry Shackleford is young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1857, when the region is a battleground between anti- and proslavery forces. When John Brown, the legendary abolitionist, arrives in the area, an argument between Brown and Henry’s master quickly turns violent. Henry is forced to leave town-with Brown, who believes he’s a girl.

Asterix returns for first new adventures in eight years

C

omic book hero Asterix and his rotund sidekick Obelix returned for their first new adventure in eight years on Thursday, reviving a global phenomenon that has sold millions of copies around the world.

Five million copies of "Asterix and the Picts" -- the 35th instalment in a series that has become a publishing juggernaut - were released in 15 countries and 23 languages, after months of anticipation.

The Gallic duo's latest gagfilled adventure takes them for the first time to ancient Scotland, with the new edition's cover depicting Obelix in full caber toss as a winking Asterix sits nearby.

Two million copies were printed for France and another three million for foreign audiences, including editions in Scots and Gaelic.

The Asterix series -- created by illustrator Albert Uderzo and writer Rene Goscinny in 1959 -- is a bestseller in the comic book world, with 352 million copies sold worldwide and translations in more than 110 languages and dialects.

It features the adventures of an indomitable tribe of Gauls resisting Roman occupation, often with the help of a Druidbrewed magic potion that grants them superhuman strength.

The series has been adapted into four live-action films and is the inspiration for a popular theme park, Parc Asterix, outside Paris.

Soaked with whisky references, kilt-wearing Celtic warriors and bagpipes, the latest instalment sees Asterix and Obelix journey to Scotland after a wayward Pict washes up on the shores of Gaul.

Amid run-ins with the Loch Ness monster, the story sees various Celtic tribes unite into one nation -- a clear reference to the independence movement ahead of Scotland's vote next year on whether to leave the United Kingdom.

The latest edition is the work of writer Jean-Yves Ferri and illustrator Didier Conrad, and is the first not written and illustrat-

ed by one of the series' original creators.

Uderzo, who took over the writing when Goscinny died in 1977, announced in 2011 that he would no longer be drawing the series.

The 86-year-old did supervise production of the latest book however, and drew the Obelix featured on the cover.

Ferri said taking on the mantle of writing Asterix had been a daunting task.

"With Asterix, you have to keep all the benchmarks that readers love, while at the same time making the stories fresh," he said.

'The best Asterix in a long time' But Uderzo said he was thrilled with the work of his successors.

"We made the right choice, Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad were made for Asterix," he said.

Anthea Bell, the English translator of all the Asterix books, said the latest edition continued in the long tradition of the series.

"Particularly difficult in the Asterix saga is the fact that they

THE ASTERIX SERIES — CREATED BY ILLUSTRATOR ALBERT UDERZO AND WRITER RENE GOSCINNY IN 1959 — IS A BESTSELLER IN THE COMIC BOOK WORLD.

are crammed full of puns and wordplay, and that is why for 10 years nobody even tried to translate them into English -- they didn't think the jokes would cross the Channel," she told BBC radio.

"In fact, we have a lot in common with the French. We like wordplay, and we like to laugh at our own history."

The European press gave

widespread coverage of the book's release, with front-page treatment in newspapers in France, Belgium and Germany.

"Asterix is back!" France's Le Figaro screamed on the front of its arts section, hailing the new instalment as a "breath of fresh air" for the series.

In Belgium, Le Soir said the new book was a "triumphant return" while De Standaard declared it "the best Asterix in a long time".

In Germany, where 1.5 million copies are on sale, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung hailed the book as one of the best since Goscinny's death thanks to "the originality of the writing, which had been lacking for so long".

A special edition of the book featuring additional sketches was also released in France on Thursday, while the Paris mint put out commemorative 10, 50 and 100 euro coins featuring the Gallic duo.

The release of the latest book coincides with a retrospective of the Asterix series on at the BNF, France's national library, until January 19.

AFP

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BOOKS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

An epic love story

Nicholas Sparks has been touching hearts since his first novel, The Notebook, published in 1996 and this book is no different. It is every girl’s guilty pleasure.

Name The Longest Ride Author Necholas Sparks Pages 358 Publisher Paperback

Rima Karan

Rima.k@postnoon.com

N

icholas Sparks, has always been synonymous with love and that grand over the top emotion-a vision of the passionate-kisses-in-the-rain model! He is unquestionably touching hearts since his first novel, The Notebook that was published in 1996 and this book is no different. It has the perfect balance of all the emotions one can imagine.

The longest Ride revolves around, Ira and Ruth, Sophia and Luke. The two couples who seem to have little in common, and but are separated by experience and years. Yet, at one point, their lives converge with unforeseen poignancy, reminding us that even tough choices can yield extraordinary journeys: transcend beyond misery and death to the reach the farthest points of the human heart.

At ninety-one, all alone in the world and in poor health, Ira Levinson is in trouble, he finds himself stranded on an isolated embankment after a car crash. Suffering from several injuries, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes and comes into focus: the memory of his darling wife Ruth, who had passed away nine years ago.

She urges him to hang on, to remain calm and alert by recounting the stories of their lifetime together — how they met and the precious paintings they collected over the years.

Ira knows that Ruth can’t possibly be in the car with him, but he clings to his memories, reliving the regrets and everyday joys that defined their marriage.

A few miles away, at a local bull-riding event, a Wake Forest College senior’s life changes for the better. Recovering from a

recent break-up, Sophia Davon meets a young handsome cowboy named Luke, who bears little resemblance to the privi-

leged frat boys she has encountered at school. Through Luke, Sophia is introduced to a world in which the stakes of survival

and success, ruin and reward, even life and death loom large in everyday life. As she and Luke fall in love, Sophia finds

herself imagining a future far removed from her goals, a future that Luke has the power to rewrite, if the secret he’s keeping doesn’t destroy them first.

Oddly enough, the depth of the male character was a lacking. Usually, the characters of the same gender as the author are edged out better because the author can use his own experiences in their development. In "The Longest Ride, there was more of an emotional pull from Sophia and Ruth than from Luke or Ira. The story is easy-to-read and is definitely a page-turner. The Longest Ride has that twist that Nicholas Sparks is known for, as it has encompasses the love stories of both couples as well as the background story perfectly.

Nicholas Sparks is every girl’s guilty pleasure!

WHAT’S SELLING Amazon best in fiction

Amazon best in non-fiction

NY Times best in fiction

NY Times best in non-fiction

n House of Hades

by Rick Riordan

n Killing Jesus by Martin Dugard

n Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

n Allegiant by Veronica Roth

n I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

n The Longest Ride

by Nicholas Sparks

n Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard

n Sycamore Row

by John Grisham

n David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

n Gone by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

n Autobiography

by Morrissey

n The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gillbert

n Johnny Carson

by Henry Bushkin

n The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

n The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida n The Goldfinchby Donna Tartt

n David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell n Si-cology 1 by Si Robertson with Mark Schlabach n One Summer by Bill Bryson n The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida

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WOMEN SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

WEBSITES OF THE WEEK Her Campus: It is an online community for college women, written entirely by the nation’s top college journalists covering Style, Beauty, Health, Love, Life and more.

Generation Meh: It promotes selfactualization for slackers, offers up postmodern pep talks and tough love beatdowns and serves as a not so subtle soapbox.

PureWow It is the FREE daily lifestyle email for fabulous women of substance, featuring the very best in culture, fashion, travel, tech, and so much more

Unilever apologies for Thai skin whitening campaign Skin whitening creams abound in Thailand, helped by the popularity of white-skinned models and actors on billboards and the television.

A

Thai subsidiary of consumer goods giant Unilever apologised Wednesday for a controversial competition for students to promote its skin whitening product, saying it did not intend “racial discrimination”.

The “Citra 3D Brightening Girls Search” offered prizes including cash “scholarships” from a fund of around 100,000 baht ($3,200) for female university students who send in photos of themselves holding its body lotion.

But posts on social media criticised the company for apparently linking education with whiter skin — which is already widely associated with higher economic status in Thailand.

“The campaign, developed in Thailand, had no intent to suggest racial discrimination,” Unilever Thai Trading said in a statement.

“We apologise for any misunderstandings regarding the campaign. The Citra brand will exercise greater sensitivity for brand activation campaigns that take place in the future.”

The company later announced it had decided to modify the television commercial for the competition “as quickly as possible” in view of the reaction.

The advert shows two presenters asking female students on a university campus what would make them “outstanding in uniform”.

The first girl, who has a darker complexion, appears confused by the question and says she does not know. But a much whiterskinned girl judged by presenters to have “beautiful” skin answers with the Citra product slogan.

“Now, you can get a scholarship because of white skin not because of good studying, not if you are poor and dark,” said one post under the name MyOwnDream on the wellknown, mainly Thai language, online comment website pantip.com.

Another poster, under the

THE “CITRA 3D BRIGHTENING GIRLS SEARCH” OFFERED PRIZES INCLUDING CASH “SCHOLARSHIPS” FROM A FUND OF AROUND 100,000 BAHT ($3,200) FOR FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WHO SEND IN PHOTOS OF THEMSELVES HOLDING ITS BODY LOTION. name aekapopG, said Thai people were “brainwashed” into wanting to be white.

But some defended the campaign.

“The company sells whitening products, so they decided to

give the prizes for being white, what is the problem?” wrote Valentika.

Unilever, which has more

than 400 brands sold in over 190 countries, has its main offices in Britain and the Netherlands.

Skin whitening creams abound in Thailand, helped by the popularity of white-skinned models and actors on billboards and the television.

In September, US firm Dunkin’ Donuts said it was pulling an advertisement in Thailand featuring a woman with black face make-up after a human rights group described it as racist.

The “charcoal donut” ad caused little controversy in Thailand, however, while on social media sites there were differing views about whether the AFP ad was offensive.

19

SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

THE GREAT ORATOR 1

2

The Management Excellence Community (MEC) of Microsoft India Development Center hosted former President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, for a leadership session.

3

4

5

VIBRANT STYLES

A new collection of fusion wear and lehengas was unveiled at Aanchal boutique, in Banjara Hills. On show were saris, precious and semi-precious jewellery and exquisite clutches.

1 Kamna Jethmalani 2 Archana 3 Hitika

7 6

8

4 Geeta 5 Rekha

7 Madhu Jain 8 Shalini

6 Saiba Lmbai

9 Reema

10 Trupti

9 10

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RELATIONSHIPS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

I

I AM ALL EARS

will soon be joining a university. I don't think I have a poor self-confidence. I feel pretty good about myself. But this is a big varsity, and it's easy to get lost in the crowd. How do I go about meeting and interacting with people?

Dear collage-going student Your question implies that you see meeting people as something which requires effort, and you're right! No matter how stunningly attractive you may be, it doesn't allow you to be very choosy.The best way to meet people is to put yourself in places where there are likely to be other people who share your interests and values: classes,events, stores and restaurants, and workshops. All the best!

F

riends with benefits (FWB) relationships are formed by an integration of friendship and sexual intimacy, typically without the explicit commitments characteristic of an exclusive romantic relationship. The majority of these relationships do not transition into committed romantic relationships, raising questions about what happens to the relationship after the FWB ends. Source:UBC Psychology

Tracking down and finding your soulmate

The first thing you have to do before finding your soul mate, is finding yourself. Giving yourself an interview will make things clearer of what type of person you are really looking for.

S

ure, we all dream about meeting the right person... the one that we are meant to be with forever. Dreaming about it is all fun and easy, but the real question is, where do you find this soulmate of yours?

Fate? Well yes, if you believe in fate, then yes, it will have something to do with it, but not without effort on your part. Fate needs you to give it direction so that as a team, you can find the person you have always wanted as a part of your life.

The first thing you have to do before finding your soulmate, is finding yourself. What qualities are important to you? What are your beliefs? How do you show your affection and how do you

expect it to be presented to you?

These are questions necessary for you to ask yourself before going out there. Giving yourself an interview will make things clearer of what type of person you are really looking for, instead of just going on a blind search.

It is very common for a person to date people just for dating.

While dating is a fun and useful experience, it is not advisable to just go out with anyone just to have a date, or to enter a relationship because you do not want to be alone. When you go out on a date, it is important that you use that date as an opportunity to observe and see if the person is someone you would like to see again and if they carry the qual-

Signs to find ‘the one’ 1. Being strongly attracted to each other physically.

2. Being strongly attracted to each other’s personalities.

3. Having common interests.

4. Sharing the same values.

5. Major respect for one another.

6. Someone who makes you feel truly special and worthy.

7. Someone who puts in a great effort to show you their passion for you and the things that is important in your life.

8. Meeting on the same emotional levels.

ities you are looking for. If, for example, if you are searching for a person who is in touch with his or her romantic side, but go on a date with someone who likes acting rough at baseball games and loves hunting, then you could pretty much see where the relationship would go. You should be able to sense these qualities after a few dates.

Once you have realized that these dates will not lead to a relationship you have dreamed of, then obviously the person is not your dream mate either, and it would be best if you stop seeing each other to prevent any misleading expectations. Continuing to date someone just because you entered a comfort zone or do not

want to hurt their feelings will only hold you back from meeting who you are really meant to be with, not to mention waste precious time for both you and your dates. Gently break it to him or her that you find them to be a very interesting and nice person, but you feel like going solo for a while and then move on.

Tracking down your soul mate will require patience; so do not feel frustrated or hopeless if you do not find him or her in a certain amount of time. Good things take time to be brought together and you will come together when the time is right.

The time becomes right when you look out for the right signs.

(Source: Love Sessions)

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CINEMA SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Ajay Devgn off Twitter

Dharamshala film fest starts on a high note with The Lunchbox

T A

ctor Ajay Devgn has quit microblogging site Twitter, but with a promise to return soon.

"Going off Twitter for a while guys! But I am taking all your love and good wishes with me. See you soon," Ajay posted on Twitter Thursday.

Last seen in Prakash Jha's Satyagraha Ajay's future projects are Singham 2 and Action Jackson. IANS

he second edition of Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) Thursday began with the screening of The Lunchbox, which proved to be an inspiring choice to open the event.

This unusual yet mesmerising love story starring Irrfan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Nimrat Kaur opened to a packed house in Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts at McLeod Ganj here and when it ended, the audience were laughing and clapping.

Independent filmmakers, critics and moviegoers from India and abroad gathered

here to watch the film, which has been promoted and released by Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar.

The guest praised the film describing it as “the nicest and substantial presentation by director Ritesh Batra” and

as the winner of “People’s Oscar.”

Overwhelmed by the response, the film co-producer Guneet Monga said: “The script got great feedback from everywhere. We got a lot of support from markets and

critics. They were the ones who have given us the encouragement. The reactions to the film have been very humbling.”

Set in Mumbai, the story revolves around a mistaken delivery of a lunchbox that leads to a unique relationship between a widower, played by Irrfan, and an unhappy housewife, essayed by Nimrat.

It’s already done well at international film festivals and even bagged the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award, also known as Grand Rail d'Or, at the 66th Cannes Film IANS Festival.

Mickey Virus: Cool, crisp and quirky M

ickey Virus is Bollywood's first fullfledged film on the virtual world. The hero — if we may call Manish Paul's languid lazy vagabondish character that — is a computer hacker, and one who likes to take his time over every punch of the keyboard.

Mercifully, debutant director Saurabh Varma's film moves in a mood defiantly opposite to the hero's indolent indiscretions.

Tightly-scripted, cleverly-worded and arrestingly encrypted, Mickey Virus drags the hackers' hemisphere into the hectic mode. I am tempted to use computer jargon to describe the ultra-svelte moves that define the virtual progression of this slickly-executed cyber-drama.

Alas, I am not as equipped as our debutant hero and his compfriendly pals (with names like 'Floppy' and 'Chutney') to throw

around electronic jargon.

Even if your familiarity with the virtual world is minimal, Mickey Virus makes for enjoyable viewing. It's voguish, vibrant, vital and viral, and yet extremely fastidious about keeping the plot above the temptation of throwing virtual weight around.

First and foremost, this is a well-woven thriller about an average 20-something Delhi dude who falls in love and falls into a cyber-trap and hits his head into a scam that could destroy his life.

To reveal any more of the plot would be akin to giving away the film's USPs. Suffice to say that Varma knows his cinema as closely as he knows his computer. He weaves cinematic elements into a kind of onenight-in-the-life-of... tale that spins in dizzying motions.

Delhi, that favourite city of

Movie: Mickey Virus Cast: Manish Paul, Eli Avram, Varun Badola, Manish Choudhary Directed by: Saurabh Varma Rating: many recent, decent and indecent, dramas and thrillers, is again caught in sinister provocative postures. The roads and lanes, Nehru Place or a chowmein outlet, every outdoor location has a story to tell.

Strange, how Manish, switching effortlessly from his cocky on-stage antics on reality shows to a kind of languorous screen appearance that is dangerously close to Ranbir Kapoor's Sid-meets — Besharam act, pulls out all stops to make

Mickey look real to the point of being your next door neighbour's son, much in the same way as Ayushmann Khurrana.

Only, Manish is goofier, more adventurous in his exploration of adrift urbanite. He is undoubtedly an interesting actor with an unpremeditated screen presence.

Let's put it this way — if over-instruction obstructs Mickey's dexterity on the computer, then too many rehearsals are sure to spoil Manish's camera-friendliness. Mickey Virus gives the debutant a chance to romance the dark side of youngistan with unselfconscious fluidity. There is also a cutely written romance woven into the hacker's tale. Eli Avram currently locked away in Bigg Boss house shows up as a manifestation of... well, Manish's virtual fantasy named Kungfu Chameli.

There is an endearing courtship

plan blessedly not over-punctuated by songs. God Forbid!

Manish's Mickey probably doesn't even watch Bollywood films!

Manish gets his namesake Manish Choudhary as a stern placid police officer who needs Mickey's hacking skills to track an international gang.

Choudhary is in fine (uni)form.

But the very talented Varun Badola as Choudhary's assistant is a scene stealer. Mouthing the film's catchiest lines casually, Varun brings more to his role than what's written for the character. The rest of the supporting cast too gets into the mood of the plot.

Quirky, colourful, agile and hectic, Mickey Virus is a 'virtually' interesting way for Manish to start his career. This is an oddball of a movie that tries to make sense of the senseless whirligig of urban internet-drivIANS en lifestyles.

CINEMA SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

22 WILL SMITH EMMA ROBERTS to star in loves Halloween Selling Time W

W

e've got all the Will Smith news that's fit to print!

While he may or may not be heading up ID 2, Smith will be returning to his sci-fi roots in the upcoming thriller Selling Time. The After Earth actor is reportedly attached to star in the 20th Century Fox movie in which the protagonist can revisit the worst day of his life.

ith Halloween closing in, American Horror Story: Coven star Emma Roberts couldn't be more excited. The actress stopped by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, where she was able to gush about her favourite time of year. "I love Halloween," she says. "I dress up every year." Roberts already has her costume set, she's going to be Jazzercise Barbie. However, she's going to sit out of trick of treating this year.� A couple years ago I had a rude awakening that apparently I was too old to trick or treat," she says. "I took my little cousins trick or treating and I was dressed up in an outfit. I go to the door and if I'm taking the kids trick of treating, I'm going to get some free candy too." Unfortunately that's not how it worked out for Emma. When she took the little ones to the door, they got candy while she was denied for just being too old. She doesn't let it hamper her love of the holiday, though.

ORLANDO BLOOM, MIRANDA KERR SEPARATE S

upermodel Miranda Kerr and actor Orlando Bloom have parted ways, bringing their three-year-old marriage to an end.

The duo started dating in 2007 and tied the knot in 2010.

They have split amicably, reports eonline.com. "In a joint statement, Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr have announced that they have been amicably separated for the past few months," a representative said in a statement. They have a two-year-old son Flynn together and will continue to take care of him as a family." After six years together, they have recently decided to formalise their separation. Despite this being the end of their marriage, they love, support and respect each other as both parents of their son and as family," said the representative.

IANS

CINEMA SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

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CINEMA SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

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CINEMA SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

TOM CRUISE gearing up for racing drama Go Like Hell T

om Cruise is feeling the need for speed yet again. His rep confirms to E! News that the action-loving actor is in talks to reteam with Oblivion director Joseph Kosinski on the gearhead-fantasy movie Go Like Hell, based on AJ Baime's Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and their Battle For Speed and Glory at Le Mans.

According to The Wrap, which first reported that Cruise was circling the film, the 51-year-old movie star would play racing champ turned engineer Carroll Shelby, who was instrumental in helping Lee Iacocca and Henry Ford II turn Ford Motor Co. into a formidable player in the high-speed world of European auto racing.

Sophia Loren cleared of tax evasion charges A

t long last, Sophia Loren can say, "Arrivederci!" to a legal dispute with Italian tax authorities that began 39 years ago.

Italy's Supreme Court has finally cleared Loren of tax evasion charges that began with her 1974 tax return and landed her in a low-security women's prison for 17 days in 1982. Loren called the

ruling "a miracle of justice," and told Italian reporters, "[When] it seems there is no longer any hope, it is still possible justice will be done." The dispute began in 1974 when Loren, now 79, declared less income because her compensation from the film was deferred, moving her to a lower tax bracket.

ROBIN THICKE talks twerking with Snoop Dogg

R

obin Thicke is gearing up for his debut performance at the 2013 MTV EMAs! The Blurred Lines singer will take the stage when the show goes down in Amsterdam on Nov 10, as will recently announced performer Snoop Dogg. So

will Thicke and Snoop team up for some twerking like Thicke did with Miley Cyrusat the VMAs?!

"I don't think we'll twerk on each other if that's what you're hinting towards," Paula Patton's other half smiled when E! News asked about his

upcoming performance.

"But I'm very excited to be part of the EMAs and it should be a great time in Amsterdam, which is an amazing city."

26

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

SUDOKU

THOUGHT OF THE DAY I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.

– Elayne Boosler

KAKURO

How to play kakuro

SCRIBBLING PAD

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.

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Carry through legislatively 6 Circle, square, or triangle, e.g.

11 Nine-to-five drudgery, say 14 Glare blocker in a car 15 Itty bits 16 Function 17 Interstates 19 Woman of habit?

20 Tall flightless bird 21 “Mo’ Better Blues” director Spike 22 ___ King Cole 23 Bitter leaves used sparingly in salads 27 Soup legumes 29 “Shut yer ___ !”

30 Panetta or Spinks 32 CAT ___ 33 Before, poetically 34 Fourth deck of a ship 36 Incited (with “on”) 39 Flamingo feature 41 Kind of training 43 Small Eurasian duck 44 Diva’s repertoire 46 Brief summary 48 What may follow you 49 Kin to Blvds.

51 Venture 52 “Do not open ___ Xmas” 53 Easy-chair occupant 56 Beach burrower 58 Tolkien cannibal 59 What makes a drink clink 60 Air traffic agcy.

61 Amazon squeezer 62 Soaked with rays 68 Age verifiers 69 Get in shape for a competition 70 Reprimand mildly 71 Word before a maiden name 72 Bart Simpson’s aunt 73 ___ the run (munch in motion)

DOWN 1 Halloween, to All Saints’ Day 2 Give a thumbs-down to 3 Nile Valley reptile 4 Delicious leftovers?

5 Cheap trill 6 Female sib 7 Questioning word 8 If-possible connector 9 Check beneficiaries 10 Perfume 11 Aspiring veep 12 “Business as ___” 13 Where some pitchers sleep?

18 Surpassingly good 23 Carnivorous cackler 24 More quick to the helm 25 Isolated instance 26 Eclipse type

28 31 35 37 38 40 42 45 47 50 53

54 55 57

63 Not very bright, really Catches in a rundown 64 “Messenger” comHard-___ (tough) pound 10-pitch types 65 Any of the Billboard Creepy Top 40 Abide 66 Former name of Bitter brew of Tokyo Polynesia 67 Daniel’s famous Wide-mouthed wine place bottle PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER Chauvinistic types Atonement for sins Impervious to break-ins Batman’s favorite bird?

Eat into Kidneyrelated Russian country house

27

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Three of Cups

Seven of Pentacles

Nine of Pentacles

Queen of Pentacles

Seven of Cups

Six of Wands

W

W

ork – You like to work alone but circumstances are forcing you to work with a team.

Treat this as a learning experience. Romance – The significant other may be feeling left out and may want more attention from you.

Carve out time to do things you both like.

Health – In order to maintain good mental health, you need to socialize and talk to new and different people.

Don’t get stuck in a rut.

Money – Finances are good. The bank balance is healthy and it gives you the confidence to take a few risks with your career. Tarot message – In order to experience life fully, you need to get out of your comfort zone.

W

ork – You will have to deal with some jealousy from a coworker about you getting lots of pats on your back for a job well done. Romance – Your emotions are concentrated on making a good career path right now. Though you have it in you to be warm and caring, your partner may be feeling left out.

Health – Watch the weight. Pay attention to diet and avoid bingeing, no matter how stressed you may be. Money – Finances are in great shape. You are managing your bank accounts and assets rather well and know how to manage money and time. Tarot message – Balance the different aspects of your life to experience it fully.

W

W

W

ork- A project you worked on was successful. This gives your bosses more confidence in your ability and you’re able to pull off more than they thought you could.

Romance – In a marriage be careful of the intervention of a third person. It could be an extra marital affair. It could also be a pesky inlaw. Health – Your feelings of contentment spill over and your body responds in a positive way to the call of immediate needs. Money – A raise or promotion is likely. A celebration of some kind is indicated.

You may even get a job offer. Tarot message – Success is important to know you’ve done well and to know your own ability.

ork – You need to attend a workshop or seminar that will enhance your knowledge in your field. Pay attention to what industry leaders are saying.

Romance – You may be neglecting your partner.

Take a weekend off or spend a day with each other doing things you both like. Health – There’s some worry or anxiety that needs tackling. Take up a meditation course or something to de-stress. Avoid alcohol at all costs. Money – Your focus has been on making more money for some time now and it is working well. Don’t worry about the bank balance. Tarot message – You will get stuck in a rut if you do not get out of your comfort zone.

ork – The focus is on making money and you’re now making all career decisions based only on the monetary returns. Romance – Love is in the air.

Passions run deep.

Though you and your partner discover each other, there is confusion about where the relationship is headed. Health – Confusion, anxiety and worry may be giving you sleepless nights. Don’t punish yourself by overthinking your actions.

Money – With your focus on material possessions, you do well to amass whatever it is that you need at this point in your life. Tarot message – De-stress and see things clearly. Develop a healthy relationship with yourself first.

SUMAA TEKUR tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

Libra

Scorpio

Two of Cups

Knight of Wands

W

W

ork – A business partnership will be more successful than you can imagine, especially if you thought you’re not cut out for business.

Romance – Commitment in a relationship deepens and you decide to get engaged, move in together or tie the knot.

Emotions run high.

Health – Get a second opinion if a persistent health problem is refusing to let go. Alternative therapies may help.

Money – Opening a joint account with a business partner or wife can bring in more luck. Try it out and see how it works.

Tarot message – Two minds can do better what one mind can. Explore the possibilities of teaming up.

ork – This is a creative time and since the work review results have been good, you also begin to plan your next moves. Romance – You may come across as quite the unscrupulous monster when it comes to expressing your feelings.

You’re unable to do it with sensitivity. Health – You’re high on energy and feel the need to continue to march ahead on that adrenaline rush.

Rest and relaxation are also equally important.

Money – You’re creating the road to better financial security. In the process, you may have to make a few compromises.

Tarot message – There may be a few distractions but as long as you are focused on your goal.

Sagittarius The High Priestess

W

ork –You may be asked to work with a lot of women around you.

So much feminine energy may be clashing with your own energy.

Romance – Love is in the air. A lot of romance, wining, dining will take up your time. Enjoy it while it lasts. Nothing will stay the same forever.

Health – Look out for minor issues like sleep irregularities, acidity or throat infection. Take medication and do what’s necessary to correct it.

Money – A freelance opportunity will help you make some extra cash.

This will help reduce the stress with the EMI payments. Tarot message – Use your intuition to the maximum. Go by what you feel.

Capricorn

Date 27-10-2013

Aquarius

Three of Wands

The Sun

W

ork – You are likely to get a little flirtatious with a coworker.

Don’t take it to extremes, and don’t lead the other person on. Romance – This is a great time for sensual pleasures and all kinds of passions. You’re in the mood to explore all sensory pleasures.

Health – You have a youthful energy and verve which will take you through even the most difficult times. Stay cheerful and spread that energy. Money – Finances are in good shape. Though you have little to worry about, keep checking in on your bank balance and assets once in a while. Tarot message – When the going is good, everything falls into place.

ork – Don’t spend too much time gossiping about unnecessary people and topics at the work place. You have to focus on more important things. Romance – Singles will find someone attractive and want to make the first move. Have some harmless fun but don’t get too emotionally attached.

Health – Health is fantastic. You feel good about the choices you’ve made and where your life is right now. It reflects on your health. Money – You’ve made the right investments or are in the right direction putting your money in the right places.

Good going! Tarot message – You have waited a long time for things to move. It is all going as per plan now.

ork –This is the victory card and whatever it is you have been waiting for is now yours. Treat yourself for a job well done and celebrate! Romance – A chance meeting turns passionate and you two hit it off big time. It may even go on to turn serious with a deepening of commitment. Health – If you need to quit smoking and drinking, this is the time to put yourself on a regimen and do it. Money – That freelance project you work on brings in more money than you had imagined. A book sells well or a stock market investment grows. Tarot message – When the times are good, you look back and congratulate yourself on hanging in there.

W

Pisces The High Priest

W

ork – You have the solution with you but you may be afraid to voice it out. Speak bravely in meetings and let your bosses know of your ideas. Romance – A romance with an older partner is likely. This will work very well as you will complete the limitations in each other.

Health – Beware of over-eating and putting on weight. Watch your diet but also indulge once in a while. Money – You have the answers to what needs to be done to improve finances. You just need to put it to action. Tarot message – There are times when you have the answers but time or fear stops you from going down that road. Be patient.

Vol: 3, No 94 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at # Plot no.550-A1,3rd floor, Road no-92, Jubilee hills, Hyderabad-500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon. com and for subscription, please call 040-23541412,

28

THE SATURDAY QUIZ SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

IN THE NEWS

11. What is the meaning of the suffix phobia?

12. Which artist cut off his ear?

13. Buenos Aires is the capital of which country?

14. On the banks of which river was the ancient city of Babylon built?

15. How many miles long is the river Nile?

16. Vienna zoo is the world's oldest existing zoo.

When did the zoo open?

17. Distance light travels in one year is called?

18. Which band sang Hotel California?

19. What is the thermal energy form the internal heat of the earth called?

Answers

called Biotin?

7. How many grams of fat are there in 100 grams of dry roasted peanuts?

8. What is the shortest distance between two points called?

9. What does Mary Poppins use to fly?

10. What kind of creature is the common hedgehog?

1. Armenia 2. Pineapple 3. 6 4. Justerini & Brooks 5. 169 6. 7 7. 48 8. Straight line 9. An umbrella 10. Mammal 11. Abnormal fear of 12. Vincent van Gogh 13. Argentina 14. Euphrates 15. 4132 16. 1752 17. One light year 18. Eagles 19. Goethermal

1. Where was the first beer made?

2. What is an ananas?

3. How many standard bottles does a Methuselah' of Burgundy hold?

4. What do the capital letters on the J&B whiskey's logo mean?

5. How many meters tall is the Washington monument?

6. What number B vitamin is also

TEST YOURSELF

IDENTIFY THESE GUITARISTS

CURRENT AFFAIRS 1

1 2 3 4 5 6

2

Which Prime Minister is set to be the first foreign leader to visit Sri Lanka’s former warzone?

1 2

What are the key ingredients in beer?

Which Swedish companies recently announced a total of 4,000 job cuts around the world as profits fell?

Which championship has the first prize as the wife's weight in beer?

Who did Twitter hire as the head of news after months of speculation?

3

Which South African cricketer struck a double ton on October 24, 2013, against Pakistan?

Builders of which monument were paid with a daily ration of beer?

4 5

When did Oktoberfest originate?

Which Hollywood actress is set to clinch a over £30mn pounds autobiography deal?

What is the name of the Hurricane which recently hit the eastern Pacific region?

How much do you know about beer?

Beer soup is a common breakfast in which place?

3

4

6 7

Which is the best beer in the world?

Which is the best beer in the world?

1. British Prime Minister David Cameron 2. Volvo trucks and Electrolux 3. Vivian Schillerz 4. Graeme Smith 5. Angelina Jolie 6. Hurricane Raymond

7. Finland 6. Westvleteren 12 5. Medieval Europe

Answers

Ludwig in 1810 the marriage of Crown Prince

KNOW YOUR COUNTRY

4. Started as a festival celebrating 3. Great Pyramid of Giza

Which food item is visible from the combination of these food pics?

WHO AM I? I have been the love of the life of two men, both musicians.

The first man was a member of a British band and the second one of the greatest guitarists of all time, who wrote Layla for me?

Answer : Pattie Boyd

with Santosh Ghule

Eight people are visible in this picture

Answer for 89:

4

Which cricketer was honoured

by Force India via a hash tag — #masterblaster — pasted on the nose section of their cars?

PICTURE PUZZLE 90

Answers:

3

What is the name of the movie in which Manish Paul’s makes his debut and was released on October 25, 2013?

Answers: 1. Jimi Hendrix 2. Duane Allman 3. BB King 4. Eric Clapton.

What is the name of the circuit where the Indian Grand Prix is scheduled to be held on October 27, 2013?

1. Water, yeast, malt and hops

2

2. Wife Carrying World

Which legendry Bollywood singer died in the early hours on October 24, 2013?

Championship

1

1. Manna Dey 2. Buddh International Circuit 3. Mickey Virus 4. Sachin Tendulkar

Answers

29

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Bale set for Classico

Dyson disqualified

MADRID: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti believes Gareth Bale is finally ready to show his best form after a series of niggling injuries. The Welshman has started just once since joining Los Blancos for a reported $125.5 million at the beginning of September. Bale returned from a thigh problem to win a penalty in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Malaga.

NBA legend Sharman, dies at 87

PARIS: Croatia’s Marin Cilic has had

disqualified from the BMW Masters before teeing off his third round in Shanghai on Saturday. Several emails and tweets from TV viewers resulted in European Tour Chief Referee, John Paramor, calling for video footage of Dyson tapping down what looked like a spike mark with his golf ball on the eighth green on Friday.

his suspension for doping reduced from nine months to four by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Cilic, 25, currently ranked 47th in the world, tested positive for the stimulant nikethamide at the Munich Open in May and was banned by an independent tribunal in September.

Gracie goes for gold

Laurie Nealin

LOS ANGELES: Bill

SAINT JOHN: American Gracie

Sharman, a basketball Hall of Famer with strong ties to two of the NBA’s marquee clubs — the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers — died Friday at the age of 87.

The Lakers said Sharman died at his home in Redondo Beach in suburban Los Angeles. He had suffered

Gold delivered the short program performance of the day Friday to finish atop the standings in what was a superbly skated women’s opener at Skate Canada International.

On the men’s side, it was more a case of hands down on the ice as the top contenders struggled to execute their jumps and stay upright, particularly on their quadruple jumps.

Canada’s three-time reigning world champion Patrick Chan turned his quad into a triple.

Japanese Nobunari Oda and Yuzuru Hanyu managed to make four turns, but Oda crashed on landing and Hanyu jack-knifed on his, yet miraculously stayed on his feet.

Despite those miscues, their other elements were strong enough to make them the frontrunners, Chan leading with 88.10 points followed by Oda on 80.82 and Hanyu on 80.40.

Chan said his goal here is not to focus on the technical side of his performances, but to enjoy competing instead of dreading it as he had the last two seasons.

Meanwhile, Oda and Hanyu remained confident they would do better in Saturday’s final free skate.

Oda has had a strong start to his season, winning the Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany in September — a welcome rebound from the previous season which ended abruptly with his failure to make Japan’s

SHARMAN STARRED AS A PLAYER WITH THE

CELTICS FROM 1951–61. HE WAS AN EIGHT-TIME ALL-STAR a stroke last week.

Sharman starred as a player with the Celtics from 1951-61. He was an eight-time All-Star and won four NBA titles with Boston after playing his first season in 1950-51 with Washington.

Elected to the Hall of Fame as a player in 1976, Sharman was also inducted as a coach in 2004. John Wooden and Lenny Wilkens are the only others to be honoured in both categories.

Sharman began his coaching career with San Francisco in 1966 and spent two seasons with them before moving to the American Basketball Association.

Cilic ban reduced

SHANGHAI: England’s Simon Dyson was

Gold, 18, pumped her fist with delight at the end of a near flawless routine which scored 69.45 points.

world team.

“I wasn’t so nervous compared to the competition in Germany, but I couldn’t get enough speed before the quad so that’s why I missed that first jump,” Oda said.

Hanyu, fourth at the 2013 Worlds, said, “I’m proud that after the imperfect quad, I was able to sort of pull the performance together. Figure skating is a total of two different programs and tomorrow I want to

do better.”

Earlier in the day, Gold, 18, pumped her fist with delight at the end of a near flawless routine which scored 69.45 points.

Sixth at the 2013 world championships, she opened with a picture-perfect triple lutz-triple toe combination and seemed to flow effortlessly from one demanding required element to the next.

Russian wunderkind Julia Lipnitskaia 15, and Japanese veteran Akiko Suzuki, 28, also skat-

ed strongly to claim second and third, Lipnitskaia with 66.89 points and Suzuki on 65.76.

They, too, executed tripletriple combinations, although Suzuki’s second jump was slightly short of full rotation.

Four weeks ago, Gold moved to California to train with Frank Carroll, the coach who guided five-time world champion Michelle Kwan’s stellar career and helped Evan Lysacek to 2010 Olympic gold.

Beltran braced for game three Beltran’s game two heroics were a blessing for the Cardinals who suffered an 8-1 drubbing in game one.

Gregory HEAKES

SAINT LOUIS: It is going to take more than a badly bruised set of right ribs to keep veteran Carlos Beltran out of his maiden World Series.

“Somebody would have to kill me in order for me to be out of the lineup,” said Beltran, who clubbed a two-out single to right field to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox Thursday which knotted the World Series at 1-1.

Beltran’s RBI single scored teammate Daniel Descalso, capping a key three-run rally for

the Cardinals in game two of Major League Baseball’s championship series.

The series now switches to St. Louis for three contests, beginning with game three of the best-of-seven set on Saturday.

Beltran’s game two heroics were a blessing for the Cardinals who suffered an embarrassing 8-1 drubbing in game one which had the Boston press calling them the St. Louis Tomato Cans.

Beltran, a switch hitter, wasn’t even supposed to be in the lineup Thursday after injuring his rib cage in game one at

BELTRAN, A SWITCH HITTER, WASN’T EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE LINEUP AFTER INJURING HIS RIB CAGE IN GAME ONE AT FENWAY PARK. Fenway Park.

But the switch hitter had waited 16 years to reach his first World Series and nothing was going to stop him from playing in game two.

Beltran said doctors injected

him with the drug Toradol to mask the pain so he could move around on the field.

“They gave me an injection to block the pain for five or six hours. I am going to be sore tomorrow,” said Beltran who batted two-for-four with one RBI in the contest.

You got to feel for Beltran.

The right fielder finally gets to the World Series and lasts just two innings of his first game before getting hurt on a terrific running catch to steal a grand slam from Boston slugger David Ortiz.

“When I left the ballpark I

had very little hope that I was going to be in the lineup,” said Beltran, an all-star slugger of his own who suffered the injury when he slammed into the low railing on the outfield wall at Fenway Park.

Beltran left the game at the end of the second and was taken to hospital where luckily the Xrays came back negative. The team is officially calling it a “rib contusion.”

Manager Mike Matheny then gave Beltran the green light to play after watching him take batting practice Thursday afternoon with his teammates.

30

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Lethal Federer demolishes Dimitrov The Swiss great improved his record to 18-1 against players born in the 1990s, with his only loss in that category coming in Hamburg against Argentine Federico Delbonis this year.

Scott WILLIAMS

BASEL: Roger Federer showed his lethal best when it mattered most as he beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) on Friday to reach the Swiss Indoors semi-finals.

Federer, a five-time champion in the city of his birth, played a second-set tiebreaker to perfection against the 22-year-old.

Seventeen-time major winner Federer also strengthened his position for a place in the eight-man World Tour Finals starting in London in 10 days.

He stands provisional seventh as he heads into a Saturday semi-final with Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who beat Ivan Dodig 7-6 (13/11), 6-4.

Federer could qualify for London if he wins a sixth title in Basel on Sunday, according to ATP calculations.

The Swiss great improved his record to 18-1 against players born in the 1990s, with his only loss in that category coming in Hamburg against Argentine Federico Delbonis this year.

Federer was pleased to be finding some consistent from after one of the poorest seasons of his career.

He began with a wobble on Friday and was forced to save five break points in his opening

service game against the Stockholm champion from last week.

“It was very important to win in two sets,” said Federer.

“There were a lot of free gifts out there in some games.

“When I saved three set points (second set) I just told myself to play one point at a time and hope to get there. I broke him (for 5-5) and that made it difficult for him. I was able to come through well in the tiebreaker.

“It always feels good to win at home,” added Federer, whose lone title so far came in the summer in Halle.

Top seed Juan Martin del Potro won his 300th career match as he marched into the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Paul-Henri Mathieu.

The top seed and defending champion crushed the French qualifier in 78 minutes and will next face a second French opponent after Edouard RogerVasselin beat Germany’s Daniel Brands 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

“I played a good match,” said the South American, who sent down 11 aces and never faced a break point.

“I was solid from the baseline and served well. I’ve been working a lot of my serve,” added the Tokyo tournament

champion and Shanghai finalist from earlier this month.

“I’m playing better and better with each match.

“I did have a double-fault so I still have a little work to do. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and I’ll have to lift my level even more.”

Del Potro, already qualified for the World Tour Finals, owns

a record of 46 wins and 13 losses in 2013, winning three titles.

Unseeded Canadian Pospisil reached his third semi-final of the season — and the third of his career — as he played after treatment for a stiff neck which had him doubting if he could take to the court.

But the number 40 managed with physiotherapy and

painkillers, beating Croatian Ivan Dodig 7-6 (13/11), 6-4.

“I honestly didn’t know if I’d be able to play at all,” said the Canadian.

“It was still bothering me on every single shot, especially the serve and forehand. But the trainer told me I couldn’t make it worse so I gave everything I had.”

Li Na reaches WTA semifinals Richard EATON

ISTANBUL: Li Na, the first Chinese singles player to win a Grand Slam title, added another significant first to her collection on Friday by reaching the WTA Championships semifinals.

Li’s trampling 6-2, 6-1 win over an ailing Victoria Azarenka carried her to the last four of the tour’s flagship tournament for the first time.

Another victory on Saturday, where she will face Petra Kvitova, will make her the first Chinese player to ever climb as high as number three in the world.

From early on there was little doubt that the uncompromising flat hitting of the 31-year-old from Wuhan would earn her revenge for her narrow loss to Azarenka at the Australian Open final in January.

By the sixth game the world number two from Belarus was suffering from a lower back injury, which

Another victory on Saturday, where she will face Petra Kvitova, will make her the first Chinese player to ever climb as high as #3 in the world. required three lots of treatment and significantly impaired her movement although Li had already been looking the sharper and more potent attacker.

Azarenka decided against retiring, even though she was often yelling in pain and sometimes close to tears.

“I thought after the first set she would retire,” Li said. “It was tough

for me to focus all the time. But you never know what will happen.

“The first thing I thought after the first set is that she must retire. If I was feeling very bad I would have retired. If you keep playing you can make an injury worse.

“But when I saw what happened I said to myself ‘okay focus, and run for every shot’.

Azarenka explained: “It was a bad movement and, after I served, my back just locked. The physio told me that there was no structural damage but that it would take time to fix it.

“I was a big mess of emotions, but I wanted to do my best for the fans and show respect for my opponent.”

These words suggested that Azarenka’s worrying decision to carry on, whatever the discomfort, may have been influenced by a large number of previous retirements, and perhaps by the unpopularity she endured with some of the Melbourne crowd at the Australian Open.

31

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Ogier takes control in Spain

MADRID: Newly-crowned world champion Sebastien Ogier took control of the Rally of Spain on Friday with a hat-trick of stage wins on day one of the race.

The Frenchman leads Finnish Volkswagen teammate Jari-Matti Latvala by nearly nine seconds with Spaniard Dani Sordo 12.6 seconds back in third.

Ogier, who sealed his maiden world title last time out in Strasbourg, showed no signs of easing off the gas in the dark of Catalonia as he led home Sordo and Latvala respectively in the first two stages.

Latvala then moved up into second for the final stage of the day with Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen taking third.

“That was okay, but it’s not easy to start in the dark,” Ogier told WRC.com “I haven’t got the confidence to push hard yet, it’ll take me a bit to adapt to the set-up, but okay, no mistakes.”

However, it was a frustrating day for Belgian Thierry Neuville, who currently lies second in the championship standings, but is 19.1 seconds behind Ogier.

“It’s not working at all. I struggled in the dark and struggled with the settings. I couldn’t do more.”

Proteas penalised for tampering

Television replays showed South African fielder Faf du Plessis rubbing the ball on his trousers, which had a zip on them, in an apparent attempt to tamper with the ball.

Shahid HASHMI

DUBAI: South Africa were docked five penalty runs for balltampering on the third day of the second Test against Pakistan in Dubai on Friday.

Television replays showed South African fielder Faf du Plessis rubbing the ball on his trousers, which had a zip on them, in an apparent attempt to tamper with the ball.

Umpires Rod Tucker of Australia and England’s Ian Gould called South African captain Graeme Smith, changed the ball and added five runs to Pakistan’s score.

Pakistan were struggling at 62 for three with Dale Steyn about to start the 31st over when

the umpires took the decision.

“As per 42.1 of the ICC playing conditions, the umpires replaced the ball and fined South Africa five penalty runs for ball

tampering,” said an International Cricket Council (ICC) spokesman.

A decision on the incident is expected early Saturday

Practice called off due to fog Bad weather kept riders and engineers off the Motegi circuit since Friday with three practice sessions cancelled.

MOTEGI: Dense fog and torrential rain have forced the cancellation of free practice ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, with riders going straight into qualifying sessions on Saturday afternoon, organisers said.

Bad weather has kept riders and engineers off the Motegi circuit since Friday with three practice sessions cancelled — two on Friday and one on Saturday morn-

ing.

The track north of Tokyo also felt tremors from a powerful undersea earthquake off the northeast coast in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Under the new schedule MotoGP riders will start their qualifying sessions from 1:50 pm local time (0450 GMT), according to organisers.

Moto3 and Moto2 riders

will hold their qualifying sessions before and after the MotoGP class, they said.

All riders will have free practice Sunday morning, when sunshine is forecast, before the final races are set to take place as originally scheduled. Ducati rider Nicky Hayden summed up the riders’ frustrations on Twitter. He tweeted: “Pretty big earthquake last night, tsunami warnings.”

although the ICC refused to confirm details.

The level two offence of changing the condition of the ball carries a fine of 50 to 100 percent of a player’s match fee or a ban of one Test, two onedayers or two Twenty20 matches, whichever comes first for South Africa.

South African vice-captain AB De Villiers denied the charges.

“Honestly, we’re not the team that scratches the ball,” said De Villiers. “We play in a fair manner. Obviously you want to swing the ball as much as you can and try to get it to reverse, putting sweat on the one side and stuff like that. We don’t cheat, it’s as simple as that.”

McCullum, Taylor out of SL tour WELLINGTON: Senior New Zealand cricketers Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor will sit out next month’s tour of Sri Lanka so they can prepare for the upcoming home Test series against the West Indies, chief selector Bruce Edgar said Saturday.

The pair will return home after the current tour of Bangladesh with 23-yearold Kane Williamson replacing McCullum as captain in Sri Lanka where New Zealand will play three ODIs and two Twenty20s.

“Ross and Brendon need red ball preparation to be at their best for the summer,” Edgar said.

“Both players are vital to our success and fine tuning their red ball skills before the West Indies series starting in early December is paramount.”

As Taylor and McCullum play all three formats of the game, Edgar said it was important to manage their playing loads as New Zealand face 37 home days of cricket against the West Indies and then India.

McCullum and Taylor are expected to play domestic cricket in New Zealand before the first Test against the West Indies starting in Dunedin on December 3.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi and pace bowler Ian Butler will join the New Zealand side in Sr Lanka.

New Zealand squad for Sri Lanka: Kane Williamson (captain), Corey Anderson, Ian Butler, Anton Devcich, Grant Elliott, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Hamish Rutherford.

32

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Pellegrini wary of Jose games The pair previously crossed swords in Spain, with Mourinho denigrating the Chilean’s record with Real Madrid after succeeding him at the Bernabeu in 2010.

Tom WILLIAMS

LONDON: Manchester City coach Manuel Pellegrini says he has no intention of igniting a feud with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho ahead of the two teams’ Premier League showdown on Sunday.

The pair previously crossed swords in Spain, with Mourinho denigrating the Chilean’s record with Real Madrid after succeeding him at the Bernabeu in 2010.

Sunday’s game at Stamford Bridge will be their first encounter in English football, but Pellegrini says he does wish to revisit old disagreements.

“I never get involved in the moment and I will not get involved now,” he said during Friday’s pre-match press conference.

“I don’t know him. He worked in Spain, I worked in another club. We played Real Madrid against Malaga, nothing more. I don’t have any com-

plaint about him.”

Both managers’ current teams are riding high in the Premier League.

Chelsea climbed to second place with a 4-1 win over Cardiff City last weekend, while City stole into the top four by winning 3-1 at West Ham United.

They each carried their good form into the Champions League in mid-week, Chelsea winning 3-0 at principle Group E rivals Schalke and City beating CSKA Moscow 2-1 in the Russian capital.

City’s victory was however scarred by racist chanting aimed at midfielder Yaya Toure, for which the Russian club have been charged by European governing body UEFA. Toure has been in commanding form for City this season, scoring four goals in eight league games, and Mourinho has described the powerful Ivorian as a “fantastic player”.

“He gives them everything,”

the Portuguese said.

“Leadership, defensive work, attacking work, goals, set-plays, physicality, experience.”

The trip to west London will be City’s third match in a run of four consecutive away games in all competitions, but midfielder Samir Nasri says they can take heart from their

‘I am not a parasite’ Sepp Blatter hits out at unflattering portrayals. has hit out at portrayals of world football’s governing body as a corrupt cabal of ruthless parasites.

In a speech Friday to the Oxford Union debating society at Britain’s prestigious Oxford University, the 77-year-old said FIFA was more Robin Hood than Bond villain.

“Perhaps you think I am a ruthless parasite sucking the lifeblood out of the world and out of football! The Godfather of the FIFA gravy train! An out-of-touch, heartless schmoozer!” he said, according to The Independent newspaper.

“There are not many names that the media haven’t thrown at me in the last few years. And I would be lying to you if it did not hurt, even if you know that it goes with the territory.

“You would have to have a heart of stone for it not to hurt. You ask yourself, what have I done?”

Defending FIFA, he told undergraduates that hosting the 2010 World Cup in South Africa had “changed people’s perceptions and people’s prejudices”, while more money was going into women’s

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“There are those who will tell you that FIFA is just a conspiracy, a scam, accountable to nobody and too powerful for anyone to resist,” the Swiss said.

“There are those who will tell you of the supposed sordid secrets that lie deep in our Bond villain headquarters in the hills above Zurich, where we apparently plot to exploit the unfortunate and the weak.

“They would have you believe that I sit in my office with a sinister grin, gently stroking the chin of an expensive, white Persian cat as my terrible sidekicks scour the earth to force countries to host the World Cup and to hand over all of their money,” he said.

“You might have been led to believe FIFA is the evil Sheriff of Nottingham of football. But the truth is we have more in common with Robin Hood.”

Blatter has been roasted in the British press in recent years, especially after England’s failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup, in which they garnered just two votes out of 22 — one of them their own, as Russia won out.

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LONDON: FIFA president Sepp Blatter

recent performances on the road.

“Winning at West Ham and CSKA means we will go into this game with a lot more confidence,” the Frenchman told the club website.

“It was important we started winning away in the Premier League but we know

Chelsea won’t be an easy game.

“I think they are more complete than they were last season. They are always a threat, especially on their own pitch and with Jose Mourinho returning, that’s even more the case, so we will have to be at our best if we are to get a good result.”

The visitors will be without captain Vincent Kompany, who is still not ready to return following a thigh problem, but Pellegrini says that Jack Rodwell could feature after overcoming a hamstring complaint.

Mourinho can once again call on left-back Ashley Cole, who has not played since sustaining a rib injury in the 3-1 win away to Norwich City on October 6. The England international will return in place of Cesar Azpilicueta, who filled in at left-back against Schalke.

Mourinho must also choose between Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o to lead the line.

The Gunners, currently two points clear of second placed Chelsea, looked stunned after losing to Dortmund.

Arsenal will bounce back: Wenger Steven GRIFFITHS

LONDON: Arsene Wenger hopes Arsenal’s early brush with adversity this season will help the Premier League leaders get back on track against managerless Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Wenger’s team suffered their first defeat in 13 matches in all competitions on Tuesday as Robert Lewandowski’s late goal gave Borussia Dortmund a 2-1 Champions League group stage win at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners, currently two points clear of second placed Chelsea, looked stunned after losing for the first time since Aston Villa’s surprise victory in north London on the opening day of the season.

But that setback against Villa sparked far more fan fury than the mid-

week defeat to Dortmund and Wenger is confident the experience has left players battle-hardened and more capable of recovering their equilibrium in time for the trip to Selhurst Park.

“We want to respond quickly. We have faced that already in our season,” Wenger said.

“I am confident in that capacity of my team to respond very quickly in a very strong way. That is the target on Saturday.”

Palace parted company with boss Ian Holloway in midweek following a 4-1 thrashing by Fulham that left the south London club second bottom of the table with seven defeats in their eight league matches, but Wenger won’t underestimate this weekend’s opponents.

“You don’t speculate too much on how they will respond.”