Postnoon E-Paper for April 27th 2013

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

WEATHER: SLIGHT CHANCE OF A THUNDERSTORM; 34°C

Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

APRIL 27, 2013 HYDERABAD

32 PAGES

ON SATURDAY

Was your mobile stolen?

It might well be on its way to the international market.

HELLO, THIS IS

DUBAI CALLING!

REPORT ON PG 3

GET READY TO REPLACE YOUR VEHICLE NUMBER PLATES

T

he Road Transport Authority is planning on implementing a drive to replace vehicular number plates in the State.

According to high ranking officials, the pilot project’s implementation is supposedly set to begin by next week, making it the third state in the country to implement the new drive. The new number plates, called High Security Registration Plates, are designed on the sole basis of being better traceable.

PG 4

`3

2

PAGE TWO SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Radio show

AN ENCHANTING SPECTACLE

The Physicists, radio play by The Little Theatre will be staged. tÜÉêÉW=Muffakham Jah College Of Engineering And Technology (MJET), Banjara Hills tÜÉåW April 27, 8 pm

A show featuring furniture by Neeta Kumar, jewellery by Tansi and art will be organised. tÜÉêÉW=Taj Vivanta, Begumpet tÜÉåW April 27, 7 pm

The Deviant Digital art on canvas by Aekka Yadagiri Rao. tÜÉêÉW=ICON Art Gallery, Road no 12 Banjara Hills tÜÉåW On till May 3, 11.30 am to 7 pm `çåí~ÅíW www.iconart.in

Back to the jungle Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" — children's play in Hindi will be staged. tÜÉêÉW=Lamakaan, Opposite GVKOne Road No 1, Banjara Hills tÜÉåW April 27, 7 pm `çåí~ÅíW (040) 64603341

It’s showtime Short film Do Pahar will be screened. tÜÉêÉW=Lamakaan, Banjara Hills tÜÉåW April 28, 7.30pm `çåí~ÅíW 96427-31329

Expression of art Mehendi designing workshop is on. tÜÉêÉW=Colorama Printers, Begumpet tÜÉåW Till April 27, 10 am to 1 pm

Mega mugs TGI Friday's announced TGI Friday’s mega mugs offer to coincide with the start of the IPL. tÜÉêÉW=TGIF, RK Cineplex tÜÉåW Ongoing

Filmmaking workshop for children Yavanika Films will conduct a unique filmmaking workshop this summer vacation for children. tÜÉêÉW=Begumpet tÜÉåW Ongoing, 2pm to 7pm,

Summer camp Tailoring training camp for children between the age group of 6 and 16 is being organised. tÜÉêÉW=Shilparamam, Madhapur tÜÉåW Till May 20, 11 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 4 pm `çåí~ÅíW 97013-83359

Floral feast Workshop on how to make flower vases and gel candles will be organised. tÜÉêÉW=Lamakaan, Banjara Hills tÜÉåW April 27, 2 pm to 4 pm

Fit for royalty The Taj Group of Hotels is offering

DNA talk Akhila K enthralled the audience with her performance at Ravindra Bharathi on Friday.

Royal Retreat packages for their customers. tÜÉåW Ongoing, Till September 30

Music & dance Bharatanatyam arangetram of Kshipra S Iyer will be held. tÜÉêÉW=Keyes Girls High School, Secunderabad tÜÉåW April 27, 6.30 pm

Tomorrow’s gentlemen A personality development workshop for children above the age of 7 years. tÜÉêÉW=Saptaparni, Banjara Hills tÜÉåW April 27, 10.30 am to 12.30 pm

The joy of reading Oxford Bookstore in association

CINEMAS

with GHAC and LICH is organising an informative, exciting and funfilled workshop in social sciences and Humanities for kids. tÜÉêÉW=Oxford Bookstore, The Park tÜÉåW Ongoing, Till May 12, 9:30 am to 2:00 pm `çåí~ÅíW 92461-12461

Summer camp

Isolate Your DNA: DWIH hands-on workshop by Dr Sunil K Varma. tÜÉêÉW=Muffakham Jah College Of Engineering And Technology (MJET), Banjara Hills tÜÉåW April 27, 11 am to 1 pm

Lights, camera, action Film Jeeves And Wooster will be screened. tÜÉêÉW=The Secunderabad Club, Secunderabad tÜÉåW April 28, 6.30 pm

Oakridge is conducting a camp for children in which they can learn story telling, clay modelling and more. tÜÉêÉW=Oakridge International School, Nanakramguda Road tÜÉåW Ongoing 9 am onwards `çåí~ÅíW (040) 20042460

Art, Vivanta & Jewellery

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, APRIL 27, 2013

Thieves rib police?

CM to tour Karimnagar

T

he CM will tour Karimnagar district today as part of his Statewide campaign to promote his pet programmes. He is scheduled to inaugurate a newly constructed model police station at Vangara. He will then participate in a public meeting to promote ‘Amma Hastham’. The CM will also launch Stree Nidhi (women fund) and SHG-bank linkage credit plan.

A

n unidentified person stole an expensive CD player from a car parked outside the police station.

According to details, the incident happened in front of the Market police station in north zone. The thief broke the glass of a Santro car, which was seized by traffic inspector of Mahankali, G Venkatramana Goud, from a person who did not have the

To Dubai, with love

Was your mobile stolen? It might well be on its way to the international market.

Mohd SUBHAN

mohd.s@postnoon.com

D

abeepura police seized mobile phones worth lakhs of rupees from two mobile thieves in the City and arrested another ‘purchaser’ who sells them in the international market.

THE MOBILE PHONES ARE SOLD AT LOW RATES IN DUBAI, NIGERIA, SOUTH AFRICA AND OTHER COUNTRIES. Mohd Amir, 24, a resident of Kishan Bagh and a glass fitter by profession, and Shaik Khaja, 30, a resident of Nataraj Nagar Jerrah, Tappachabutra, and a furniture worker, are involved in dozens of mobile thefts in the City and Cyberabad, said K Madhusudhan Rao, subinspector of police.

The duo target intoxicated people leaving bars and software engineers from Madhapur-Hitec City areas, it is reported. They then take these phones to Zakir, a resident of Farhath Nagar of

Dabeepura, who owns a mobile shop in Jagdish Market, Abids.

Zakir purchases these stolen phones from the duo at very low prices and sells them in Dubai, South Africa, Nigeria and other countries. He selects expensive phones and sells them at low rates in countries where they cost a lot more, with the help of his friends and relatives.

Dozens of mobiles have been stolen from Santosh Nagar, Kanchan Bagh, Mirchowk, Charminar, Shahalibanda, Dabeerpura, Madhapur, Raidurgam and Punjagutta areas.

Police said Amir has been involved in several thefts in the City and has served three prison terms for various offences. He came out on bail three months ago and started stealing mobile phones with his friend Khaja.

On a tip-off, the police busted the racket and recovered nearly 87 mobile phones belonging to different companies like Nokia, Samsung and Micromax. iPhones and mobiles manufactured in China were also seized.

The three were arrested and produced in court, sub-inspector Madhusudhan Rao said.

They have been sent to prison.

required documents with him during a police check.

Right under the police’s nose, the thief not only took the CD player, but also the car glass. The constable who was on guard informed the higher officials, who are said to have been shocked at this ‘daring’ theft.

A case has been registered and investigations have started.

Naidu concludes walkathon

T

DP president N Chandrababu Naidu will conclude his marathon Vastunna Meekosam padayatra (walkathon) in Vizag today. The party is organising a massive public meeting to mark the conclusion of the padayatra at AU engineering college ground.

According to an estimate, over five lakh people are expected to attend the public meeting.

4

CITY SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Get ready to replace your vehicle number plates

The new technology will help both the traffic and law and order cops in effective policing as it enables them to trace the vehicles of traffic offenders.

RAHUL RAMAKRISHNA

rahul.r@postnoon.com

T

he Road Transport Authority is planning on a implementing drive to replace vehicular number plates in the State. According to high ranking officials, the pilot project’s implementation is supposedly set to begin by next week, making it the third state in the country to implement the new drive.

The new number plates called High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) are designed on the sole basis of being traceable.

The process of inviting tenders has been finalised and the contract was awarded to Link Point Infrastructure and Utsav Safety

Systems, a consortium of manufacturers. The responsibility of this project is being undertaken by the APSRTC in collaboration with AP Transport Department.

The drive is currently being aimed at two and four-wheelers in the State. The design details of the new vehicular number plates are as follows; n An aluminium-based number plates with 1 mm thickness and rounded edges. n A chromium-based “chakra” (wheel) hologram with IND inscribed at 45 degree on the edges. n A laser code containing a unique identity number will be inscribed below the hologram, that can be read using any IR-based barcode scanner. n The ultimate selling point of this new number plate is its snap-lock design that will make installing another num-

Vehicle thefts in the City in 2012 ZONES East Zone West Zone North Zone South Zone Central Zone Traffic CCS TOTAL

2-wheeler 249 430 275 187 372 292 65 1,870

3- wheeler 5 10 1 23 31 50 1 121

4-wheeler 3 5 1 3 6 2 30 50

Total 257 445 277 213 409 345 97 2,043

ber plate impossible. n The unique ID will bear details of the chassis, engine and the vehicle registration number in addition to the registration details of the owner.

This way, even in the highly improbable case of the number on the plate being tampered or erased, the laser scanner will reveal all the details.

According to the joint commissioner of RTA, twin cities, G Panduranga Rao, “The pilot project is expected to be launched within a week or ten days, since the contract has been finalised. We are finalising the process of rule implementation.”

FEATURES

OF THE NEW NUMBER PLATES The RTC central zone officials say the price of the number plate is expected to be set at ` 220. “The new numbers can be replaced at the road transport offices located in any of the City’s zonal divisions once the implementation phase begins,” officials say.

THE NECESSITY OF THESE NUMBER PLATES According to RTA and traffic police officials, the new technology will make it easy to trace traffic offenders and rule violators. “The number of hit and

run cases have come down marginally, but this technology will help nail the offenders. For instance, the traffic police had noticed that autorickshawdrivers had become increasingly clever in hiding their number plates using fancy decorations.

And there have been certain cases where several drivers, including two-wheelers, have come to us with challans. On inspecting the records, we found that many of these offenders were not actually involved in the crime but rather somebody else was faking their number plates,” says Baig, record keeper from the computer section of the City traffic police.

The snap-lock design aspect of the new number plates has cer-

tainly found its takers among the police department.

Additional commissioner CV Anand say, the move will help both traffic and law order police in effective policing. “ When this new technology is implemented, it will help to trace traffic violators and other rule breakers. Tracing stolen vehicles will also become easier,” he says.

The number of vehicle theft cases are on the rise. “Compared to 2009, the number of cases, especially in hit and run cases, have risen from 700 to over 1,900 in 2012, in and around the City limits. The vehicle theft cases has also risen by over 20 per cent,” say an official from the crime records bureau.

City property rates go through the roof Prudhvi Raju K Prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

T

he average property rates in the City grew by about 12 per cent in the first quarter of 2013 (January- March, 2013) when compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year (January-March. 2012), according to the report released by 99acres.com.

The Indian real estate market in 2013 continued to grow despite subdued GDP trends and economic conditions. However, drop in home loan rates and dip in domestic inflationary numbers has infused a sense of buoyancy among buyers. The property market of Hyderabad has been upbeat for a while.

The Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consult ancy City, abbreviated as Hitec City registered the highest growth of over 29 per cent. With increasing presence of corporate

offices in Hitec, the demand for property in and around Hitec has drastically increased from both buying and renting perspective.

Commenting on the report,Vineet Singh, business

head, 99acres.com, said, ”Hitec City and Gachibowli have emerged as the best investment bets owing to increased presence of corporate offices. Prices are currently attractive for projects near completion, offering ready to move-in in next three tofo4 months. However, the developers are not very keen on launching new projects as the demand is not very high.” Hyderabad saw the highest average increase in rentals across seven major metros. Banjara Hills showed the maximum increase in rentals over the past year with an average growth of 47 per cent.

Some of the other metros have also witnessed double digit percentage growth in property prices. Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai have witnessed property price appreciation in the range of 12-15 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in the last year.

Q1-13 (Jan-Feb-Mar 2013)

Q1-13 (Jan-Feb-Mar 2013)

Locality Hi-tec City Price per sq feet in Q1 of 2013 `3,820 Price per sq feet in Q1 of 2012 `2,950 Increase in per cent 29.49 Locality Miyapur Price per sq feet in Q1 of 2013 `2,900 Price per sq feet in Q1 of 2012 `2,600 Increase in per cent 11.54

Locality Banjara Hills Rental for 3 BHK in Q1 of 2013 `30,000 Rental for 3 BHK in Q1 of 2012 `20,400 Increase in per cent 47 Locality Kondapur Rental for 3 BHK in Q1 of 2013 `19,600 Rental for 3 BHK in Q1 of 2012 `17,000 Increase in per cent 15

5

CITY SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

INTER RESULTS BRING RELIEF, ANXIETY

State Board students got their Intermediate results yesterday, but CBSE students can expect theirs only on May 28. They are worried that this will affect their chances of getting into a good college.

M ANIL KUMAR

More requests for revaluation expected

ALEENA ALICE

aleena.t@postnoon.com

W

ith the Board of Intermediate announcing the results well in advance this year, students from the CBSE board are now anxious about their marks.

The CBSE has scheduled the release of the marks for May 28; meanwhile, various private degree colleges across the City have already started the admission process. This is creating more anxiety among students from the Central board, who feel students from the State board now have more chances compared to them for entry into reputed colleges.

Most of the private degree colleges have announced admission dates. Colleges like St Francis will be giving out admission forms from May 1 and the submission of forms will be according to merit. Since most of the private colleges start the academic year in the first week of June, students from the CBSE board are apprehensive about the whole admission process because their results will be out only in the last week of May. “We have to wait for one more month for our results.

Seeing all our friends from the State board relieved of the fear, it’s disappointing that we will have to wait for another month.

Also, since most of the colleges will start the admission process now, we hope that we won’t miss out on seats in good colleges in the City,” says Swathi, a Class XII student from Kendriya Vidyalaya.

Private colleges, however, say that though they will have to deal with the applications rush at the last minute, the deadline for the last submission dates will be extended so that CBSE students won’t miss out on admission. “Every year there is a demand for seats for various courses in the college. Hence, we start the admission process early. We will ensure that the deadline for the submission of the application forms is extended by a few days after the CBSE results are announced so that the students will not miss out on admission. But this leaves us with no option but to rush with last-minute admissions,” said a spokesperson from St Francis College for Women.

E

Pass percentage takes a leap by seven per cent this year

C

ompared with last year, this year, the State saw an increase of seven per cent in the pass percentage with an overall of 65 per cent pass in

the Intermediate Second-Year exams. Like last year, this time too girls scored more, with 69.04 per cent passes as against boys with 62 per cent passes.

Top of the charts

T

oppers from Sri Chaitanya are R Guru Prasad, V Nikhil, and Varda Khana, all from BiPC, who scored 987, while K Sowmya scored 990. D Ramya, who scored 998 and S Sasi Bindu with 986 marks in MPC stream were among the other toppers.

Students from Narayana Junior College also came out on top. B Sai Priyanka, J Bhavya and B Dhanunjay Krishna secured 990 marks in MPC. K Trishala Reddy and Sana Afsiya scored 967 and 986 out of 1,000 marks in BiPC and MEC respectively.

Students from BiPC topped the State by scoring five marks more than the MPC topper. N Anusha and D Nandini, both from Guntur, scored 993 marks out of 1,000. Khaja Ausafullah from Nizamabad topped the State in MPC by scoring 994 out of 1,000.

The Intermediate Secondyear results held more significance this year since majority of the competitive exams, including EAMCET and JEE (Mains), gave 40 per cent weightage to the intermediate marks.

Also, only those students who figure in the top 20 per cent in the Intermediate Second-year exams will be allowed to appear for the JEE (advance) for admission into the IITs. Majority of the toppers from the City are students from Sri Chaitanya and Narayana Junior Colleges.

The academic director of Sri Chaitanya, Sudhmasri, said that the toppers will easily be able to crack various national-level competitive exams this year.

Chairman of Narayana group of institutions Dr P Narayana said, “Since the Intermediate marks have a good weightage for various entrance exams, our students will have a better position to apply and crack those exams.”

very year, thousands of students apply for revaluation and recounting, However, this year, the board officials expect the number to double, thanks to the weightage given to the Intermediate marks.

“Every year there has been constancy in the number of papers that would come for revaluation and recounting. We would get around 15,00020,000 papers. This year, we are expecting more papers to flow in since students who scored less might want to improve their percentage,” said a board official The intermediate board has announced that candidates who wish to avail the recounting facility have to pay `100 per paper and `600 for a photocopy of the answer script through e-seva or AP Online. The last date for the online payment is May 7 and the board will not be extending the date.

Meanwhile, many students do not seem confident about the revaluation or recounting. “It’s just a waste of money to give the papers for recounting. I know of seniors who were toppers in college and scored less in the board exams. Even after giving their papers for revaluation, there was no improvement. Instead, it is better to write improvement exams and expect more marks rather than giving the paper for revaluation,” said Navnith, who completed his Class XII from a private college.

6

NATION SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

26 hurt in hospital collapse

W

ith rescue operations in full swing at the site of a collapsed hospital building in Bhopal, which claimed two lives and injured 26, salvage teams have been able to retrieve and save several trapped persons from the debris late on Friday. The ceiling of the twostoreyed Kasturba Gandhi Hospital collapsed on Friday.

FIR against Trinamool MP

C

Sarabjit Singh in coma: Pak doctors Even as Sarabjit was in a coma, doctors carried out X-rays, MRI, CT scans on him.

Pakistani policemen stand guard outside an emergency ward where an injured Indian spy Sarbajeet Singh was admitted following an attack at the Jinnah Hospital in Lahore on April 26, 2013.

AFP/ ARIF ALI

Sagar Kulkarni

LAHORE/ALMATY: Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who was attacked by two prisoners in a Lahore jail, is in “coma” and put on ventilator, Pakistani doctors told Indian officials today. “Doctors attending to Sarabjit Singh informed the Indian officials that he is in coma on ventilator and receiv-

Murder charges registered ISLAMABAD: A case of attempt to murder has been registered against the two prisoners who viciously attacked Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail, a media report said. A case of attempt to murder has been registered against main accused Aamir and Mudassar, reported the News International. Sarabjit suffered critical head injuries in the assault Friday. The assault on Sarabjit comes a few months after the death of Indian prisoner Chamel Singh in the same Kot Lakhpat jail after he was allegedly assaulted by jail staff. The First Information Report (FIR) says that the two prisoners attacked Sarabjit Singh soon after the gate of Barrack No.7 was opened.

Minister residence attacked

M

ompounding the miseries of West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress, employees of a news channel run by the collapsed Saradha Group lodged an FIR against party MP Kunal Ghosh while protests continued to rock the city and the districts over the chit fund muddle Friday.

ing IV drip,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.

“The officials of India’s High Commission in Islamabad obtained access to Sarabjit in the ICU of Jinnah hospital, Lahore at 2:00 am,” he said.

Earlier, India has sought consular access to 49-year-old Sarabjit.

Even as Sarabjit was in coma, doctors carried out X-rays, MRI, CT scans on him. Doctors have been carrying out trauma control and await stabilisation in condition before further tests, Akbaruddin said. Officials of India’s High Commission at Jinnah Hospital in Lahore were in regular contact with Medical Board attending to Sarabjit.

The attack occurred when the victim and other prisoners were brought out of their cells for an hour-long break.

The two prisoners assaulted Sarabjit with blunt objects and he sustained a severe head injury. Sarabjit was initially taken to the hospital within the prison.

After his condition worsened, he was moved in an ambulance to the state-run hospital, officials in Lahore said.

Sarabjit was convicted for alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990. His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former President Pervez Musharraf. The outgoing Pakistan Peoples Party-led government put off Sarabjit’s execution for an indefinite period in 2008. Sarabjit’s family says he is the victim of mistaken identity and had inadvertently strayed across PTI the border in an inebriated state.

ilitants lobbed a powerful grenade at the residence of Manipur Irrigation and Flood control Minister Ngamthang Haokip in the heart of Imphal town but it failed to explode, officials said on Saturday.

The grenade was hurled by two militants at Haokip’s house at New Chekon area, amid tight security deployment in Imphal West district.

UP CM cancels NY fete Azam Khan detention NEW YORK: UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has cancelled a reception to be hosted in his honour by the Indian Consul General here today, even as the Mission said it would strongly take up with the US authorities the issue of his minister Azam Khan’s detention at the Boston airport.

A communique from the Indian Consulate in New York merely stated, “that due to unavoidable circumstances, the reception scheduled to be held in honour of Akhilesh Kumar Yadav, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on April 27 at the Consulate General of India, New York, has been cancelled”.

Neither, Consul General Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay, who took charge on Wednesday after his assignment as Ambassador of Maldives, nor Minister (Press and Information) M Rajaram were

available for any comments to the media on the reason for cancellation of the reception.

This was to be the first official function of the Consulate after Mulay took charge.

Yadav, yesterday had also boycotted the Harvard lecture he was due to deliver in protest against Khan’s detention. Invitation to the reception were sent out to all the prominent Indian-Americans, community leaders, elected officials, friends of India.

7

WORLD SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

A

Gitmo hunger strike continues

China mourns quake dead

Oz won’t boycott SL meet ustralia has vowed not to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka over allegations of human rights violations, despite mounting calls not to attend. Foreign Minister Bob Carr said it would be counter-productive to skip the summit in the Sri Lankan city of Hambantota in November.

O

C

More Guantanamo prisoners have joined a hunger strike to protest their indefinite detention at the US-run military jail, with 97 out of 166 detainees refusing food, officials said Friday. Among the strikers, 19 have been given nasal feeding tubes, and five of those are hospitalized but do not have lifethreatening conditions.

hina’s southwestern Sichuan province stopped Saturday to mourn the victims of a deadly earthquake that struck exactly a week ago, state media reported. The public mourning began with the sound of sirens at 8:02 am (0002 GMT), the moment the tremor struck, followed by three minutes of silent remembrance, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Use of chemical weapons a game changer: Obama Obama, who had previously told the Syrian President the use of chemical weapons would cross a ‘red line’, promised a ‘vigorous’ US and international probe into the latest reports.

U

S President Barack Obama issued a new warning to Syria Friday that using chemical weapons would be a “game changer” as he faced rising pressure at home and abroad to intervene in the civil war.

But a day after US officials said they suspected that the deadly agent sarin had already been fired off in small-scale attacks, Obama warned Washington must act prudently, and establish exactly if, how and when such arms were used.

Obama, who had previously told Syrian President Bashar alAssad the use of chemical weapons would cross a “red line,” promised a “vigorous” US and international probe into the latest reports.

But he appeared wary of launching military action based on initial intelligence reports of chemical weapons use, even as other official comments and media suggested that is exactly what had happened.

Obama did reiterate that the use of chemical weapons would be “a game changer,” as he met Jordan’s King Abdullah II in the Oval Office.

“I think all of us, not just in the United States but around the world, recognize how we cannot stand by and permit the systematic use of weapons like chemi-

US President Barack Obama meets with King Abdullah II of Jordan in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington,DC on April 26, 2013. cal weapons on civilian populations,” he said.

But the US leader, who has been reluctant to plunge the US military into action in Syria after extricating it from Iraq, warned: “We have to act prudently. We have to make assessments deliberately.”

“We have seen very bad movies before when intelligence is perceived to have driven policy decisions that in the full light of day have proven wrong,” a US

defense official said on condition of anonymity.

The official was referring to assertions — later proven false — by former president George W. Bush’s administration of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the justification for a 2003 invasion that brought eight years of war that killed nearly 4,500 US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

Adding to the political heat on Obama, the Syrian opposition

urged the UN Security Council to take immediate steps, possibly even by imposing a no-fly zone.

And British Prime Minister David Cameron said the growing evidence that Assad had turned chemical agents on his own people was “extremely serious.”

The fighting in Syria, which the UN says has left more than 70,000 dead since March 2011, showed no signs of abating Friday, with fresh clashes outside the capital Damascus and elsewhere across the country.

The United States opened a potentially serious new dimension to the Syria conflict when it said for the first time on Thursday that Damascus had likely used chemical weapons against rebel forces.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday the White House wanted to establish “credible and corroborated” facts to determine whether the red line has been crossed.

He stressed that “all options remain on the table,” a euphemism hinting at possible military action.

Washington backs a United Nations investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Damascus has asked for a UN probe but has since refused to let a UN team into the country.

AFP

What is Sarin?

O

ne of a group of nerve gas agents invented by German scientists as part of Hitler’s preparations for World War II. 20 times more deadly than cyanide: A drop the size of a pin-head can kill a person.

Kills by crippling the nervous system through blocking the action of an enzyme that removes acetylcholine a chemical that transmits signals down the nervous system.

I think all of us, not just in the United States but around the world, recognize how we cannot stand by and permit the systematic use of weapons like chemical weapons on civilian populations Barack Obama

N Korea to indict American citizen

C Africa jumbo count Systemic abuse down by 62% in 10yrs at Horace Mann

SEOUL: North Korea said Saturday that it would put

BRAZZAVILLE: - Poaching on an “industrial” scale has slashed the elephant population in the countries of central Africa by nearly two-thirds, a group of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said on Friday.

“A recent study shows that the population of forest elephants has dropped by almost two-thirds or 62 percent in the past 10 years, victims of large-scale ivory poaching,” the group of eight NGOs said in a statement. “The situation is dramatic and worrying. It’s very dangerous,” Jerome Mokoko, assistant director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, told reporters at a news conference in Brazzaville. “Nearly 5,000 elephants have been lost in the northern zone of Congo between 2009 and 2011,” said Mokoko.

a US citizen on trial for trying to overthrow the communist regime, in the face of soaring tensions between Pyongyang and the West. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said US citizen Pae Jun-Ho had admitted to the charges and would soon face “judgment”. Pae was arrested in November as he entered the northeastern port city of Rason, which lies inside a special economic zone near North Korea’s border with Russia and China. The announcement follows a months-long standoff on the Korean peninsula stoked by the North’s nuclear test in February, which prompted the UN Security Council to impose fresh sanctions on the isolated nation.

NEW YORK: Students at one of America’s most prestigious schools were abused by pedophile teachers for more than three decades but prosecutors are unable to file charges because the crimes happened too long ago, officials in New York said Friday. The Bronx District Attorney’s Office said in a statement police had uncovered evidence of “systemic” abuse of pupils at the famous Horace Mann School, spanning a 34-year period from from 1962 to 1996. However no charges would be filed because of New York State’s statute of limitations laws. Horace Mann, seen as offering the best education money can buy with an annual tuition of almost $40,000, was the subject of an expose in the New York Times Magazine last June.

8

COMMENT SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

EDITORIALS WHEN IN ROME be a Roman UP minister Azam Khan has taken offence at an airport official in the US holding him up for 10 more minutes than usual as part of security procedure at the Boston Airport.

Now, this is morally wrong on the part of the US and it could be accused of racially profiling people, but in the real world, the experiences that nation has been going through make it exceedingly vigilant in leaving no stone unturned when it comes to security. Azam Khan has the right to feel offended because he may have been targeted because of his name, but it must not be forgotten that the incident happened at a place that is still reeling from the blow served by a terror attack. And with its prime security agencies being panned for a slip-up when it came to the spelling of a terror suspect’s name, no one would spare any effort to ensure that everything is safe and secure. So it is best that visitors understand their sentiments before and when visiting them. It is only meet that one complies with the rules of a foreign nation that one is visiting.

THE SHIFTING SPIRITUAL PLANE

TIME’S RUNNING out for Assad If chemical weapons were used in Syria against innocent civilians in Basher al-Assad’s efforts to quell the civil war in his country, he has also given up his moral right to be at the helm of affairs. And he is not far from resemblances to the demon who first made it with the aim of killing millions in his preparations for World War II — Adolf Hitler. Now that he has crossed the red line, he has only himself to blame if he brings upon his country American troopers, as is widely expected. He will not be able to shift the blame for the mass murders ordered by him in his attempts to curb the nationalist fervour and desire for democracy, which are “fallouts” of his and his father’s golden rule. If he wishes to avoid the fate of Gaddafi, he had better quit power without any delay and transfer power to the people, who have paid in blood and tears for freedom.

Soul Curry SUMAA TEKUR

I

just finished reading the third installment of the Shiva trilogy, The Oath of the Vayuputras, by author Amish. Plot, strategy and clever references to mythological stories apart, what struck me most about this much-awaited book, which sold millions of copies, is not what the book blurb says: Evil has risen. Only a God can stop it. But it’s the fact that the very idea of evil and good keep changing with time, and the real trick to survival is to quickly identify what harms us and re-fashion our belief systems, ideologies and our lives according to this new information.

The subtext about changing perspectives – that what was good at one point can become evil and what was perceived as evil all along may actually be good – is at the very crux of the book and its philosophy. The Oath of the Vayuputras underscores the need to constantly revisit our own ideas and to

check the systems we’ve put in place hoping they would promote good for eternity. Truth is that they never really do. The truth changes with time, and so does our understanding of truth.

It’s the same way in which we consume stories and ideas.

Hindu Gods and mythological stories lend the best example.

The same stories of Gods and princes and their subjects, when read at different points in our life, communicate very different meanings. How we understood them as children when our parents or teachers narrated these stories to us, is not how we understand them when, as teens, we read comic book versions of these. These very stories take on a different meaning, hue and colour when, having experiencing several shades of life, we re-read them, and find new meaning. The stories stay fresh, insightful and new each time we read them.

This is perhaps why my grandmother never tires of reading the Bhagvad Gita or its many different versions. She read them over and over as though it were the very first time she was reading about

THE REAL TRICK TO SURVIVAL IS TO QUICKLY IDENTIFY WHAT HARMS US AND RE-FASHION OUR BELIEF SYSTEMS, IDEOLOGIES AND OUR LIVES ACCORDING TO THIS NEW INFORMATION. these philosophies.

One of the most prominent physicists of the twentieth century, Paul Dirac, is another example of this shifting perspective. Dirac made some very significant contributions to the quantum theory. There is conflicting information on where and when he said these things about religion.

Some say that he said this at a conference in Brussels in 1927 when he was invited to talk about religion. Some others say that this was in a private conversation Dirac had with other physicists and scientists, including Einstein, Pauli, Schrodinger, etc. Dirac said: “I cannot understand why we idle

discussing religion. If we are honest—and scientists have to be—we must admit that religion is a jumble of false assertions, with no basis in reality. The very idea of God is a product of the human imagination. It is quite understandable why primitive people, who were so much more exposed to the overpowering forces of nature than we are today, should have personified these forces in fear and trembling. But nowadays, when we understand so many natural processes, we have no need for such solutions. I can’t for the life of me see how the postulate of an Almighty God helps us in any way.”

Later in life, Dirac changed his mind about religion and God. As a 60-year-old scientist, when invited to contribute an article in the 1963 edition of the Scientific American, Dirac wrote that God (the Big Guy) was a super-mathematician who’s fashioned the cosmos on mathematical principles that we, as budding arithmetic and geometric pupils, are only beginning to comprehend. He wrote that nature is so constructed and we simply have to accept it.

9

COMMENT SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Synonym of horror Letter from Austria SIM SIM WISSGOTT

W

VISWAPRASAD RAJU

Urban sketches

All in a day

hen Elisabeth Fritzl emerged in April 2008 to her first breath of fresh air and ray of sunlight in a quarter of a century, she had been raped countless times by her father Josef and had born him seven children.

Five years after the horrors of Austria's Fritzl case shocked the world, revealing 24 years of incest rape, captivity and childbirth in a damp cellar, victims and perpetrator are noticeable by their absence from the public eye. International media initially converged on the small town of Amstetten, 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Vienna, to report on this shocking case, and paparazzi besieged the clinic where the victims were held. But even today, there is no snapshot of Elisabeth, now 47, and the six surviving children she gave birth to in the windowless dungeon below her parents' flat.

The family was given new identities and moved to an undisclosed location where they have lived quietly, with no details seeping out even in the Austrian tabloids, usually so eager to report on scandalous cases.

Josef Fritzl, now 78, has been similarly quiet.

Found guilty of murder for the death of one of Elisabeth's babies, as well as incest, sequestration, grievous assault and 3,000 instances of rape, he was jailed in 2009 for life -- a sentence carrying a minimum 15 years in Austria.

His name has now become synonymous with horror and depravity, with foreign media quick to label particularly horrific incest cases as the Brazilian, Chinese or British "Fritzl".

But the "Monster of Amstetten", as he was dubbed by

HIS NAME HAS NOW BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH HORROR AND DEPRAVITY, WITH FOREIGN MEDIA QUICK TO LABEL PARTICULARLY HORRIFIC INCEST CASES AS THE BRAZILIAN, CHINESE OR BRITISH "FRITZL". the press here, has given only one interview since his trial, telling the German daily Bild in November 2010 that he loved his wife Rosemarie -- with whom he also had seven children -- and hoped to get out of prison one day to take care of her.

He refused to comment on his crime.

A contrast to Kampusch Elisabeth was 18 when she

was locked in her father's purpose-built cellar in 1984.

Fritzl told his trusting wife that their daughter had joined a sect and over the years, brought three of the dungeon children upstairs to live with him and Rosemarie, pretending Elisabeth had left them at their door to take care of.

Three other children lived their entire lives underground, never seeing the sun.

The Amstetten case eventually broke in the media on April 27, 2008 after the oldest cellar child, 19-year-old Kerstin, fell inexplicably ill and had to be hospitalised.

The search for the young woman's mother brought the 24year incest ordeal to the surface, quite literally.

What will happen to the "House of Horrors" has long been a topic of debate, with authorities initially concerned it may become a gruesome tourist attraction.

Fritzl's lawyer said in 2011 that a precondition of any sale of the building, which Fritzl owns, would be to fill in the basement.

"Nobody will ever enter the cellar again," said Walter Anzboeck.

At Stein prison in northern Austria where he is serving his sentence, Fritzl was well-integrated and there were "no noticeable problems", according to prison authorities.

His only appearance in the news recently was an Austrian

report that he had divorced his wife because she never visited him in prison.

Earlier reports said the children he had with Rosemarie wanted nothing to do with him.

The noticeable silence on the Fritzl case has stood in sharp contrast to the never-ending media obsession with another shocking Austrian criminal case, that of Natascha Kampusch, kidnapped at age 10 and held captive for eight years before she managed to escape in 2006. While investigators regularly pore over the Kampusch case, looking for missed clues and alleged accomplices, international media coverage on Fritzl has died down

since his March 2009 trial.

The two cases, which occurred within two years of each other, prompted much soulsearching in Austria, amid fears the country could be known as a "Land of Dungeons".

New cases of incest — confirmed or not — have immediately made national headlines.

Filmmakers like Markus Schleinzer and Ulrich Seidl have also drawn from these cases for their work, including the Palme d'Or-nominated "Michael".

But five years after their first taste of freedom, Elisabeth and her children have been allowed an anonymous life, away from scrutiny.

Global edits The Guardian (UK)

Unthinkable?

Pounds without pols

P

erhaps the only real argument for a hereditary monarch is to keep political egos in check; for all the retrogressive baggage that goes with the crown it should at least prevent uncrowned real power from falling into the "L'État, c'est moi" delusion.

But a week after the unstated state funeral of Margaret Thatcher, it emerges that another of the Queen's PMs will serve as her B-side on the £5 note. Yes, Churchill provided the roar of Britain's wartime lion, but he was also a peacetime partisan who sent troops into Tonypandy, peddled imperial pipe-dreams about India, and warned that mild-mannered Attlee

would create "some form of Gestapo". Start playing party top trumps with promissory notes, and there will be no end.

"The blue Thatcher" sounds only too like a special-issue note for some quirky quantity, say £25, for which the Telegraph campaign may have already begun.

The Labour tribe will respond by lobbying for a reissued oncer portraying Wilson, above the strapline "the pound in your pocket".

Where will it end – with Brown tens, and some sort of a minor Major note? Before we reach such absurdities let us banish politicians from banknotes entirely, leaving the side of the paper that is not already stuffed full of Queen free for the traditional cross-party heroes

START PLAYING PARTY TOP TRUMPS WITH PROMISSORY NOTES, AND THERE WILL BE NO END. STUFFIER SORTS MAY RESIST ROCK'N'ROLL STERLING, BUT IT IS PREFERABLE TO MONEY THAT'S TAINTED BY PARTY ANIMALS OF THE OTHER SORT. and heroines like Shakespeare and Nightingale, or for modern-day equivalents like Lennon or Lennox.

Stuffier sorts may resist rock'n'roll sterling, but it is preferable to money that's tainted by party animals of the other sort.

10

BUSINESS SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Aeroflot misspent $440 mn

R

ussia’s largest airline Aeroflot misspent 13.9 billion rubles (over $443 million) in 2010-2011 and the first nine months of 2012, according to an Audit Chamber report. Aeroflot said the auditors' conclusions were contrary to industry and experts' assessments. It also dismissed the complaint that it had signed contracts worth more than 10 million rubles without holding tenders.

Banks in court over swaps

P

ortugal said Friday it will take banking giants JP Morgan and Santander to court to make them renegotiate deals that have left state-run companies paying hefty interest rates. Treasury Secretary Maria Luis Albuquerque said the government had failed to reach a deal with the two bankd to overhaul socalled "toxic swap" contracts.

Deals website hacked

H

ackers broke into a daily deals website backed by online retail titan Amazon.com and breached the accounts of 50 million members, according to a report Friday by All Things Digital. Names, birth dates and encrypted password information was swiped in a cyber-attack at LivingSocial, according to a report at AllThingsD.com.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC His love for music and quest for the perfect sound led GVN Bobby to set up The Audio People in Hyderabad, which offers tailor-made solutions for all your audio needs.

More about The Audio People, Hyderabad

PRUDHVI RAJU K

Employees: 12 Expected operational break-even: End of 2014 Services: Custom home theatre solutions, home automation, multi-room audio solution, conference halls Brands: MBL, Thiel, Monitor Audio, MK Sound, Bryston, MusicalFidelity, Sunfire, Avalon, Auralex, Acapella Acoustics, Pro AudioTechnologies, Halcro, Pathos, Straight Wire, SMX screens, Pioneer,Denon, Da-Lite Screens, Marantz Demo: 14 music systems with two large home theatre rooms Products: More than 200

prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

W

ant to enjoy and experience sound in your home as it was recorded in a worldclass studio? Want to replicate the big screen viewing experience in your living room? The Audio People, the largest retail store in the City offering highend audio and video equipment, can be a one-stop shop for home theatre needs.

The founders of the store stress that it is not sales that drives them to be in business but the passion to educate and to offer customised and finest video and audio solutions to the customers. The business, which was started by GVN Bobby (in pic) and Jalal in February 2012, grew over time and made its mark in the hearts of music lovers. Explaining the reasons behind kick-starting the business, Bobby says, “It’s the love for music that pushed me to start the business. I am a music enthusiast from childhood but did not get into composing or the learning part of it. However, I had a desperate urge to listen to sound at its best quality. I used to experiment for the right sound quality by changing different components of home theatre systems — amplifiers, speakers, sub-woofers and equalisers.”

After doing a diploma in audio engineering from SAE College, Chennai, in 2003, Bobby retuned to the City and worked as an assistant sound engineer at Prasad labs. Later, he started to work as an acoustic consultant (freelancer), wherein he used to provide video and audio solutions on his own. He is also one of the few individuals in the country who got Level 2 THX certification for providing quality sound.

On the inception of the company, he says, “To take my work to the next level, I partnered with Jalal from Chennai, who owns distributorship of many international brands under the

brand name of The Audio People. We started The Audio People store in the City, and later brought many other international brands to the country through our distributorship.”

He adds, “There’s a desperate need to bring these companies to the country. This will enable customers to have a world-class sound experience.

For instance, we are the sole distributors of MK Sound (in India). The brand is known world-wide for its presence in various studios like DOLBY Laboratories, DTS, Universal Studios, Disney and Lucas Films. The sound recordings of many Hollywood films like King Kong, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings were made and tested on these speakers at studio level.

Now, customers can exactly experience sound as it was heard in these studios.”

Any audio or video product can optimally deliver its value when the technicalities and

THE COMPANY ALSO OFFERS TURNKEY SOLUTIONS AND WORKS WITH ARCHITECTS AND INTERIOR DESIGNERS RIGHT FROM THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE. installation is appropriate.

Moreover, the choice or selection of a sound system or a screen should also be based on various parameters. The company is trying to get this in place to attract customers.

“We don’t just sell products to customers like any other store but offer solutions based on the customer’s budget, room and taste. We try to enhance the experience of sound by providing acoustics — wall proofing, ceiling, flooring — based on various techniques of absorption, reflection and positioning of

speakers. We aim to see a happy customer with our sound solutions, which in turn will provide us with word-of-mouth publicity and eventually turn into revenues,” said Bobby.

The business also offers turnkey solutions and works with architects and interior designers from the construction phase. “We will provide customised solutions based on the client’s requirement. For instance, a large screen can be too big for a small room or vice versa. An angular positioning of seating in the room can bring a lot of difference in the process.

Each amplifier or speaker has its own sound, which may or may not be liked by the buyer.

Customers’ tastes should be kept in mind before offering the solution. The reason to start this store in a huge space was to fit in a wide variety of products like Horn speakers and Tube amplifiers, which enable a customer to have an ear for differ-

ent sounds irrespective of whether he is buying the product from us or not,” he says.

About the business prospects, Bobby says, “Today, entertainment has become part of everyone’s life. After a lot of stress and hard work during the day, the couple or family want to enjoy a movie or an IPL match on their large screen. The frequency of going out for seeing a film has fallen with the advent of home theatres. We can recreate the experience and allow people to enjoy without stepping out of their home.”

The biggest challenge for the company is to educate customers.“Many have a good ear for music but are unaware of these technicalities. We make them understand the importance of each product, from cables to speakers, and its value in creation of quality sound,” said Bobby.

With the growth of economy and real estate market in the City, the company is upbeat about the home entertainment industry. It plans to expand its network to other tier-2 cities in early 2014 with proper demo rooms and technical teams.

11

FOCUS SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Taliban, taboos bar women from Pakistan vote

The result of a by-election in Batagram was declared null three years ago when few women paticipated having been threatened with divorce.

Sami Zubeiri

Agence France-Presse

N

ext month’s elections should mark the first democratic transition of power in Pakistan, but Taliban threats, social taboos and poor organisation will likely deprive millions of women their right to vote.

Out of a population of 180 million, 37 million women and 48 million men are registered to vote in the May 11 polls in a country that has been ruled by generals for half its life and where military coups have repeatedly interrupted democracy. But in the conservative northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, adjoining tribal areas on the Afghan border and southwestern province Baluchistan, few women voted at the last election and officials fear it will be the same again.

“We waited the whole day... but not a single woman turned up because of a ban imposed by tribal elders,” remembers Badama Begum, a 33-year-old teacher who worked at a polling station in 2008 in the north-western district of Mardan.

Election authorities set up a separate station staffed only by women to guarantee around 350 registered female voters complete privacy, but it was a waste of time.

“We closed the polling station in the evening, returned the blank ballot papers and empty boxes to the election commission, and left,” she said.

In 2008, not a single vote was cast at 564 of 28,800 women’s polling stations - 55 per cent of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, officials said.

In the most conservative areas, officials estimated women’s turnout at 10-15 per cent of those registered.

That year, 76 women ran for parliament and 16 won seats. The election commission says there are more women candidates this time, but had no precise number.

Registering to vote is a routine process conducted by officials who go door-to-door to compile a list of adults with ID cards in each household. But this in itself leaves millions of women disenfranchised.

Women’s rights activist Farzana Bari estimates that at least 11 million eligible women will not be able to vote simply because authorities have not granted them national identity cards. The elections themselves present further barriers to women, with some religious leaders believing women voting is un-Islamic.

Voting for a man they do not know, some mullahs counselled in 2008, was grounds for automatic divorce - a social taboo few are prepared to entertain.

“Our society does not allow us to bring our women to vote,” said Sharif Khan, 50, a solar energy dealer in Miranshah, the main town

Women supporters of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), political party representing the Urdu-speaking majority, raising slogans as they take part in an election public meeting in Karachi. AFP PHOTO/RIZWAN TABASSUM in the tribal district of North Waziristan, the most notorious Taliban and al-Qaeda stronghold in Pakistan.

“We are afraid of the Taliban.

They oppose women voting, so why should we take the risk?” he asked.

In tribal communities such as these, women live in purdah, confined to women’s only quarters at home. They do not go shopping, they do not work outside the house and they only go to the hospital in a dire emergency.

Literacy rates are low, even lower for women. General disillusionment also runs high in some of the most remote and deprived parts of the country.

“Women in our area don’t even know how to vote,” said Miranshah cloth merchant Adam Khan, 35.

“Our MPs do nothing for our welfare. So it’s not just our women, I won’t vote this time either,” he fumed.

In urban areas, politicians lay on transport to ferry voters to and from polling stations, but in the countryside it becomes more complicated when women are not

allowed to travel without a close male relative.

Aware of the problem, the election commission tried to introduce reforms that no candidate could win with less than 10 per cent of the women’s vote in his constituency, but it was rejected in parliament, said spokesman Khurshid Alam.

He says the commission will try to enforce legislation against those who try to stop women from voting, although it remains unclear how.

“Preventing a person from casting his vote falls in the purview of corrupt practices and is punishable by three years in jail and fine of `5,000 ($50) or both,” Alam told AFP. The result of a by-election in Batagram was declared null three years ago when few women participated having been threatened with divorce. They took part in the rerun at which the threat of divorce was not raised, he said. Khalida Bibi a 39-year-old housewife from the northwestern town of Dargai told AFP that she was hopeful that a tough election commission would have some impact.

PICK YOUR

@

Across Stores

ities Twin C

12

TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK www.crunchGear.com t’s your daily dose of geek gadgets: Cellphones, gaming hardware, software, computers.

Techcrunch’s gadget arm competes with Engadget in the gadget news and reviews arena.

I

MOBILE GAME REVIEW

APP OF THE WEEK ezDesktop

CHARLIE BRAVE

I

t is a free RDP and VNC viewer. It can be used to access and control your MAC, Windows, Linux computers on the network. ezDesktop can discover the active computers on a network and give reports on the same.

If you need to relax in today's economic crisis and imagine that you have all the gold and diamonds you want (as Charlie Brave), play this interesting and cute game. In the game, you are Charlie Brave and the goal for you is to catch as much gold and diamonds you can.

Beyond megapixels N SHIVA KUMAR, NT BALANARAYAN

Photo Expo 2013 kicked off in the City yesterday at Ramoji Film City.

Here are three products to watch out for at the expo.

NT BALANARAYAN

balanarayan.nt@postnoon.com

BACKUP

DONE RIGHT

SD cards are boring pieces of plastic and metal which suck up most of the data from your camera, but they also tend to fail far too often. For this reason most professionals go for high-end SD cards, but Wise seems to have taken that to a new stretch with their Express Cards. These cards work in a RAID like formation to create an image of the data to ensure maximum reliability. Wise S2 and S3 cards are available in 32GB and 64GB variants that are shock resistant. S3 variant has USB 3.0 for faster data transfers so one can get started with editing as soon as it is recorded. This product is being distributed in India by Royal Broadcasting based out of Delhi. According to the

company the card works only with professional level equipment and the whole unit with the cards cost more than `15,000.

STREAM

EVERYTHING LIVE

YouTube is slowly becoming the default destination for live streams these days, but what if you want your companies branding and don't want to worry about bandwidth and such? IVB7, a Chennai-based company has a solution that lets you stream an event live at a very reasonable price. The company has a custom stream-

SeeMyMarriage.com offers an end-to-end solution for those who want live-stream their weddings. The company sends people to the venue to record the event. ing box with separate input for video and audio channels which when connected to a computer with Internet connection will set up a stream on its own. They offer various packages ranging from `20,000 to `49,000 depending on your requirement. There is a onetime fee for the streaming box and you have the option of purchasing additional storage space for a very nominal price.

The costliest streaming box offered by the company does not even need to be attached to a computer and the company says that this can even replace OB vans used by most TV channels.

LOGIN

TO BLESS THE COUPLE

While most companies are concentrating on streaming

events, SeeMyMarriage.com offers an end-to-end solution for those who want to stream their weddings. The company doesn't just provide a platform but also sends people to the venue to record and livestream the whole function.

According to the representatives at the demo stall, the company charges according to the duration of the stream and added that they get most of their customers are Tamilians who have a lot of relatives in Singapore. The live-stream will be available on the company website for a year and a half,

but according to the representatives they are available for much longer too. They also have a Facebook app which lets a user watch the stream from within Facebook. They also offer a highlights package much like in sports shows.

Now you don't just watch a wedding and move on, the company also lets you post your greetings and blessings as texts or as an audio clip next to the stream.

(The expo is open till Sunday. It is open to the public between 10.30 am and 6pm.)

13

ANIMAL KINGDOM SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

PET NEWS Birds' crouching gait

Pet friendly travels

he crouched stance developed to compensate for the growth of larger forelimbs that eventually made flight possible, according to new research that digitally "fleshed out" fossils to show physical changes.

lbuquerque has been named America's best city for four-legged travelers. The travel booking site Priceline.com compiled the top 10 list of the most friendly for travellers with pets.

T

A

CRIES

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Airman reunited with puppy

W

hile serving in Afghanistan airman mechanic Tom Burright struck up a friendship with a puppy that was scavenging for food in the streets. Puppy Rescue Mission raised enough money to bring the puppy Lyla over.

CATS AND DOGS The Animal Care Clinic 040-2335 2474 Pet’s World Dog Clinic 98856 46259 Blue Cross of Hyderabad 040-3298 9858, 23544355/ 5523 Vet-N-Pet 040-6553 9535, 93463 05890 Bluplus Pet Clinic 040-2712 1739, 2716 2636 Sri Sai Pet Clinic

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

For many, dogs are items bought on an impulse to show off their weath to all and sundry. People for Animals gets more than 20 complaints from neighbours who take pity on these tortured animals.

for help S

AMY ROSE THOMAS

amyrose.t@postnoon.com

ome look upon their dog as a status symbol, more like an item that is bought on an impulse to show off their wealth. After accomplishing this and flaunting the dog to all and sundry, the owner gets bored and the dog ends up tied outside the gates, lest it spoils the carefully maintained lawn or garden. Being tied up for the whole day, without even being taken for a walk, these animals are tortured and made to feel miserable.

This frustrated lot is the ones that bite their owners and wait for an opportunity to escape. According to People for Animals, the organisation gets at least one complaint a day from neighbours who take pity after seeing these animals being treated badly.

“We get around 20 to 30 complaints about pet abuse and most of the times, these are fancy breeds.

These families are counselled and they usually fall in line fearing arrest. We keep a tab on them afterwards and make sure that these animals are not ill treated. Many of these owners are under the wrong impression that if tied up all day, these dogs will become more ferocious and thus guard the house well.

However, it is the nature of dogs to safeguard their territory and it cannot be inculcated by tying them up.

These dogs are prone to biting their owners since they are frustrated and feel miserable being tied up.

Imported, western breeds are not used to the climate here and instead of rightly being treated extra-nicely, they are left to fend for themselves under the hot sun. Imagine the plight of a Saint Bernard stuck in the City with coat as thick as what it has,” Vasanthi Vaadi, secretary of People for Animals says.

There are times when owners give up and abandon these fancy dogs. Blue Cross is flooded with such dogs that are abandoned at the NGO. “They are left tied up to the gates and left outside the NGO. We have got a security guard to make sure that they do not leave their dogs and go. However, it is more dangerous if they leave them on the road.

Normally, people pay huge sums of money and buy these fancy dogs unaware of the responsibilities and work that come along with it. And at other times, these animals are gifts from others. I think gifting an animal is the worst present you can offer because you never know how these animals will be treated,” Dr Lakshmi Ramana says.

Keeping a pet and taking care of it is not an easy task and one has to think many times before taking the decision to bring a pet home. There are times when families leave the task of taking care of the pet to their caretakers and are not aware when it suffers. If one comes across cases where animals are ill-treated and abused, you can call: +91984999334

14

BOOKS SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

SHORT READS Title: Cooked Author: Michael Pollan Publisher: Penguin Press HC Michael Pollan is one of the best food writers around, delving into the intricacies of diet, life and science. Cooked explores, with child-like glee, the magic of transformation in a kitchen through fire — the conversion of humble ingredients into something sublime

Title: Paris Author: Edward Rutherfurd Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group The City of Love has been the setting for so many epic stories, so could Edward Rutherford be far behind? The king of multi-generational dramas sets his sights of Paris, and weaves a story of beauty, charm and romance.

Title: Dirty Wars Author: Jeremy Scahill Publisher: Nation Books The world is a battlefield, and Jeremy Scahill is right there on the frontlines. Elite forces have been formed by the government to track down and eliminate those designated as enemies of the state.

Sounds like a novel? In this hard-hitting history, Scahill shows us ground reality.

Title: Fly Away Author: Kristin Hannah Publisher: St. Martin’s Press A childhood friendship comes to a tragic end when one of the women dies. Now, Tully is asked to take care of her deceased friend’s children, though she doesn’t know the first thing about raising kids. Love, loss and motherhood are recurrent themes in this tearjerker.

His boots are made for walking Like the title of his literary travelogue Akhil Bakshi too seems to enjoy an indefinite love affair with travel, the great outdoors and adventure. His book tells us all about it.

boring travelogues where a lot of jargon puts the reader to sleep, Akhil’s narrative is more flowy, conversational, humourous and educative in a fun way. It catches the readers attention and though the weight of the glossy-paged book might be a deterrent for some, the pure ease of his narrative might appeal to the others.

FLEME VARKEY

fleme.v@postnoon.com

I

f you were to tell anyone that you were a tour guide or a travel writer by profession, you are bound to elicit an awestruck reaction and sighs of how they wish they were in your place and could trade professions. If you were to read Akhil Bakshi’s account of his journeys you would do the same.

With four significant international motoring expeditions to his credit, this born tramp has been vagabonding around the world since his early years, finding telling beauty everywhere.

I’ll Follow the Sun comes after Akhil’s Back to Gondwanaland, which retraces his 90-day-long passage through 16 countries. This book, however, chronicles the author’s nonlinear journeys around the world and to the ends of the earth and going by his accounts, this adventure-loving junkie has no plans of hanging up his rucksack anytime soon.

The journey begins down under with descriptions of his trips to Auckland, encounters with the Maoris to interesting interactions with penguins, kiwis and cackling seagulls.

His next is to the exotic locales of Bali and Kalimantan where he finds the Chinese nets strangulating more than just marine life. There are references to the conditions and economy of the place that he travels to. His interest in development economics shines through in many places.

From Bali he moves on, finding his way to plenty of other

places. His travel itinerary will make any seasoned traveller jealous. From the ruins of Angkor, the rocky terrain of Lhasa, Khardungla — the ultimate allure for bikers — it boasts the highest road in the world. Closer to home, Akhil takes on Jaisalmer and Lakshadweep Islands. His journey to Jaisalmer dispenses with the geography lessons we have

grown up —Jaisalmer desert — it is not there. “There is no desert. The goats ate it.” All it boasts is of the Sam Dune which apparently a French poet was enamoured about.

Akhil’s account of his trips across the world, as mentioned in the foreword, pack a punch.

They are stories, packed with wit, wisdom, relevance and he has a great eye for detail. Unlike

Title: I’ll Follow the Sun Author: Akhil Bakshi Publisher: Odyssey Books Pages: 527

WHAT’S SELLING Walden’s best in fiction

Walden’s best in non-fiction

New York Times’ best in fiction

New York Time’s best in non-fiction

n In The City Of Gold And Silver

by Kenize Mourad

n Miracles Happen

by Dr Brian Weiss

n Daddy’s gone a Hunting by Mary Higgins Clark

n Lean in by Sheryl Sandberg with Nell Scovell

n Salvation Of A Saint by Keigo Higashino n Bankster by Ravi Subramanian n Accidental Apprentice by Vikas Swarup n Racketeer by John Grisham

n Give and Take by Adam Grant

n Follow Every Rainbow by Rashmi Bansal

n Don’t Go, by Lisa Scottoline

n All Is Well by Louise L Hay

n Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

n Dongri To Dubai

by S Hussain Zaidi

n Unintended Consequences by Stuart Woods

n Unsinkable by Debbie Reynolds and Dorian Hannaway

n Patriots & Partisans

by Ramachandra Guha

n The Burgess Boys,

by Elizabeth Strout

n The Way of the Knife by Mark Mazzetti

n Gulp by Mary Roach

15

BOOKS SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

THE WORLD UNTIL YESTERDAY

BY J ARED D IAMOND

LET’S EXPLORE DIABETES WITH OWLS BY DAVID SEDARIS

BEST KEPT SECRET

BY J EFFREY A RCHER

J

ared Diamond caught our attention with Guns, Germs, and Steel, where he explored why Eurasian civilisations had survived and conquered others. In his latest offering, he looks at traditional societies and proposes that many of the problems we face today could be solved by going back to our roots. What is particularly great about this book is that Diamond doesn't try to romanticise traditional living; he merely observes that we could all do with some good oldfashioned sense in our lives.

Y

ou're on holiday. You don't want to read something deep or dark or depressing.

If so, David Sedaris's latest book is tailor-made for you. The author is back with his personal brand of zany, slightly morbid, utterly charming humour and this time, he's travelling the world! As usual, Sedaris will delight you with his utter disdain for conventional pleasures even as he goes into paroxysms of delight over rather strange things — like when he finds the perfect stuffed owl for his boyfriend.

T

WHY

WHY

WHY

PACK IT ?

If you're complaining about having to leave the city to go off to a small village in the middle of nowhere, this book might give you new perspective.

PACK IT ?

If you need to keep awake on those long flights or train rides, this is the book for you. Be warned though; you might get some weird looks when you snort loudly with laughter.

he third and final installment of any series might sound like a ridiculous suggestion, especially if you haven't read the first two, but this is Jeffrey Archer we're talking about. He helpfully gives you a 'the story so far' chapter before he plunges you into a book that is Archer at his best. Gripping, fast-paced and immensely enjoyable, the last of the Clifton Chronicles is a great read, whether you're lazing around on a beach or just relaxing after a hard night of partying.

PACK IT ?

If you know you won't have much time to read on vacation (except those few minutes before you fall asleep), this is probably your best choice.

QUIET: THE POWER OF INTROVERTS

BY S USAN C AIN

A

fter months of working, travelling and living in a crowded city, you've finally decided to take some time off and go off on your own. What better companion than a book that celebrates the power of introverts?

Susan Cain's book comes as a refreshing change from all the books that exhort you to be more sociable, make more friends and generally be the life of the party.

Quiet analyses the advantages of a more withdrawn, contemplative personality and leaves you with a sense of peace.

WHY

PACK IT ?

If you find yourself explaining why you feel the need to be alone at times, get some tips from this book to make an effective argument.

The best travel companion

Travel broadens the mind; so does reading. Combine the two to truly escape the crowds, Jyotsna Nambiar the stress and the hustle-bustle of everyday life. jyotsna.n@postnoon.com

VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE

BY K AREN R USSELL

N

o, this isn't another Twilight.

Vampires have got a lot of bad press in the past few years, considering all the fictional ones were, well, rather sappy and boring. But Karen Russell gets the balance right — her vampires are bloodthirsty but human, passionate yet faithful. The rest of the short stories in the collection are just as delightful.

Monsters, bullies and massage therapists discover their hidden selves in the tales, and Russell's clear prose will leave you asking for more.

WHY

PACK IT ?

If you're not a fan of classic romances, this book provides all the tenderness with none of the sappiness.

THE GREAT NORTH ROAD

BY P ETER F H AMILTON

T

humbing through 1,100 pages might not be your idea of fun, but sci-fi fans will be glad they packed this book by maestro Peter F Hamilton.

The book plunges straight into a murder mystery in a town situated near a portal to another world.

Neatly combining the extremely addictive genres of thriller and scifi, Hamilton creates a book that is both gripping and thought-provoking. At the end of it, you'll be glad you lugged along all that extra weight.

WHY

PACK IT ?

If you need your dose of adrenalin and action even when on a quiet vacation, carry this book. It'll allow you to enjoy yourself without alarming your co-travellers.

THE ILLICIT HAPPINESS OF OTHER PEOPLE BY M ANU J OSEPH

M

anu Joseph's new book might not have got as much press as his first did, but it is as delightful.

Pegged as a psychological thriller, it follows a father who takes it upon himself to unravel the circumstances behind his son's death. Now this might not sound like a light summer read, but the author's wit and gentle humour carry the book.

Written in colloquial English and featuring characters very close to home, the book will serve well as your tie to India even as you travel the world. .

WHY

PACK IT ?

Family gatherings are never easy, and vacations can especially be stressful. Retreat into this sharp little book for a reprieve.

THE M AN WITHIN MY HEAD

BY P ICO I YER

P

ico Iyer is a personal travel favourite. His travelogues are so much more than just descriptions; his deeply introspective and personal style of writing will make you wish that you could go travelling with Iyer himself. Since you can't, pack his latest with you, a meandering tale which touches several continents, re-examines his relationship with his father and Graham Greene, and reinforces the belief that travel truly does broaden your mind. A real gem of a book.

WHY

PACK IT ?

Travel is so much more than just taking a break. Soak in a new place and with this book by your side, you might observe more than you thought you could.

18

WOMEN SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

WEBSITES OF THE WEEK asos.com: Everyone’s favourite and the best high street boutique online. Brilliant for its sales, designer collections and collaborations — and for last-minute purchases.

The XX Factor: A female-focused look at “politics, culture, and anything else that strikes our fancy” from the XX writers and editors of Slate.com.

Yahoo Shine: A women-only curated blog platform that serves up career advice, style tips, whatever’s-in-your-fridge recipes and pithy takes on current events.

Parenting parents

In this day and age, when tempers are short and patience is passé, there is a need to get to the root of it all. Parent coach Fathima Khader shows us how.

KANCHAN AGARWAL

kanchan.a@postnoon.com

O

f the many children that Fathima Khader worked with during her career as Life Skills Facilitator, a girl from her Anger Management workshop brought something to her notice. “She came thanked me later but asked how she could help her parents who also had anger issues,” says Fathima. When some more children who benefitted from the workshops, came back asking how they could help their parents deal with these behavioural issues, she knew she had to move a step forward, or backward rather. “I realised that parents influence a child’s behaviour more than anyone else. If children have to learn to manage anger and conflicts, it has to be from their parents’ example and not someone who comes once a week to their schools,” notes Fathima.

So she began her journey to be a parent coach, and pursued a course on parenting. A mother of two herself, through the course, she improved her relationship with her children. Now was the time to reach more parents. For a year now, Fathima Khader has been working as

a parent coach, visiting schools and corporate companies, conducting short term and long term intervention programmes.

The short-term programmes make the parents aware, and the long term ones emphasise on implementation. Most of these sessions are interactive including group discussions, seminars, video clippings, role plays, etc. Some parents ask for one-on-one counselling sessions too which they are always welcome for. “The idea is to empower them,” she says. Those who have been parents for many years have always assured firsttime parents that parenting comes gradually and naturally as days go by nurturing

your child. However, times have changed. So have lifestyles. “Today life is different than compared to 20 years ago. The definition of life has changed. Earlier, parents considered basic provision as food, shelter, clothes and education. Today, it is the best of toys and cars.

When I was a child my father would share his life experi-

ences to introduce values to us. Earlier families worked as teams. Children were cherished then. Today quality time means watching TV together with food on their plates. Today having more children only means more responsibility. We want them to slow down and understand their relationship. The idea of coaching parents is to inculcate a connection with children.”

In a span of nine years as a life skills facilitator and a year of parent coaching, people have come back with feedback. “What I love about my job is that people feel a difference in the way they think and feel about themselves. Habits take time to change, but the will to become better makes all the difference. It is the approach and attitude towards children that has changed. For example, if a woman takes tea to her mother-in-law and if she spills it, she won’t yell at her mother-in-law. But if the child had spilled or broken any cutlery, she would have yelled at him saying things like “Who asked you to carry it? You are such a nuisance. Why do you keep breaking things? Can’t you handle a cup properly?”

These parents now respond to their children with respect. They now understand that their children need respect”.

Too hot to handle?

All About Eve NIDHI BHUSHAN

F

or a change, something as ridiculous as deporting someone from a country because of good looks didn’t come from the Khap Panchayat. This is a moment of glory for Haryana and the rest of India as Saudi Arabia has just beaten it in stupidity.

Reports emerged that three UAE nationals were deported from Riyadh by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vices in Saudi Arabia. The reason: they were really, really ridiculously good looking men! Of course. If they were women, they would have been publicly stoned for ‘exposing’ their beauty.

The funniest part of this entire story is the fact that of all places, it is Saudi Arabia that did something against men; you see, in their minds, they were genuinely saving the women from naughty thoughts. I think that’s the only glimpse of equality I’ve seen in the past couple of years. Strange, isn’t it?

Omar Borkan Al Gala, who was one among the trio to be deported forcefully, is a photographer, actor and poet from Dubai. Lowered to just being eye-candy for women in Saudi Arabia, Al Gala has been making headlines all over the rest of the world.

However, my argument is that Al Gala and gang cannot be the first species of good looks in an Arab country. And, deportation, certainly, cannot be a long-term solution to this huge problem. So, what is it that the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vices can really do to tackle the issue?

Enforcing burqas for good looking men is a much better permanent solution, don’t you think so? Since, Saudi Arabia is all for an eye-for-an-eye kind of justice, burqas for men would pretty much serve the same purpose they serve for women.

Another possible solution is to send these good lookers to India, as we certainly face a dearth of hot men here. Oh wait, the Khap might just ban noodles for them!

19

SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013 S BALAKRISHNA

WATER WORKS

S BALAKRISHNA

Water Walk was launched at Shilparamam in style on Friday. Adventure junkies made a beeline to Shilparamam to try out the sport.

FASHION FIESTA

Designer Shravan Kumar put up a dazzling show at The Park.

Amala Akkineni, Deeksha Seth and Taapsee were a few who were present at his show Pink Wedding.

Bling alert

Actress Samantha unveiled GRT Jewellers' new platinum jewellery collection at GRT jewellers, Somajiguda.

A dose of glamour Tollywood celebrity Sri Reddy inaugurated Vastra Varnam expo at Sri Satya Sai Nigamagamam on Friday.

Story time

Students of Annapurna International School of Film and Media staged mime skits at Lamakaan.

New in town The new Sony Center outlet was inaugurated by Sony India Pvt Limited Managing Director Kenichiro Hibi at Banjara Hills.

S BALAKRISHNA

20

RELATIONSHIPS SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

M

I AM ALL EARS

y girlfriend found her exflame on Facebook recently. At first I thought it was just harmless banter, since they had lots of catching up to do. But now I notice she gets frequent calls and emails from him.

I confronted her on this and she brushed it off saying I am jealous and insecure. What should I do?

Dear worried boy, Now don’t tell me you have not looked up your former flames on Facebook even once. When one partner spends too much time on Facebook it can arouse suspicions and jealousy from within their other half. But don’t let your imagination run ahead of you. Establish some FB free time for the two of you. Time and again tell each other of the new friends you have added and yes... ex-flames should be off-limits.

I

t's hard not to catch sight of at least one black crow in the pursuit of our daily lives.

For most of us, however, that is where the interaction ends. For Binghamton University Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Anne Clark, that single sighting is the open door to hours of observation. According to Clark, behavioral ecologists study American Crows, almost as often as primates, to gain insight into the evolutionary underpinnings of social relationships.

The roommate from hell

Sharing a room/ flat with someone is probably as tricky as being in a live-in relationship with your partner. Only in this case, you don't really love the other person. Postnoon talks to a few people who have borne the brunt of devilish roommates, especially in money matters.

Nidhi Bhushan

nidhi.b@postnoon.com

W

hile most of us have been lucky enough not to have shared a room or a flat with, excuse the expression, a complete psychopath like the one in Single White Female, many of us have gone through something close to that. Whether it's sharing stuff, splitting bills or keeping the house clean, all of us tend to think differently. And, when the disparity in these sensibilities goes beyond expected and accounted-for bad luck, things become super ugly.

Take the case of Nadia Balooshi*, a 24-year-old media person, who had to put up with the antics of her “psycho” roommate. “I used to stay alone in a one BHK flat till I began

feeling a little lonely and decided to have a roommate. It was a terrible decision! Initially, things were smooth between the two of us. However, when it was time to split bills — electricity, water and groceries — all hell broke loose. Apart from the rent money, she wasn't willing to pay anything. The first few months, she made the excuse of not earning all that well, and I let it be. But then I realised that she was eating up all that I would buy for myself. After a lot of coaxing from my friends, I was convinced that I was being taken for granted and I must correct the situation. Like all other confrontations, even this one was terrible. While it started with her saying she doesn't have the money to pay for expenses other than rent, she eventually accused me of leading an 'unaffordable' life.

She said she doesn't need 'waste expenses' like garbage bags, for instance. She repeatedly said she can't 'afford' the way I live. All previous months, my lifestyle didn't bother her, it was only when she was asked for her fair share, did it pinch,” recalls Balooshi, who is living alone again and says is happy that way.

Another case is that of Ankita Dayal's*, who had to deal with a calculative and stingy flatmate for a few

months. “When I moved into a house with my friend, we had an understanding that all our bills would be shared.

Whether it's rent, electricity or water, both of us will deal with 50 per cent of it. However, my flatmate, who was surprisingly a good friend before we moved in together, said that she won't be paying 50 per cent of the electricity bill as she wasn't utilising the air conditioner as much as I did. We split the bill 70-30 per cent. Then, when I gave her the same logic about not paying half for the groceries as I didn't eat anything she used to buy, she picked a fight with me. We tried to work it out for a month, but things had just become too sour after that shouting match,” says Dayal, who also lives alone now. While there are lots of parasite-like

roommates, there are also those who 'borrow' stuff and don't bother returning. “My roommate had borrowed my brand new pair of earrings — a gift from my boyfriend — for an office party. Months passed and there was no trace of the earrings. I didn't know how to ask for it so I made an excuse saying that I need to wear them. My roommate said she'll give but didn't bother and hoped I would forget about it.

After another week passed by, I asked her firmly – 'where are my earrings?' She told me she lost them. I was angry, not because she lost them but because she didn't bother telling me that herself,” recalls Jyoti Nambiar*. So, if you're one of those who believes that choosing a roommate is an absolute no-brainer, think again! * names changed on request

21

CINEMA SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

P

awan Kalyan’s upcoming film under Trivikram Srinivas’ direction is expected to hit the screens on August 7. Samantha is playing the lead role opposite Pawan Kalyan and Praneetha Subhash is the other actress.

The film’s cast and crew will soon head to Barcelona for a long schedule.

Producer BVSN Prasad said, “The film is going to be a very good family entertainer. There are a lot of expectations on the film since Pawan Kalyan and Trivikram Srinivas are teaming up after a long gap. We’ll announce the film’s title pretty soon.” Recently, the film’s distribution rights for the Nizam region were bought by Global Cinemas for an undisclosed amount and buzz is that it’s the highest ever for a Telugu film.

Similarly, Naveen, an NRI who used to fund overseas distribution companies, has reportedly bought the US distribution rights of this film for a whopping `7.5 crore, which is a new record. Devi Sri Prasad is scoring the music and the film also stars Nadiya and Boman Irani in important roles.

PAWAN KALYANTrivikram’s film to release on

AUG 7

TOO BAD TO BE TRUE F Shadow is so bad that it leaves you reeling with pain long after the film is over.

HEMANTH KUMAR

hemanth.k@postnoon.com

ive minutes after you walk and Srikanth to pull off their respecout after watching a film like tive roles. You can’t blame them for Shadow, every question that not making an impact in a film like was raised by those who that, after all the emphasis, throughbelieve in existentialism out the film, is more on style rather begins to make sense. For the uninithan the story itself. For a moment, tiated, the concept of existentialism you are tempted to cheer for Shadow, deals with the sense of disorientaa role played by Venkatesh, as he tion and confusion in the face of an walks in slow motion during the apparently meaningless or absurd introduction song but before any of world. In existentialism, human that happens, the story quickly turns existence is regarded as unexplainso mediocre that it doesn’t really able and it also stresses freedom of matter what happens next. The story choice and responsibility for the isn’t completely new either nor is its consequences of one's acts. It may narration. With more than six vilseem too far-fetched to connect exislains, who just seem to be waiting to tentialism to a no-brainer film like be killed by Shadow, a major part of Shadow, but delve deep into the the film turns into a show reel for impact which this film leaves on you, how innovatively the hero can everything boils down to one quesaccomplish his job. tion — Why did I choose to watch In the end, the film is too bad to the film? be true and you end up There comes a stage, thinking if you have been Movie: Shadow while watching Shadow, too harsh or too hasty in Cast: Venkatesh, where you begin to quesconcluding that the film Srikanth, Taapsee tion the motive behind was terrible. It takes a lot making such a film which of time and effort to forget Directed by: doesn’t really elicit any that you have watched Meher Ramesh response other than bewilShadow and in a bizarre Rating: derment. What gave them way, it might be the biggest the idea that a particular achievement of the film. gag, involving the lead Not many films linger in cast, was funny? What led your mind long after you people to believe in the film while it have seen it and the fact that it was being made? It does seem quite keeps you thinking why was it so unreasonable that we, as the audibad is proof of the kind of impact it ence, write off such an effort by the has had on you. Let’s assume for a entire team of the film which moment that none of us know anypoured their heart, blood and sweat thing about filmmaking and what it into making it. This is precisely takes to conceive a story like that of where you begin to question why Shadow, the only thing we can ask people make the choices they make the director, writers and everyone and it turns out that nothing makes else associated with the film is, at sense. Like why was the film made least for a moment, put on your in the first place? Why didn’t anyone thinking caps and ponder where see what was right in front of their they went wrong. Did you take the eyes? Questions like these are quite audience for granted? If your rhetorical and the only thing one answer is an emphatic no, then you can do under such circumstances is have quite successfully and gloriousto pray to Goddess Mnemosyne to ly managed to break the trust the erase your memory for some time audience had in you. It’s high time until you are exhausted. you find a way to mend that. For There are few good things which now, the aftermath of witnessing the do stand out in a swamp like this. awesomeness of this film is quite One of them is the earnestness simply— terrible, in its worst possishown by the lead actors Venkatesh ble sense.

22

CINEMA SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

BLESSED TO BE A PART OF RAANJHANAA

Farhan on women’s safety

B

ollywood actress Sonam Kapoor says that she feels blessed to be a part of Raanjhanaa. The actress will be seen playing different ages in the film and said that it was an incredible opportunity.

“It was a great process. I play two different ages. You have to perform differently and your voice is different too.

It was an incredible opportunity. I am blessed to be a part of Raanjhanaa,” she said.

Talking about the look in the film, Sonam said that it was simple.

“I have a simple look for Raanjhanaa.

I am not so beautiful and glamorous in the film,” she said.

Sonam will be seen opposite Tamil actor Dhanush in the film. The actress also added that she had fun shooting the film.

“It was fun. I had the most incredible time. You will be able to see the chemistry on screen,” she said.

Talking about the brands which she endorses, Sonam said that she goes for classic brands which ensure her quality as well as exclusivity. The actress added that she has convinced her father, actor Anil Kapoor to also do the same.

“The kind of brands which I do are all classic brands. I don’t sign anything that I don’t believe in. I have explained this to dad too,” she said. IANS

F

arhan Akhtar, who has started an online campaign “Men against Rape and Discrimination” (MARD), says the responsibility to create a safer environment for women lies not just with the government, but with every citizen.

“If we say that it’s only the police’s job and we only sit at home and play victim and keep watching what is happening, then that’s wrong.

At an individual level we should try and bring about a change,” he said.

“The responsibility can’t just lie on the government servants, as citizens it is our responsibility as well,” added the Rock On! actor said. IANS

A LENGTHY LOVE STORY

Shraddha and Aditya have convincingly played their parts, yet both of them cannot do much for Aashiqui 2.

The movie suffers because of a sluggish pace and director Mohit Suri is at fault here.

I

nspired from fifties Hollywood musical A Star is Born and Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar comes a tale of Aashiqui 2. RJ (Aditya Roy Kapur) is a fading rockstar who is addicted to his liquor.

His work doesnt excite him anymore and wants to turn a young talented girl Aarohi Shirke (Shraddha Kapoor) into a star. They fall in love with each other and he breaking all odds ends up making her a star. However, their relationship is ruined by insecurity that exists among musicians and RJ’s obsession with drinking. In spite of Aarohi going the extra mile to secure the relationship, RJ fails.

While the sequel is different than the first part Aashiqui, fans of the original, will recognise the parallels in the story, and also what has been changed. The director has ditched the sleazy formula of sex and skin show associated usually with the Bhatts and has reinvented the romance of the nineties.

Shraddha and Aditya have convincingly played their parts, yet both of them cannot do much for the film.

Aditya Roy Kapoor struggles and delivers the aggres-

WHILE ADITYA ROY KAPOOR STRUGGLES, SHRADDHA KAPOOR DEVOTES THE PERFECT INNOCENCE WHICH HER CHARACTER REQUIRES. Movie: Aashiqui 2 Cast: Aditya Roy Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor Directed by: Mohit Suri sion and intensity in bits and pieces. Shraddha Kapoor devotes the perfect innocence which her character requires.

However, the movie suffers because of a sluggish pace and director Mohit Suri is at fault here. While the music is good as an album, it just lengthens the film. Putting eleven songs in a movie doesn’t make it a musical. So, watch it simply if you are curious and want to know how different it is from the original.

CINEMA SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

23

CINEMA SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

24

25

CINEMA SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

A SUMMER BONANZA

Rihanna, Katy Perry bond on Twitter

Iron Man 3 is BEYOND a typical summer movie. It’s everything an entertaining movie should be, and much, much more.

M

arvel's Iron Man 3 pits brash-butbrilliant industrialist Tony Stark/ Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: Does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

There's a serious subtext to the story and it leaps out of the very first moments of the film. The brilliant, hard-drinking, fast-talking, now traumatised superhero charms from opening scene until the last. The movie gets everything right but maybe its number one strength is the fact that they cover new and exciting ground. Downey again brings a winning personality to play as Stark; he finds his pathos, too. Don Cheadle certainly has the acting chops to hang with Downey. Ben Kingsley's Mandarin is not what he seems and wonderful. No one, not even the villains are one dimensional characters. Guy Pearce is perfect in his role and, at the end, you can see why he was cast. Gwyneth Paltrow and Rebecca Hall certainly add sex appeal but beyond that they also deliver real performances and truly deep characters. This is Pepper Potts best film by far and is every bit the perfect match for Stark. The interaction and the relationships all work well and are truly a highlight of the entire movie. All the dialogue is superb. You would expect nothing less from a Shane Black film. This ranks right up there if not surpasses IMDB Lethal Weapon and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

S Movie: Iron Man 3 Cast: Robert Downey Junior, Rebecca Hall, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow Directed by: Shane Black Rating:

ingers Katy Perry and Rihanna, who were close friends at one time, seem to have patched up.

Though Perry was the one to break off their friendship after Rihanna reconciled with her exboyfriend Chris Brown, she tweeted Rihanna and joked about missing her, reports starpulse.com.

Katy wrote: Ermm...I was in LA Saturday night...Should I be proud or offended I wasn’t invited @rihanna #WHOISTHISDOPPLEGANGER.” (sic) Rihanna tweeted back: “@katyperry erm I wasn’t! Lol! #miaminights howeverrrrr....I’ll still let you spank me!”

The two singers then fixed a IANS date for meeting.

Divorce led to health issues for Longoria A

ctress Eva Longoria's divorce from basketball star Tony Parker led her to suffer health problems as she had started living on coffee and ignored her vitamin intake.

The former Desperate Housewives star received flattering comments about her weight loss post her divorce in 2011, but deep down she was depressed and putting her health at risk, reports dailystar.co.uk.

In a new interview with US TV doctor Mehmet Oz, Longoria said: "I was so skin-

ny. I was not eating. I was depressed. I was sad. My diet was coffee. People kept saying, 'You look amazing, divorce agrees with you.' And I was like, 'I don't feel good. I have no energy. I didn't know I was depressed."

However, she knew something was wrong with her.

"I went to the doctor to get some blood tests because I said, 'Something's wrong.' I was just depleted of every vitamin. He said, 'It's as if somebody took a straw and sucked everything out of your body. You don't have any iron, your liver's overacting.' It

was like all these things were physically wrong with my body, so I had to saturate with vitamins and kind of get back on this track," she added.

That is when the actress took the doctor's advice seriously and stuck to a strict diet.

"I cut out all sugar, anything that turns into sugar, is sugar. I love a soda, I'm not a chocolate candy person, but, I like pasta in anything. For about three months, I did a really strict nosugar diet, and I had more energy than I've ever had. My palate was different. Things tasted betIANS ter," she said.

26

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

SUDOKU

THOUGHT OF THE DAY Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.

– Gertrude Stein

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 Counter, as an argument 6 Apparatus for lifting 11 Crater's edge 14 Acid type 15 Start of the Beatles' walrus song 16 Half and half?

17 Common yuletide tools 19 Many a time 20 Geller of mind games 21 ___ for tat 22 Finder's take 23 Hurler's foes 27 They may be current or foreign 29 ‘That turns my stomach!’

30 Not mean 32 Ripped 33 Cold and ___ season 34 ‘___ of Endearment’ 36 Buick fit for a king?

39 Arial, eg 41 Wrecks 43 Diarist Frank 44 Ancient Biblical city 46 Oven setting 48 ____ Arbor, Mich 49 ‘Tears in Heaven’ singer Clapton 51 Divas' deliveries 52 Suffix with ‘Christ’ 53 Pays the registration fee, as for college 56 In all respects 58 ‘Spare’ item at a barbecue 59 Baby beaver 60 Always, to an old poet 61 Artist/musician Yoko 62 Tool belt fixture 68 Costa ___ Sol 69 Site of many Chicago touchdowns 70 Parenthetical comment 71 '70s self-improvement method 72 North American flycatcher 73 ‘Last but not ___ ...’

DOWN 1 Bled in the wash 2 Flightless bird 3 Part of a stand-up's routine 4 Like a film before editing 5 Great downpour 6 ‘Andy Capp’ sound effect 7 Acorn bearer 8 ‘___ man with seven wives’ 9 With ‘short,’ a curt rejection 10 Determine the presence of 11 Shingle fastener 12 Surmise 13 ___ and bounds 18 More ventilated 23 Angry fits 24 ‘Nanook of the North’ dwelling

57 Pop up, as a question 25 Discharge of lightning 63 Preposition in poetry 26 Cancel, as a rocket 64 Itty-bitty launch 65 Word on Italian street 28 Length X width maps 31 Arab chieftans 66 O'Neill and Asner 35 Schnozz 67 Abbr after a general's 37 Historical record name, maybe 38 Pioneering comic Bruce PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER 40 Bull in a fight 42 In storage, as grain 45 Cream puff 47 Like some translations 50 Tired phrase 53 Eat into 54 WXYZ phone buttons 55 Backbreaker, in a proverb

27

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

The High Priest

The Chariot

Ten of Cups

Four of Wands

The High Priestess

Justice

W

ork – Travel related to work is on the cards. This will be an important journey where you learn new things and experiment with new ideas. Romance – Distance makes the heart grow fonder. Those committed benefit from taking time out. Singles enjoy their space and independence. Health – All is well and there is nothing to worry about on the health front. Continue to eat right and pay attention to your weight. Money – Your savings come to good use now.

You may be considering investing in a house. Do the background check thoroughly before going ahead. Tarot message – Travel to distant lands opens up the mind to new possibilities. Let your mind wander for a bit.

W

W

W

ork – Intuition plays an important role in getting you what you need at this point. Don’t take coworkers head-on about a technical issue. Romance – Passions run high but are you and your partner on the same page?

Candlelight dinners, romantic movies and latenight conversations work wonders. Health – You feel great about where you are right now and this reflects on your physical health as well. Keep the positive vibes coming.

Money – Though you have a philosophical view towards money, it takes up your time and attention.

Much planning is needed from your side. Tarot message – Go with your gut feel about what is right and what you need to do.

W

W

ork –You have the solutions to a problem. You just need the confidence to go ahead with what you think is right.

Romance – If you are confused about making a commitment, it’s best to wait for some more time. Don’t rush into anything unless you’re absolutely sure.

Health – Be careful with your diet. Make sure you’re following the doctor’s orders and are sticking to the prescription.

Don’t get adventurous with food. Money – You have the opportunity to make more money. You need to decide if you are willing to sacrifice those extra few hours per week. Tarot message – You have the key. Decide what you want to do with it. Open the door of opportunity or wait for some more time.

ork – Team work is excellent. You gel well with team members and all goes well through the week. Your ideas gain more power. Romance – Family life is in focus.

Women may be thinking of expanding the family.

This is the right time to do so. Health – Do not lag behind on your exercise routine, no matter how difficult it may be to make time. Get back into the routine as quickly as possible. Money – Money is stable. There is nothing to worry about as long as the unnecessary expenses are cut down.

Don’t overspend on shopping. Tarot message – Togetherness, community and bonding are in focus. You make the most of being in good company.

ork – Stability is important to you at this time. If you’re thinking of a job change, this may not be the best time to do it. Do your homework. Romance – You take comfort in the familiar routine. Singles will not be in the mood to go out looking to date.

Health – Pay attention to mental health and take up meditation to clear your mind. You need to think clearly to be able to make the right decisions.

Money – Finances are in good shape. You’re in a comfortable position to work through your loans and still save some money. Tarot message – Do what makes you happy at this moment. No point thinking about what others expect of you.

SUMAA TEKUR tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

Libra

Scorpio

King of Wands

Four of Cups

W

ork – A job offer is possible. Even if you aren’t looking for a job, consider the offer and meet people as a way to collect good experiences.

Romance – If a relationship is not working out, don’t push it. It will die a natural death if it has to.

There are many fish in the sea. Health – Get a second opinion to treat a complex medical issue if you aren’t satisfied with what one doctor says.

Consider natural healing methods, too. Money – A freelance gig or extra work for additional income is a good idea.

Don’t, however, let it burden you so much that you don’t have time to enjoy that money. Tarot message – Consider all your options before deciding.

ork – If it was a case of ‘who’ll blink first’ for a long time with a colleague, be assured that it is about to end. Either you or your coworker will move jobs. Romance – God is in the details but also don’t lose sight of the big picture while making crucial decisions. Health – Take care of your mental health. Meditation and yoga help to a large extent.

You may also want to consider laughter therapy.

Money – If you can avoid it, additional expenditure is best deferred to a time when you’re absolutely certain you can afford it.

Tarot message – Weigh the pros and cons carefully before jumping into an unfamiliar situation. Be sure of what you’re getting into.

W

Sagittarius Seven of Wands

W

ork –Those in branding and media jobs will do well. You come up with innovative ways to attract your target audience. Romance – It’s never a good idea to keep secrets from your partner. Honesty, really, is the best policy when it comes to togetherness. Health – A nagging pain or ache should not be ignored. Consult a physician immediately and do not self-medicate. Money – Your monthly budget will need some tweaking. You need to address expenditure issues in view of your saving goals. Tarot message – There are ways to reduce confusion and increase transparency in all your transactions. Be aware of what you’re headed toward and you will know what to give up.

Date 28-4-2013

Capricorn

Aquarius

Two of Pentacles

Ace of Swords

W

W

ork – A colleague may confess about something and it may put both of you in a spot. Deal with it in your own inimitable way. Romance – Work-life balance needs attention. Are you unable to stop working and take a break? Don’t overdo your commitment to work.

Health – Sore throat, bad stomach may upset you. Be careful of the quality of drinking water. Make sure to consume only freshly cooked foods. Money – Finances are in good shape. They’re steady and your investments are in good shape. Be careful not to overdo the hoarding.

Live well. Tarot message – Balance is important.

These are testing times and your intelligence will be under the scanner.

ork – Keep your anger in check and do not react, no matter how much you’re itching to make your stand clear. Speak only when spoken to and stay calm. Romance – You and your partner may need a break from each other. Do things that you enjoy and come back refreshed and renewed. Health – Make sure your body can withstand what you put it through. If you plan to run a marathon, for example, ensure you have the stamina to undergo the rigorous training. Money – Identify the loopholes in your budgeting and work quickly to plug them. Time is running out and you have loans to clear. Tarot message – Work quickly and intelligently. Think clearly about your requirement and what you need to do.

ork – Investigate further into a problem if you’re not convinced of the answers your colleagues give you. Make sure for yourself that all is well.

Romance – Some confrontation is required with your partner to address an issue that has been bothering you both for a while.

Talk it out. Health – Fruit juices, fresh fruits and a light diet to detox your body is a good idea. Some light exercises also will take the fatigue away.

Money – Big ticket purchases like a car or house are in the offing. These are to be made carefully, after accounting for all expenses and making sure you can afford them. Tarot message – Be proactive in your interactions and put your best foot forward.

Pisces Eight of Swords

W

ork – You will encounter avenues to promote yourself as the frontrunner for an important project. Nothing wrong in showcasing your talent.

Romance – Celebrate important days like anniversaries and birthdays. These are important to keep the passion alive.

Health – Be kind to your body and do not push it more than it can handle with excessive eating or drinking. Money – Expenses increase and you may have to cut down on your regular entertainment needs. Be creative and look for alternates. Tarot message – It’s an uphill task with this time testing your limits and making you do things you’re not used to.

But you will come out on top without a doubt.

Vol: 2, No 281 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon.com and for subscription, please call 040-40672222, Fax: 040-40672211

28

THE SATURDAY QUIZ SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

IN THE NEWS

11. In what year was the Energy drink Red Bull introduced?

12. Which vitamin is soluble in water?

13. Which financial crisis started on a day now known as Black Thursday?

14. How many Chileans have won Nobel prizes in Literature?

15. In which of the arts does

decoupage appear?

16. In which year were the Munich Olympics held?

17. Researchers working on the accurate calculation of the distance of Milky Way to the nearest galaxy found the exact distance to our nearest galaxy, Large Magellanic Cloud. What is it?

Answers

6. Which dance name means double step?

7. In what year were the Academy Awards first held?

8. How many times a year do you have an equinox?

9. How many Star Wars films have been made till now?

10. How many colours are there in the flag of Sri Lanka?

11.Kanchenjunga 2.1966 3.6 4.Mars 5.4 6.Paso Doble 7.1929 8.2 9.6 10.411.1987 12.Vitamin C13.The Wall Street Crash 1929 14.215.Decorating 16.2012 17.1972 18.163000 light years

TEST YOURSELF

DO YOU KNOW THESE FILM DIRECTORS?

CURRENT AFFAIRS

1

2

1

Which country is ranked first on list of countries which distribute spam all over the world, according to a new report of SophosLabs?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

What are the first three colours in the rainbow?

How many colours are there in the rainbow?

2

Which research centre announced that it was developing the largest magnet of the world? This magnet would weigh 50000 tons.

What are the three primary colours?

3

According to the study conducted by University of Minnesota, in the first week of March 2013, which species from Africa would decline to almost extinction over the period of coming 20-40 years if conservation measures were not undertaken?

DO YOU KNOW YOUR COLOURS?

Is pink a real colour?

4

3

Which colour in the Indian tricolour is prosperity represented by?

1.USA 2. India 3. Wild Lion

Which two colours mix to make green?

Answers

Is the colour orange in the rainbow?

KNOW YOUR COUNTRY

1

Which compost plant became first in India to receive carbon credits worth `25 lakh from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change?

PICTURE PUZZLE 64 with Santosh Ghule Is this your cup of tea? What do you see in it then?

WHO AM I? India has formally protested to the US over the brief detention of another of its ministers. I was accompanying UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for the presentation of a Harvard study on the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage. Who am I?

Answer: Urban Development Minister Mohammad Azam Khan

Zebras, two of them.

Answer for 63:

Mira Nair 4.Sekhar Kapur

3

Microsoft launched the new version of which software for the businesses running in India? This software will facilitate sharing the data seamlessly across the computers and mobiles with the help of cloud computing technology.

What rain fell for Michael Douglas in Ridley Scotts Japanese thriller of the 80s?

Answers: 1. Tigmanshu Dhulia 2. Dibakar Banerjee 3.

2

Which confectionary giant was slapped with a notice demanding `250 crore by the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence on the grounds of excise duty evasion?

Which is the darkest colour?

Answers : 1.Red, orange, yellow 2.

7 3. Red, Green and Blue 4.No 5.Green 6. Blue and Yellow 7. Yes 8.Black 9.

Black

1.Which is the third highest mountain in the world?

2. In which year was the American model Cindy Crawford born?

3. How many children does the Greek god Cronos have?

4. Which planet has the highest volcano in the solar system ?

5. How many wings does a praying mantis have?

1. Okhla Compost Plant 2.Cadbury India Ltd 3.

MS Office 365

Answers

29

SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Potro out of Portugal Open

Harris to be fit for Ashes

Three seize halfway lead

LISBON: Top seed Juan Martin del

SYDNEY: Cricket Australia said Friday

ICHEON, SOUTH KOREA: Australian

Potro has withdrawn from next week's Portugal Open, organisers confirmed on Friday. Officials said they received word from the player's agent that he was ill with a stomach virus and would not make the trip to Europe. The world number seven's absence from the tournament leaves Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka as the main draw card.

an Achilles injury that forced paceman Ryan Harris home from India was not serious and he was expected to be fit for the Ashes series in England.

The injury-prone Harris returned home for tests on his left Achilles raising fears about his fitness 11 weeks ahead of the first Ashes Test in Nottingham.

Wade Ormsby and Thais Arnond Vongvanij and Kiradech Aphibarnrat seized the halfway lead at the weather-interrupted Ballantine's Championship on Saturday.

Ormsby and Arnond had shared the overnight clubhouse lead at sevenunder 137 at the par-72 Blackstone Golf Club.

Knicks beat Celtics

Meersman claims Romandie stage three LAUSANNE: Belgian Gianni Meersman (above) won the third stage of the Tour of Romandie on Friday following a 181km ride around Payerne.

The 27-year-old Omega Pharma rider beat Italian Francesco Gavazzi and Switzerland's Michael Albasini in a sprint finish.

It was Meersman's second stage win in the tour after his success in Wednesday's first stage but Britain's Chris Froome still held the overall lead.

However, Meersman moved up to third in the overall standings thanks to time bonuses collected on the stage, and trails the Team Sky rider by just nine seconds. American Andrew Talansky remains second at six seconds.

For Meersman it was a satusfying finish and helped make up for losing out to Lithuania's Ramunas Navardauskas on Thursday.

"I was disappointed with my sprint yesterday (Thursday) and I wanted to put things right today," he said.

Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points for The New York Knicks BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: The New York Knicks spoiled the Boston Celtics' homecoming on Friday, cruising to a 90-76 victory for a commanding 3-0 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points for the Knicks, which moved within one game of notching their first playoff series victory since the 1999-2000 season.

For the Celtics the outlook is bleak. No team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven NBA postseason series.

Knowing that the Celtics could ride the emotion of the fans in their first home game

since the April 15 Boston marathon bombings. the Knicks moved fast to gain the upper hand and quiet the crowd.

New York led by 16 points at halftime and were never seriously challenged after the break.

Raymond Felton added 15 points and 10 assists for the Knicks, who are now on the brink of avenging a first-round loss to the Celtics two years ago - in Anthony's first season in New York.

"Any time you get swept, that's a bitter taste," Anthony said of that four-game series defeat. "We remember that."

Perhaps that was a contributing factor when the game turned testy in the fourth quarter, with New York's JR Smith elbowing

YOU TAKE THAT! A participant displays her skills at the Annual Summer Coaching Camps 2013 South Zone conducted by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation that was inaugurated

by Mayor of Hyderabad Mohammad Majid Hussain, at Quli Qutub Shah stadium on Friday.

AFP

Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks looks to drive to the basket against Paul Pierce #34 of the Boston Celtics on Friday in Boston.

AFP Boston's Jason Terry in the face with 7:06 remaining, and with New York holding a comfortable lead. Smith was ejected and

India to host Uber, Thomas finals in ’14 NEW DELHI: Badminton's Thomas and Uber Cups world team championships will be held in India for the first time next year, the president of the Badminton Association of India announced Friday.

The Thomas Cup for men and the women's Uber Cup will take place in New Delhi from May 18-25, Akhilesh Das Gupta said.

"We are thankful to the BWF (Badminton World Federation) for giving us the opportunity to host the prestigious Thomas Cup and Uber Cup in the country for the first time," Gupta told

Gowtham Model School go down to Anjuman I-Islam Gowtham Model School – Hyderabad: 129 All out in 44.2 overs (MS R Charann – 37 runs (90b, 5X4), Abhinay – 29 runs (35 b 1X6, 2X4), Sai kiran 15 runs (40 b 2X4); Chander Prakash 2 for 12 in 8.2 overs, Shoeb Khan 2 for 17 in 9 overs, Hashir Dafedar 2 for 11 in 5 overs) lost to Anjuman IIslam Allana Eng School – Mumbai: 133 for 4 in 27 overs (Shaikh Mehboob – 44no (41b 7X4), Hashir Dafedar 37 runs (52

b 1X6, 3X4), Aman Farooqui 13 runs (20 b 2X4); Ankit 3 for 35 in 9 overs, Varun 1 for 22 in 3 overs).

Salwan Boys – Delhi: 237 for 6 in 45 overs (Kaif Ahmad 74 runs (45b 4X6, 6X4), Prashant Vashisnt 53 runs (71 b 3X4), Vikas Dixit 43 runs (89 b 2X4); Anuj Singh 3 for 24 in 9 overs, Harsh Sharma 1 for 33 in 4 overs) bt CAV Inter College, Allahabad UP: 199 All out in 41

overs (Rangrajan Divedi 48 runs (53 b 1X6, 4X4), Abhishek Yadav 42 runs (38 b 2X6, 3X4), Anupam Kumar 28no (34 b 4X4); Vikas Dixit 3 for 36 in 9 overs, Manish Sehrawat 2 for 30 in 8 overs, Nitin Tanwar 1 for 13 in 3.1 overs).

Sree Valmeeki High School — AP: 87 All out in 40.3 overs (PG Reddy 39 runs (70 b, 3X4), C Sai Karthik Rao (13 runs 47b, 1X4), PG Chaithanya 16 runs (36 b,

could face a suspension, while Boston coach Doc Rivers held on to Terry to prevent the incident AFP from escalating.

2X4); Ankor Das 2 for 8 in 6 overs, Suroit Roy 2 for 13 in 9 overs, Hrishikejn Roy 2 for 8 in 2.3 overs) lost to Balurghat High School — West Bengal: 88 for 7 in 22.1 overs (S Chakraborty 20 runs (45 b 2X4), Ankit Das 16 runs (32 b 1X4), Mrinmoy Mahato 13 runs (18 b 2X4); P Girinatha Reddy 2 for 31 in 6.1 overs, C Sai Karthik Rao 2 for 25 in 7 overs, B Ajay Rahul 1 for 10 in 5 overs).

reporters in New Delhi.

"I'm confident India will organise a world class tournament."

India hosted the world badminton championships in Hyderabad in 2009.

"We have seen the rising standard of the tournaments held in India over the years and are confident about their capabilities," BWF secretary-general Thomas Lund said.

China are the reigning champions in both the Thomas and Uber Cups, having won at home in Wuhan in 2012.

PTI

Ranking tennis tie next week

T

he Aster Minds AP State Ranking Tennis Tournament 2013 for under10, -12 and -14 for boys and girls will be conducted at the Advantage Tennis Academy from May 5. More details can be had on calling cell numbers 9246168429, 9391170377.

30

SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

A rookie on the US women's tour,

Glover grabs New Orleans lead

Masson clings to LPGA lead IRVING, TEXAS: Germany's Caroline Masson (in pic) endured a tough finish but still held on to the lead at the inaugural North Texas LPGA Shootout on Friday at the halfway stage.

Masson followed up a bogey-free first-round 64 with an even par 71 for a sevenunder total of 135 -- one stroke in front of Carlota Ciganda of Spain.

Ciganda, the Rookie of the Year on the Ladies European Tour in 2012, fired a one-under 70 for 136.

"I didn't play as good as yesterday, but I expected that after that round yesterday," Masson said.

"I was off to a good start with a birdie on one, which was really nice. And it calmed me down a little bit, and after that I just made a few good pars, but I also made some good putts for birdie."

But Masson ran into trouble late in the round, with bogeys at three of the last four holes. That included capping her round with a bogey at the par-five 18th.

Thai teenager Moriya Jutanugarn rocketed up the leaderboard with a five-under par 66 that moved her into a tie for third on 137 along with world No. 1 Park In-Bee of South Korea and American AFP Kathleen Ekey.

NEW ORLEANS: Lucas Glover (right) fired a fiveunder par 67 on Friday to hold a one-shot lead over Boo Weekley after two rounds of the US PGA Tour's $6.6 million Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Glover, a former US Open champion who is seeking his first win since the 2011 Wells Fargo Championship, had a 36-hole total of 12-under 132.

Weekley carded a fourunder par 68 at TPC Louisiana for 133. D.A. Points also notched a 68 and was a lone in third on 134.

Morgan Hoffmann's 69 gave him a nine-under total of 135, one shot ahead of last year's runner-up, South African Ernie Else, who posted a 69 for 136.

Glover had eight birdies in his round, including a

four-footer at the first.

He followed that up with a birdie at the second, where he chipped his third shot to seven feet and made the putt.

Glover, who won the US Open title in 2009, bogeyed the third, but rebounded with birdies at three of his next four holes.

He made a bogey from a bunker at the 10th, but responded with birdies at 11 and 13 before a bogey at 17 -- which he promptly followed with an 18-foot birdie putt at the last.

"Ball-striking wise, I've been where I'm used to being. But I don't know that I've ever putted like I have the past two days," said Glover.

AFP

Pakistan vows fixing vigil in England KARACHI: Pakistan vowed Friday to keep its cricketers under a strict vigil in England to avoid any repeat of a 2010 spotfixing scandal that resulted in bans and jail for three players.

An undercover reporter of the now defunct News of the World exposed former captain Salman Butt along with pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer in a scandal that shook the cricket world during Pakistan's tour of England.

The three players agreed to be part of deliberate no-balls at the Lord's Test against England in August 2010 in return for money in a deal brokered between the reporter and their agent Mazhar Majeed.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned three players for a minimum of five years and the trio was jailed by a British court in 2011.

Aamer pleaded guilty during the trial, but appeals from Butt and Asif were last week rejected

Sharapova in semis Ryland JAMES

LONDON: Controversial Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria (left) failed in his appeal to overturn his lifetime ban from cricket on Friday.

Kaneria was banned last year for his role in a spot-fixing plot, but denied all involvement and immediately indicated his intention to contest the decision.

opponents," said Sharapova.

"It was a tough battle, it was hard to get my body going again after the last game, but it was good to get another three sets under the belt."

After Sharapova took the first set, claycourt specialist Ivanovic rallied in the second with plenty of aggressive shots on her forehand and is on her way back up the rankings, but AFP lacks consistency.

by the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sports.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf said strict measures would be in place when the team compete in the eight-nation Champions Trophy in June.

"What mistakes we committed last time will not be repeated," Ashraf told journalists when asked to comment on reports that a vigilance officer would accompany the team to AFP England.

Nadal does double duty BARCELONA: Rafael Nadal

STUTTGART, GERMANY: Defending champion Maria Sharapova (right) had another tough battle on Friday as she booked her place in the semifinals of the Stuttgart WTA tournament with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 quarter-final win against former world number one Ana Ivanovic.

The 26-year-old Sharapova, who is using the claycourt tournament to help prepare for the defence of her French Open title at the end of May, was again taken to three sets as Ivanovic rallied in the second set.

Having needed three hours to beat Lucie Safarova in Thursday's second round, the statuesque Russian has now played more than five hours of tennis inside 24 hours after needing two hours, 16 minutes to beat Ivanovic.

"It's good to face different styles of playing from different

Kaneria loses appeal against life ban

(right) continued to re-establish his impeccable clay credentials as the seven-time champion scored two victories Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open.

Due to rain on Thursday which wiped out much of the programme, the second seed did double duty in both the third round and quarter-finals, defeating Frenchman Benoit Paire 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 in the morning and following up with a more substantial victory over Spanish compatriot Albert Ramos 6-3, 6-0 in late afternoon.

Ramos had booked his place against Nadal by putting out Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) in a delayed third-round match.

Nadal will play a Saturday semi-final against Canadian fifth seed Milos Raonic, who

beat Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) and followed up by winning a hard-fought battle with Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) in almost two and a half hours.

Nadal has won seven of the last eight editions at the Real Club de Tenis.

The Spaniard, sidelined for seven months until February with a knee injury, appeared to be well on the road to recovery after his loss in the Monte Carlo final last week to Novak Djokovic.The 26-year-old Nadal

improved to a 38-1 career record in Barcelona with his only loss against current Davis Cup coach Alex Corretja in the 2003 second round.

He now stands 24-2 this season and 19-2 on clay.

In his win against Paire, Nadal shook off a slow start.

As the morning match wore on, he found his familiar claycourt groove, lifting the first set in a tie-breaker and dominating in the second to take his third-round win.

"It wasn't a brilliant match but winning was the most important thing," said Nadal.

"It's a long day today, so straight sets is not a bad way to start."

Nadal could not have been happier with his day's work: "I played my best match of the tournament so far," he said after dispatching Ramos in 65 AFP minutes.

IPL 6

31

BATTLE OF THE TITANS

METRE

6 S 281

It’s cricket. I am not afraid of him (Gayle).

It takes one ball to get a batsman out.

It’s just a case of pitching the ball in the right area. It’s for him to stay long and score runs Dwayne Smith Mumbai Indians player

Chris Gayle (RCB) 432 runs

S Narine (KKR), AMishra (SRH), D Bravo (CRK) 14 wickets

Tendulkar hit on right hand while batting at the nets MUMBAI: Sachin Tendulkar was

hit on the right hand while batting at the nets during Mumbai Indians training session on Friday ahead of their IPL match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Tendulkar tried to cut a delivery from Jacob Oram, when the extra bounce caught him unawares hitting him on the right hand.

“I should be fine for tomorrow,” the veteran said. His teammate Dwayne Smith also said the 40 year old should be fit to play in tomorrow’s match.

“He should be ok. Just a case of him getting checked up, but nothing is wrong, I think,” Smith said in the pre-match media conference at the Wankhede PTI Stadium.

P

W

L

T PT

RCB

8

6

2

0

12 +1.254

NR

CSK

8

6

2

0

12 +0.591

SRH

8

5

3

0

10 -0.112

RR

7

4

3

0

8 +0.588

KXIP

8

4

4

0

8 +0.217

MI

7

4

3

0

8 -0.135

KKR

8

3

5

0

6 +0.072

PWI

8

2

6

0

4 -1.467

DD

8

1

7

0

2 -0.954

P-played; W-win; L-lost; T-tie; NR-net run rate; PT-points

Chris Gayle (RCB)

34 4S 936

40

Michael Hussey (CRK)

HIGHEST SCORE

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

175*

Chris Gayle (RCB)

BEST BOWLER

4-13

Sunil Narine (KKR)

MI take on the Gayle force SYED SHOAIB

shoaib.s@postnoon.com

I

t never got bigger than this in the Indian Premier League: Two big teams, both coming off victories, clash in one of the biggest cricket-loving cities of the country. Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Mumbai Indians in an away match after a resounding win over Pune Warriors India.

Mumbai Indians are also in an upbeat mood after winning their away match against Kolkata Knight Riders. Sunil Narine’s heroics with the ball just not being enough for the home team, which last on the penultimate ball of the thrilling match.

If there is one factor that is going to weigh in favour of the Mumbai Indians, it is the fact that the RCB have home conditions to thank for their run to the top of the points table this far in the tournament.

Close finishes notwithstanding, truth is that RCB ended up losing the two matches they

RR VS SRH AT 4PM MI VS RCB AT 8PM ON SET MAX have played away; those against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings. While the match against SRH they lost in the Super Over, CSK beat them with one ball to spare.

How Chris Gayle is able to adapt to conditions at Mumbai is going to be the deciding factor in this match. For, if the conditions here do not bother him and he is able to continue the way he has so far in the tournament, especially the way he batted in the last match, then Mumbai Indians have a match on hand.

Though the Bangalore

crowds adore him and cheer him on providing the catalyst for the big-hitting Jamaican, Mumbai’s cosmopolitan and cricket-loving crowd is not going to make him feel out of home. A good game of cricket is much appreciated in Tendulkar’s backyard.

Whatever the outcome, the match itself promises to be one big treat.

SRH to battle an equal

SCORECARD KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS V KINGS XI PUNJAB Kings XI Punjab innings Gilchrist*† c Morgan b Bhatia 27(27)

Kolkata Knight Riders innings (target: 150 runs from 20 overs)

Mandeep c Morgan b Kallis

25(20)

MS Bisla†

Vohra

31(21)

G Gambhir* b Azhar Mahmood

8(6)

DHussey c Senanayake b Kallis 21(20)

YPathan c †Gilchrist b A Mahmood

0(1)

DA Miller

JH Kallis c †Gilchrist b H Singh

c Das b Balaji b Ladda

10(8)

not out

51(44)

Gurkeerat Singh not out

28(15)

Azhar Mahmood run out

2(7)

SMSM Senanayake not out

PP Chawla not out

0(2)

Extras

Extras

(b 1, lb 4)

5

Total (6 wickets; 20 overs) Bowling L Balaji Senanayake SP Narine JH Kallis S Ladda R Bhatia

O 4 4 4 4 2 2

M 0 1 0 0 0 0

149

R W Econ 44 1 11.00 29 0 7.25 22 0 5.50 14 2 3.50 18 1 9.00 17 1 8.50

37(33)

Morgan c G Singh b A Mahmood 42(26) 0(1)

(b 4, lb 5, w 2, nb 1)

12

Total (4 wickets; 18.2 overs)

150

Bowling

O

M R

W Econ

P Kumar

4

0 28

0

7.00

A Mahmood

4

0 35

3

8.75

BA Bhatt

3

0 21

0

7.00

PP Chawla

4

0 33

0

8.25

3.2

0 24

1

7.20

H Singh

Kolkata Knight Riders won by 6 wickets

T

wo teams with proven winning capability and now equally hungry for a win meet at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur today.

That both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals meet today after losing their previous matches gives them enough reason to put in an improved performance, and that could provide the cutting edge to this match.

One decisive factor in the tournament has been the home advantage. Most wins by all teams this far have been in their home towns, and that could benefit RR in this match.

It boils down to the crowd support more than better knowledge of the pitch conditions that has been favouring the home

team. With at least four foreign nationals playing each match and good number representing the home team but coming from other parts of the country, the pitch is not ‘home’ to many in the team.

And that is an interesting factor. Irrespective of the state a player or even the country comes from, the crowd roots for their team.

While RR have the home advantage, the return of Shikhar Dhawan will work in the favour of SRH. All victories of SRH have been without the swashbuckling southpaw, who got into the grove immediately after returning from injury in their match against Chennai Super Kings. That could tilt the scale in SS this match.

32

SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Arsenal jeers won’t rile Van Persie: Ferguson

Ronaldo out of Madrid derby

Van Persie left Arsenal last year for a bigger pay packet.

Tom WILLIAMS

Fergie won’t rule out spending spree

LONDON: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson (right) says he has no concerns about the prospect of Robin van Persie facing abuse from fans of his former club Arsenal when the teams clash at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Van Persie left Arsenal in an acrimonious £24 million ($37 million, 28 million euros) transfer last year and has been a revelation in his first season at Old Trafford.

His hat-trick at home to Aston Villa on Monday took his tally for the campaign to 24 league goals and secured the title for United, which Arsenal have pledged to acknowledge by forming a guard of honour for the visiting team.

The sight of Van Persie being applauded on to the pitch as a league champion by his former team-mates is liable to provoke strong feelings among the Arsenal support, but Ferguson believes the Dutchman will not be fazed.

“I don’t bother about it, and I don’t think Robin should bother about it either," said the United manager.

“There was a bit of booing when he played (against Arsenal) at Old Trafford, and I expect a portion of fans will do that. That is the modern generation, I am afraid.

“For Arsenal to have one of their players go to their biggest rivals of the last 20 years doesn’t

LONDON: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has revealed he is ready to embark on a major spending spree if the right players become available to improve the Premier League champions.

With the English title already secured, Ferguson can turn his attention to planning for next season and he estimates he only needs a couple of players to freshen up his squad.

Cech expects Euro battle to go to the wire Ian Winrow

LONDON: Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech believes the battle for a place in next season’s Champions League will not be resolved until the final day of the season.

Cech and his Chelsea sit well with their fans, nor Arsene (Wenger, the Arsenal manager) for that matter.

“But it does happen. You just have to move on. Arsenal have moved on now. They are challenging for a Champions League place and have every chance of getting one."

Ferguson has urged United to go on and break the Premier

team-mates face Swansea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday looking to bounce back after dropping two points following Luis Suarez’s late equaliser at Liverpool last weekend.

That left the Blues in fourth place going into the latest round of matches.

League points record of 96 by winning their four remaining games, but Sunday’s showdown will be of far greater significance to the fight for Champions League qualification.

Arsenal, in third, fourthplace Chelsea, and fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur are currently separated by just two points, but Wenger’s side are at a disad-

vantage as they have played a game more than both of their rivals.

However, their form is excellent, with six wins in their last seven matches, and Wenger believes his side’s performances prove that Van Persie has not been unduly missed.

“What you want to focus on is that when the big players go, you just want to get around it and try to find a new organisation that is efficient," he said “You always miss a big player. The only thing I can say is it took us a while to get around it, but if you look at the number of goals we’ve scored, it’s similar to last season (1.91 goals per game compared to 1.95). It took us a while to find a different way because the game went through him (Van Persie) a lot.”

MADRID: Real Madrid’s Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo (above) will miss Saturday’s derby against Atletico Madrid, the club’s assistant coach Aitor Karanka confirmed on Friday.

Ronaldo, 28, picked up a thigh strain in Wednesday’s crushing 4-1 Champions League semi-final, first leg defeat at Borussia Dortmund and did barely five minutes of jogging on Friday before returning to the indoor gym at Real’s training complex, Spanish media reported.

“He has a muscle problem and he wasn’t able to train today and he isn’t in the squad for tomorrow," Karanka said.

“We hope to have him back for the return match against Dortmund," he added.

Resting Ronaldo gives him an extra three days to recover in time for the second leg against Dortmund on Tuesday.

Real need to get a result in the derby to maintain their hold on second place in La Liga with their city rivals just three points behind in third.

Ronaldo is the top scorer in the Champions League this season with 12 goals.

Rio’s iconic Maracana reopens for key test game

LAUSANNE: Inter Milan and Benfica were hit with fines from UEFA on Friday over the behaviour of their fans and poor organisation during the Europa League last 16 round.

Inter were fined 45,000 euros after monkey chants were reported during

their clash with Tottenham on March 14.

Benfica copped a 32,000-euro fine for the actions of their fans during their game with Bordeaux a week earlier.

Inter have already been hit with a fine for racist chanting by their fans during a AFP Serie A clash against AC Milan.

SOLUTIONS Scrabble

Inter, Benfica fined for fans’ behaviour

who both won the World Cup with the national squad, face off in the iconic arena in front of 25,000 spectators, including President Dilma Rousseff and 21,000 workers involved in the renovation as well as their relatives.

It is the first of three tests in the renovated 78,838-seat sporting complex before the Confederations Cup kicks off in Brasilia on June 15.

The first Confederations Cup game in Rio will be a MexicoItaly game on June 16.

A second test is scheduled

Boggle

for May 15 with 50 percent capacity, to be followed by the official inauguration on June 2 with a Brazil-England friendly.

“The objective of a test match is to check the teams, facilities and infrastructure so that eventual adjustments can be made to ensure everything runs smoothly when Maacana is inaugurated," the Rio state government said in a statement.

Maracana, which hosted a world record crowd of around 200,000 for the climax of the 1950 World Cup, will be the fifth of six host arenas to be complete.

DAD SON AUNT NIECE COUSIN NEPHEW

Suduko

cal Maracana Stadium reopens today (Saturday) for an exhibition match that will serve as a first test ahead of the Confederations Cup in June and the World Cup next year.

Built for the 1950 World Cup, it underwent two years of extensive renovation in order to be ready to host four Confederations Cup matches as well as seven World Cup games next year, including the finals of both tournaments.

Saturday, “friends” of former soccer stars Ronaldo and Bebeto,

Number game

RIO DE JANEIRO: Rio’s mythi-