Epaper 27 june 2013

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013 HYDERABAD

MEET THE GAULS!

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

WEATHER: A MIX OF CLOUDY AND CLEAR SKIES; 28°C

32 PAGES

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Yep, Asterix and Obelix could soon be heading to India to meet Gandhix, a character inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. Just so Gandhix knows what he might have to deal with soon, here are some of our favourite Gauls from Asterix-land.

PG 16&17

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

‘BUNGLING’ DEO ADDS TO CHAOS AS SHUTDOWN DEADLINE LOOMS With only five days to go before the City’s unrecognised schools are forced to close, our investigation reveals that a number of schools listed on the DEO website as unrecognised, were actually recognised years ago. Also, while the wealthier schools look for a way out of the jam, smaller schools with less clout will be the first to suffer.

PG 5

REPORT ON P8 9

DOUBLE MURDER SHOCKS CITY! In a shocking crime, a husband who suspected his wife was cheating on him, flew home from Dubai, where he works, and overcome with rage allegedly hacked to death his wife and her brother. His mother-in-law who intervened to save her daughter was seriously injured. The man is currently on the run.

NEED SOME BLACK MONEY? START PRIVATE TUITIONS According to an Assocham survey, the private tuition ‘industry’ is worth `2,300 crore and is likely to reach `4,000 crore by 2015. Most of these earnings are undeclared and the Union finance ministry, which uses VAT indiscriminately on everything from salt to underwear, must devise ways to tackle this educational ‘black’ hole.

PG 8 & 9

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THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

city events

LET’S DRUM TOGETHER

Aao Bajao, an open drun circle by Drumberries is organising its 23 session.

Where: Pebble Creek High Montessori School, Dr AS Rao Nagar.

When: June 30, 5pm Contact: 9160001494 Website: www.drumberries.com

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

27°C

22°C

26°C

32°C

A mix of clear and cloudy skies.

A mix of cloudy and clear skies.

A mix of cloud and sun. Windy.

A mix of cloud and sun. Windy.

New Delhi Mumbai Max 36 Max 29 Min 29 Min 26 Cloudy

Cloudy with chances thunderstorms

Chennai Max 39 Min 31

Bangalore Max 29 Min 20

Cloudy with chances of storm

Cloudy with chances of thunderstorms.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES Art attack

SHOWS

Aakar Art academy is conducting a painting workshop for kids above the age of 4.

Where: Just Books, Jubilee Hills When: Every Friday and Saturday from June 28, Friday - 4 to 5.30pm Contact: (040) 66662323 Dance and drama Shobana's Krishna, dance performance by dancer and actress Shobhana will be held.

Where: Shilpa Kala Vedika, Madhapur When: June 28, 6 pm Contact: 23112704

DINING HEALTHY LIVING: Senior citizens spotted taking a walk in the early morning at Ashok Nagar Park.

Celebrity DJ Celebrity DJ Nikhil Chinapa will set the dance floor on fire at Sky, Avasa.

Where: Sky, Avasa, Madhapur When: June 29, 9pm onwards

When: June 30, 11am - 1pm Contact: Mansi Gandhi at 9908477444 Movie time German movie Young Goethe In Love will be screened.

Where: Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad, Banjara Hills When: June 27, 6 pm

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

198 155313

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

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

Play pursuits Play Aladdin Chicha will be staged.

Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills When: June 29, 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm Contact: 96427-31329

WORKSHOPS

Foodie’s haven Vegetarian and non-vegetarian

Commissioner & Spl Officer

Helpline

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

Kakatiya food Kakatiya Food Festival is on.

Where: Bidri, Marriott When: Till June 30, 6.30 pm to 11.30 pm Contact: +91 40 2752 2577

Contact: 2335-0443

Little wonders A workshop on puppet making for mothers by Sphoorthi Theatre for Educational Puppetry will be held.

Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills When: June 29, 10.30 am to 1.30 pm Contact: Padmini Rangarajan, at 98660-81172

Film screening The Green Bandits, a Sleepyhead Production, is a movie that will be screened in the City.

Where: Prasads Labs Preview Theatre, Banjara Hills

SRINIVAS SETTY

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

155313 23307328 23313163

27505566 23314095 23390933 24600146 27001134 23607777 30418888 30417777 30419000 30416666 39879999

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

biriyani cooking classes are on.

Where: Colorama Printers, Begumpet When: Till June 27, 10 am to 1 pm Contact: 80086-24949

Sunset BBQ Saturday Sunset BBQ is on.

Where: The Square, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre When: Every Saturday, 7pm onwards Contact: 040 6682 4422

Word club A fun workshop for kids above the age of 8 will be organised.

Where: Just books, Jubilee Hills.

When: Every Sunday, 10 am to 12 pm Contact: 9849748117

27567892 23559555 23226624 27633087 27035588 27550238 30799999 30418296 30417445

AMBULANCES Apollo 23548888, 23607777 Kamineni 24022222 Medwin 23202902, 23204616 Smile Line Dental Hospital 23747979 Red Cross 27627973 Niloufer Hospital 23314095 Gandhi 23320332 AIRLINES

Food fest Pasta food festival is on.

Where: Prego, The Westin When: Till June 30, 7 pm to 11 pm Contact: 040 6767 6828

Airport Director 27903785, 27906001 For Air India Flight Information Toll free (from any network) for IC Flights 18001801407 And for All Flights: 1800227722 Air India has revised its flight timings.

For more information call (Toll free) 18001801407, 1800227722 from BSNL/MTNL 04023430334 from other lines and mobile Website; www.airindia.in TOURISM OFFICES AP Tourism, Hyd 23262152/53/54 Sec-bad 27893100 Dept of Tourism 23453110 India Tourism 23261360 AP Tourism information Centre (24x7) 23450444, 23455999 UK VISA OFFICE VFS India Pvt Ltd Building, 8-2-542/A, Sunil Chamber, Road No. 7

Beside Meridian School, Banjara Hills34. Working hours are from 8 AM to 1 PM And 2 PM to 3PM. MUSEUMS Salar Jung Museum AP State Museum Nizams Museum

24523211 232431300/7641 24521029

Readers’ views

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

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

news

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

IS THE KIRAN GOVERNMENT BECOMING A ONE-MAN SHOW? 87% 13%

YES (A) NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

ARE THE ‘FIGHTING POLITICIANS A DISGRACE TO THE STATE? A)

YES

B)

NO

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

CIVIC

CRIME

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR VANISHING PARKS? Under the unholy alliance between realty sharks and civic officials, City’s precious parks are swallowed, endangering the lives of the young who are being deprived of their lung space.

Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Is it the lack of awareness among public or laxity on the part of GHMC officials that see a systematic decimation of parks in City? The localities where RWA is strong are fighting against the wanton encroachment by realty sharks but most of the urbanscape meant for parks is vanishing under pressure of surging population and avarice of realty men.

According to officials, the City ought to have at least 2,500 parks in the GHMC area as it is mandatory that every layout must reserve 10 per cent space for park and playground. While they are all shown on plan submitted to the GHMC, at the ground level the builder-town planning nexus would ensure the place is sold for structures.

One of the recent cases that came to the fore involves

Venkataramana Colony where a local man claim to have the papers of the land before the erstwhile the HUDA layout (1962) declared to be park. A senior citizens and the president of the local RWA have been fighting tooth and nail to recover it from the clutches of this greedy man. The issue threatening to go out of control has the attention of the GHMC now, thanks to Prajavani. commissioner MT Krishna Babu has assured the aggrieved parties he would solve this. “The GHMC is taking up the issue on Thursday. Both the parties will meet us over the issue,” says GV Raghu, chief city planner.

Even as the encroachments of the parks goes on unabated in the core city (erstwhile MHC), the officials insist that most of the park spaces are secure. But deputy mayor, G Rajkumar rubbishes this claim. Two spaces, which were considered to be

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Public fury forces cops to arrest lady bootlegger POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: The young woman loved, trusted, and started living with her lover. He had however allegedly held back the truth that he was already married. She was left high and dry by her lover after a while.

Tarabai, 35, a Maharastrian who has since changed her name to Taheera Begum after coming in contact with Saleem, a realty man from Hyderabad, started a retail hooch sale at his rented home after Saleem abandoned her to her fate. It flourished.

It is said she had grown in influence and of late begun many more entertainment enterprises including the services of sex

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Deputy mayor G Rajkumar is ‘surprised’ by disappearance of two parks in Domalguda, near the GHMC head office! parks in Domalguda ward have recently been found to have vanished. What is ironical is the fact that the area borders the Head Office of the GHMC! “There were two parks until recent years. I was surprised that they are nowhere to be found. How could this happen, in an area not far from our office?” asks Raj kumar.

About a year ago, a committee comprising GHMC and revenue officials was formed to sur-

vey the corporation properties.

But the chief city planner explains that the he is yet to receive report, which will enable the corporation to fence them off. “As these spaces needs dimension details, it will take time. The survey is going on”, Raghu says. According to him, layouts of the Old Municipal areas are secure, but the areas which were merged to form GHMC could have been encroached. This will be clarified only once the report comes.

There is no clarity as to whose jurisdiction the ‘open spaces’ come. The Town Planning disowns the responsibility and puts the onus on Estates department and vice versa. “When the Town Planning is sitting on the files, how can we be able to classify the properties owned by GHMC”, was the response of additional commissioner (estates), GD Priya Darshini.

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workers. Vexed neighbours made a vain bid to rein in her.

Over the years Taheera Begum’s hooch retail enterprise grew and she began to be a dreaded and influential person in the locality.

Neighbours who ganged up and attacked her house alleged that she had been a corrupting influence on youths. One of the aggrieved, T Narsing Yadav said, police did not take action against her despite many complaints.

On Tuesday some 100 people got together and surrounded her house. Sensing trouble Taheera slipped away to safety. But they damaged the house, brought out wash and other ingredients used for making hooch and created a law and order situation.

Police reached the scene and finally arrested Taheera.

CITY BRIEFS Modi to address BJP meet in City on July 27

Citizen’s Charter to have IT, judiciary experts

Mobiles worth `5 lakh seized at RGI airport

Ahmed Nadeem is new MWD secretary

Ganta rubbishes speculations on T

HYDERABAD: Gujarat CM Narendra Modi will address a ‘Yuva Sammelan’ on July 27. The State BJP chief Kishan Reddy said Modi was on a mission shoring up support for the party nation-wide. As a prelude to his national tour, Modi will get installed a huge statue of Sardar Patel at Sardar Sarovar Project, billed to be tallest in the world.

HYDERABAD: To bring in transparency in Citizen’s Charter, the government will be creating “Public Grievance Office” with experts from various departments including IT and judiciary. Each transaction will be recorded in the centralised server. Principal Secretary (MA&UD), Adhar Sinha, described it a big step towards transparency.

HYDERABAD: Air Customs at Rajiv Gandhi International airport today seized mobile phone worth `5 lakh from three passengers who flew in from Thailand. Sources said the three had no plausible explanation of bringing in so many mobile phones without legitimate document support. The three have been detained for interrogation.

HYDERABAD: Ahmed Nadeem, IAS, took charge as secretary, Minority Welfare Department on Wednesday. Soon after he took charge of his duty he initiated measures to improve the performance of minority institutions. J Raymond Peter, principal secretary social welfare was handling the additional charge Minority Welfare.

HYDERABAD: State minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao has dismissed all the speculations on Telangana as mere speculations. Speaking to the media, Ganta exuded confidence that the State would remain united.

He also pointed out that before any decision was taken, the report of the State Congress in-charge Digvijay Singh would be necessary.

4

News THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013 LAST YEAR... HERE Ignoring Rasoolpura

L

ast year we had reported how Rasoolpura, the City’s biggest slum which had a budget of `16 crore attached to it had various developmental projects taking place. The problem being faced there was that all those efforts were being stalled by inept authorities and fellow ward members. Today, the situation remains unchanged and the people are still waiting for change.

JUNE 27, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

POSTNOON EXCLUSIVE

Do netas dread helicopter rides?

The CM Kiran Kumar shuns helicopter rides as much as possible; in fact, he has even said no to owning a chopper. for a queer reason, many politicians are keeping away from a chopper ride!

2,500

In most of the programmes involving the chief minister since 2009, it has been found that the current incumbent chose to travel by scheduled flights rather than hiring a helicopter.

He used a helicopter only for short distances which lack an aerodrome such as Medak, Karimnagar or the Adilabad districts.

The CM Kiran Kumar Reddy seems to shun helicopter rides as much as possible. He has reportedly said no to owning a new chopper.

“Like many leaders, he may also be worried about travelling in a helicopter,” a senior TDP leader and MLA told Postnoon.

The leader further said that if the state had its own aircraft, it could have saved many lives and also a lot of trouble and money in times of emergency like this pilgrim tragedy.

Every year the government has been stating that it will shut down unrecognised schools, but that has not been happening. Branded schools know how to get away in such situations.

K Sudhakar, a parent See page 8& 9

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

1

Encroachments of parks in the City

Most of the urbanscape meant for parks is vanishing under pressure of surging population and avarice of realty men.

2

Political parties bicker over who takes a copter ride After the death of the former chief minister YSR in a copter crash, AP ministers are wary of using it as a means of transportation.

3

Julia Gillard’s term as Oz Prime Minister was not easy Julia Gillard's ascension was a historic moment for women, but Australia's first female prime minister failed to survive a first term marred by slights on her gender.

4

Women love trying out new hairstyles Women sport 150 different hairstyles in their lifetime according to a new research.

5

Edward Snowden risks being stuck in Russia forever Snowden’s is travel plans still a mystery as Ecuador warned it could take months to consider his asylum request.

CITY

SUPERSTITION

is the number of parks that should be there in the City areas under the GHMC. It is mandatory that every layout must reserve 10 per cent space for park and playground.

THINGS WE 5LEARNT TODAY

AROUND THE

Md INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: At a time when the entire state and all political parties are discussing about rescuing of the Telugu pilgrims from Uttaranchal, a slanging match is running between the Congress and the Opposition TDP over the usability of helicopters, even for a gesture sake,

has come to focus in political circles.

One of the two state owned helicopters was lost in the 2009 crash in which the chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy was killed. The other was lost in a fire last year. Ever since no attempt was made to own a new one. Instead, the government has since been hiring helicopters when the need arose. Moreover,

FATE OF CHOPPERS The state government owned two helicopters in the past. But both helicopters were gutted in fires for varied reasons. The first chopper — a six-seater Bell430 helicopter — had crashed on September 2, 2009 in the dense Nallamala forests in Kurnool district killing YSR and four others. It was purchased from the US when N Chandrababu

THE CM’S DILEMMA

I

n most of the programmes involving the chief minister since 2009, it has been found that the current incumbent chose to travel by scheduled flights rather than hiring a helicopter. He used a helicopter only for short distances which lack an aerodrome such as Medak, Karimnagar or the Adilabad districts.

Naidu was the chief minister.

The second chopper — an eight-seater twin-engined Augusta Westland helicopter, was gutted in a massive fire that broke out on a Monday night in Hangar No 3 of Begumpet airport here where it was parked on December 17, 2012 last year.

The chopper, which was meant for the use of present CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy, was bought for a whopping `65 crore by the state from the Anglo-Italian firm Fenmeccania, when YSR was the CM. Even after six months of the incident, the government did not take any concrete measure to procure another chopper. The first chopper bought by the then CM T Anjaiah also faced technical problems.

HUMAN RIGHTS

‘Don’t target Dalit performers’ Members of Kabir Kala Manch, charged in 2011 under counterterrorism laws, remain subject to prosecution for their alleged support of Maoist militants.

NEW YORK: Indian authorities should conduct an independent review of apparent politically motivated terrorism charges filed against performers in a Dalit cultural group, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.

Members of Kabir Kala Manch, charged in 2011 under counterterrorism laws, remain subject to prosecution for their alleged support of Maoist mili-

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tants. One of them, eight months pregnant, was denied bail and must wait until Thursday for an appeals decision on her bail application.

Indian courts have repeatedly ruled that ideological sympathy should not be interpreted as

active membership in a banned organisation.

“The Indian authorities should not conflate shared sympathy for concerns about social inequity expressed by the Maoists with criminal complicity in violence,” said Meenakshi Ganguly of Human Rights Watch. “It should ensure that peaceful activists can speak out without fear of terrorism charges.”

IANS

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News THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

CRIME

Double murder shocker Suspicion of infidelity is believed to have prompted the brutal crime.

MOHD SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: In a sensational crime, a Dubai-employed husband who suspected fidelity of his wife came home today in blinded with hatred and allegedly hacked to death his wife and her brother while his mother-in-law who intervened to save her daughter was seriously hurt. The man is absconding.

Abrar Ahmed, 40, a native of Bihar was married to Shaheen Begum of Hyderabad. They lived in Ali Nagar, Pahadishareef. He is employed in

TRIBUTES

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CITY

Dubai. While away he suspected his wife back home of having extra-marital relationship. But, the grieving mother of the deceased however says it was totally false.

This morning Abrar came on leave yesterday. This morning, without provocation he is said to have attacked Shaheen with a blunt weapon. His brother-in-law Syed Qayyum who dashed out trying to save his sister was attacked too. Both died on spot while mother in law Nasreen Begum, 65, suffered serious injuries. She is critical.

Their 10 year old son was witness to the gory events, police said. A manhunt is launched for Abrar.

An Army officer salutes the body of soldier M Yadaiah who was killed in the militant attack in Srinagar on June 26. The body was brought to Shamshabad airport this morning and will be taken to his home town in Mahbubnagar.

M ANIL KUMAR

FALL FROM POWER

Gender Wars claim Julia Gillard

Though she managed to overthrow the then PM Kevin Rudd in a 2010 coup, the going has been tough for Julia Gillard who always found herself targeted by sexist attacks.

SYDNEY: Julia Gillard's ascension was hailed as an historic moment for women, but Australia's first female prime minister failed to survive a first term marred by sexist attacks and slights on her gender.

Gillard, a flame-haired, unmarried, atheist lawyer, was marked as a "backstabber" from the outset, snatching the premiership from Kevin Rudd in a 2010 coup drafted by Labor party heavies unnerved by his poor polling ahead of elections.

She enjoyed an immediate bounce in the polls as Australians celebrated the appointment of their first woman leader but, like all honeymoons, the giddiness soon came to an end.

Voters disgruntled at her knifing of the popularly-elected Rudd returned Gillard's Labor by the slenderest of margins in the subsequent elections and she slipped to record lows in the

Rudd urges 'gentler' politics SYDNEY: Kevin Rudd called for a "kinder, gentler" approach to politics Thursday after being sworn in as Australia's new prime minister almost three years to the day since he was ruthlessly ousted from the job by Julia Gillard. With Labor desperately fighting for electoral survival, Rudd used his first speech to parliament since seizing back power to acknowledge that politics could be brutal.

"Political life is a very hard life, a very hard life indeed," he said.

"Occasionally it can be kind, more often it is not." He asked MPs to "be a little kinder and a gentler with each other in the further deliberations of this parliament" while praising Gillard.

Rudd's resurrection marks a stunning turnaround for the former premier who will now lead Labor to elections.

AFP

dubbed her Ju-liar, famously said she should be thrown into the ocean in a hessian sack and had to apologise for remarking that her late father "died of shame"; another was sacked for suggesting her partner Tim Mathieson was gay.

Conservative lawmakers also had a role: one MP spoke about slitting Gillard's throat, another held a fundraiser with a quail dish on the menu named after

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the prime minister because of its "Small Breasts and Huge Thighs and A Big Red Box." Opposition leader Tony Abbott gave a speech in front of placards calling Gillard a "witch" and the "bitch" and she was labelled "deliberately barren" by one conservative senator who suggested her failure to have children made her unfit for high office. Crude cartoons of her naked and wearing a sex aid were circulated among MPs. Pushed to breaking point, Gillard let rip in a fiery speech accusing Abbott and his colleagues of misogyny and sexism last year.

She was promptly accused of playing the "gender card" and politicising the fact that she was a woman.

AFP

polls amid mounting criticism on trivialities from her hair colour to the tone of her voice.

"Gillard has been the victim of appalling levels of sexism not seen before in Australian public life," said Marian Sawer, politics professor from the Australian National University. "(She has) been subjected to an unrelenting campaign of vilification by a loose coalition of shock jocks, bloggers and newspaper colum-

nists (that has been) rhetorically violent in nature at times."

Endless column inches were dedicated to her tripping over in high heels, prominent feminist Germaine Greer derided her "big arse" on national television and, in the days before Rudd moved against her, a furore raged about a photograph of Gillard knitting on the front page of a women's magazine.

One media commentator

Goa HRC issues notice to state government

Two schoolchildren drown in Cauvery River

Australian help to check Ganga pollution

PANAJI: Goa Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the government in connection with the alleged assault on a social activist here by bouncers, who were engaged by producers during the shooting of a film. The panel has asked the authorities "why public road was blocked and human rights were curtailed" during the shoot.

Wife of jawan killed in Sringar commits suicide

Three of a family killed in Haryana fire

SALEM: Two primary school children drowned while playing in the Cauvery River on their way to school at Navalpet village in the district while on their way to school, police said. Their bags were found along the river following which fire services personnel and local fishermen searched the river. The bodies were fished out today.

BANKURA: The wife of an army soldier whose husband was killed in militant attack in Srinagar on Monday, today committed suicide in Bankura district, police said. Piu Nandi, 21, wife of Asim Nandi today set herself on fire at her residence at Pachmore village, the sources said.

Piu was married to Asim only nine months back.

KOLKATA: To save the Ganga from industrial pollution, the Victorian government in Australia is preparing an eco-friendly business model for tanneries, which discharge effluents into the river.

Experts from 'an Australian agency working on environmental issues in the state of Victoria, would visit India next month for this.

JIND: Three members of a family were killed and 10 others suffered burn injuries when a fire broke out in their house in Jullana town, police said. The fire broke out yesterday in a cloth showroom on the ground floor of the shop-cum-residential building and soon it engulfed the upper storey of the building where the family was residing.

NATION BRIEFS

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News THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

AFGHAN EXIT

‘Sell excess equipment to India’ Congressman wants military hardware sold to staunch allies like India instead of scrapping it.

WASHINGTON: Instead of scrapping excess military equipment in Afghanistan, the United States should sell it to friendly countries like India and Uzbekistan, a top American lawmaker has suggested the Obama Administration.

Expressing shock over a recent article in ‘The Washington Post’ reporting that US has hired contract labourers to scrap precious military equipment in Afghanistan worth billions of dollars, New York Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has written in a letter to the Secretary of State John Kerry that the United States should not waste perfectly good military equipment.

“We have allies and friends in Uzbekistan and India who have very real security concerns and could put this equipment to good use. They should buy the equipment and the training that goes along with it which should be profitable to us both. It makes more sense for the American tax

FASHION

Bad hair day? Just change your style for 150th time!

Women sport 150 different hairstyles in their life, trying out various cuts, colours and shapes.

LONDON: Women sport 150 different hairstyles in their lifetime, trying out various cuts, colours and shapes, according to a new research.

The study of 2,000 women found that about one in 20 likes to try something different with each trip to the salon.

Almost half are willing to experiment and take risks with their tresses.

Women are likely to go for two new styles and at least one colour change every year with some switching shades 100 times between the ages of 15 and 65, the Daily Express reported.

The study found 64 per cent of women will alter their hair simply because they are bored with their current style.

Nearly 12 per cent will change their hair so as to look like a celebrity while 15 per cent will

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change their style for a wedding.

Some 13 per cent women would change their hairstyle after having a baby. Other reasons for trying out a new hairstyle were birthdays and break-ups.

The research, by Toni&Guy stylists, found women visit the hairdresser five times a year

making around 250 trips before hitting 65.

“It’s great to see that most women will experiment with their hair rather than stick to the same tried and tested look,” said Sacha Mascolo-Tarbuck, global creative director for the chain.

“A new hairstyle or colour can be a great way to brighten up your appearance or even celebrate a big life change or milestone event.”

PTI

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NATION

payer and serves our country’s interests by supporting nations who will come under increased threat from radical Islam after 2014," Rohrabacher wrote in the letter yesterday.

As the US military prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan, equipment deemed to be too costly to transport out of the country is being destroyed, according to media reports.

It is reported that the Defence Department has “destroyed more than 170 million pounds worth of vehicles and other military equipment” so far, including mine-resistant armoured trucks.

The excess equipment being scrapped is so valuable, it was referred to as “gold dust” in a June 19, 2013, Washington Post article. Some estimates its worth to be as high as $7 billion.

PTI

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News THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

TUNISIA

Femen activists freed

BIG BANG

They received suspended sentences for baring their breasts in public.

TUNIS: Three European women with the radical protest group Femen were freed from a Tunisian jail Wednesday after receiving suspended sentences from an appeal court for baring their breasts in public.

The three activists left the women's prison in Manouba, northeast Tunisia, in a police van just before midnight (2300 GMT) taking them to an interior ministry office for the final formalities for their release, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

One of their lawyers, Souhaib Bahri, said the three women, who had been detained for a

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month, would fly back to Europe on Thursday morning. Earlier Wednesday the three militant feminists, two French and one German, received suspended sentences of four months and one day after apologising for their protest action.

"It is a great joy to have spoken for the freedom of Femen in Tunisia and to have been heard," the defendants' two French lawyers Patrick Klugman and Ivan Terel told AFP.

An Iranian man who was fixing explosives runs away after setting ablaze 50 tons of drugs seized in recent months in eastern Tehran on June 26, 2013 to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

AFP/EHROUZ MEHRI

AFP

SPY GAMES

TRAILBLAZER

Snowden 'stuck' in Moscow His travel plans are still a mystery as Ecuador warned it could take months to consider his asylum request.

MOSCOW: US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden began a fifth day in a Moscow airport on Thursday, with his travel plans still a mystery as Ecuador warned it could take months to consider his asylum request.

The man responsible for one

of the biggest intelligence security breaches in US history has not been sighted since arriving in Moscow on a flight from Hong Kong on Sunday and according to Russia is still in the transit zone at Sheremetyevo airport.

"He has not violated Russian

A general view of a lobby in the Capsule Hotel "Air Express" inside Moscow's Sheremetyevo terminal F in Moscow on June 26, 2013, where US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden reportedly spent the fourth day with his onward travel.

AFP

law, he has not crossed the border, he is in the transit zone of the airport and can fly anywhere that he wants," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by the foreign ministry.

But the United States has revoked his passport and is applying persistent pressure on Moscow to hand over Snowden, who leaked sensational revelations of massive US surveillance programmes to the media.

Anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, which is assisting him, said he risks being stuck in Russia "permanently".

WikiLeaks had claimed Snowden left Hong Kong with a refugee document supplied by Ecuador but Quito said it was still reviewing his asylum application.

The leftist Latin American state, led by populist President Rafael Correa, is already sheltering WikiLeaks founder Julian

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Anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, which is assisting him, said he risks being stuck in Russia "permanently".

Assange at its embassy in London as he faces extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual assault.

"There is no passport, no document that was delivered by any Ecuadoran consulate," senior foreign ministry official Galo Galarza told reporters.

Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said earlier during a visit to Malaysia that it could take weeks to decide whether to grant asylum to Snowden. IANS

Japan OKs first iPS stemcell trial KYOKO HASEGAWA Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON: Japan has given the green light to the world's first clinical trial using stem cells harvested from a patient's own body, officials said Thursday, testing a treatment that may offer hope to millions of people robbed of their sight.

A government committee approved proposals for tests aimed at treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common medical condition that causes blindness in older people, using "induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells", a health ministry official said.

The trial treatment will try to create retinal cells that can be transplanted into the eyes of patients suffering from AMD, replacing the damaged part of the eye. AMD, a condition that is incurable at present, affects mostly middle-aged and older people and can lead to blindness.

WORLD BRIEFS Grave concerns for 7 missing in yacht off NZ

Haze crisis: Malaysia pressures Indonesia

Mandela's daughter ambassador to 2 nations

Canada charges Belmokhtar with kidnap

Cops, protesters clash near Confed match

WELLINGTON: New Zealand rescue authorities expressed "grave" fears Thursday for six Americans and a Briton whose yacht has been missing for more than three weeks.

The 21-metre (70-foot) wooden schooner Nina, build in 1928, set off from the North Island bound for Newcastle, on May 29 but has not been heard from since June 4.

JAKARTA: Malaysia on Thursday stepped up pressure on Indonesia to do more to stop outbreaks of smog after fires on Sumatra island sparked Southeast Asia's worst air pollution crisis for years. Palls of smoke from slash-and-burn agricultural fires pushed haze levels to record highs in Singapore last week, shrouding thssse city in smog.

ASUNCION: Nelson Mandela's daughter Zenani Dlamini on Wednesday officially presented her diplomatic credentials to become her country's ambassador to Paraguay, sources said. Dlamini, The US-educated businesswoman, presented her credentials to Foreign Minister Jose Felix Fernandez, diplomats said.

OTTAWA: Canada lodged charges Wednesday against Mohktar Belmohktar, former head of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), for his role in the kidnapping of two diplomats five years ago, a spokesman said Wednesday.

AQIM is known for May suicide bombings in Niger that killed at least 20.

BELO HORIZONTE: Brazilian police fired tear gas to disperse protesters near a stadium hosting a Confederations Cup football semifinal. The unrest outside the venue in Belo Horizonte, where Brazil beat Uruguay 2-1, was the latest in a wave of anti-government protests staged in part to denounce the high costs of hosting the event.

News THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

Private tuition is a `2,300cr industry According to an Assocham survey, the private tuiton ‘industry’ is worth `2,300 crore and is likely to reach `4,000 crore by 2015. Most of these earnings are undeclared and the Union finance ministry, which uses VAT indiscriminately on everything from salt to underwear, must devise ways to tackle this educational ‘black’ hole.

PK SURENDRAN surendran.pk@postnoon.com

I

t is shocking that the amount of moolah the private tuition sharks make in India is beyond the realm of avarice. It is sadder still that the Union finance minister has no plan to tax the money extracted from cashstrapped parents. The first ever probe into this dark area brings out the shocking state of affairs where the private tuitions industry rakes in `2,300 crore! It is likely to reach `4,000 crore by 2015.

Desire to stay ahead in the global economy and the falling quality of mainstream educational system are fuelling this tuition mania, says the Assocham survey that was held in 10 major cities including Hyderabad. A whopping 87 per cent of primary school children and up to 95 per cent students in high schools receive private tutoring in metros, reveals the survey.

The proportions of children relying on private tuition have increased by 100 per cent for the students of primary schools from 2006 to 2013. On the other hand, secondary school enrollments for private tuitions have also gone up by 92 per cent from 2006 to 2013.

Titled the ‘Business of private coaching centres in India,’ the survey blames for the state of affairs partly on the ambition of parents and the commercial greed of private schools. Today government teachers too go in for it because the money generated is ‘tax free’ or in common parlance it is parallel money that fuels inflation.

HAIR-RAISING STORY The survey based on response from 5,000 students and parents in March-May across 12 cities (200 respondents in each city) of Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Chandigarh further revealed that majority of middle class parents have been spending one

third of their monthly income on private tuitions for their wards do better in their examinations and prepare them for competitive entrance exams for professional courses.

The rise is not only some

Cities surveyed New Delhi Mumbai Hyderabad Kolkata Bangalore Chennai Lucknow Ahmedabad Jaipur Chandigarh increase in incomes and the affordability of having private tuition, but also an intensification of the general conviction among the parents that private tuition is “unavoidable” with peer pressure on the students and parents alike, said DS Rawat, Secretary General, Assocham.

Majority of parents rely on

The charges: group and hourly Private tutors charge `1,000 to `4,000 per hour per student on one-to-one basis, while group tuition cost `1,000 to `6,000 per month.

private tuition for primary class and secondary class in addition to attending classes at school. Over 86 per cent of parents said that they have to rely on tuitions at earliest due to lack of time or because they are ill-equipped to teach their children. For them, private coaching classes come in handy.

Working parents share that they have to spend half or sometimes even a whole day away from the homes and this makes difficult for them to pay due attention to their children, quoted 85 per cent of working parents.

The survey further reveals that many of the best teachers of reputed schools and colleges have left their jobs and taken up private coaching, for the simple reason that the monthly income of good tutors is equal to the annual salaries of school teachers, adds the survey.

Nearly 92 per cent of the tutors say parents want to compensate for "deficiencies in the state school system,” while 85 per cent attributed rise to examphobia.

The reasons 92 per cent tutors reported that the parents want to compensate for "perceived deficiencies in the state school system, while 85 per cent attributed rise in their business to the exam-anxiety factor among students.

Double-speak ALEENA ALICE aleena.t@postnoon.com

T

recently applied for recognition, and exude confidence that they will get the permission. “It is not just done to shut down a running school in the middle of an academic year. Not only the managements but lakhs of students will be affected and their academic year will go for a toss.

We believe the government will extend the time till next year,” said the headmistress of an unrecognised school in Begumpet.

he State education authorities is set to close down the private schools in city that have not been given recognition. Their number comes to 420 (coincidence?). But all top brands are unfazed by the threats, so are the parents who are confident of their schools managing the issue of recognition. Business, therefore, are as usual everywhere. The exception is an array of small schools TRUST DEFICIENCY ON GOVT which do not have enough clout.

Most of the parents when admitit seems. ting their wards in an unrecogAn amazing thing is that nised school were unaware of contradiction and confusion the recognition status. Nor many reign everywhere. In parents are aware of some instances, such a thing, it was “We schools that have revealed. If a are strictly followalready been school is ing the governclosed by the admitting ment instructions. managechildren it As per the RTE act ments as ought to be we have to have only unviable recognised 30 students in each appear in is the conclass. By now we have DEO webtention completed the admissite as most sion process, and will not be able to ‘unrecogevinced. Of accommodate more students.” nised.’ There course, Jahnavi Reddy, are schools some enlightPrincipal of Geethanjali that have been ened parents High School given permission appeared to be (SR Nagar) to run, but the cerworried. They wish tificates have not been the government would issued yet. All this means the make a final decision during government has not updated its vacation, not when schools list. How, then, can one blame opened. the schools or parents?

“Every year the government Some of the top brands like has been saying that it will shut Sri Chaitanya Techno School, down unrecognised schools, but Gowtam Model School, Jubilee that has not been happening.

High School and various other Branded schools know how to convent schools feature on the get away in such situations, and unrecognised list identified by will make sure that their schools the Hyderabad district educadon’t have to shut shop,” said K tion office. Most of them default Sudhakar, whose son is studying on one or other of the various in a famous model high school parameters. However, when we (unrecognised branch in visited some of these schools, all Karkhana). of them were seen functioning normally. They refused to agree DEO’S WEBSITE IS MISLEADING that their schools were unrecogThe district education office nised. “We had applied for website has earlier this month recognition and were given perput up the list of the 436 mission to re-open the school unrecognised schools in this year. We are yet to receive Hyderabad. However, some of the recognition certificate from the schools that feature on this the department, but we have list have been given recoga conformation and are nition three years “I confident that we ago! School manmyself am an exwill receive it agement say lecturer of a corporate within a week. that this misjunior college. I know Very soon all take by the that these schools the name education can get away from boards will departany kind of problem be disment has and have seen that hap- been misplayed with pen in the past. Only on the recognileading that confidence did I tion tag,” and is admit my son this year in Class said a hampering VIII in a corporate school.” spokesperson their repuY. Srinivas, of Sri tation. parent.

Chaitanya Postnoon visitSchool in SR Nagar. ed Geethanjali Many schools have School in SR Nagar

8&9

continues as

There are hardly five days left for the defaulting unrecognised schools to shut shop, and wind up their business.

But a Postnoon reality check finds interesting facts.

DEADLINE APPROACHES

N SHIVA KUMAR

Students being taken to a nearby playground as their school do not have one.

since it was featured on the unrecognised list, but it is recogAROUND THE nised. “We got recognition three CITY years ago. It was shocking to find the name of our school on misleading he said that he was the unrecognised list, and have unaware of the matter and will approached the DEO’s office look into it. many times but they don’t care.

Small schools are most affectOnly now was it done after ed by the government’s decision. many such promptings,” said Small schools like small fish the Principal of the School are in the firing line. Parents Jahnavi Reddy. who could not afford high Another school that feafees but wanted good tured on the unrecog“If education for their nised list is the government children admitAyyappan schools offer qualted their School in ity education with wards in Shyamlal good facilities, why unrecogBuilding, would parents have nised Begumpet. to spend lakhs on schools.

When their children in priNow with Postnoon vate schools? The state those visited that is not ready to improve the stanschools facarea in dards of their schools, but want to ing the search of shut down private schools threat of clothat school, it which offer good educasure, they are was learned tion. Y. Anuradha, not sure. that the school parent “We cannot had been shut afford to pay high down two years ago fees, now if our children because of financial loss. have to leave this school, we will However, the name still features be forced to admit them in on the list. schools which charge huge The education department is amounts that we cannot afford. nevertheless firm. It’s keen to go The government on the other by its word that strict action will hand is shutting down private be taken against erring schools. schools, but not doing anything When we contacted the DEO, to improve the standard of govSubba Reddy, he said, “The ernment schools. In all this chaos director of school education and middle-class people like us are the commissioner have ordered being affected,” says Shialaja closure of unrecognised schools.

Naidu, a parent whose daughter School managements can reapis studying in an unrecognised ply to seek recognition, but as of school in Rasoolpura. now we will make sure that Recognised schools say they action is taken.” have no vacancy for new candiWhen asked about the list of dates. unrecognised schools that were

Geethanjali School in SR Nagar is a recognised school though on the DEO website it is listed unrecognised.

Now, here is the punch. If any worried parents want to get their wards shifted from unrecognised school to a recognised one, there is no vacancy.

However, in reality, most of these recognised schools are full in admission and cannot afford to accommodate more. As per the RTE, every class should have

only 30 students for every teacher. So most of the schools refuse to admission if students from unrecognised schools approach them.

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MEXICO

Where tweets keep’em alive

With traditional media often intimidated by drug cartels, social media has given Mexicans a way to stay appraised about the lurking dangers.

LETICIA PINEDA Agence France-Presse MEXICO CITY: They tweet and blog about street gunfights and murders in Mexican regions plagued by the drug war, keeping people informed about gangland crimes which local newspapers are too afraid to report on.

“They are killing like crazy!

There’s a shootout in the Lazaro Cardenas neighborhood. Steer clear of that area,” read a warning tweeted by a writer in the northern city of Monterrey, the country’s industrial heart now beset by drug violence.

Monterrey, which has found itself caught in the crossfire in a turf war between the Zetas and the Gulf cartel, is just one city where reporting on drug crime is moving to social media.

Analysts from Microsoft.com, led by Mexican researcher Andres Monroy Hernandez, followed for 16 months the Twitter activity of people in Monterrey, Reynosa, Saltillo and Veracruz — all cities heavily affected by drug cartels.

Their report, “The New War Correspondents: The rise of civic media curation in urban warfare,” noted a prevalence of words like “bomb blasts,” “gunshots” and “gunmen” on the site between August 2010 and November 2011.

Just one-third of Mexicans have access to the Internet, and

DUBIOUS RECORD

Execution count hits 500 in Texas

WASHINGTON: The US state of Texas on Wednesday executed its 500th convict since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, a record in a country where capital punishment is in decline elsewhere.

Kimberly McCarthy, 52, was declared dead by lethal injection at 6:37 pm (23:37) GMT in the “Walls Unit,” a red brick prison in the small town of Huntsville, prison officials said. After 14 years on death row, time stopped for the former drug addict who was condemned to death for the savage murder of 71-year-old retired college professor Dorothy Booth in 1997.

AFP

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This screen grab from Twitter shows information provided by Mexican civilian vigilantes on Thursday.

AFP

only 20 percent of them write daily on Twitter. But in the four cities studied by Microsoft.com, there are “twice as many retweets” than in US cities like Seattle, Monroy Hernandez said. The analysts have identified a half dozen Twitter accounts seen as must-follow sources on the latest development in the drug war.

about particularly horrifying acts of violence. “They have a

RISKY REPORTING

From the greater safety of anonymity with no bylines, these “social media curators” spend as much as 15 hours each day gathering information

Deadly workplace

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he epidemic of drug violence that has claimed more than 70,000 lives in Mexico since 2006 has made this one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. Since 2000, 86 journalists have been killed and another 18 have gone missing, according to Mexico’s Human Rights Commission.

lot of visibility in these cities but they try to stay anonymous,” said Monroy Hernandez, who interviewed the curators and found that most are ordinary citizens reporting on crime for altruistic reasons.

The epidemic of drug violence that has claimed more than 70,000 lives in Mexico since 2006 has made this one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. Since 2000, 86 journalists have been killed and another 18 have gone missing, according to Mexico’s Human Rights Commission.

The rise of social media reporting is a result of “the role of the press as a provider of information being hampered, the increased pressure it finds itself under, the lack of protection afforded journalists — and the dangerousness of the drug traffickers,” said Octavio Islas, director of strategic digital communication at the Monterrey Institute of Technology.

Despite their efforts to stay in the shadows, some bloggers have faced the wrath of drug gangs. A government official who works in the intelligence field said cartels have ways to access information, intercept phone calls and determine the identity of a site’s administrator.

NO RESPITE Carlos lifer upheld by French court PARIS: A French court has upheld a life sentence handed to Carlos the Jackal, once one of the world’s most-wanted militants, who had appealed against his conviction for a series of deadly bombings in France 30 years ago.

The eccentric 63-year-old Venezuelan, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, addressed the court for four hours at the end of the six-week trial Wednesday, before a panel of judges went into chambers for deliberations.

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Carlos, who has been imprisoned in France since 1994, was found guilty in 2011 of masterminding the 1982 and 1983 attacks on two French passenger trains, a train station in Marseille and a Libyan magazine office in Paris. Already serving life for murder at the time, Carlos was given another life sentence for his role in attacks that left 11 people dead and nearly 150 injured, earning him the mantle of the world’s most-wanted fugitive.

PAINFUL RECALL

‘Jackson said tour would kill him’ LOS ANGELES: An exhausted Michael Jackson warned that tour promoters AEG Live were going to “kill” him as he rehearsed for a marathon concert tour shortly before his death, his son Prince testified Wednesday.

The 16-year-old also recounted the harrowing scenes on the day Jackson died in 2009, recalling how his younger sister Paris was “screaming” as doctor Conrad Murray was trying to revive her father.

“He just wished he had more time for rehearsals,” he told the wrongful death trial, in which the Jackson family accuses AEG Live of negligently hiring Murray to care for the star for his doomed “This Is It” shows.

Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in

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2011 for having given Jackson an overdose of the anesthetic propofol, to help him cope with chronic insomnia as he rehearsed for the series of 50 planned London shows.

Previous testimony at the manslaughter trial, and at the current civil case, has heard details of how the self-styled King of Pop’s state of health deteriorated rapidly in the months before his death.

On Wednesday — a day after the fourth anniversary of Jackson’s death — his son Prince said the singer was upset on the phone “a lot of time,” most of the time with AEG Live chief Randy Phillips. “He would cry sometimes. He said: ‘They’re gonna kill me, they’re gonna kill me.’” Asked who he was talking

He would cry sometimes. He said: ‘They’re gonna kill me, they’re gonna kill me.’

Prince Son of Michael Jackson about, he said: “People in AEG, Randy Phillips.”

The teenager was dressed in a dark suit and tie, with long hair brushed behind his ears. He appeared reasonably relaxed, smiling as some videos and photos of the family were shown in court.

AFP

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News THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

WATER SHORTAGE

SOUTH CHINA SEA

Philippines, US hold war games

Dakshin Shibpur shows how to get things done

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A group of villagers in the Sundarbans have started running a groundwater treatment plant on their own.

SUNDARBANS: Fed up with recurrent stomach ailments caused by consumption of contaminated water for years, a group of villagers in the Sundarbans have started running a groundwater treatment plant on their own.

Hand pumps, the only source of drinking water at the Dakshin Shibpur village under Patharpratima block, are not only contaminated but also have dissolved iron and salinity rendering the water unsafe for drinking.

“The taste was really bad and we had frequent stomach- related problems like acidity after drinking the tube well water,” complains 23-year-old housewife Surekha Das. To address this problem, local NGO “Sundarbans Social Development Centre” and international NGO “Save the Children” organised the villagers and provided funds to set up a small water treatment plant.

Villagers got together and Tanmay Kumar Das, also a local Panchayat Samiti member, volunteered to part with his land for the plant.

How does the plant work?

A

fterwards water is passed through an oxidation unit, dual filter, activated carbon filter and a micron filter. Finally the water is passed through a UV steriliser to remove any of microbiological elements present in it.

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A submersible pump was installed which drew underground water from a depth of 980 feet and channelled it through a filtration process which starts with an online chlorine dosing for preoxidation.

Afterwards water is passed through an oxidation unit, dual filter, activated carbon filter and a

micron filter. Finally the water is passed through a UV steriliser to remove any of microbiological elements present in it.

The treatment plant, which started functioning last December, is run fully by villagers who have assumed the responsibility of maintaining it on their own.

A water sanitation committee, comprising locals, collects `30 per month from each of the families which draws water from the plant.

At present, around 35 families form the user group.

PTI

The taste was really bad and we had frequent stomach- related problems like acidity after drinking the tube well water.

Surekha Das Housewife

MANILA: A US destroyer will join the Philippine Navy's flagship for war games starting Thursday close to a flashpoint area of the South China Sea, adding to tensions with China over rival territorial claims.

The exercises are a boost for the Philippines' poorly equipped military as it struggles with perceived rising Chinese aggression, and follows repeated pleas to longtime ally the United States for protection.

The six-day exercises are an annual event but this year they will be held off the west coast of the Philippines' main island of Luzon, close to Scarborough Shoal which China insists it owns.

China claims nearly all of the strategically vital South China Sea, even waters close to the shores of its smaller neighbours.

Tensions between China and other claimants to the sea, particularly the Philippines and Vietnam, have escalated in recent years amid a series of Chinese political and military actions to assert its claims to the waters.

AFP

TOMORROW’S CITIZENS

Street children survive on porn, videos... not food NEW DELHI: In a dark and dingy room, the only thing visible is the blue flickering light from a television set as a dozenodd boys, teens and below, watch with eyes riveted on the screen. “Ohs” and “ahs” are heard on occasion. At first it seems they are watching a Hindi film, but a closer look reveals they are hooked on to a porn movie.

The boys are runaways or vagabonds who beg at many of Delhi’s crossroads or are ragpickers.

According to child activists and NGOs working with these children, most of them are

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The capital’s homeless are roughly estimated to be around

NATION

hooked to either porn movies or video games and spend most of their earnings on them, on occasions forgetting to eat.

“I can sit for hours playing video games or watching movies. I spend `50 or more on them. So I have stopped eating from outside and survive on tea and beedis,” Vishal Kushwaha, a rag picker, told IANS. The 17year-old rag-picker makes `150 to `200 a day.

“We watch the movies in a

150,000 50,000 of whom

are children, according to social activists.

tea stall which has television sets and DVD players,” said Kushwaha, who along with a dozen teenagers regularly watches porn in Sarai Kale Khan

Pick

in south Delhi.

Showing no embarrassment while talking about his “addiction”, Kushwaha said that every night he watches at least two or

at the

three porn movies.

But this is not the story of just one child.

According to Childhood Enhancement Through Training and Action (CHETNA), hundreds of children have admitted spending more money on watching pornography and playing video games. Usha Justa, a volunteer with CHETNA, said innumerable tea shops turn into porn parlours at night. “They loot money from these kids. They show them hardcore porn. These children get totally addicted to it,” she said. “Such activities happen under the very nose of the police,” she added.

IANS

airport,

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TECHNICALLY SPEAKING NT BALANARAYAN

BEST OF THE BEST

XBOX DOES A 180

Let’s ‘start’ all over again Microsoft announces major updates for Windows 8 and brings back the beloved Start button.

RECON JET

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his device is a rugged take on Google Glass with perfect balance that does not require WiFi or cellular connections, works in any weather conditions, and provides data-at-a-glance even under the worst viewing conditions. The device, which is embedded within a pair of sunglasses, weighs just 28 grams — less than an ounce — and is weighted perfectly with 14 grams to a side.

Included in that ounce is a dual-core 1GHz processor, a graphics chip, Wi-Fi, built-in ANT+ for device communications, Bluetooth, GPS, a HD camera, and a raft of sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, altimeter, magnetometer, and thermometer. And, of course, it has an HD display, infrared gaze detection, a mic, speakers, and a touchpad.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer speaks during the keynote address of the Microsoft Build Conference.

M PLAYSTATION VITA

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ony’s handheld gaming device has been out for a while but it hasn’t sold as well as the company expected it to. However, with the ability to play all games that will be released for the upcoming PlayStation 4 remotely it makes sense to invest in this device. Gamers will be able to stream games from PS4 over WiFi or cellular and the only limitation will be the lag. The device itself is quite powerful and the game library is also expected to improve very soon. It has a touchscreen, a touchpad on the back, sixaxis motion sensing, accelerometer and dual analogue sticks. Yes, it’s a little pricey but it might interest you if you want to game on the move.

GEEK SPEAK PPI

E

ver since Apple came up with the term 'retina display' there's been a lot of talk about PPI every time a new smartphone or tablet comes out. PPI stands for Pixels Per Inch and is generally used as an indicator to measure the sharpness of a device. This measurement has become so integral now that it has started a PPI war with every phone trying to outdo the other in terms of resolution. Some five-inch devices that are full-HD now sport 441ppi, which is just outright ridiculous as the human eye cannot make out pixels once it's beyond 300ppi.

icrosoft is on a turn-around course these days; after going back almost on all the aspects with Xbox One, they are doing the very same thing with Windows 8. The company has released the preview for Windows 8.1 that introduces new features and brings back some of the features that users have been clamouring for.

The biggest news is the comeback of the Start button to the bottom left of the screen. Yes, this means no more poking along the right side corners to get to the Start menu.

Of course, you could hit the Start button on the keyboard but a lot of users prefer to use the mouse exclusively for navigation making the process slow and cumbersome. Oh you can also boot straight to the desktop in case you don’t like fiddling around with the Start screen apps — a good thing if you’re on a desktop PC. Apart from these stepbacks, Microsoft has packed 8.1 with a lot of features that they should have brought with the original update itself. For example, you can now have Start screen apps

splitting a screen at any ratio of your choice. These apps will no longer be restricted to using ¼ or ¾ of the screen and up to four apps can share the screen space at the same time depending on the resolution of your system.

The live tiles have also got a facelift; instead of being stuck two sizes — rectangle and square — it is now possible to make larger tiles and icon-sized ones.

These changes make the Start screen look much more dynamic than before.

It is good to see Microsoft push these updates instead of waiting for three years like they normally do. Though there is

that dark joke about not installing any new version of Windows till the Service Pack one comes out, this doesn’t really fit that scenario as it feels like a leg up for the OS more than a patch up.

The company has also drastically improved the already-impressive search feature and now lets you go through the web, SkyDrive, contents of your hard drive and app-related information all from one searchresults view. The interface looks really impressive and the company has truely outdone themselves with this set of improvements.

The other major change is that SkyDrive is now

New-look Office

Print anything

M

W

icrosoft confirmed that a new-look office that would fit in with the Start screen apps won’t be released till 2014. The current version is not touch friendly and the company has only released the touchfriendly version of OneNote app. MS Office ships free with Windows RT version of tablets but users are forced to buy a docking cradle and mouse to use these apps because of interface.

ith this update, Microsoft is offering native support for 3D printing in the operating system. 3D printing is slowly catching up among normal people and Windows will be the first major operating system to add this feature within. Till now, users were depending on third party software to achieve these results.

deeply integrated into the operating system. It syncs all your files and settings by default. While this is a good feature, it might also freak out a lot of people in the aftermath of the NSA spying allegations — especially since Microsoft was one of the first companies to cooperate with them.

SkyDrive also adds some basic photo-editing options such as colour enhancement and filters.

Changes to the settings menu should be one of the biggest in a long long time.

Users will no longer have to jump between the desktop and Start screen versions of the settings menu.

The new Start screen settings app packs all features you would expect in the desktop version. This is one of those changes that would make people say “about time”.

This might be a problem for tech admins who might need to relearn the position of certain settings in these machines before the update hits the masses.

Overall, Windows 8 was a big change for Microsoft and with 8.1 update their plan makes more sense than it did a year back when it was launched.

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

Business

OIL MOVES UP IN ASIA

Oil prices edged higher in Asia Thursday as weak US data suggested the Federal Reserve will hold off on ending its aggressive bond-buying programme, while concerns over China’s liquidity crisis also eased, analysts said.

STEM RUPEE FREEFALL

HOPE SIGNS

Ten-point agenda for India by Jim O’ Neill O’ Neill revisits the ten things that India must do (included in his original paper in 2008, and relevant even today) to achieve its potential.

MONEY MATTERS Nupur Pavan Bang

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he rupee is falling, having touched the `60 per dollar mark. The Sensex is falling, having gone to its lowest level in the last two months. Confidence in the economy and government is at the lowest. Even nature does not seem to be co-operating and continues to pour in Uttarakhand. The general atmosphere is that of pessimism.

Amidst this scenario, comments from Jim O’ Neill, British economist and former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, famous for coining the term BRICs, to denote Brazil, Russia, India and China, indicate his continuing confidence in the potential of India.

O’ Neill revisits the ten things that India must do (included in his original paper in 2008, and relevant even today) to achieve its potential in a recent article published by Bloomberg.com. The ten things that O’ Neill writes about are: 1. Improve governance. This seems the most difficult as well as the most important.

The corruption and lapses at all levels are reaching unprecedented levels.

2. Fix primary and secondary education. While the population of India is now looked as, as an asset, rather than a liability, it would not remain an asset if the majority of the workforce is not capable of

doing even the most basic jobs. A lot of other social problems have their root in the lack of education.

3. Improve colleges and universities. Once considered a centre for learning, and home to the Indian Institute of Technologies and the Indian Institute of Managements, half the graduates in India are unemployable. The quality of faculty and infrastructure and the number of institutions of higher education needs to be beefed up.

4. Adopt an inflation target, and make it the centre of a new macroeconomic policy framework. This is what RBI has been trying to do, though with little help from the government.

5. Introduce a medium to longterm fiscal-policy framework, perhaps with ceilings as in the

13

Another green revolution is required in India to improve productivity and yield.

The demand for pulses, fruits and vegetables is on the rise.

Maastricht Treaty — a deficit of less than 3 per cent of GDP and debt of less than 60 per cent of GDP. This is something the current UPA government would find impossible to achieve with its populist policies. But if not addressed soon, growing deficit and debt could go out of hand.

6. Increase trade with its neighbours. As O’ Neill points out, this could also be a good way to promote peace with neigh-

bours.

7. Liberalise financial markets.

The financial markets in India are relatively more liberalised than a lot of other emerging nations, though, investor protection and awareness is something that needs to be worked on.

8. Innovate in farming. Another green revolution is required in India to improve productivity and yield. With an increasing number of middle-class families and people being able to afford better quality food, the demand for pulses, fruits and vegetables is on the rise.

9. Build more infrastructures; O’ Neill suggests that India learn from China in this department. I totally agree.

10. Protect the environment.

With the ongoing calamity at Uttarakhand, need this point be emphasised more?

10g GOLD `26,500 10g GOLD`31,300 `40,100 1kg SILVER `58,600

24C

forfor

for for

DOLLAR `60.53 `54.99 POUND `88.14 POUND `92.84

India’s current account deficit lowers to 3.6% MUMBAI: India’s current account deficit narrowed to 3.6 percent of gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2013, down from a record high in the previous quarter, data showed on Thursday.

The lower-than-expected deficit may ease pressure on the Indian rupee, which touched a new record low of more than 60 to the dollar on Wednesday, deepening the abrupt slide in the currency in recent weeks.

The deficit for the three months to March was $18.1 billion, compared with a record $32.6 billion or 6.7 per cent of GDP for the previous quarter, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement.

Dealers said the RBI may have released the data, which had been due on Friday, earlier than expected to boost sentiment after the rupee sank on Wednesday.

The figures come as the Congress-led Indian government struggles to stimulate the economy, that grew at a decade-low of five percent last year, ahead of elections due next year.

“The data was well above our expectations, as the services sector performed better than expected in the March-end quarter,” said Siddhartha Sanyal, chief India economist with Barclays Capital.

Barclays had expected the deficit to be around $20 billion. India’s deficit stems mainly from large oil and gold imports and weaker exports amid the global economic downturn, which has raised inflation concerns.

NUMEROLOGY

`25

cr

is the amount donated by public sector power companies towards rebuilding flood-hit Uttarakhand.

SBH DONATES TO PRF Being a socially responsible Bank and with a view to extend the timely help to the flood victims in the State of Uttarakhand, State Bank of Hyderabad has donated `50.00 lakh to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund as part of the bank’s corporate social responsibility.

18,733.16 BSE 19,805.54 5,643.20 6,022.45 NSE 181.04 21.46

54.50 6.55

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

Comment Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you’re scared to death.

Harold Wilson British politician

California to resume gay weddings MICHAEL THURSTON Agence France-Presse

G

ay and lesbian couples will be able to marry again in California after the US Supreme Court’s Prop 8 ruling Wednesday — although it could take a few weeks, and opponents have vowed to fight on.

Same-sex couples celebrated the ruling in the famously liberal western US state, which briefly allowed gay marriages in 2008 before a close-run referendum decision outlawed them.

“I’m always the optimist and I think it’s a great day,” said Diane Olsen, half of the first lesbian couple to wed in Los Angeles in the half-year window when it was legal.

“This is the beginning of the end of discrimination,” 59-year-old Olsen said, kissing her 71-year-old partner Robin Tyler on the lips at a press conference in Los Angeles.

The Supreme Court had been asked to rule on the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot initiative that saw the nation’s most populous state ban same-sex marriage by 52 for to 48 per cent against. Its decision instructed the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal in San Francisco to lift its stay on a 2010 ruling that found Prop 8 unconstitutional.

Within hours of the ruling in Washington DC, California’s attorney general Kamala Harris called on the federal appeals court to lift the stay “immediately.”

In theory the Supreme Court ruling will not go into effect for 25 days — on Sunday, July 21.

But said Harris: “I’m .. calling on the 9th Circuit today to urge them in the strongest terms that they lift the stay.”

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS It is time that Van Mahotsav, the annual tree-planting festival in the country, celebrated in the first week of July is taken more seriously.

This alone will help avert tragedies like the Uttarkand one.

COPYCAT

14

CHEATING SAINT/SINNER BUT... SERIOUSLY

Ajay Hotchandani

L

isten here I’m going to be the first to admit that I’m no saint.

From back in my childhood days I gave trouble, not a lot, but just enough to get yelled at from my dad. In my teenage years, I calmed down a bit, but there was that one time a group of us ended up at the police station, but hey, it was not my fault.

I should also clarify that I’m no major sinner either. I don’t have place reserved for me in hell (just yet). I have not made any countries top-ten lists of most wanted, nor have I been kicked out of any religious institution or house. However, there was that one time this lady told me I couldn’t bring my food into the house because it wasn’t vegetarian.

Let’s get back to the “I’m no saint” part. When I was a kid I would never admit to this, in fact, I would deny I ever did this and lie through my teeth saying “It wasn’t me!” The first time I ever cheated on a test was never! Just kidding. It was standard 3 (5th grade). I remember there was a group of us who felt like we were going to fail, and rightfully so as we were a bunch of idiots. So we came up with this way of getting the answers to each other.

At that time there was these bottles called Liquid Paper (white out). We would ask per-

mission to borrow it from someone else while signaling the question we were stuck on. The person handing the bottle to me would write the answer on the bottle. When I got it, I would wipe out the answer, thereby getting rid of the evidence. And if they wanted an answer, I would write it and hand back the bottle. As we got older the methods of cheating progressed to the James Bond spy level. In fact, I’m convinced that most top secret technology is derived from methods discovered in schools developed by cheating students.

Almost all of us, at one time or another has cheated. Now

very few get caught. Knowing that you had once cheated would you be upset at your child if he is caught cheating?

Would you be more upset at the fact that they cheated OR that they were dumb enough to get caught? I think that they were not smart enough to get away with it is a poor reflection on me, and that would be something I would be upset at (as long as it happens in the lower grades, now as they get older I won’t want it to happen).

Every so often you have that one friend that has to be a certified IDIOT! So it is final year in high school. There are 31 students in the class. The smartest

guy in the class, we will call him JM, along with 30 other classmates hands in his exam. Upon grading the exam the teacher notices there is a problem; there are two exam papers by JM! For clarification sake, JM is not the idiot. The idiot is the guy who looked over JM’s shoulder and copied his entire exam including his NAME! I’m not kidding.

The guy is such an idiot that he couldn’t even cheat correctly. As the teacher, I’m not sure what I would be more concerned about, the fact that he got caught cheating or how he got caught cheating. Either way, the legend lives on of the worst cheater ever!

EDITORIAL Lack of toilets in government schools raises stink

A

s minimum facilities like drinking water and toilets remain a luxury in most government schools, who can blame parents from even the low-income groups opting for private schools.

While launching as many as 355 model schools, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy wanted the message to go out that government schools were second to none. That is easier said than done.

With electricity also being a rarity, computers donated by philanthropic organisations remain mere showpieces in these schools.

Poor infrastructure and ambience are the main reasons that drive children away from government schools. Educationists see a direct link between the high dropout rates and absence of toilets in schools. Sounds incredible, but that’s the bitter truth in the happening city which takes pride in hosting international confer-

READERS’ VIEWS

ences. The Government of India launched Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) or Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) as early as in 1999. From the limited achievements of the first structured programme for rural sanitation in India much earlier, the Central Rural Sanitation Programme, TSC was improved upon. The main goal of Total Sanitation Campaign is to eradicate the practice of open defecation by 2017. Community-led total sanitation is not focused on building infrastructure, but on preventing open defecation through peer pressure and shame. In 2013, this seems a distant dream. While Nirmal is taken to every nook and corner of the country and even rural people are forced to build toilets, right here in the city that competes with the best of cities in the developed world on the technology front, institutions of early learning lack it.

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

Editor: Dean Williams

15

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

tELEVISION

KNIGHT RIDER TO BE WRITTEN BY BRAD COPELAND Knight Rider has hired screenwriter Brad Copeland. The Wild Hogs writer will tackle the movie remake for The Weinstein Company, reports the Los Angeles Times. Copeland has written for television shows including Arrested Development and The Inbetweeners.

BLAND AND UNINSPIRING

BREAKING BAD

A ROYAL SNUB Since Ekta Kapoor is done with her saasbahu sagas, she has turned her attention to history. Remember her Mahabharata series, which sank without a trace? Will new series Jodha Akbar meet with the same fate? Give it a month's time and all will be out.

FLEME VARKEY fleme.v@postnoon.com

W

hen TV Czarina Ekta Kapoor announced her ambitious project of doing a serial on Jodha and Akbar, immediately swords were drawn, naysayers began their scathing remarks and all was well with the world. For since her rule dawned on Indian television with the K-serials, everything that Ekta has done has drawn immense flak and compliments have been paid stingily, after all who can forget the trauma that the K-serials inflicted on the public by going on for decades.

The series which began on June 18 has barely finished a week and yet there seems to be not much of a traction. Most of us, at least those who have watched the Ashutosh Gowariker's celluloid version of the love story of the Mughal King Akbar and the Rajput princess Jodhaa will probably be familiar with the story. In a gist, the series deals with a retelling of the love story between a Mughal emperor and a Rajput princess. The series has been shot extensively in Japiur, Jodhpur, Kajrat and the surrounding areas.

As with the film, the serial too faces the problem of authenticity and historicity and no amount of disclaimers at the beginning is going to change that. The narrator announces at the beginning that

the show is not aimed at denouncing any religious community and that there are various interpretations to this piece of history and they are not claiming that this is an exact version.

So despite the claims of the Balaji team of researchers that they have painstakingly researched this piece of history for their show, one can safely bid historicity goodbye. The show surprisingly begins with a homage to a pantheon of Hindu Gods and then shifts to the Akbar ka Maqbara where the two lie buried. There is a silhouetted conversation between the two protagonists as to how the world conceives their love and what in actuality happened.

Then cut to the show where we see the rise and growth of a cruel and heartless king by the name of Jalal (played by Rajat Tokas), who is established by the narrator and Jalal's own doings as one who believes in letting his sword do the talking.

While this tyrant is cutting and killing his way across the Indian heartland, there is this tiny place called Amer where one can find Jodha (played by Paridhi Sharma), the young Rajput

Breaking Bad comes to an end Breaking Bad starts airing its ďŹ nal eight episodes on AMC from Sunday, August 11 at 9/8c.

Cranston recently stated that he is pleased with how Breaking Bad comes to an end. Creator Vince Gilligan also revealed that writing the show's ďŹ nal episode brought him to tears.

DID YOU KNOW

princess who is an epitome of goodness, kindness and what better way to show it than through the tried-tested formula of saving a wounded dove.

The show's writers have already got into repeat and emphasise mode with each episode now telling the audience how much Jodha hates Jalal for plundering her city's temple and that she has vowed that she will marry one that puts an end to the Mughal king.

Meanwhile family warns that one should not take the enemy's name in vain or else you will end up with the enemy.

If that is not enough, Jodha's own sister hopes that Jodha gets carted off by a Mughal and a soothsayer also predicts the same. So basically it is established that Jodha will end up with Jalal.

Then another thing on repeat mode is the fact that all people including Jalal's own generals think he is just a puppet in the hands of Gen. Bairam Khan and that he is a man without a heart.

Probably dialogues and him

either prancing in his camp on a horse or holding court with his ministers is supposed to establish that.

Coming to the sets, Jalal is always shown among tents, so there is not much to see and notice, meanwhile the Rajput palaces known for opulence and grandeur lack that touch. Pale muted colours, and shoddy workmanship with regards to the sets make it a bit bland.

The costume and jewellery reference too is left wanting. But colours used are bright and do to break the monotony.

The characters meanwhile have a lot to work on. Agreed Rajat Tokas who played a young Prithvi Raj Chauhan in a previous show seems an apt choice, yet his dialogue delivery seems pained and distant. He is trying too hard to be that fiercesome king and often ends up looking into the distance and talking to god knows who and that tone is so slow and painful. Paridihi meanwhile has this perpetual look of bewilderment on her face. She could definitely need some help in the acting department.

On the whole if one is looking for a love-story saga, fit for a king, this is not it. This just seems to be a badly rehearsed play. If the writers put their mind to it then probably it might go on to do well, but I guess Ekta's loyal fan base will do the rest.

The show airs on Zee TV every Monday to Friday at 8pm.

Dexter

actor Michael C Hall has hinted at what to expect from the Dexter series finale.

The Emmy-nominated actor told TV Guide that serial killer Dexter Morgan "can't survive forever" on his current path. "Can Dexter survive? Well, he's certainly a survivor," Hall said. "But... he can't survive forever in the context we've seen him in."

TRENDING...

Nikolaj CosterWaldau has revealed that he loves interacting with passionate Game of Thrones viewers. The Danish actor expressed satisfaction to Access Hollywood about how reactions to his character Jaime Lannister have changed as he has transitioned from villain to reluctant hero in season three.

Ariana Grande has admitted that she was "so unhappy" on the set of Victorious.

The singer and actress suggested that she was bullied by someone on the Nickelodeon show, which came to an end earlier this year after four seasons. Sam & Cat airs Saturdays on Nickelodeon.

18

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

spotlight TONS OF FUN

DANCE ALL NIGHT

DJ Naveen will be churning latest Punjabi numbers at Kismet tonight.

Head to the pub and dance to the beats.

Hola Senorita!

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Donning colourful outfits, members of Kakatiya Ladies Club poured into Dublin for Senorita night. Ladies were seen dancing the night away at the pub. Spotted were Sweta, Harsha and others.

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1 Esha

4 Seema

7 Preeti

2 Namita

5 Menaka, Sweta

8 Shalini

11 Neha, Rashmi

3 Bina Mehta

6 Sweta

9 Anuradha Reddy

12 Harsha, Sonal

Desi beats rule

10 Shalini

Ladies of Gorgeous Girls club turned up as their favourite Bollywood character at New Town Coffee House, Banjara Hills for a Bollywood-themed party on Wednesday.

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

health

NHRC ASKS GOVERNMENT TO EXPLAIN SHORTAGE OF TB DRUGS The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Wednesday issued notice to all health secretaries demanding an explanation on the shortage of medicine for tuberculosis (TB). Last week, the media reported that drugs for treating TB, particularly children, were in short supply across the country.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR KIDNEY - PART IV

19

Keep a check on your kidney Dr Kavitha Gone, consultant nephrologist at Continental Hospitals, Gachibowli, tells us about the importance of the kidney and how regular checkups can help prevent one from damaging it.

K

fleme.v@postnoon.com

sive disease, with the progression ending up with patients being on dialysis.

Unfortunately, dialysis is an expensive procedure and not many people can afford it. But people should not be disheartened. Some of the conditions are reversible and can be made right with timely consultation and doctoral intervention,” explains Dr Kavitha.

People who have diabetes, hypertension or have a family history of the either of the two need to be careful. Even those who have a history of kidney related disease in the family need to be aware of their health.

Dr Kavitha recommends that such people should get themselves screened for any problem. It can be done through a urine test to see if there is any protein in it.

Persons with proteinuria have urine with an abnormal amount of protein.

The

idney diseases that impair the function of the kidney affect more than 50 per cent of the population in the country. It is, therefore, important to evaluate the importance of this organ.

Dr Kavitha Gone begins by telling us the function of the organ,“The kidney is involved in the excretion of waste products and fluids from the body and also in the regulation of blood pressure.”

While abroad the scenario is different, in India as Dr Kavitha says, hypertension and diabetes are the most common causes of kidney-related diseases.

“Once the kidneys are damaged, the harm is irreversible.

On the other hand it is a progres-

Dr Kavitha tells us some simple ways to keep the kidneys in good health n

Diabetics should keep their blood sugar in control.

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Those who are hypertensive should keep a control.

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Keep weight under control.

n

Reduce salt intake.

n

n

Take care of your diet Exercise regularly.

In case you are under medication make sure you take them regularly.

Periodic health check ups are essential.

condition is often a sign of kidney disease.

Kidney disease often has no early symptoms. One of its first signs may be proteinuria that's discovered by a urine test done during a routine physical exam.

Only in the late stages of the disease are there symptoms visible. No symptoms does not mean no problem, warns Dr Kavitha.

“If one notices swelling of the body, breathlessness, blurring of vision, headache, nausea, loss of appetite tiredness then it could be that the person might require to undergo a dialysis,” informs Dr Kavitha.

Then there is a blood test also which can detect any abnormalities in the kidney.

“The problem that most people face is that youngsters think they are not susceptible to kidney ailments and even those diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension do not bother about getting a check up. Most end up coming to nephrologists in the final stages when they need dialysis. All this expense could be easily minimised if people come for regular screenings. Once detected with a kidney-related disease or even urinary infection, the patient should meet a nephrologist at least once every three months.

With proper medication and attention, progression till the last stage can be prevented. At Continental Hospitals, this what we try and impart to the patients and encourage them to come for regular screenings,” adds Dr Kavitha.

There is no particular age group which can be affected by kidney-related diseases. For example most within the 22-40 age group complain of urinary infections, stones and mostly they have a history of diabetes and hypertension. Then there is another condition people are diagnosed with— polycystic kidney, it’s a genetic disorder.

This can be detected by doing

PIC: SRINIVAS SETTY

FLEME VARKEY

an ultrasound of the kidney.

For people above the age of 40, along with problems of diabetes and hypertension, even complaints of joint pains, swelling in the legs can be a reason for kidney-related ailments.

This can be diagnosed through a kidney biopsy in many cases.

In children it’s mostly congenital causes or recurrent urinary infections.

When one develops a problem in the kidney, it is not that one organ alone suffers.

“Majority of the patients die of heart-related problems at the end. The reason being because of the kidneys being unable to perform the function properly, an extra load falls on the heart muscles, in turn the arteries close to the heart become stiff

and that leads to the enlargement of the heart, which is quite a dangerous condition,” explains Dr Kavitha.

The best way to keep a healthy body is to be informed about what ails it and what can be done to prevent certain ailments.

“Drink plenty of water, keep the body hydrated. Go for regular check ups. See a doctor immediately if urinary infections persist and also if you notice any pain in the loin or near the kidney. Avoid taking painkillers and antibiotics as well, unless prescribed by the doctor. Consult with your doctor on the medication and then go ahead. Simple steps can help you stay healthy,” says Dr Kavitha.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

Technology DOWN MEMORY LANE

SHIELD DELAYED If you're one of the few gamers who were looking forward to the launch of the company's Shield handheld gaming device that runs on Android, here's some news for you, it's been delayed by a month! The decision is quite surprising considering that nVidia had reduced the price of the device to $299 ahead of launch and then decided to make this announcement 24 hours before its actual release. The handheld that is powered by Tegra 4 processor is capable of playing Android games and can also stream games from a PC via WiFi. It looks like an Xbox 360 controller with a touch screen above.

OPERA USED FOR ATTACKS

High-tech tombstones let loved ones live on, virtually BRIGITTE DUSSEAU feedback@postnoon.com

R

ick Miller kneels in front of a grave and uses his cell phone to scan a small barcode on a tombstone. Within seconds, he’s looking at photos and videos of a lost loved one. But that’s not all.

Without leaving this vast cemetery in a suburb of Philadelphia, he can listen to the deceased’s favourite music, read remembrances, write in a guest book and even share pictures and feelings on Twitter or Facebook.

Here, at Sunset Memorial Park, everyone equipped with a smartphone or tablet can do the same, provided they download the proper app.

All it takes is a simple scan of a QR code — a square, black barcode stuck to the tombstone — to learn about Lance Clinton Erb, laid to rest beneath a bronze plaque engraved with the years of his birth and death — ‘1947-1990’ — and a picture of his beloved pet Labrador. For almost a year now, Miller and

his wife Lorie — Erb’s stepdaughter — have specialised in the sale of QR memorials through their ‘Digital Legacys’ business — one of just a few to offer such a service in the United States.

Giving a grave that hightech edge doesn’t take much. All one has to do is email the couple photos, videos, documents and music linked to the departed, which they then assemble into a tribute on a secure website.

Surviving family members then get a tag with the QR code — complete with a heavy duty, weather-resistant adhesive — in the mail. The installation takes a mere 30 seconds.

“It’s very simple,” Miller told AFP. “It is a great idea for a lot of reasons, particularly for young children who have had family members that they never got to know.” Using this technology, their young daughter can become familiar with her grandfather who passed away several years ago, he said.

“She can be at the cemetery and scan and remember somebody that she never met, and be

able to see that person and learn about that person.”

ETERNITY FOR $149.99

If loved ones want to update their online memorial, the Millers can take care of that, too.

“People love the idea,” Miller said in the grassy, peaceful setting marked by dozens of miniature US flags fluttering near the final resting places.

“It is such a great way to mix technology with the legacy of somebody, and have the ability to remember them and see them up close.”

“It’s a kind of lighthearted way to remember,” Lorie Miller added.

“People come to the grave, talk to people, look at the pictures, and say ‘I remember that wedding,’ or ‘I remember that suit’...”

And the price tag for this digital legacy? A lifetime subscription sells for $149.99 and encompasses the QR code

and the online memorial. A year is $99.99. Buyers can add a password so that only family members have access to the material.

The Millers started the project to memorialise their loved ones in a different way, but don’t plan to stop there.

Since starting their business, they have received inquiries from around the United States — and even as far afield as Australia.

Some older cemeteries have an interest in the technology because they can display tags on historic graves, enabling visitors to learn about events long ago associated with those laid to rest there, according to Rick Miller.

Hackers penetrated network servers belonging to Opera Software, stole at least one digital certificate, and then used it to distribute malware that incorrectly appeared to be published by the browser maker.

The attack was uncovered, halted, and contained on June 19, according to a short advisory that Opera published Wednesday morning.

While administrators have cleaned the system and have yet to find any evidence of any user data being compromised, the breach still had some troubling consequences.

NEW-LOOK MOTOROLA Motorola Mobility is making changes to its well-known brand this week, switching to a new, alllower-case typeface that's both thinner and softer than the classic bold and italic ‘MOTOROLA’ that has been used for decades. The famous ‘M’ badge persists, though it'll be presented in colourful new versions. The tagline ‘a Google company’ now appears below the logo as well. The logo first appeared on the site of Techweek, a technology conference Motorola is co-sponsoring in Chicago later this week. The last time the company tweaked its image was when it split with Motorola Solutions, moving from a monochrome ‘M’ to a bright red one.

21

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

Entertainment DANCE PARTY

CHARAN, SHRUTI perfect dance couple The shoot of a dance number starring Ram Charan Tej and Shruti Haasan is underway at Annapurna 7 Acres complex.

Sekhar is choreographing the song.

A

song is currently being picturised on Ram Charan Tej and leggy lass Shruti Haasan in the City. Sekhar is choreographing the dance number.

Shooting is underway at Annapurna 7 Acres complex. The movie is likely to release in the last week of July and the audio album will be out on June 30. Shruti Haasan and Amy Jackson will be playing female leads in this thriller opposite Ram Charan Tej. Vamsi Paidipally is the director while Devi Sri Prasad is scoring the music. Allu Arjun and Kajal Agarwal are said to be making appearances in this thriller. Dil Raju is the producer of the movie.

CINE BYTES

Shooting of Baahubali starts in July

T

he shoot of SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus Baahubali has not even begun but the movie has garnered a lot of interest since its inception.

Rajamouli has now announced on Twitter that the film’s shoot will begin from July 6. The movie stars Prabhas, Anushka Shetty and Rana Daggubati in the lead.

Bunny-Harish film to wrap up in 80 days

H

arish’s film starring Tollywood’s stylish star Allu Arjun will be wrapped in 80 days. The shoot of the movie is to begin later this year. The movie which will be mostly shot abroad, is expected to be wrapped up at a fast pace. The film will go on floors after Allu Arjun and Harish Shankar complete their assignments.

Balupu gets an A certificate

R

avi Teja’s latest film Balupu has been officially awarded an A certificate. This is the first time, a Ravi Teja film is being released at 70 centres. Shruti Haasan and Anjali are playing female leads while Lakshmi Rai is playing herself in the movie. Balupu will be released on June 28.

Brahmanandam’s gangnam dance number with Shruti Haasan has gone viral on the Internet.

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

fashion

MARC JACOBS’ GRAFFITI WAR

MARC JACOBS has been the target of another graffiti attack, this time covering his Paris store. French graffiti artist Kidult tagged the shop windows with "$686" in neon green paint.The numbers reference the first run-in that the label had with Kidult in May last year, after he sprayed Jacobs' New York Soho store with the word "Art" in bright pink.

Missoni

A

ngela Missoni looked to West Africa for inspiration for her menswear collection for next summer: its colours, its weaves and its accents. The mood of the collection previewed on Sunday, the second day of Milan Fashion Week, was encapsulated in an intricate sand-coloured crewneck sweater with pieces of red and milky shell embroidered into decorative panels. A small leather talisman sack, for a good luck charm or precious object, was worn around the neck on strands of beads.

Gucci

F

lowers show up everywhere from embroidery on the cotton knit sweaters to the floral prints that tinge pants, Tshirts, suits and a reinvented Mackintosh raincoat. Floral prints are also used for a silk jumpsuit and the latest Gucci jacket, in the style of a shirt, a popular look on the current Milan runway.

With a dedicated menswear fashion week as well as womenswear, Milan fashion week is one that requires some serious attention.

a^mmbo=C a^pefkd T

he man on the move be it with a big backpack, an oversized shopper or the old-fashioned carry-on, was the key theme of high-end labels as they showcased their designs for next summer at Milan's Fashion Week, which wrapped up Tuesday. Next summer's styles are more relaxed than formal, featuring looser jackets, often with the sleeves rolled or scrunched up, and frequently with Bermuda shorts. The jacket is central to the season. Even shirts take the shape of bomber jackets, often made out of the lightest techno fabric or reworked silk and satin.

Designers continued to search for new ways to work with fabrics, bonding instead of stitching, laser cutting, giving a matte finish to a normally shiny fabric, and vice

versa, and stamping prints on finished garments for a bespoke touch. Trousers are pleated for an elegant look. The favourite look was slim and close to the body and hemmed at the ankle. Colours are not your classic summer fare.

They are often more sober and on the dark side. But designers have left room for brighter moments with pinks, yellow, teal and lighter blues. White is making a return to serious fashion — with its old foil black providing contrast. Prints — floral, animal or geometric, aren't just for accents — but are used for jackets and even entire suits. The shoes befit the traveller: sturdy sandals, old-fashioned sneakers, lace-ups and loafers. Black socks often accompany the ubiquitous Bermuda, but are left in the bag for pants.

ARMANI

G

iorgio Armani returns to his first love — the jacket — for next summer.The liningless blazer started Armani on the road to fashion fame in the mid-1970s, and ever since an Armani suit has been a VIP staple. The new jacket is less formal than in past seasons, slim-fitting and with a sloped shoulder. It can have a small lapel or no lapel at all, replaced by a bellboy collar, and the number of buttons varies.

SELFRIDGES HAS DESIGNERS FEELING BLUE

SELFRIDGES has enlisted some of the world's leading designers to redesign one of their signature pieces in denim, to celebrate the launch of its new denim studio. From Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen to Roland Mouret, Rupert Sanderson and Richard Nicoll, more than 100 pieces of apparel, accessories have been created to form the ultimate Denim Lovers collection.

Versace

ETRO

PICS: AFP

T

he muscle patch was the leitmotif of the Versace spring/summer 2014 collection, with models wearing more than one in fluorescent shades on their arms and legs for a tattoo effect. The patch patterns were repeated on T-shirts, shorts, jackets, and pants. The boxing theme came in a robe with a huge green fluorescent Medusa — the Versace trademark — on the back, and silk shorts.

22&23

E

tro created noble looks inspired by the Mexican hero Zorro, replete with masks, sombreros and pointy boots, for next summer. Etro's emblazoned the iconic paisley on masks, belts, shirts and worn leather jackets. Designer Kean Etro's latest prints also included horses and western branding.

Frankie Morello

F

ashion house Frankie Morello paired brightly coloured blazers with tracksuit trousers and sweaters emblazoned with pictures of hamburgers and sushi.

Lionel Messi

F

ootballer Lionel Messi shows off some great footwork on the ramp as well. He was seen walking the ramp for Dolce & Gabbana

Entertainment THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

24

Entertainment THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

25

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

What is the difference between unethical and ethical advertising?

Unethical advertising uses falsehoods to deceive the public; ethical advertising uses truth to deceive the public.

Vilhjalmur Stefansson

KAKURO

QUICK CROSSWORD

26

SUDOKU How to play kakuro Kakuro is a popular game similar to sudoku in some ways. But is also suitably different. The key question: ‘How do you play kakuro?’, well here are the rules of kakuro. The answer: The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers.

However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number.

Within each collection of cells — called a run — any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once.

Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on...

So, how do you work out the actual combination? Well, this is done through elimination and cross-referencing. For instance, as you work out the answers for other kakuro clues, this will naturally limit the valid combinations, and hence the answer for this particular run.

Note the second cell in row two — it contains two numbers, 30 and 11. The 30 refers to the vertical run underneath the number 30 and the 11 refers to the two cells to the right, horizontally, of the number 11.

ACROSS

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

SCRIBBLING PAD

1 Customary dreads wearer 6 Compute, so to speak 11 Word with ‘flung’ or ‘fetched’ 14 Improvised 15 Country legend Haggard 16 Spud St 17 Disappointing finish 19 Plunder 20 Form of ‘to be’ 21 ___ and far between 22 Bombay title 23 They have loads of work to do 27 Paid another’s tab 29 Guinness specialty 30 Cauterize 32 Bygone peasant 33 Lush sound 34 Achy spots 36 Famed opera house La ___ 39 Woodwind lower than a piccolo 41 Common liquor amount 43 Prophetic sign 44 Pen chorus 46 Capital of South Korea 48 Vacation stopover 49 Bang-up impression 51 ‘Titanic’ heroine 52 Tell a tall tale 53 Performs incorrectly 56 Passage to the stomach and lungs 58 ‘Who ___ to judge?’

59 Actor’s agt 60 Wear and tear 61 Be a henpecker 62 He, she and it, in grammar 68 ‘Eewww, gross!’

69 Spookily strange 70 Coin spent in India 71 Veterinarian’s visitor 72 Accomplishments or achievements 73 Part of a Pearl set

DOWN

1 WWII flying group 2 Bustling commotion 3 Mu ___ pork 4 Five books of Moses 5 Role player 6 A roadie lugs it 7 ___ Monte (canned food brand) 8 What some dodgers evaded 9 Stomach ailments 10 Young football players 11 1600 Pennsylvania Ave residents 12 Absolutely love 13 More than fervent 18 Concerning this, to lawyers 23 ‘I’m so excited!’

24 Suspect’s need 25 Clairvoyance 26 Darjeeling dresses 28 With the bow 31 Direct to a specialist 35 Urban sitting place 37 Russian revolutionary with a goatee 38 Architect’s afterthought 40 ___ out (made, but barely) 42 ‘Keep quiet!’

45 Made a bull’s sound 47 Temporary ‘owners’ 50 Giggle sounds 53 Put one’s big boy pants on 54 Appearance, as in a mirror 55 Church feature seen from a distance 57 ‘What’s Happening!!’ role or the show, now 63 Expunge 64 ___ Moines 65 Where to get rubbed the right way?

66 Above, to Shakespeare 67 Part of an extended name

Chai Time THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 28-6-2013

27

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Couples need to maintain cordial relationship and understand each other. Employees need to obey the superior to get their demands fulfilled. Soft and sweet approach will yield expected results in undertaken challenging tasks.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

Avoid criticising others as it could bounce back. Employees need to plan all work properly and ensure timely execution.

Never deviate from plan to taste success. Businessmen advised to avoid new efforts for time being.

Businessmen need to work nonstop to achieve enough results. Health needs attention.

Self-confidence level will be at its high so that all undertaken work gets completed with perfection. Avoid sharing family secrets with a third person.

Children make you proud and happy. Avoid being stubborn for the time being. Good effects likely to increase cheering you.

Govt officials must be careful in discharging their works as negligence might spell trouble in the future.

Misunderstanding between couples ends. Problems of employees created by rumourmongers get resolved. Troubles, tension and depression because of family problems will be over. Your skills will be exposed.

Employees not to command other colleagues. Adjust well with all family members to retain peaceful atmosphere at home. Give respect to suggestions of your spouse. Adopt slow and steady policy to win and achieve goals.

Elevation and pay hike likely for employees. Your skills and administrative abilities will be appreciated by everyone.

Those trying for a new job get good news. Colleagues cooperate well and you get support from a superior also.

Act with extreme caution to avoid trouble. Obstacles in growth plans will be tackled well and set goals can be achieved. Avoid acting in haste or with overconfidence, as if you alone know all worldly issues well.

Be careful while driving as a minor accident is likely. Never allow others to feel that you are boasting. Work with patience and proper to yield good results. Employees need to complete important works on their own.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Four of Swords – You can expect a surprise visit from someone from your past. It could also be that you bump into someone close to you.

LEO:

Knight of Cups – In a team, it’s common for members to disagree. Don’t take it personally.

Tide it over by communicating and leaving behind the bad blood.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Two of Cups – A Santa Claus will come to your rescue in a strange situation. You become more confident of taking the road less travelled. You find love again.

SAGITTARIUS:

Page of Pentacles – You’re feeling suffocated in your current situation. You want to be left alone, or you want to meet new people. Go out, socialize.

TAURUS:

Six of Swords – Some devotional songs are going to inspire you in unprecedented ways.

You find solace in new spiritual messages and seek peace in them.

CANCER:

The World – You might think it’s a hopeless situation but it’s not. Think of the benefits you’ve enjoyed this time before you decide to take any harsh calls.

VIRGO:

Death – Pay attention to your diet. It might be a good idea to do a complete re-jig of your dietary intake based on your weight control goals.

SCORPIO:

The Moon – If you’re particularly fond of reading but just haven’t had the time to catch up on the latest books, now is the time to get to it.

CAPRICORN:

Knight of Swords – Someone is playing mischief with you. It’s Mercury retrograde, which means you need to take things lightly. Don’t take major decisions.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Eight of Cups – The focus is on fashion. The clothes you wear make an impression. Try to dress as per the occasion and get comfortable with new trends.

NUMBER GAME

tacles – Are you overeating? The food you consume will also determine your mood for the day apart from giving you energy to perform your tasks.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Queen of Pen-

POOCH CAFE

Yoga and meditation help you relax. Your self-confidence and boldness helps complete all work successfully. Avoid giving importance to unwanted apprehension. There are chances of memory loss and minor tension.

for 28-6-2013

Three of Wands – You must let go of an old situation if you want to free yourself and become confident of stepping into the future. Cut the cord.

NON SEQUITUR

Sweet talks might work wonders in getting work done.

Trouble faced at workplace end. At the same time avoid criticising the management as it will spell trouble. Be careful while expressing opinions as they may not be taken well.

SUDUKO

All disappointments faced so far end letting you relax.

Employees feel relaxed as problems with colleagues disappear. They will be bold and more confident now. Avoid hasty decisions and negligence at all costs.

Boggle BERT ERNIE GONZO KERMIT Vol: 2, No 342 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon. com and for subscription, please call 040-4067 2222, Fax: 040-4067 2211

28

Entertainment THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

DIRECTOR’S CHALLENGES

CINE BYTES

Entertainment doesn’t only come from songs and dances:

DIRECTOR PRAKASH JHA A

udiences derive pleasure from all kinds of films, ace director Prakash Jha feels, pointing out that entertainment does not mean just “songs, dances and comedy”.

“People enjoy all kinds of things. Films like Kahaani and Raajneeti provide tremendous entertainment value.

Entertainment value does not necessarily come from songs, dances and comedy. It comes from seriously entertaining subjects as well,” Jha said.

If films that entertain are important, so are films on core topics, said Jha who started his feature film making journey with the 1984 Hip Hip Hurray. The film was about a computer engineer who takes up a temporary job of a football coach, moulds a bunch of hooligans into good players and leads them to victory.

Often described as a serious filmmaker delving into eclectic issues in his offerings, the director says apart from

the topic, a strong storyline is equally vital for him.

“Topics are social...I don’t pick up topics and make films on them. I have a story...a great emotional story,” said Jha who has proved his point with films like Daamul, GangaaJal, Aarakshan and Chakravyuh.

His forthcoming film Satyagraha too deals with corruption, told through a

businessman and a grieving father.

Talking about Satyagraha, Jha said: “This is the story of a father and son. I found the story and set it in today’s world of protest. How someone who is absolutely capitalist and has greed on his mind all the time meets this old man who has lost his son.

These two people

come together and realise that even though their values don’t meet, yet there’s a bond. That prospers and both of them change.”

Just like his earlier films, Satyagraha, which has a host of actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Arjun Rampal and Kareena Kapoor, involved a lot of pre-production work.

“We shot it exactly within the schedule which we had planned...not one day extra.

We had fun while shooting.

We do a lot of pre-production and a lot of preparation goes into it,” he said.

For a filmmaker, the biggest challenge is to strike a balance between the audience’s reaction and critics’ ratings.

“That is the challenge...you have to tell a good story and while telling it, if there are things that touch you...that is the whole idea,” he said.

Satyagraha is releasing August 23. IANS

Krrish 3 to hit screens November 4

I

t’s final. Krrish 3 is set to release on November 4, a day after Diwali this year, says filmmaker Rakesh Roshan. “Krrish 3 will finally release on November 4, that is Monday,” said producerdirector Rakesh Roshan confirming the final release date of the film for the first time. Roshan also confirmed for the first time that the first official trailer of the film would be attached to Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express. IANS

Ravi to play man and woman in next film

A

ctor Ravi Kishan says his role in Bullet Raja will see him donning the garb of a man as well as a woman. “I will be a woman and a man in the film. I can’t say much more about it. We have finished shooting for the film,” he said.

Saif Ali Khan and Sonakshi Sinha play main leads in the Bullett Raja, which is being directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia. IANS

Neetu Chandra takes cover under burqa

A

ctress Neetu Chandra has been moving around in a burqa these days, and she finds the experience “liberating”. The actress, seen in movies like Traffic Signal, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and 13B, has to travel in auto-rickshaws here these days since her car has gone for repair. It will take a fortnight for her to get her car back, but the over-enthusiastic reception from cab and auto drivers has forced Neetu to take refuge under the burqa. IANS

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THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

US SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS AND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TRIALS

Franklin, Lochte shine

Olympic stars Missy Franklin and Ryan Lochte shared the spotlight at Indianapolis with both the swimmers claiming a pair of titles.

PETE CAVA Agence France-Presse INDIANAPOLIS: Olympic stars Missy Franklin and Ryan Lochte shared the spotlight Wednesday night, both claiming a pair of titles at the US swimming championships and World Championships trials.

Franklin’s night began with a win in the women’s 200-meter freestyle at the Indiana University Natatorium.

Ahead by a body length at the halfway mark, she touched the wall in one minute 55.56 seconds followed by Katie Ledecky in 1:57.63, Shannon Vreeland in 1:58.13 and Jordan Mattern in 1:58.27.

The win qualified Franklin -the winner of four gold medals and one bronze at the 2012 London Olympics -- for the 200 free at the World Championships in Barcelona, July 28-August 4.

She also made the American 4x200 freestyle relay team, along with Ledecky -- the winner of Tuesday’s 800 free event --

FORMULA ONE

Ryan Lochte competes in the men’s 200m freestyle during preliminaries on Day two of the USA Swimming National Championships and World Trials at the Indiana University Natatorium on Wednesday in Indianapolis.

AFP/STREETER LECKA

Vreeland and Mattern.

Less than 90 minutes later, the recent high school graduate won the women’s 200 backstroke in 2:05.68, the world’s fastest time this year and an American open record as the best-ever performance in the

US. Franklin maintained a lead throughout to finish ahead of Elizabeth Pelton, whose 2:06.29 clocking was the world’s second-fastest of 2013.

“That last fifty hurt so much,” she said. “I’m ecstatic with the 2:05. But I’m definitely

hurting now.”

With three days to go at nationals, Franklin is eligible for five events at Worlds. Her firstplace finish in Tuesday’s 100 free earned her a berth in that event as well as a spot the American 4x100 relay squad.

TOUR DE FRANCE

All eyes on 100th race ANDY SCOTT Agence France-Presse

Home hopes on Hamilton at Silverstone SILVERSTONE: Lewis Hamilton carries the hopes of home fans and several leading championship contenders when he bids to halt Sebastian Vettel’s seemingly-irresistable surge towards a fourth drivers world title at this weekend’s British Grand Prix.

The 28-year-old Englishman, who won the race for McLaren on the way to his championship triumph in 2008, is the only British winner on home soil in 12 years since Scot David Coulthard succeeded twice in succession for the same team.

AFP

PARIS: Cycling’s greatest race, the Tour de France, begins on Saturday, hoping to cast off the recent cloud of suspicion and scandal of doping with a celebration of its historic 100th edition.

A total of 198 riders from 22 teams will line up for the 212kilometre (132-mile) first stage from Porto-Vecchio to Bastia on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Three weeks, 3,403.5 kilometres and 20 stages later, only the very best — and most fortunate — will finish.

Last year’s runner-up behind Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, is favourite to win the race after successes in Oman, the Criterium International, Tour of Romandie and the Criterium du Dauphine.

But the 28-year-old Team Sky rider is likely to face stiff competition from 2007 and 2009 Tour winner Alberto Contador of Spain, despite his lack of victories this season.

Challenging both men

include Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez, who was runnerup in the Giro d’Italia in May, and Australian outsider Cadel Evans, the 2011 winner, who could become the Tour’s oldest victor at 36.

This year’s race is the first to be held after the Lance Armstrong doping scandal,

which sent shockwaves through cycling and the world of sport. The US rider, who was unmasked as a serial drug cheat in a devastating US AntiDoping Agency report last year, was subsequently stripped of his record seven Tour wins between 1999 and 2005.

Dutch leader Bauke Mollema (R) and his fellow countryman Robert Gesink pose with their bicycles during the presentation of the Belkin Pro Cycling Team for the Tour de France 2013. AFP/ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN

LEAGUE CRICKET

Tabmay slams century A 1 three days Day 2 Group A R Dayanand 143/4 in 57.4 overs (P Shashank Nag 46 n.o., GV Vaibhav 33) vs Andhra Bank SCRSA vs Evergreen at SCRSA (Day 2 called off without a ball being bowled) Ensconse 280 all out in 84.4 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 129, Saaketh Sai Ram 5/80, Devi Prasad 4/34) vs Falaknuma 38/2 in 24.3 overs) Group B Hyderabad Bottling 199/6 in 54 overs (Vinay Goud 44, Prithvi Reddy 55 n.o., Sujith Partabhani 53, TP Anirudh 16 n.o., K Sabarish 2/56, Roshan Raghuram 3/81) vs BDL MP Colts vs AOC at AOC (Day 2 called off without a ball being bowled) EMMC 282/6 in 86 overs (Bejamin Thomas 72, Sai Anurag 48 n.o., Surya Teja 39 n.o.) vs India Cements.

Chess tourney on Sunday HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad District Chess Association will be organizing the under-15 District Selection chess tournament to select the district team for under-15 state championship. The tournament will be held at the tennis complex at LB Stadium on Sunday. For more details contact Sree Krishna on 9247143456.

US OPEN

Park aims for third straight major SOUTHAMPTON: South Korean star Park In-Bee will bid to clinch her third consecutive major of an incredible year this week when she tees off in the US Women’s Open Championship.

World No. 1 Park is seeking to become just the second golfer in LPGA history to capture the first three major championships of the season after taking the Kraft Nabisco Championship and the LPGA Championship earlier. “This is the best I’m playing in my career,” said Park, the 2008 US Women’s Open champion. “I’m trying to keep this going. I’ve played very good golf the last two or three months.

Everything’s going the way I really want it to. I’m hitting the ball and striking it great and putting it very well.”

AFP

sports

30

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

WIMBLEDON Federer went crashing out of Wimbledon after the Swiss legend was beaten by Ukraine’s 116ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky in his worst Grand Slam defeat for a decade.

FedERROR in London

LONDON: Defending champion Roger Federer went crashing out of Wimbledon on Wednesday, the Swiss legend beaten by Ukraine’s 116-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky in his worst Grand Slam defeat for a decade.

The shock 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) loss in a thrilling, three-hour duel on Centre Court brought the curtain down on seven-time Wimbledon champi-

Factfile on Federer’s ‘13 Wimbledon defeat n It was his earliest defeat at Wimbledon since losing in the 1st round in 2002 n It was his earliest defeat at a Slam since losing in the 1st round at 2003 Roland Garros n It ended Federer’s run of 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances (starting at 2004 Wimbledon) n It was Federer’s worst defeat at a Grand Slam (or any event) since losing to No. 154 Mario Ancic in the 1st round at 2002 Wimbledon n It was his first defeat by a player ranked outside the Top 100 since losing to No. 101 Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals at 2005 Monte Carlo n It was the earliest defeat for a defending Wimbledon champion since 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt lost to Ivo Karlovic in the 1st round in 2003

Switzerland’s Roger Federer reacts after losing a point against Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky during their second round men’s singles match on day three of the Wimbledon Championships tourn ament at the All England Club in London, on Wedneday.

AFP/CARL COURT

I had to beat two Federers: Stakhovksy LONDON: Sergiy Stakhovsky speaks five languages and reads classic Russian literature for fun but on Wednesday he mastered a greater challenge — puncturing the Roger Federer legend.

The beanpole Ukrainian’s stunning 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) second round win over the seven-time Wimbledon champion was one of the greatest shocks in the history of the sport.

It was Federer’s worst Grand Slam loss since a first round exit at the 2003 French Open and the defending champion’s earliest Wimbledon defeat since a second round loss in 2002.

The Wimbledon third seed had made 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances, having not gone out of a major before the last eight since the 2004 French Open. AFP

on Federer’s extraordinary record in the sport’s four majors.

The Wimbledon third seed had made 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final appearances, having not gone out of a major before the last eight since the 2004 French Open.

It was his earliest Wimbledon defeat since he was knocked out in the first round in 2002 by Mario Ancic.The fol-

lowing year he lost in the first round of the French Open to Luis Horna. “I’m very disappointed. Losing at Wimbledon always has been that way, will never change. So just got to get over this one. Some finals haven’t hurt this much, that’s for sure,” Federer said.

“It’s always a disappointment losing any match around the world, and particularly here. I’ve had some great moments here, but also some tougher ones.

“I struggled maybe on the big points this time around again, like I have for some time this season. It was tricky. But credit to him for closing it out under enormous pressure. He was better in the more important points today than I was.

“I thought I had my opportunities, had the foot in the door. When I had the chance, I couldn’t do it. It’s very frustrating, very disappointing.

“I’m going to accept it and move forward from here. I have no choice.”

Stakhovsky was struggling to take in his victory over the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

“I’m still in disbelief that it actually happened,” said the 27year-old, who does not even have a coach.

Djokovic, Serena in spotlight after stars slump STEVEN GRIFFITHS Agence France-Presse LONDON: Novak Djokovic (in pic) and Serena Williams will be under intense pressure at Wimbledon on Thursday as the All England Club comes to terms with one of the most astonishing days in the history of the tournament.

The famous old courts of the grass-court Grand Slam were rocked like never before on Wednesday as seven former world number ones crashed out, with defending champion Roger Federer and world number three Maria Sharapova the biggest

names to fall.

With the established order under threat, Djokovic, the world number one and reigning Australian Open champion, will be desperate to avoid a giantkilling when he faces American Bobby Reynolds, ranked 156th, on Centre Court.

Williams, the women’s world number one and defending champion, will be in the same position against France qualifier Caroline Garcia on Court One. Other big guns hoping to avoid embarrassing exits include Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer, who plays compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut, and for-

I’m not finished: Fedex LONDON: Roger Federer insisted he will play on for many more years to come despite crashing out of Wimbledon in a shock defeat that brought his extraordinary Grand Slam run to a juddering halt.

Though downbeat, the Swiss legend said he would not go into panic mode after being knocked out by unfancied Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round on Wednesday.

The world number three said there was perhaps a sea change happening in tennis where lower-ranked players now had the belief to mix it with the sport’s best, like himself, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal.

Federer’s shock 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) loss to world number 116 Stakhovsky on his Centre Court stomping ground brought the curtain down on his run of 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final appearances, which started at Wimbledon 2004.

At 31 years old, some are questioning whether Federer’s all-conquering powers are now openly in AFP decline.

Murray maintains cool

mer US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, who opens the Centre Court programme against Canada’s Jesse Levine.

Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, beaten by Serena in last year’s final here, takes on Mathilde Johansson in the other Centre Court clash.

Federer’s run of 36 consecutive appearances at the Grand Slams came to an end in stunning fashion as the seven-time Wimbledon champion was beaten by Ukrainian journeyman Sergiy Stakhovsky — his earliest exit in south-west London since a first round defeat to Mario Ancic in 2002.

LONDON: Andy Murray insists there is no chance he will start dreaming of the Wimbledon title despite the remarkable list of bigname casualties in an astonishing first three days at the All England Club.

In the week before the tournament, world number two Murray was bombarded with questions about the draw after Rafael Nadal was controversially seeded fifth and placed in the same half of the draw as the Scot. That meant Murray seemed likely to have to beat either Nadal or Federer in the last-four if he wanted to emulate his run to the final 12 months ago.

But in the space of just 72 hours the Wimbledon draw, and Murray’s path to the final, has taken on a dramatically less demanding look thanks to two of the most stunning results in the event’s long and illustrious history.

AFP

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THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

TRI- NATION SERIES

WI, SL out to challenge India The Tri-Nation ODI series which gets underway on Friday at Sabina Park, will have West Indies and Sri Lanka waiting to prove certain points to World Champions India.

KINGSTON: With India enjoying an additional 48 hours to bask in the glory of their Champions Trophy triumph, West Indies and Sri Lanka get the Tri-Nation One-Day International Series underway on Friday at Sabina Park.

Both teams have points to prove after being steamrolled by the ODI kings over the previous fortnight in England.

For the Sri Lankans, this fixture marks just the second time that they are playing an ODI at major international cricket’s westernmost venue.

The only other occasion came at the 2007 World Cup when Mahela Jayawardene’s unruffled unbeaten hundred led his side comfortably past New Zealand in the semi-finals, only for them to be upended by hat-trick-seeking Australia in the final three days later in Barbados.

West Indies were the first to feel the weight of India at their best at the Champions Trophy at the group stage of the competition before missing out on the last four agonisingly when Kieron Pollard’s dismissal just

Fixtures: June 28 - West Indies vs Sri Lanka - Jamaica June 30 - West Indies vs India - Jamaica July 02 - India vs Sri Lanka Jamaica July 05 - West Indies vs India - Trinidad July 07 - West Indies vs Sri Lanka - Trinidad July 09 - India vs Sri Lanka Trinidad July 11 - Final - Trinidad.

West Indies were the first to feel the weight of India at their best at the Champions Trophy in the group stage of the competition while Sri Lanka lost to them in the semis.

ASHES

Compton responds to demotion with 81 LONDON: Somerset’s Nick Compton responded to his England demotion by re-stating his claim for an Ashes place with 81 against Australia on the first day of four at Taunton on Wednesday.

Compton, who has been opening with Alastair Cook found himself down the pecking order after Joe Root was preferred as the England captain’s opening partner for the national side’s Ashes warmup fixture against Essex.

But Compton, the grandson of England great Denis,

responded to his omission in gutsy fashion although it was 22-year-old Chris Jones who did most to disturb the tourists, playing their first match under new coach Darren Lehmann, with a maiden first-class century in Somerset’s total of 320.

However, what threatened to be a day of little reward for Australia, who also play Worcestershire before starting their bid to regain the Ashes from England in the first Test at Trent Bridge on July 10, was instead rescued by the arrival of the second new ball.

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Pietersen back in nets LONDON: Kevin Pietersen returned to the England ranks on Wednesday with a specially organised practice session. The South Africaborn batsman has been out of England action with a knee injury that forced his early exit from the tour of New Zealand in March and

was sidelined from all cricket until making a superb unbeaten 177 for Surrey in a County Championship match last weekend. In his absence England have played return home Test and one-day series against New Zealand and also the Champions Trophy.

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before the rains came at Cardiff left the Caribbean side trailing South Africa on the DuckworthLewis System.

While no-one wants to have to return to the sometimes bewildering formulae and calclulations necessitated by Duckworth-Lewis, it will be no surprise if batting second and then staying ahead of the par score becomes a priority during

the seven matches of this tournament. An increasingly crammed international itinerary, coupled with the scheduling of the money-spinning Indian Premier League at a time when the West Indies would usually have been in action on home soil, means that this event follows the pattern of recent years with the almost ever-present threat of showers accompanying a series.

Yet whatever the conditions overhead, it is the situation on the ground that Ottis Gibson wants his team to focus on.

Despite the acute disappointment of the manner in which they missed out on a place in the Champions Trophy semi-finals, the head coach of the T20 world champions asserts that the players under his care “are taking more responsibility.

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Clarke urges Australia to move forward TAUNTON: Australia captain Michael Clarke has urged his team-mates to put their recent off-field problems behind them and concentrate on the business of regaining the Ashes after a troubled build-up to next month’s first Test against England.

Clarke, Australia’s best batsman, returned to action against Somerset on Wednesday following a recurrence of a longstanding back problem in the first of two warm-up maches — the tourists also face Worcestershire — before the first Test at Trent Bridge on July 10.

The Somerset match was also former Test batsman Darren Lehmann’s first as Australia head coach after Mickey Arthur was sensationally sacked on Monday just 16 days out from the Ashes.

“Our mindset as a group is to move forward, there is no doubt about it,” Clarke told Sky Sports.

“I think the boys trained really

Michael Clarke with former national coach Mickey Arthur.

well yesterday and a lot of guys have come down early today to get some work in. We’re working really hard.

“We know that improvement’s needed from what’s happened in the past,” Clarke added.

Australia made an early exit from the ICC Champions Trophy, where they also lost to England, and are without opener David

AFP/WILLIAM WEST

Warner for the Somerset and Worcestershire games.

Warner was banned by Cricket Australia after admitting punching England batsman Joe Root in a Birmingham bar following the Champions Trophy defeat. Warner’s suspension came just a few weeks after he was fined for an abusive Twitter rant.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

sports

DEL BOSQUE COY ON CASILLAS SELECTION Spain coach Vicente del Bosque refused to reveal on Wednesday whether or not Iker Casillas will start in goal in the Confederations Cup semifinal against Italy in Fortaleza on Thursday. Del Bosque rotated his three goalkeepers during the group phase, with each player playing a match each.

CONFEDERATIONS CUP

32

Tempers flare as Brazil win A towering Paulinho header saw Brazil edge out Uruguay 2-1 in an ill-tempered Confederations Cup semifinal in Belo Horizonte to set up a final with either world champions Spain or Italy.

CHRIS WRIGHT Agence France-Presse BELO HORIZONTE: A towering Paulinho header saw Brazil edge Uruguay 2-1 on Wednesday in an ill-tempered Confederations Cup semi-final in Belo Horizonte to set up a final with either world champions Spain or Italy.

Fred scored from close range two minutes from half-time to calm the nerves of the five-time world champions and Confederations Cup title holders after Diego Forlan had first missed a penalty for Uruguay.

But Edinson Cavani levelled three minutes after the restart and thereafter the hosts were rocking before Paulinho rose high to plant a firm close-range header past Fernando Muslera in the Uruguay goal to pull off a barely deserved victory.

“A Brazil match against Uruguay is always really an emotional rollercoaster for me,” said Julio Cesar, who said he knew Forlan would fire his penalty to his left. “I played with him at Inter Milan — but it was a good stop.” Cavani said the penalty miss was “a shame as we were playing well but we have to take it on the chin.”

Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez, who led Uruguay to the Copa America title in 2011 to book a berth here, was sanguine afterwards.

“We played with passion and made it tough for them. But we

Brazil’s midfielder Paulinho (L) scores against Uruguay during their Confederations Cup semifinal match, at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday.

AFP/CHRISTOPHE SIMON

Scolari insists Brazil on track after victory against Uruguay BELO HORIZONTE: Brazil coach Luiz Felipe conceded his team cannot yet start dreaming of a sixth World Cup title next year - but they are now just one match away from a third straight Confederations Cup success after edging out Uruguay. Pretty it was not, and

Scolari admitted as much after an oddly uninspired Selacao dug out a 2-1 success over the Celeste, who have haunted them ever since a World Cup final success over the Samba stars in Rio 63 years ago.

“I think we are on the right road,” said ‘Big Phil’ after a

Paulinho header saw them drag themselves over the line when it seemed Uruguay, having levelled Fred’s bundled opener shortly before the break with a fine Edinson Cavani finish, looked as if they might repeat their 1950 exploits.

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will learn from the experience,” Tabarez said. Matches between the South American neighbours have long been tense affairs — not least since the Uruguayans shocked the Brazilians in the 1950 World Cup final in Rio to deny their hosts a first title.

But what gave this meeting added spice were pre-match comments by Uruguayan skipper Diego Lugano labelling Brazilian starlet Neymar a diver.

The CBF issued a furious rebuttal of the claim, but there was clearly no love lost between the sides as they snapped into tackles and scrapped for every bit of territory. Brazil made a sluggish start and Lugano was to the fore as he won a penalty for the Uruguayans after 16 minutes.

The defender tussled with David Luiz in the box and went down — but referee Enrique Osses quickly spotted that Luiz had tugged on his rival’s shirt and gave the spotkick.

Uruguay’s Forlan stepped forward but placed his low kick too close to Julio Cesar, the Brazilian keeper diving away to his left to push the ball round the post and elicit a deafening cheer from a 60,000 crowd.

Around twice that number were in the streets, kept out by a police cordon as they joined yet another protest against crumbling public services and government corruption as well as the multibillion dollar bill for staging major sporting events.

Coach seeks Gilardino’s experience

TOM WILLIAMS Agence France-Presse

FORTALEZA: Italy coach Cesare Prandelli confirmed on Wednesday that experienced striker Alberto Gilardino will come in for the injured Mario Balotelli in Thursday’s Confederations Cup semi-final with Spain.

Balotelli, 22, returned to Italy earlier this week after being ruled out of the tournament with a thigh muscle injury.

The AC Milan player has emerged as Italy’s most important striker over the past year, but Prandelli said 30-year-old Gilardino, with whom he worked at Parma and Fiorentina, would prove a capable deputy.

“Gilardino is going to play,” Prandelli said during the pre-game media conference at Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza.

“He’s a trustworthy and reliable player. He’s a reference point for the team and

Italy’s forward Alberto Gilardino (L) and midfielder Alessandro Diamanti (R) during a break in a training session at Castelao stadium in Fortaleza, Brazil on Wednesday.

AFP/JUAN BARRETO

he’s also good at scoring goals.

“I’m not playing him because I have a good relationship with him, but because he’s one of the best attackers that we have.”

Prandelli conceded that Balotelli’s absence was a blow, but he suggested Italy might find ways of becoming even more effective without the former Manchester City striker on the pitch. “I’m sorry he’s not here, because I know he really wanted to be here,” Prandelli said.