Postnoon E-Paper for March 27th 2013

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013 HYDERABAD

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KNOCKIN’ ON JAIL'S DOOR

He has already served 18 months of jail time, yet it seems the past has caught up with actor Sanjay Dutt.

There are other stars too who have had run-ins with the law or have faced jail time. Here are some of the more famous cases.

P16&17

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

Aadhaar enrolment PICTURES ON P8 target proves a mirage

CELEBRATE WITH

COLOUR

Overambitious Central bureaucracy that set unattainable targets is putting State machinery to strain itself against many odds that are not in their control. April 15, the deadline for Aadhaar card enrolment, is fast approaching. However, the enrolment for Aadhaar cards is still moving at a slow pace.

For several reasons, the UIDAI and the District Collectorate are being bogged down in reaching their target of 100 per cent enrolment.

P7 N SHIVA KUMAR

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

city events

GRAND EASTER BRUNCH AT PI

The Chefs at Avasa have devised a special menu. The brunch will not only have a great choice of food, but also loads of entertainment activities. It is on March 31, from noon, at Pi, Avasa Hotel, Madhapur. The contact number is: (040) 6728 2828

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

33°C

25°C

Clear with cloudy periods.

Mostly clear.

Morning

Afternoon

31°C

39°C

Sunny with cloudy periods.

Sunny with cloudy periods.

New Delhi Mumbai Max 33 Max 30 Min 22 Min 22 Partly cloudy.

Chennai Max 34 Min 26

Sunny.

Partly cloudy.

Bangalore Max 34 Min 24 Partly cloudy.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES Where: Celeste, Taj Falaknuma Palace When: March 31, 12.30pm to 3.30pm Contact: (040) 6629 8585

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

Where: Preview: Park Hyatt Exhibition continues at Kalakriti Art Gallery When: Preview: March 28, 6.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 6656 4466

Holi Special Aam panna, thandai, assorted pakodas and special chat platters are some of the items on the menu.

There will also be tattoo and mehendi artistes, musician and bangle seller at the venue.

Where: Kailash Parbat Above Ebony Gautier, 2nd floor, Road no. 36, Jubilee Hills When: March 23-31 Lunch: noon to 3.30pm Snacks: noon to 11.30pm Dinner: 7pm to 11pm Contact: (040) 2355 8856

Homage to Ganesh Pyne There is an exhibition of mixed media and jottings by Ganesh Pyne.

The preview will be followed by a talk and presentation at 7pm by Pranab Ranjan Ray, art historian and activist of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery When: Ongoing Contact: (040) 6656 4466 Thinking form and content An exhibition of art work by Gopal Nayak.

Where: ICONART Gallery, Road no. 12, Sri Ram Nagar Colony, Banjara Hills When: Up to March 30, from 11.30 am to 7pm Contact: 98499 68797

FOOD FEST: The 10-day Hyderabad food festival kick started at Aashrith Hotels’ speciality restaurants — 36 Bar-B-Q S BALAKRISHNA and 36 Chhattees, Jubilee Hills. from 6pm to 8pm Continues till April 10, from 11am to 7pm Contact: www.alankritha.in

Group painting exhibition An exhibition of paintings by Pradosh Swain and Suchismita Sahoo.

Where: Aalankritha Art Gallery When: Preview: March 30,

Innovating traditions Artists with interest in sculptural forms are invited to participate in this workshop. There will be an interactive use of techniques between Nakashi art and contemporary art practices.

Where: ICONART Artist in Residency Premises, 1672 SBI building, 2nd floor, Road no12, Banjara Hills When: Ongoing Contact: 98499 68797

DINING Double Easter treat There is an exquisite seafood barbe-

Commissioner & Spl Officer

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

198 155313

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

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

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

cue, along with Easter classics at Okra. Specially crafted Easter hampers are available at The Hyderabad Baking Company.

Where: Okra,Hyderabad Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre When: March 31, 12.30pm to 3.30pm Contact: (040) 2752 2567 Full moon dine Dine with your loved ones under the full moon. A special thali will be served every full moon.

Where: La Cantina When: from March 27, 7.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 6682 4422 Easter goodies Hot cross buns, Easter Bunnies, and Easter chocolates are part of the special Easter menu.

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

Where: Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre When: March 25-31 Daily treats Orange is the fruit of the month at The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace.

Dishes include orange blossom cheesecake, orange creme brule and dark chocolate orange tart.

Where: Daily Treats, The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace When: Up to March 31 Contact: (040) 6767 6818

MISCELLANEOUS The great Oxford sale Discounts on books, magazines, stationery and gift items.

Where: Oxford Bookstore, Tresorie, The Park, 22 Raj Bhavan Road When: Up to March 31, Contact: (040) 31002959

Easter brunch The multi-cuisine buffet includes western barbecue, oriental and Hyderabadi specialties, soft beverages and live stations. There are exciting activities for children like egg painting, face painting and treasure hunt

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

It’s Easter!

There is a special Easter brunch.

Where: : Seasonal Tastes, The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace When: March 31, noon to 4pm Contact: (040) 6767 6888

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

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

City

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

SHOULD WATER WASTAGE BE MADE A CRIME? 90% 10%

YES (A) NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

DO YOU THINK THE TRADE LICENSES ARE A MERE MONEY MAKING PLOY? A)

YES

B)

NO

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

CRIME

CRIME

Man dupes many, held He launched a realty company and swindled people of their money.

Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com

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he police team of Malakpet has arrested a person by name Shoaib Ahmed who was the director of a company by name ‘Honour India Infrastructure’, which has allegedly duped scores of people and taken a huge sum promising them plots.

According to the details Shoaib, 40, a resident of Darabgunj colony of Madannapet in the Old City is a mere graduate. He launched a high-sounding realty company titled, ‘Honour India Infrastructure’ right in front of the Malakpet police station last year.

He offered residential plots in Nacharam, Jeedcharla and Mahbubnagar at very low prices and collected a size-

able sum from the people who fell for it. He had promised them documents in three months. Months after the promise there was no

sign of the plots and customers began pestering him.

He then started issuing cheques, which promptly bounced. A day after he issued cheques, clients rushed to his office only to find the shutters down and the board removed.

The plots he had displayed belonged to a resident of Dwaraknagar. It turned out, Shoaib was not operating alone and had accomplices. The police are investigating the case. It is learnt that nearly 20 people had paid lakhs of rupees and there were more people who were likely to pay huge sums, when the fraud came to light, police inspector V Ravi Kumar said.

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Charred body of man found POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

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he mysterious death of Mohammed Billal Ahmed, 24 (in pic), on Monday has been established as murder. His abandoned bike was found.

Murderers had burnt his body to obliterate identification, police said.

Billal had not returned home on Monday and nothing was heard from him for a day.

The missing complaint by his relatives activated the police, who finally found a charred body on the outskirts of the City in Patelguda village of Pattancheru mandal. His body bore several wounds, suggesting he was severely injured before being killed. The police believe he must have been taken by force to the outskirts and done to death. However, nobody has yet been arrested.

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city WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

GHMC

LAST YEAR... HERE Bazaars lose to parking

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ast year we had reported how several shopping areas in the City were complaining that they were suffering losses due to the lack of parking space near their stores. With the traffic police cracking the whip, shoppers were wary of driving to their trusted local markets, for fear of either being issued challans or having their vehicles towed away by the police.

MARCH 27, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

`50,000 is how much a tea stall owner was asked to pay towards trade license fee by the GHMC.

There is no reason to panic if the deadline is approaching as the cash transfer linkage will come into effect only after 100 per cent enrolment is completed.

The trade license fees levied by the GHMC are fraught with discrepancies with traders receiving multiple notices in the same year.

FOR REPRESENTATION ONLY

Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com

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ould you believe it if we told you that a tea stall owner was slapped with a notice to pay `50,000 towards trade licence fees? Or that a motor driving school received three different notices to pay the trade license fees? Believe it or not, this is happening and right here in our City. The trade license fees levied by the GHMC is fraught with discrepancies and it is the hapless traders who are bearing the brunt of it.

Syed Aslam, who runs a tea stall in Ramnagar, was in for a rude shock when the GHMC sent him a notice to pay `50,000 as trade license fees this year.

The poor man had already paid `3,000 as last year’s dues and yet was asked to clear them.

“How can I pay such a large amount, when I don’t even earn anything close to it?” he asked.

When he questioned the logic behind being forced to pay

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

1

Investing in a plot? Check your agent’s records first.

Several people learnt this the hard way when the realtor they had paid huge amounts to for plots of land, vanished with their hard earned money.

2

If you are a trader, be prepared to be looted by GHMC. In the guise of charging trade license fees, the GHMC has been issuing multiple notices to traders for the same year and has been ignoring the past years’ payments.

3

Online share traders mint money.

There has been a steep rise in online share trading among young investors in the last two years as a source of additional income.

4

Despite stiff competition, convent colleges thrive.

The corporate colleges might be luring students with attractive offers, but at the end of the day convent colleges win.

5

Aadhaar deadline might be a mere mirage.

Despite the April 15 deadline to complete the process, Aadhaar card enrolments are far from over.

such a large amount, he got a reply stating that he should pay the amount mentioned in the notice and after he did pay up, he could approach the GHMC commissioner for further clarification.

This is not all. The GHMC also seems to be bungling up when it comes to delivering the notices to the correct addresses.

A notice meant for New Turning

Point Hotel in Ramnagar was delivered to Turning Point Hotel in Vidyanagar.

To add to traders’ woes, the trade license fees have reportedly been increased manifold. For instance in 2010-11, `3,749 was charged as trade license fee to the Turning Point Hotel, in 201112 the hotel was charged `3,719 and an additional `3719 for bulk garbage was levied apart from a

penalty of `930. Interestingly, despite the owner having paid all of the above, this year the hotel was issued a notice to pay `24,000. “The GHMC is fleecing us in the name of bulk garbage, but the vehicle picking up the garbage does not even come,” laments the hotel owner.

It is believed that without a proper policy in place, the lower grade officers were levying fees as they wished. There is also no clarity over the categories of business on which the trade license should be levied.

In another incident of a driving school in Abids was given three different notices for the same year. The person is making rounds of the GHMC seeking help to approach higher ups. “I was surprised that I received three different notices one after another for my driving school,” says the owner of the driving school. “If there are any discrepancies, it can be brought to our notice. We shall clarify this,” said Dr T Damodar, AMOH, GHMC.

GHMC

Muthyala Raju, jt collector See page 7

THINGS WE 5LEARNT TODAY

All is not clear here

Mayor reviews summer action plan

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

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ayor Mohammed Majid Hussain, GHMC commissioner MT Krishna Babu, MD HMWS&SB Shyamala Rao, along with senior officials of both the departments held a review meeting on the Summer Action Plan and drinking water related issues at the GHMC head office.

The mayor while interacting with officials enquired about the additional water tankers that are being supplied to places in need. He also requested Shyamala Rao to furnish details of the tankers so that he could share the same with corporators so that they will also have an idea about sup-

ply of drinking water in their divisions.

Krishna Babu while interacting with the HMWS&SB senior officials said that they had received proposals and estimates from corporators for the works pertaining to

drinking water supply in their divisions. He directed the zonal commissioners to release the funds and approve the proposals at the earliest so that the work could be taken up soon in coordination with the HMWS&SB. The GHMC commissioner directed superintendent engineers and the chief general managers to coordinate with each other while taking up restoration works so that there wouldn’t be any problems while digging up roads for water supply connections.

Later on the commissioner and other GHMC officials briefed the mayor about the summer action plan in his chambers. The mayor further stated that most HMWS&SB junior officers were not attending ward committee meetings and directed the officials to ensure that they did so henceforth.

NEWS BRIEFS Prez okays 5 new judges in HC

Revised intermediate textbooks released

YSRCP does reality check on crops

Lumbini Park, 60 biz served notices

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resident Pranab Mukherjee has given his consent for the appointment of five new judges in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Senior advocates P Naveen Rao, Ch Kodandaram, A Rajasekhar Reddy, AV Sesha Sai and SV Bhatt will be appointed as the new judges.

extbooks for the second Intermediate academic year for both MPC, BPC were released. The textbooks for the year 2013-14 were prepared by the Telugu Akademi keeping the syllabus in tune with the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). The prices for MPC textbooks are `1,540 and `1,385 for MPC and BPC respectively.

o access the acreage that suffered withering of crops due to longer hours of power cuts, YSR Congress MLAs decided to tour some key Assembly constituencies.

“We will show how CM is wrong on his statements. He said not even a single acre of crop has withered due to unscheduled power cuts,” said MLA Kapu Ramachandra Reddy.

ocated just opposite to State Secretariat, the Lumbini Park was issued notice by City police for security lapses. Notices were also issued to about 60 business establishments and places of worship in Alwal area under Cyberabad for not sticking to the security guidelines stipulated by police.

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city WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

SURVEY

Online share trading on the rise According to an Assocham survey, the industry is growing by 150 per cent year-on-year.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

own business and 20 per cent were government employees. In the poll, 36 per cent people had an annual income range of `4 lakh or less, 32 per cent between `5 to `8 lakh, 16 per cent and 8 cent people had an income range of `9 to `12 lakh and `13 to `15 lakh respectively.

In the survey, it is found that majority of young investors (64

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here has been a steep rise in online share trading among young investors (over 72 per cent) in the last two years as a source of additional income, with ease of availability of gadgets, use of technology and access to analyst information, reveals an Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) survey.

In its countrywide survey conducted during JanuaryFebruary 2013, Assocham has revealed that the online share trade industry is growing by 150 per cent year-on-year; the value of all trades executed through the internet has grown more than ten times in two years.

Major metropolitan cities in which respondents were interviewed include Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahemdabad, Cochin, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Indore, Patna, Pune, Chandigarh and Dehradun.

Assocham used random data to choose investors representing various age groups, occupation, gender, marital status and annu-

ASSEMBLY

JP warns of worsening power crisis

The survey further reveals that the young generation is very analytical, quick and responsive to the ever changing market scenario. al income range. A little over 200 employees were selected from each city on an average.

Delhi ranks first in online share trading followed by Mumbai, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Ahemdabad and Dehradun.

Nearly 85 per cent of the respondents said online trading is the most profitable business, which just requires knowledge of the trading concept.

The survey further reveals that the young generation is very analytical, quick and responsive to the ever changing market scenario.

Majority of the respondents doing internet trading belong to the age group of 18 to 23 years. Out of 2,500 respondents, 62 per cent were male and 38 per cent female.

Nearly, 32 per cent were working in private organisations, only 16 per cent had their

per cent) like to trade in futures and options.

“The emerging scenario makes it necessary for the broking companies to identify investor’s perception of level service quality, which strongly influences the investor’s behavioural intentions. This would facilitate the process of categorizing, determining and measuring, controlling and

thereby improving the investor inclination/interest in online trading,” says DS Rawat, secretary general, Assocham.

The survey was able to target corporate employees from 18 broad sectors, with maximum share contributed by employees from IT/ITes sector (17 per cent).

Contribution of the survey respondents from financial services is 11 per cent. It includes employees engaged in banking sector, stock brokerage house, insurance sector, financial consultancy and chartered accountants. Employees working in engineering and telecom sector constitute 9 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. Nearly 6 per cent of the employees were from market research/KPO and media background each.

Management, FMCG and infrastructure sector employees’ share is 5 per cent each. Respondents from power and real estate sector contributed 4 per cent each.

Employees from education and food and beverages sector provided a share of 3 per cent each.

Advertising, manufacturing and textiles employees offered a share of 2 per cent each in the survey results.

NEEDS OF INDUSTRIES A Classified Display Feature

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ok Satta party supremo Dr Jaya Prakash Narayan has warned that the prevailing power crisis would aggravate further if the present precarious situation remains unchanged.

Speaking in the Assembly on Tuesday, Dr Jaya Prakash Narayan slammed the Kiran Kumar Reddy government for failing to increase the ground water level by a foot even after spending thousands of crores of rupees under the National Employment Assurance Scheme works.

Stressing the need for installing meters to the agricultural connections and having separate feeders, the LSP president felt that only then there would be a chance of better and proper supply of power.

Lamenting that not even a single issue was discussed in the August House in the budget session, Dr JP alleged that the leaders wasted the precious time in making allegations against each other.

NSS

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city WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

EDUCATION

Colleges: Regular over corporate?

Regular intermediate colleges, including convent junior colleges, say that they see a rise in the number of applicants every year, despite fierce competition from corporate colleges.

ALEENA ALICE aleena.t@postnoon.com

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ven though most corporate junior colleges have been offering attractive discounts on the fee structure, the regular intermediate colleges don’t see a setback in the number of students applying for a seat in their colleges.

Regular intermediate colleges, including convent junior colleges in the City, say that they see a rise in the number of applicants every year. “The growth in the number of applicants is not only restricted to corporate colleges; every year we have thousands of students applying for various courses in our college.

When compared to other corporate junior colleges, the quality of education is no less (in our college). Most importantly, we focus on the all- round development of the student,” says a senior faculty of Little Flower Junior College.

Not only is the teaching style different, but also the facilities offered by the regular private junior colleges is what seems to be attracting the students. On the other hand, the fee structure is

also not as high as other corporate colleges. “It is a misconception in the minds of most people that students who study in corporate colleges have an edge in getting into the engineering or medical field.

We have students who got ranks in EAMCET and are engineers now. The only difference between corporate colleges and other colleges is that other colleges do not stress only on academics.

Students studying in regular colleges have time to breathe, and take part in extra-curricular activities, apart from their academics,” says principal of a convent junior college in Tarnaka.

Parents, on the other hand, seemed to be more relaxed in sending their kids to regular junior colleges.

“My son completed his intermediate from a corporate college and my daughter, who just wrote her 2nd year intermediate exams, studied in a convent college. Now I see the difference in both types of institutions.

Though my son secured a good rank in his intermediate exams, he was under constant stress because of the weekly test and the competition within the college. However that is not the case with my daughter. She secured a good percentage in her 1st year and is now confident about her second year results too,” says Sonia Narang, a house wife.

ASSEMBLY

DANGEROUS HYDERABAD

TDP, YSRC protest In a protest against the power crisis, TDP held a demonstration with candles and YSRC with torch lights.

N SHIVA KUMAR

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M ANIL KUMAR

WHAT SIGNAL?

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n 2012, there were over 2,500 road accidents in the City, according to the statistics given by the Hyderabad Traffic Police on their website. The figure was nearly 250 in the month of January this year.

India has the highest and worst road accident rate in the world, overtaking China, according to a World Health Organisation global status report on road safety, published in a report by DW, Germany’s international broadcaster.

According to the Transport Research Wing of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,

5,15,458 were injured in road accidents in the country between 2005-09. While 78.5 per cent of these were the fault of the driver, according to the report, in 2.2 per cent of the cases, it was the pedestrian’s fault.

In this picture, a woman is seen crossing the road at Tarnaka. While most people don’t cross at the zebra crossing, many don’t pay heed to the pedestrian signal. At many junctions, with unregulated traffic and lack of bridges and subways, people are left with little choice when they need to cross.

pposition TDP and YSR Congress expressed their protests against the power shortage in a novel way.

The first phase of Assembly sessions will come to a close on Tuesday.

On the last day, TDP members staged demonstration with candles and empty pots. Later, the party's MLAs and MLCs went to the House in a rally, carrying candles. Meanwhile, YSR Congress members came to the House with torch lights.

The Assembly, which began its session at 9am on Tuesday, was immediately adjourned because of din for an hour. Speaking on the occasion, YSRC demanded that the government either provide power to the people or at least give them torch lights.

Referring to the charge of the TDP that late chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy was responsible for the power shortage, they demanded that the opposi-

TDP leader Devineni Umamaheswara Rao said Congress and YSR Congress were responsible for the present state of affairs. tion state why it was defeated in 2009.

Speaking on the issue, TDP leader Devineni

Umamaheswara Rao said Congress and YSR Congress were responsible for the present state of affairs.

He has charged the government of running away from the problems by adjourning the House every day. He said the sins committed by both the parties were haunting the State.

In the morning, the speaker said that the adjournment motion notices given by opposition parties were disallowed .

NSS

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city WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

CIVIC

Aadhaar enrolment target a mirage The overambitious Central bureaucracy that set unattainable targets is making the State machinery strain itself against many odds that are not in its control.

M ANIL KUMAR

RAHUL RAMAKRISHNA rahul.r@postnoon.com

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pril 15, the deadline for Aadhaar card enrolment, is fast approaching. However, the enrolment for Aadhaar cards is still moving at a slow pace. For several reasons, the UIDAI and the district collectorate are being bogged down in reaching their target of 100 per cent enrolment.

Applicants at the Aadhaar enrolment centres are beginning to wonder if the target will ever be achieved, given the snail pace of progress.

According to the district joint collector, Muthyala Raju, out of the total 2011 census population of 52,96,396, only 45,95,978 have enrolled, clocking the enrolment target at 87 per cent. Out of the enrolled 45,95,978, UID numbers have been generated for 29,61,681. “There is no reason to panic if the deadline is approaching as the cash transfer linkage will come into effect only after 100 per cent enrolment is com-

pleted. Meanwhile, we are trying to sort out a few problems that are proving to be a hindrance, like shortage of centres, staff and

power cuts,” Raju said.

According to official statistics, until January 2013, there were 75 Aadhaar enlistment

POLITICS

BUDGET

Diddi’s statements don’t merit reaction, says MIM MIM and BJP rubbish the Congress allegation that the two opposition parties co-operate on local issues.

INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com

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he statement of the ruling Congress floor leader in GHMC, Diddi Rambabu (in pic), that BJP and MIM are two sides of the same coin, has created a buzz in political circles.

What attracted everybody’s attention is Diddi’s statement that MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi and BJP State president Kishan Reddy, who is also an MLA from Amberpet, held two-hour-long closed-door discussions on the Assembly premises recently.

Rambabu wanted to know how come two arch rivals, who hate each other so much, can hold such long discussions.

Utilising the opportunity to the fullest, the Congress floor leader did not stop there. He further alleged that the MIM had helped Kishan Reddy win from Amberpet Assembly constituen-

centres for Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts. On February 20, more centres were opened and the current total

number of enrolment centres stands at 95. “However, we are facing a shortage of UIDAIauthorised enrolment personnel. This is proving to be a major difficulty. Add to this the several hours of power cuts, enrolments are being cut short by four to six hours everyday around the City and RR district limits,” Raju says.

Why UIDAI-certified personnel are a rarity and how many are required urgently is a mystery, as the regional DDG was unavailable for explanation. But according to an assistant section officer from the regional office at Madhapur, the fall-out of the biometric exemption scam and other frauds within Aadhaar enrolment have cautioned authorities, who have tightened the measures. “Applicants are being thoroughly scrutinised and in this process, deployment is taking time. The recent biometric exemption fraud and misuse of the powers granted to the enrolment officers has cautioned the department,” he said.

cy. However, State-level leaders of both the political parties did not show any inclination to comment on the issue, terming it poppycock.

When Postnoon tried to contact Akbaruddin Owaisi on this issue, he was unavailable for

comment. But reacting to the issue, former deputy mayor of GHMC and senior MIM leader Jaffer Hussain Meraj said in unequivocal terms that Rambabu’s comments were baseless allegations that did not deserve any reaction. “I do not want to react on the comments made by a leader of Rambabu’s stature. He does not deserve any reaction,” he said. Reiterating the stand of the MIM, Meraj said that MIM is a secular party and as a secular party, it would strive to fight for the rights of Muslims.

Meraj did not want to discuss the issue at all.

BJP national leader and former MLA from Musheerabad Dr K Lakshman too showed his reluctance to comment, terming it a local issue. “I am a national leader of BJP, I don’t think the issue you are talking about even deserves my reaction. It would be better if you contact a local leader on it,” he said.

‘`100cr allotted for drinking water, not a paisa released’

T

he Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in its report on the State finances for the year ending March 2012, has picked loopholes in the preparation of the annual budget as there was no consistency between allocation and expenditure.

The CAG report, which was tabled in the Assembly, pointed out that one-sixth of the budget allocations remained unspent.

The CAG report, which was tabled in the State Assembly on Tuesday, while asserting that resorting to expenditure without budget allocations was contrary to norms, pointed out that onesixth of the budget allocations remained unspent.

It was further pointed out in the report that specific allocations made in the 2011-2012

budget were not put to use for the intended purposes, especially in education and health sectors.

The total accumulated loss in 11 public undertakings was to the tune of `5,979 crore.

While the estimated loss in the housing programme was `3,554 crore, the loss for APSRTC was `1,984 crore. The total debt of the State up to March 31, 2012, was estimated at `1,56,355 crore.

The CAG report revealed that `49,516 crore was spent for drinking water and road development schemes till the end of March 2012. Though `200 crore was allocated for loan waiver for handloom weavers, only `32.88 crore was released.

The report further suggested to the State government that all the required measures for completion of works pertaining to drinking water schemes should be formulated and expressed surprise that despite `100 crore being allocated for drinking water supply, not a paisa was released.

NSS

city WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

8

FESTIVITIES

Colour me pink Holi started off in a burst of colour this morning, with gulaal-smeared men, women and children frolicking in the streets. Even our sombre politicians joined in the fun at Raj Bhavan.

PICS: N SHIVA KUMAR

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

focus

WORKING DANGEROUSLY

Aleppo takes pride in its commercial tradition, key to the whole Middle East region. Mohammed’s firm only stopped work for a few days in the past nine months, when the fighting became unbearably fierce.

But war has also caused many of his workers to flee.

SYRIA

9

Sewing machines drown out gunfire in Aleppo factory

A Syrian boy works at a clothes factory in the northern city of Aleppo.

MARIE ROUDANI feedback@postnoon.com

“W

e people f r o m Aleppo are hard workers, we’re renowned for that,’ said Mohammed, as he showed a team of AFP journalists around a clothes factory in strife-torn Aleppo city, Syria’s economic heart.

In a building in the eastern district of Tariq al-Bab, the din of sewing machines has replaced the sound of gunfire and bombing, as bombardment of the neighbourhood by regime forces becomes less frequent.

A dozen young men work tirelessly to make a living more than two years into a war that has left some 70,000 people dead, the UN says.

Some were still at school when the battle for Aleppo

broke out around nine months ago. Today, they are sewing onto children’s T-shirts and baby bibs the insignia of FC Barcelona.

Ibrahim, 27, has worked for around four years for the company, which sells its products in Iraq. He used computer technology to design the logo, which is then sewn onto children’s blue and orange shorts.

‘We chose Barcelona because that’s what the clients wanted. Personally, I don’t support anyone. I just back the winner,’ he said with a smile, but without taking his eyes off his work.

On the streets, young people freely discuss which football team they back, but when it comes to the civil war that is tearing Syria apart, no one wants to talk.

Mohammed makes regular trips across the front lines into

AFP/BULENT KILIC

The company stays open eight hours a day, thanks to generators that keep the power going in a city deprived of electricity. regime-held districts to buy goods he needs for his factory.

‘I don’t support anyone.

I’m just a little citizen who doesn’t understand all these political games,’ he told AFP. ‘All I know is that there are weapons everywhere. My house is a 10-minute drive away from the company, but I only go home at weekends. My wife and children are home alone because I’m afraid of what may happen on the road.’

Aleppo takes pride in its

commercial tradition, key to the whole Middle East region.

Mohammed’s firm only stopped work for a few days in the past nine months, when the fighting became unbearably fierce.

But war has also caused many of his workers to flee.

‘There are those who fled the province altogether, and others who have stayed. But why should I leave? God will provide for me,’ said Hisham, an 18-year-old, as he thought about colleagues who have joined the millions who had fled their homes.

‘People don’t want to flee, they need to work to be able to eat,’ said Mohammed, thinking of a time when some 150 people worked for him in roundthe-clock shifts.

More than nine months on from a massive army assault launched to repel a rebel

advance on Aleppo, the company stays open eight hours a day, thanks to generators that keep the power going in a city deprived of electricity.

Those who have stayed behind in Aleppo must face bombings and steeply higher prices for basic commodities.

‘It’s hard to work with everything that’s going on around us, but I need to take care of my family,’ said 25-yearold Ahmed, father of two.

‘Everything has become more expensive. Thanks to our salaries, we can cope with the cost of living.’

Mohammed says his employees are paid some 3,500 Syrian pounds ($35) a week.

In Aleppo, a pack of cigarettes costs 70 pounds, while a kilo of meat costs 800 — making it a luxury few today can afford.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

Business BRICS SUMMIT

REAL ESTATE

Brazil, China ink $30 billion swap line DURBAN: Brazil and China on Tuesday agreed to exchange up to $30 billion of each other's currency, in a bid to lessen the impact of financial crises. The funds could be used to back trade even if dollars became difficult to source in the event of a crisis like the 2008 meltdown. The cash could be used to provide credit for trade. The initiative was tentatively agreed last June and was signed on the sidelines of a summit of BRICS leaders here.

BRICS scale back plans for bank DURBAN: Leaders from the BRICS group of emerging powers were to announce a scaled-back plan on Wednesday to establish a development bank seen as a potential rival to Western-backed institutions. Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and hosts South Africa were expected to put flesh on the bones of efforts to gain more global clout by establishing a rival to the World Bank.

World Bank ready to work with BRICS bank WASHINGTON: The World Bank said it was ready to support the new development bank being established by the BRICS emerging economic powers, predicting it will be an "invaluable partner".

"We welcome the announcement of the establishment of a BRICS development bank and stand ready to work closely with the new bank to end poverty and build shared prosperity throughout the developing world," the World Bank said in a statement.

QANTAS-EMIRATES TIE-UP WINS FINAL NOD

Australia's competition watchdog on Wednesday gave final approval for Qantas and Emirates to launch a "game-changing" global alliance, saying the tie-up will benefit passengers.The deal allows the airlines to combine operations for five years.

10

AIRTEL BROADBAND PLANS

Suburbs hold promise of growth Shift to suburban locations reduces costs and offers superior quality projects with modern amenities.

KARAN KHETAN feedback@postnoon.com

I

ndia is rapidly urbanising and the skylines of the country’s metropolises are changing quickly with the building of skyscrapers and modern architecture. The smaller towns too are metamorphosing in unprecedented ways through the expansion of transportation networks, the creation of central districts and parks and residential projects.

Many cities have been transformed and Ahmedabad is most illustrative of them. Even before the metro rail link between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar has sprouted tracks, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (Gift City) phase I (10 million sq ft) has already rolled out its construction plans.

However, all these big changes have not been caused by irrational enthusiasm — they are indeed necessary, given the influx of people to the towns and the needful creation of employment. As existing CBDs have become saturated, India’s commercial real estate markets have grown in terms of both the density of existing business districts and the emergence of new ones.

During the past decade, commercial property segment has been witnessing a steady rise in demand for office space and the impact of the GFC is now waning. All this activity is credited to the significant shift within the country from developing average-quality commercial space to building superiorquality projects with advanced amenities. Also, the on-going infrastructure initiatives are aimed at transforming the sub-

Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecom services provider, launched Broadband plans on VDSL technology at speed of 40Mbps for customers in the City.

This plan promises to give best data experience for streaming high definition videos, online multiplayer gaming, downloading rich content, uploading photos and videos instantly.

Airtel Ultrasonic 3999 offers 200 GB data usage along with 2000 free voice minutes where as Ultrasonic 3299 offers 100 GB data usage along with 1000 free voice minutes. Customers can buy Beetel’s VDSL wi-fi modem priced at `3,099 to avail Airtel Broadband’s 40Mbps internet speed along with wi-fi connectivity.

NUMEROLOGY

$3.16

The absorption of office space in the country totalled 26.7 million sq ft in 2012, suburban locations accounting for more than 60 per cent. urban areas into successful commercial centres.

The recently conducted Jones Lang LaSalle India CFO survey revealed that approximately 68 per cent of the companies surveyed are planning to expand their operations in the next five years. These companies may prefer to shift to suburban locations because by doing so they will be able to reduce their real estate costs and move into superior quality projects, which are available at lower rents and offer modern amenities.

The banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sec-

tor dominates the CBD market due to its willingness to pay higher rents, whereas IT/ITES occupiers dominate the suburban market in terms of occupancy due to the availability of larger office space areas and because the nature of their business makes them vulnerable to higher overhead costs.

Suburban locations are home to the majority of office real estate occupiers and will have a growing role in determining the performance of the country’s office market. The absorption of office space in the country totalled 26.7 million sq ft in 2012 with suburban locations accounting for more than 60 per cent of the total, or 16.6 million sq ft. This is forecast to increase further to 68 per cent, or 19.2 million sq ft in 2013.

These growing real estate activities in suburban locations of India provide evidence of a shift in gravity towards this market.

The writer is a senior analyst (research and REIS), Jones Lang LaSalle India

GOLD`29,800 10g SILVER `54,400 1kg

24C

for

for

DOLLAR `54.37 POUND `82.22

bn

is what Japanese advertising giant Dentsu will pay for the takeover of British media group Aegis after regulators cleared the deal.

DUPONT-MOSANTO DEAL DuPont and Monsanto ended a legal fight Tuesday over rights to genetically modified seeds, with DuPont agreeing to pay Monsanto licensing fees for its seed technology. The two agreed that DuPont Pioneer will pay $1.75 billion in royalties to Monsanto for the next 10 years to tap Monsanto's Roundup seed technology in developing its own genetically modified soybean seeds. The deal will replace a previous court verdict ordering DuPont to pay Monsanto $1 billion for patent violation. The two said they would dismiss lawsuits against each other pending in a St. Louis, Missouri federal court. "This technology exchange helps both companies to expand the range of innovative solutions we can offer farmers, and to do so faster than either of us could alone," said DuPont Pioneer President Paul Schickler. "The agreements broaden the Pioneer soybean line-up.

Importantly, they give us greater flexibility in developing combinations of genetics and traits to help feed an increasingly crowded planet."

BSE NSE

18,704.53 23.11

5,641.60 7.75

11

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

nation

WRITER BOOKED FOR RAPING 3 WOMEN

A manhunt has been launched to trace leading Marathi writer Laxman Mane, who has been booked for raping three Dalit women working at a school he runs, police said here Tuesday. Mane's family meanwhile dismissed the charges.

MONEY RULES

DIPLOMACY

PM assures Putin on Kudankulam

Villagers in and around the nuclear power plant have been carrying out prolonged protests against its commissioning and have clashed with the police several times.

US House, biz team to visit Gujarat

WASHINGTON: A US Congressional and business delegation, visiting India this week, will feature a meeting with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi has been denied a US visa for his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, but of late US businesses have warmed up to him.

Aaron Schock, a Republican member of the House of Representatives from Illinois who will lead the delegation, is scheduled to travel to Ahmedabad to meet Modi on Thursday, according to an e-mail from the lawmaker's office.

The trip organised in conjunction with the National Indian American Public Policy Institute will also feature visits

with Indian government officials, MPs and business leaders.

While in India from March 26 to April 7, the delegation will also travel to Bangalore and New Delhi.

Ron Somers, president of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), an advocacy group of 300 top American and a score Indian companies seeking stronger commercial relations with India, among others has lavished praise on the third term chief minister.

Modi has “created a magnet for investment," said Somers at the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit in Gandhinagar in January joining several other foreign dignitaries in praising the the BJP leader.

IANS

NEWS BRIEFS Minister expelled from BJP for anti-party activities

BANGALORE: The ruling BJP in Karnataka tonight expelled Excise minister Renukacharya for six years for "antiparty activities" after he unleashed a noholds-barred attack on state leaders. In his first initiative against indiscipline after taking over as the state BJP chief, Prahlad Joshi took the action against Renukacharya, saying he had been talking "lightly" about some state party leaders. The expulsion of Renukacharya, close to BS Yeddyurappa, came on a day when he attacked former Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, accusing him of corruption and threatening to expose him more in the coming days. Gowda had hit back, saying Renukacharya was targeting him as he had acted against him during his chiefministership on certain charges against him. "Your utterances against state leaders are a clear violation of party discipline and constitutes anti-party activity," Joshi said.

DURBAN: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured Russian President Vladimir Putin that the first phase of the nuclear power project at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu will be up and running by next month.

“I am pleased to inform you Mr President that Kudankulam Unit I will become operational, in particular, the very next month," the prime minister told the Russian president when they met at a bilateral meeting on the margins of the 5th BRICS Summit late on Wednesday.

The first unit has the capacity of 1,000 mega watts.

The prime minister also assured the Russian president about the substantive progress being made on the other remaining phases of the joint nuclear energy programme between India and Russia at Kudankulam, near Tirunelveli in town in Tamil Nadu.

“As far as Unit III and IV are concerned, we have secured our internal approvals," the prime minister said, referring to the

sanction granted by the meeting of the cabinet committee on security, which he chairs.

Singh was accompanied by finance minister P

Chidambaram, commerce minister Anand Sharma and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon among others during the meeting.

IANS

LANKA ROW

India did not water down resolution: US WASHINGTON: The United States has worked with India throughout the process on the US-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), Obama Administration's point man on South Asia has said.

"We worked very closely with India throughout the process and we indeed welcomed some of the changes that India made," the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, told the BBC Sinhalese service in an interview.

"So we were quite satisfied with the cooperation that we had with India, and I think going forward it will be very important

for all of the international community to continue to work with India to encourage progress, since India has quite a lot of influence on the island," Blake said.

A transcripts of the interview taken on March 21 was released by the State Department yesterday. "We consulted closely throughout the entire process," Blake said when asked if India propose any amendments at the last moment..” He said that the forward progress be made on important issues like holding elections for the Northern Provincial Council in the country that have been promised for September of this year.

PTI

PICK YOUR

@

Across Stores

ities Twin C

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

World

Zuckerberg helping to form lobby group: Report Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg is helping form a group to lobby for US political reform in areas such as education and immigration policy, according to US media reports. The group reportedly set a goal of raising about $50 million, with significant contributions already provided by Zuckerberg and others.

Marijuana seized

BATTLE FOR RIGHTS Gay rights activists demonstrate in front of the US Supreme Court building in Washington DC. The Court trod cautiously Tuesday as it considered gay marriage, with justices appearing hesitant to deliver a sweeping historic verdict on the emotionally charged issue. On a day long awaited by both sides of the debate, thousands of gay rights advocates waving US and rainbow flags descended on the Court, outnumbering a rally of religious activists opposed to same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court will take months to issue a ruling, but several justices indicated during their 80-minute debate that they would be in no hurry to issue a verdict that could extend the right to same-sex marriage to the entire country.

JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES/AFP

CAR CRISIS

Rebels take on looters

ANGUI: Rebel leaders in the Central African Republic (CAR) have been cracking down on looters roaming the streets of the capital following the latest coup.

Bandits, local residents and rebels themselves went on the rampage in Bangui after strongman Michel Djotodia's Seleka rebel coalition seized control in a rapid-fire weekend assault that forced president Francois Bozize into exile.

"There is pillaging everywhere, it's very hard to control anything," a soldier from the FOMAC African force told AFP. The International Committee of the Red Cross said the fighting had left scores dead, but could not yet give precise figures. AFP

BIO-TERROR FEARS

Deadly virus missing The virus, known to be fatal to 30 per cent of the people who contract it, has no known treatment or vaccine.

WASHINGTON: A small vial containing a rare but potentially deadly virus called ‘Guanarito’ that could be used in a bio-terror attack has gone missing from a maximumsecurity University of Texas research laboratory.

The virus is native to Venezuela and is transmitted by rodents. It causes internal bleeding and organ damage that is fatal for up to 30 per cent of those who contract it.

Officials at the lab are scrambling to explain what could have happened to it.

“There’s really no possibility of anything leaving the lab in a viable form unless it is taken out intentionally,” said Scott

Weaver, scientific director of the Galveston National Laboratory, according to USA Today.

The vial — which contains less than a quarter of a teaspoon of the virus — was found to be missing from a locked freezer during a routine internal inspection of the lab.

Since the virus can be inhaled and there is no known treatment or vaccine, scientists have to wear protective gear that resembles space suits and have a decontamination shower after leaving the lab, Weaver said.

IANS

NEWS BRIEFS US immigrant wins $338 North Dakota outlaws million lottery most abortions

Petraeus apologises for extra-marital affair

Belgian police kill man suspected of terror links

NEW YORK: The immigrant owner of a US convenience store claimed a $338.3 million lottery jackpot on Tuesday and said that, despite being catapulted into the ranks of the super rich, his heart won't change. Pedro Quezada, 44, faced 175-million-to-one odds when he bought a "quick pick" ticket with the correct five numbers.

LOS ANGELES: Former CIA chief General David Petraeus apologised on Tuesday for the "mistake" which triggered his resignation last year, in his first public speech since quitting due to an extra-marital affair. Petraeus voiced regret for the "pain" caused by his relationship with his biographer Paula Broadwell, pledging to try to "make amends”.

BRUSSELS: Belgian police shot dead a man of Algerian origin suspected of terrorist links after a motorway pursuit Tuesday, moving in after an investigation that was triggered by a tip-off from French officials. The shoot-out took place on the motorway linking Brussels and Tournai, Belga news agency reported.

CHICAGO: North Dakota on Tuesday approved the most restrictive abortion laws in the US. Republican Governor Jack Dalrymple signed a bill that bans any abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, typically around six weeks after conception. There are no exceptions for rape, incest, or threat to the health of the mother.

12

Colombian police have seized more than 7.7 tonnes of marijuana that allegedly belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), reports Xinhua.

Police found 158 packages which tested positive for cannabis in two trucks stopped at a toll booth Tuesday, authorities said. FARC rebels reportedly planned to distribute the marijuana in Colombia's capital. The rebels are believed to rely partly on the drug trade to fund their movements.

NUMEROLOGY

11,200

troops could be needed for a peacekeeping mission in Mali but a "parallel" military force will have to battle radical Islamists, UN leader Ban KiMoon said on Tuesday.

Unrest in Myanmar A rampaging mob set fire to a mosque and homes in a central Myanmar town, a police official said Wednesday, the latest outbreak of violence in communal unrest that has left at least 40 people dead. A week after Buddhist-Muslim clashes erupted, a mosque was torched in Nattalin town, 150 kilometres north of the country's commercial hub of Yangon, a police official who did not want to be named told AFP. A Nattalin resident said police were overwhelmed as a mob arrived in the town, setting fire to the mosque before leaving.

If she keeps to the road of confrontation like traitor Lee (previous president), defying the warnings of the DPRK , she will meet a miserable ruin.

North’s committee for reunification

13

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

Technology CELESTIAL TREASURE

The final frontier

AMY COOPES feedback@postnoon.com

SYDNEY: A self-sustaining mechanised colony that mines and exports resources from the Moon could be a reality within a generation, helping to meet demand for materials key to innovation on Earth.

That was the view of a recent gathering in Sydney aimed at bringing together some of the top minds in space exploration with firms hoping to cash in on the final frontier of mining: astronomical bodies.

Australia does not have a space agency, but it is home to some of the world’s largest mining companies and at the edge of technological advances in the industry, making it a natural fit for what was billed as the world’s first Off-Earth Mining Forum.

In some ways the trail has been forged; man has landed six times on the Moon and is in the process of demonstrating that drilling — albeit in small quantities — is possible on Mars with Nasa’s rovers.

Talks at last month’s twoday conference ranged across a breadth of topics from mine automation in Australia and Antarctic testing of drills for use on Mars to converting lunar rocks to waterless cement and fuel.

There is real motivation to shoot skyward, according to the researchers; rare earth minerals vital to everything from wind turbines and hybrid cars

Miners shoot for the stars in tech race

to cruise missiles and the ubiquitous smartphone are thought to be abundant. Vast troves of hydrogen that could be used for fuel are also likely, opening the door to ever-further exploration and exploitation.

NASA’s Phil Metzger has mapped a business case for space mining showing that a self-sustaining robot mining colony could be established on the Moon in 20 years with as little as 12 metric tonnes of equipment shipped. Metzger says that within another 30 years, the industrial capacity of space could be a staggering one billion times that of the US. Once established on the Moon, the space industry could push even further afield, into the asteroid belt and beyond.

It’s not a venture without challenges; full automation will be required to overcome the tyranny of communicating over vast distances, while energy

A business case for space mining shows that a self-sustaining robot mining colony could be established on the Moon in 20 years. and even building materials will have to be sourced locally.

Resource giant Rio Tinto is moving towards remote-controlled extraction with its socalled “Mine of the Future” programme — several companies involved in developing its robots and automated truck and rail systems gave presentations to the conference.

But such hefty machines may be inappropriate for space, with the costs for rocketing objects into orbit remaining prohibitive at about $100,000 per kilogram.

This is where the work of NASA and other space agencies comes in, developing and licensing state-of-the-art technologies for their missions and collecting royalties from private firms who repurpose them for commercial ends.

Rene Fradet, deputy director of engineering at NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover project, said he believed science and industry went “hand in hand", rejecting the notion that there was a conflict of interest.

Fradet offered a detailed insight into the challenges of operating on Mars, where there is 38 per cent the gravity of Earth and its atmosphere is less than one percent the thickness, meaning extreme cold and exposure to radiation.

Communication was delayed by an average of 14 minutes.

There are also bigger questions at stake, such as who owns the resources of space and how commercial activities there can be governed.

More than 100 countries, including all the major space powers, have ratified the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which holds signatory nations responsible for activities in space, including those by private firms, but is yet to be tested.

It mandates that the Moon and other celestial bodies be used “exclusively for peaceful purposes” and activities “shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries", raising questions of how mining would fit.

AFP

NOW PAY UP Acting on a suit filed by telecom giant Ericsson, the Delhi HC has told mobile maker Micromax to pay royalties on every phone and tablet it sells as part of an interim arrangement before the two firms finalise their patent deal by April 9. Justice Manmohan in a recent order gave his nod to an interim arrangement on payment of royalties by Micromax to Ericsson for using some features of the latter's patents relating to 2G, 3G and Edge technology. The agreement between the two companies will operate for one month.

According to it, Micromax will pay between 1.25% - 2% of sale price as royalty per phone and tablet.

NO CELLPHONES

Less than a month after allowing foreign visitors to access 3G wireless networks, North Korea has reportedly severed tourists' connection to the mobile Internet. The reclusive country announced last month that it would soon relax restrictions on visitors' access to the Internet via mobile devices within its borders, rules that long required visitors to leave their handsets at the border or airport when entering to the country. Residents were expected to have access to certain voice and text services on the 3G network, but not the mobile Internet.

iMORE

Apple plans to expand the number of stores it'll allow to be opened in India over the next couple of years. According to media reports, Apple is planning to triple the number of "exclusive stores" here by 2015. According to sources who currently run some of Apple's exclusive stores, the iPad maker will have around 200 of those locations around India by 2015. Apple operates its stores a bit differently in India than in, say, the U.S. In India, Apple has found 17 franchisees that operate stores that exclusively sell its products. Those stores, called Apple Premium Resellers, have been popular destinations for the people in India who want to buy Apple products.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

Comment Life was a lot simpler when what we honored was father and mother rather than all major credit cards.

Robert Orben Entertainer

Two nations, one game THIS SPORTING LIFE Prashant Rao

I

raq’s win over Syria in a landmark Baghdad tie highlighted the nations’ tilting fortunes — one fitfully emerging from decades of conflict, the other seemingly spiralling into worsening violence.

The thrilling 2-1 win in front of a packed crowd in the 40,000seater Shaab Stadium came days after world football’s governing body lifted a ban on Iraq hosting international matches, and was just the second internationallysanctioned friendly to be played in the Iraqi capital since the USled invasion of 2003.

Supporters held up Iraqi flags and chanted, “Sunni, Shiite, brothers!", a reference to the sectarian violence that plagued Iraq during the worst of its bloodshed, and now threatens to spill over from across its western border in Syria. In public, Iraq has remained scrupulously neutral in the conflict raging in its western neighbour.

But Washington has criticised Baghdad for not cracking down on Iranian flights through its airspace to Syria, that US officials charge are being used to ferry arms. US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters after meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on a surprise trip to Baghdad on Sunday that he “made very clear to the prime minister that the overflights from Iran are in fact helping to sustain President Assad and his regime."

Shiite Iran has remained a steadfast ally of Assad’s regime throughout the two-year conflict that the United Nations says has killed more than 70,000 people.

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS

Sri lankan players are out of the IPL, thanks to the ‘popular outrage’ against the island nation. Next you know, Art of Living founder will be forced to drop the first two words of his name because it sounds related to Sri Lanka — that to twice! Give it a break guys, will you?

SAME SEX MARRIAGE

14

TWO AMERICAS COLLIDE ROBERT MACPHERSON Agence France-Presse

T

wo very different Americas brushed up against each other in front of the US Supreme Court on Tuesday, as justices inside heard arguments for and against allowing same-sex marriage.

The bigger crowd, numbering a few thousand, rallied boisterously in support of marriage equality, turning up in colorful, placard-waving hordes as the sun rose on an otherwise chilly Washington morning.

A parallel crowd of conservative and religious campaigners was a no less striking sight, with bagpipers and patriotic red, white and blue paraphernalia.

Predominantly white, young and professional, the pro-equality group included not just gay men and lesbians, but also many heterosexual allies of what some call the final act in the civil rights struggle.

Among them was Melissa Wasser, 20, a pre-law college student from Ohio with a black father, a white mother and a handmade poster in her arms that read: “My parent’s marriage used to be illegal, too."

“I wanted to come here and prove a point," said Wasser. She recalled with bitterness how a gay friend had endured bullying in school, yet voiced confidence that ultimately “marriage equality will spread

across the country."

Nearby, a transvestite in a pink fishnet T-shirt, rainbowcolored tutu and matching high heels, with devil’s horns on his head and a crucifix in his hand, gleefully danced to Lady Gaga’s gay anthem “Born This Way." In the long orderly queue for spectators going into the court, “When Harry Met Sally” director turned marriage equality activist Rob Reiner, in a crisp dark suit, proudly brandished his red admission card that bore the number one.

“We feel this is not a matter of if, but rather a matter of when," said Reiner, 66, whom some remember as bigoted Archie Bunker’s long-suffering liberal son-in-law Meathead in the hit 1970s sitcom “All in the Family."

John Lewis, 54, and Stuart Gaffney, 50, from San Francisco, turned up in the bow ties and tuxedos in which they married in 2008.

They came with a sense of deja vu: they had been plaintiffs in the original lawsuit that legalized gay marriage in California before it was upended by Proposition Eight, one of the issues now facing the Supreme Court justices.

“It seems all roads lead to the Supreme Court," said Gaffney, whose own parents’ marriage was once deemed illegal in the state of Missouri because one was white and the other ethnic Chinese.

Then Captain America arrived, or more precisely a stout middle-aged man costumed as the comic book hero,

bearing a huge American flag and the shoulder flash of a patriotic outfit called The Guardians of the Republic.

He turned up with the smaller but no less passionate procession of opponents to gay marriage who marched on the Supreme Court from the National Mall, with a motorcycle police escort to secure their arrival.

Numbering 700 to 800, they were older, less urban and more working class. Many carried signs that read “Kids do best with a mom and dad." There was a notable turnout of Latinos and Chinese immigrants — and many baffled looks.

“Viva Christo rey!" (long live Christ the king) shouted Cesar Franco at the head of a drum

and bagpipe ensemble from the non-profit American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property from small-town Pennsylvania.

Franco, stoic as he held a US flag high, was at a loss for words when asked what he made of the pro-gay crowd surrounding him and chanting: “What do we want? Equality! When do we want it? Now!" “I’m glad to be here," he finally acknowledged, “I’ll tell you that much."

From Boston, Franciscan clergyman James Wartman echoed the Vatican line: “I want to tell the Supreme Court that if they change our understanding of what is a family, that will be a detrimental thing for the health of our nation.”

EDITORIALS Law or no law; it’s still no country for women

T

houIn our country one should not take states’ propaganda at face value. In a country where society targets rape victims and supports perpetrators, Meghalaya has always stood head and shoulders above the filth with its matriarchal system. Schools have denied admission to a teen, who was gang-raped by 16 persons in December. To put the nightmare behind her, the girl tried shifting to another area, but to no avail. The victim and some social workers allege that she is under tremendous pressure from the influential accused —one of them is related to a state minister — to withdraw the case. In Kerala, which takes pride in its leadership in education and standard of living, a gang-rape rape victim and her family were ‘asked’ by her church to stay away because the ‘negative publicity’

READERS’ VIEWS

their presence was bringing to the parish. We also have parliamentarians who crack jokes about stalking during the debate on antirape Bill. For some reason, Mamata Banerjee spared the CPM and attributed the increase in rapes to increase in population... yeah, that comes from a woman chief minister. Tight dresses, loose morals, mobile phones, fast food, Western influence and movies; the number of ‘reasons’ for rape are increasing with each passing day. The latest incident from Meghalaya shows how society re-rapes the victim for ages through its prejudices. Forcing the victim into accepting that she is ‘damaged goods’ is a bigger crime than rape.

As a nation, we are up to our chins in the cesspool of duplicity and complicity. If only we had the balls to walk the talk.

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

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

Cinema

OSCAR PISTORIUS MOVIE Actor Ryan Gosling and Charlize Theron are in talks to play athlete Oscar Pistorius and his late model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a forthcoming biopic. Gosling recently announced he was taking a break from acting but he couldn't say no to such a high-profile role, reports thesun.co.uk.

DEAD MEN WALKING

SCREEN POOPERS

Welcome to the

ZOMBIELAND

ZOMBIELAND

Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Zombieland is set in a post zombie apocalypse, where a group of survivors travel back and forth Southwestern United States in an attempt to find a safe haven from the zombies. The cast includes Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin who bring the house down as they try to fight and escape from the zombies. Bill Murray's cameo was indeed the sucker punch in the film and Zombieland went on to become of the highest rated zombie films.

FIDO A Canadian Zombie comedy film directed by Andrew Currie, Fido stars CarrieAnne Moss, Billy Connolly, Dylan Baker and narrates the story of a family which hires a zombie as a servant to do the chores at their house and be a pet to the youngest member of the family. In a genre infested with alarmingly high gore and thrills, Fido gave a quirky twist by setting the story inside a quiet neighbourhood where the zombies are under control as long as they have a remote controlled collar around their neck.

Raj & DK's latest film Go Goa Gone, touted as a Zombie comedy film, is talk of the town these days. While Indian cinema is just warming up to the concept of zombies, the West has been churning out films in this genre for decades now. From super scary to outrightly funny and outrageous concepts, here are five must watch Zomcom films.

HEMANTH KUMAR hemanth.k@postnoon.com

SHAUN OF THE DEAD A spoof of the highest order, Shaun of the Dead pulls one gag after another in a genre mastered by the likes of George Romero, with such panache that you can't help but fall in love with the madness. When Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his friend Ed (Nick Frost) find out that their town has been overrun by zombies, they team up with few others to fight against the zombies. Written and directed by Edgar Wright, Shaun of the Dead is a classic among Zomcoms made post 2000.

DEAD ALIVE

Peter Jackson, much before he became obsessed with the Lord of the Rings series, directed a zombie film titled Dead Alive, also known as Braindead.

The film, set in Wellington in 1957, narrates the story of a boy Lionel Cosgrove (Timothy Balme), who is shocked to find out that his mother Vera (Elizabeth Moody) has been bitten by a Rat-Monkey which turns her into a zombie, goes on a mission to keep her under control.

However, things go terribly wrong and it all leads to a gory climax.

Going the Ameesha way Donning the role of a bubbly Punjabi housewife somehow seems to go hand-in-hand with a lousy fashion sense. First there was Ameesha Patel dressed in nauseatingly colourful clothes in Honeymoon Travels Ltd. and now, following in her footsteps, is Vidya Balan in Ghanchakkar. At least Balan, who is consistently criticised for her wardrobe, shouldn’t be taking such a risk.

Last year went well for the actress then why spoil it with polka dotted tank tops?

DEAD SNOW One of the advantages of a zombie film is that it doesn't matter where the dead arise from. Dead Snow, a 2009 Norwegian film directed by Tommy Wirkola, is one such film where the zombies are in fact from the Nazi army.

The film centres around a group of students who must escape from a Nazi zombie attack high up in the mountains in Norway. One of the students is an aspiring filmmaker who ends up pointing out at all the ridiculous things people do in zombie films which in turn helps the gang to escape. A smart comedy with an interesting premise.

‘Big’ brands The latest addition to megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s already bursting-at-its-seams kitty is a cookie commercial. The actor, who was once known for his acting skills, seems to be exhausting all his energy doing advertisements these days. Whether it’s ads for digestion pills, cement or chocolates, Mr Big B is in them all.

But then again, with a ‘star’ actor son like Abhishek Bachchan in the family, we understand that it’s necessary for the 74-year-old megastar to be the breadwinner.

TRENDING...

Luke Hemsworth, the oldest brother of Chris Hemsworth and Liam Hemsworth has snagged the leading role in a crime thriller titled The Reckoning.

Lightning Entertainment, the company handling international sales rights of the film, announced Hemsworth's casting on Monday.

Angela Bassett reveals that initially she was nervous working with Morgan Freeman.

Bassett and Freeman are working together for the first time in Olympus Has Fallen. "I was initially nervous but felt comfortable later. He was nothing but professional, kind, warm and fun," says Bassett.

18

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

spotlight

CALLING ALL THE LADIESS

Now join the Diva Station with Ladies night patrol with DJ Anil & DJ Abhinav. Get free drinks for ladies. Be there at Spoil Pub tonight.

MID WEEK MADNESS

1

2

3

4

There is no better way to end a night than heading to a pub and dancing the night away.

These party animals were seen heading to various watering holes in the City.

DANCING ALL NIGHT 6

S BALAKRISHNA

5

7

8

9

1 Diotima, Samira 2 Vinitha 3 Avinthisha, Alankritha,Manisha 4 Poonam 5 Sawmiya, Nithya 6 Anup & Koyal 7 Amrutha, Pujitha 8 Priyanka, Tazeen 9 Shina

GOOD GOING

Fathima Aafreen of Shadan Institute of Medical Sciences, Hospital & Research Center was awarded with the Gold Medal by APMC-A.P State Medical Council for securing highest marks in her college.

TIME TO SHINE

Narayana e-techno school, Himayathnagar celebrated its annual day recently.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

health

'SA MUST FOLLOW INDIA, CHINA ON AFFORDABLE MEDICINES'

VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY

Considering we are a country with plenty of sun all through the year, it is surprising that a majority of us still suffer from vitamin D deficiency. We find out why we can’t seem to get enough of the sun.

Weakness of bones, muscles

Weakness of bones, muscles

Vit D deficiency has been associated with

Increased risk of cardiovascular diseases

ANEWS PP-LYBRIEFS YOURSELF

19

International humanitarian group Doctors without Borders said the South African government must follow the lead of its BRICS peers like India and China to ensure that lifesaving medicines are affordable. In India, a CL on cancer drug sorafenib was upheld earlier this month, making generic sorafenib available in India for $1 per 200 mg.

In search of the sunshine

VITAMIN

Higher risk of cancer

Severe asthma in children

DEEPASHRI VARADHARAJAN

Cognitive impairment in older adults Source: www.webmd.com

HOUSECALL

deepashri.v@postnoon.com

I

t is surprising how in a country where people fight every day to escape the sun, and cannot step out without taking extra precautions, there should be a deficiency of the sunshine vitamin — vitamin D — the primary source of which is sunlight.

According to an article published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, vitamin D deficiency is widely prevalent in India, reported in all age groups, from toddlers to adults and pregnant women. The study concluded that this deficiency affects skeletal health, including softening of bones, known as osteomalacia, and rickets.

This paper, along with many others, suggests that vitamin D deficiency has an impact on various other diseases prevalent in our country, like type 2 diabetes and various cardio vascular diseases, along with reduced immunity.

This is not an issue plaguing just India, but is widespread in other parts of the world, even in countries like Australia where there is sufficient sunlight, said Dr Pramati Reddy, internal medicine consultant at Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills. “Vitamin

DID YOU KNOW?

D is required for the absorption of calcium. If calcium is not absorbed, with time, there will be weakness and pain in the muscles and skeleton and (higher risk of) fractures,” Dr Reddy said. “Depending on the level of deficiency, we give injections (in extreme cases) or sachets and tablets of Vitamin D with calcium in moderate cases.”

Has there been a sudden rise in the number of patients with Vitamin D deficiency? “Testing for the deficiency was developed very recently. Maybe it was there before, but there was no screening. But now, people are getting themselves tested.”

She said our lifestyle and work hours are such that we hardly are exposed to the sun, adding that early morning sunlight is best suited for the skin to produce vitamin D. “There is minimal exposure to sunlight due to work habits and timings,” she said. “In this modern day and age, everybody uses sunscreens with (high) SPF, stopping sunlight (absorption by the skin).

But Dr Sunitha P, consultant dermatologist at Adi Clinic, it is still a controversy whether sunscreens affect sunlight absorption by the skin, reducing the synthesis of vitamin D. She said over protecting yourself from the sun does result in decreased absorption.

“Vitamin D deficiency can cause massive hairfall,” she said.

Dr Sunitha said that too much tanning or a dark skin may prevent the penetration of UV rays, resulting in deficiency of Vitamin D, but such cases are very rare.

PIONEERS

Road Bike Pro Cycling

Poliomyelitis

We have sensitive ears

Galen

The ultimate road cycling performance app transforming your iPhone into the best bike computer on the market with over 50 features. Makes cycling fun-tastic! The runtastic Roadbike App has been designed with road cyclists in mind incorporating every feature a leisure rider, amateur racer or professional cycling athlete will need.

Poliomyelitis or polio is a virus that causes a serious disease. It is spread from person to person. Most of the time, polio has no symptoms unless it goes into the blood. It is uncommon for it to enter the brain or spinal cord. If this does happen, it can cause one to become paralysed. Vaccination with polio vaccines could stop the disease all over the world.

Our hearing is so sensitive it can distinguish between hundreds of thousands of different sounds. Between ages 30 and 70, the ears may be a quarter-inch longer due to the fact that cartilage is one of the few tissues that continue to grow as we age. A human can hear the tick of a watch from 6 meters in very quiet conditions.

Dr John Oakley was a Board Certified Neurosurgeon and Board Certified in Pain Management. Dr. Oakley earned his Medical Degree at the University of Washington, School of Medicine.

His principal areas of research and experience included electrophysiology of epilepsy, functional electrical stimulation of the nervous system, and etiology and control of chronic intractable pain.

20

health WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013 RESEARCH

‘Black henna’ tattoos may cause allergies: FDA WASHINGTON: If you’re thinking of getting a fake henna tattoo on your best friend’s wedding, think again!

While temporary body art may involve less commitment than permanent ink, it is certainly not harmless and may cause long-lasting allergies, US FDA has warned.

Temporary “Black henna” tattoos typically last from three days to several weeks, depending on the product used for colouring and the condition of the skin.

Unlike permanent tattoos, which are injected into the skin, temporary tattoos marketed as “henna” are applied to the skin’s surface, the FDA said.

However, “just because a tattoo is temporary it doesn’t mean that it is risk free," said Linda Katz, director of FDA’s Office of Cosmetics and Colours in a statement. Some consumers report reactions that may be severe and long outlast the temporary tattoos themselves.

MedWatch, FDA’s safety information and adverse event reporting programme, has received reports of serious and long-lasting reactions that consumers had not bargained for after getting temporary tattoos.

Reported problems include redness, blisters, raised red weeping lesions, loss of pigmentation, increased sensitivity to sunlight, and even permanent scarring. Some reactions have led people to seek medical care, including visits to hospital emergency rooms. Reactions may occur immediately after a person gets a temporary tattoo, or even up to two or three weeks later.

Inks marketed as black henna may be a mix of henna with other ingredients, or may really be hair dye alone, FDA said in a statement.

PTI

BREAKTHROUGH

Young girl’s ‘cure’ signals new path against

CANCER

US researchers are expanding their quest for a treatment that may one day end the use of chemotherapy.

KERRY SHERIDAN Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON: Emily Whitehead is kind of a big deal. At age seven, she is the only child to have beaten back leukemia with the help of a new treatment that turned her own immune cells into targeted cancer killers. She has been in remission for 11 months and is the first paediatric patient in a growing US trial that is showing signs of success after decades of research and now includes three other children and dozens of adults.

Now, the US researchers behind the method are expanding their quest for a next-generation cancer treatment that may require one dose in a lifetime, and may one day end the use of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants.

While the word “cure” is something most experts would not whisper until a patient has lived at least five years illnessfree, the field of research into targeted immune therapies is generating buzz.

The case studies that describe Emily’s journey so far, and that of another 10-year-old girl who did not survive after trying the same adoptive T cell therapy, were detailed Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Both girls suffered from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer.

It is often curable, but theirs was a high-risk type that resists conventional treatments.

The new approach takes a patient’s own white blood cells, called T cells, and genetically alters them with a receptor that allows them to recognise and kill cancer cells, according to Michael Kalos, who is part of

STUDY

Cold sores may up risk of memory problems NEW YORK: Cold sores may increase the risk of developing memory problems, especially in women, a new study has warned. The virus that causes cold sores, along with other viral or bacterial infections, may be associated with cognitive problems, according to the study published in journal Neurology.

The study found that people who have had higher levels of infection in their blood

(measured by antibody levels), meaning they had been exposed over the years to various pathogens such as the herpes simplex type 1 virus that causes cold sores, were more likely to have cognitive problems than people with lower levels of infection in the blood.

“We found the link was greater among women, those with lower levels of education and Medicaid or no health insurance, and most prominently,

in people who do not exercise," said author Mira Katan, with the Northern Manhattan Study at Columbia University Medical Center in New York and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study was performed in collaboration with the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida. For the study, researchers tested thinking

and memory in 1,625 people with an average age of 69 from northern Manhattan in New York.

Participants gave blood samples that were tested for five common low grade infections: three viruses (herpes simplex type 1 (oral) and type 2 (genital), and cytomegalovirus), chlamydia pneumoniae (a common respiratory infection) and Helicobacter pylori (a bacteria found in the stomach). PTI

the University of Pennsylvania team of researchers working on the project.

“The concept has been around for at least 50 years, and it has been tried in humans for about 20 years in different clinical trials, with limited success mostly because the T cells that were put into patients had a real hard time surviving in patients," Kalos told AFP. Greater longevity was achieved when researchers began using a virus in the HIV family to serve as a vehicle for the gene that needs to enter the T cells, said Kalos.

The team, led by Carl June of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, first published its results in 2011 on three adults who suffered from chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). More than two years after treatment, two of the three are still living disease-free, and more than a dozen new patients have begun treatment.

A separate team of researchers at Memorial SloanKettering Caner Center in New York also published a study last week in Science Translational Medicine detailing their work on five adult patients with ALL, the type Emily had.

Kalos said University of Pennsylvania researchers are seeing “very strong responses in most of the patients but in a small subset we are not seeing a response and we are trying to understand why that is the case. “It could be the patient, it could be the product, it could be the tumors or it could be something totally different."

In the meantime, early trials on adult pancreatic cancer patients and people with mesothelioma have already begun.

AFP

21

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

Entertainment CINE BYTES

Anjali pairs up with Venkatesh, again

A

njali has teamed up with Venkatesh once again, post the success of Seethamma Vaakitlo Sirimalle Chettu. She's currently shooting for the Telugu remake of Bol Bachchan in Hyderabad and she has been paired opposite Venkatesh in this film. Ram is playing the other lead role. Vijay Bhaskar is directing the film. Anjali will also soon be seen in Balupu.

Spielberg praises Prakash Raj!

Ram Charan turns 28

R

am Charan, who's celebrating his 28th birthday today, has plenty to look forward to this year.

After Naayak, he has Yevadu and Zanjeer lined up. Buzz is that he has also given a green signal to a new director Gopi Ganesh and couple of other films are in the pipeline.

P

rakash Raj was in for a big shock when he met Steven Spielberg recently in Mumbai. “I was quite surprised to know that Spielberg had seen Kanjeevaram and when I met him, we spoke about the film and he praised my performance.

I never thought that I would meet Spielberg in my dreams!”

Prakash Raj revealed.

BOX OFFICE FAVOURITES

SWAMY RA RA I

makes a big splash

t could very well have been a disastrous weekend for Telugu films, but one film turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

Three straight Telugu films Swamy Ra Ra, Priyathama Neevachata Kushalama and Bakra released last weekend along with Karthi, Anushka starrer Badboy. Out of these four films, only Swamy Ra Ra starring Nikhil, Swati, Ravi Babu and Pooja caught people's attention.

The film's pre-release buzz, along with its music in particular, was quite positive and the film opened to good collections. Moreover, Swamy Ra Ra got good reviews from critics and several bigwigs in film industry. “Saw ‘swamirara’. Not bad. Was engagng throughout, with few

laughs in between. Decent job by the director(debut?). All the best..(sic),” SS Rajamouli posted on Twitter soon after watching the film. More theatres are likely to be added for Swamy Ra Ra and in US alone, the number of theatres screening the film is going to jump from eight on day one to 25 in the second week. Considering the fact that the film was made on a limited budget and had a limited release in US, it's going to recover the costs within no time. Debutant director Sudheer Varma is all smiles for the appreciation he has got for the film and it's all the more so for Nikhil, who hasn't had a hit for quite sometime. The actor is leaving no stone unturned to promote the film. On the other hand, offers are pouring in for music director Sunny and cinematographer Richard Prasad, who made a great impression in this film. Like the saying goes, 'Nothing is sweeter than success', it certainly looks like Swamy Ra Ra's team has hit the bullseye at the box office.

22

Entertainment WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013 CINE BYTES

Shabana's special request to SRK

A

ctress-activist Shabana Azmi has requested superstar Shah Rukh Khan to work in women-centric movies. The request has come after SRK's pledge to have his leading ladies' name appear before his in the credits. "SRK glad you are giving heroines credit above your title. Please also do a few heroine oriented films in which you play secondary role to make it more viable,” Shabana tweeted.

IANS

IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES

It was my dream to work with Karan Johar: SAQIB SALEEM

Maiden ad excites Sidharth

N

ewcomer Sidharth Malhotra, who made his debut with Student Of The Year, is excited about his first-ever commercial, which is for an ice cream brand. “Just found out my 1st commercial. Will be out soon... It's an ice cream brand that we have all grown up on, and still my favourite dessert,” the actor posted on Twitter.

IANS

Hrithik to skip Holi celebrations for a cause

H

rithik Roshan has decided to stay away from Holi celebrations in view of the water shortage in Maharashtra. The 39-yearold will not waste water by being part of the Holi celebrations.

“Hrithik will only use only a small amount of gulaal to apply a shagun tika as part of the traditional ritual,” a source said. He also won’t play with dry gulaal as it requires lots of water to wash off.

IANS

H

e is just two films old in the industry but newcomer Saqib Saleem, who was last seen in Yash Raj’s Mere Dad Ki Maruti, is happy that he is working with Karan Johar in Bombay Talkies.

Saqib, 24, will be sharing the screen space with Rani Mukerji and Randeep Hooda for Johar’s segment of the Indian anthology film.

The film is being helmed by four directors — Anurag Kashyap, Johar, Zoya Akhtar and Dibakar Banerjee — and will be releasing on May 3, to mark the centenary year of Indian cinema. Its trailer was launched yesterday.

“As a newcomer in the industry, it was my dream to work with Karan Johar. When my casting director informed me about this project, I could not believe it. I met Karan and he narrated the script and I must say that I never have had such a good narration in my life. I was actually visualising each and every scene in my mind.

“I will be sharing the screen with Rani Mukerji and Randeep Hooda in this segment of 25 minutes.

I can’t ask for more than this at this point of my career. I had the best time of my life working on this film,” Saqib told PTI. Having had a dream start with Yash Raj’s Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge, the actor was next seen in the banner’s last youth production Mere Dad Ki Maruti.

PTI

Entertainment WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

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Entertainment WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

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25

Entertainment WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

ROLE PLAY

E V A

M E N D E S

CINE BYTES

A

TAKES INSPIRATION FROM SINGLE MOTHERS FOR NEW FILM

ctress Eva Mendes is taking real-life inspiration from single mothers so that she could get a feel for what it is like to be a woman with a kid for her new film The Place Among The Pines.

The 39-year-old actress plays a single mother in the movie opposite real-life boyfriend Ryan Gosling and wanted to make sure her maternal role in the film was spot on, reported Daily Star.

“I have so many women in my life, my family, my friends, my sisters, my mother. And before I started working, I had a women’s day at home. I brought all these women and they were all mothers and we all sat around and talked and ate and had fun. “I gave them a subject matter and posed the questions... I got so much insight from my friends and family and women (who) were in similar situations, which was so helpful for me," she said.

Cohen taking singing lessons for Mercury role

H

ollywood actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen is reportedly taking singing lessons as he is playing Freddie Mercury in a forthcoming biopic. The funnyman, who showed off his singing skills in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Les Miserables, is set to play the late Queen vocalist in a new project. Filming is due to kick off this spring.

IANS

PTI

Rihanna advised to stop partying

R

ihanna has reportedly been advised to stop partying if she wants to fulfil her touring commitments.

She was suffering from laryngitis and doctors have suggested she make lifestyle changes. “Rihanna's illness was so severe that doctors warned it could take months for her to fully recover,” thesun.co.uk quoted a source as saying.

IANS

Kim Kardashian gets acupuncture

R

eality TV star Kim Kardashian, who is expecting her first child with boyfriend Kanye West, got acupuncture needles stuck on her face for relaxing. The 32-year-old shared a picture of her on Twitter, where she was seen with 18 needles all over her face including neck and cheeks, reported Aceshowbiz.

PTI

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Clever and attractive women do not want to vote; they are willing to let men govern as long as they govern men.

George Bernad Shaw

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 Drove up the wall 6 Immediately, if not sooner 10 Et cetera, according to “Seinfeld” 14 Fiji neighbor 15 Highway hauler 16 Chug-___ 17 Ness of “The Untouchables” 18 Penn of pictures 19 El ___ (weather phenomenon) 20 Ryan or Tilly 21 “It” author 24 Do ghostly work 26 Vacation souvenir 27 Inventor’s document 29 Surgeon’s pincers 33 Cultural character 34 Jeter of baseball 35 “The Greatest” via self-proclamation 37 In short order 38 What a dove signifies 39 It may be a major branch one day 40 “Woman” singer’s woman 41 Some South Africans 42 Owned apartment 43 Blake or Ralph 45 Moon feature 46 Of the same ___ (similar) 47 Certain Arabian 48 Big name in the fast food business 53 One with plaudits for averting audits 56 “Quiet!”

57 ___ to the throne 58 Make a comparison 60 Look up and down?

61 Dangerous marine creature 62 Navratilova rival 63 Crystal ball user 64 Annoyingly slow 65 Fix a loose shoelace, e.g.

DOWN

1 To-do list entry 2 Actor’s pursuit 3 What a dubbed one enters 4 Kind of trip 5 Bygone Japanese cars 6 Rainy day need 7 Creep through the cracks 8 Asian caregiver 9 Maine flag feature 10 34-Across, for one 11 Et ___ (and others) 12 Brooks’ singing partner 13 Highly excited 22 Boom producer 23 Part of a bottle or guitar 25 A billion years (Var.) 27 Monetary unit of Mexico 28 Perform penitence 29 Dreads 30 Horrid Tolkien creatures 31 Hock shop receipt 32 Trombone piece 34 Exploit 36 “Frankenstein” helper 38 Butcher’s item 39 Warty-skinned critter 41 Bundle of hay 42 More sadistic 44 Shrivel in the heat 45 Ripken, the Baltimore legend 47 It may be impounded 48 “___ there?” (part of a knockknock joke) 49 Bigger than big 50 Capri or Elba 51 Aviation-related prefix 52 Not well 54 “Frasier” actress Gilpin 55 Up-front amount, in poker 59 The Beatles’ “ ___ Just Seen a Face”

Chai Time WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 28-3-2013

27

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Understand your strengths and weaknesses. Take up the works where your feel strong and capable of completing and keep away the works in which you will not be able to perform.

Businessmen might face a tough time.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

Minor tensions and worries are likely in the family and also in financial matters but they will be resolved soon. Be careful while expressing your opinions. Chances of facing some problems are likely with regard to ancestral property or land.

There is no major problem you are likely to face. Clear away your unwanted apprehensions.

Come out of them by thinking positively and work with a focus so that you will taste success.

Practice of yoga will help you to be peaceful.

You are likely to put in hardwork to complete the tasks that are undertaken. Sudden and surprise chance to meet your childhood friends which will make you cheerful. You will learn from your mistakes and correct yourself.

Employees might not get proper recognition even though they were struggling hard. No need to worry, things will change soon. Businessmen too might have to struggle hard for achieving better results.

Though there will be minor obstacles in certain events, you will solve them. Your self confidence and boldness will be at their high. You will march forward with a well planned strategy and determination so that success alone can be yours.

Businessmen will feel very much cheerful as their expansion plans will take a proper shape and get implemented as per expectations. Some have bright chance to buy a vehicle or house. Real estate deals will fetch good gains.

Tensions in the family will disappear. Expected long-pending dues will be received. Financial position will become stronger.

Misunderstanding is possible with spouse and close friends.

You will make the enemies inactive.

Debt problems will be under control. Businessmen will see an upward trend in their profit levels. Your stock is set to pile and influence will see a steady rise. All the hurdles are likely to disappear. Help from unknown persons is likely.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Page of Swords – You may be feeling young, adventurous and impulsive. Nothing wrong with that, especially since your time is good and actions can only do good.

LEO:

Nine of Cups – A business project works out wonderfully – better than you expected. You will get the much needed confidence to do more and strike out on your own.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Justice – Are you not listening properly? Someone may be trying to tell you something important and you’re just not giving them the attention they deserve.

SAGITTARIUS:

Judgement - An old issue crops up. It will set the record straight. You might even get to know that what you were thinking all along was true.

TAURUS:

Four of Wands – Some disappointment on the way.

A job offer may not have turned out the way you expected. Don’t worry.

Focus on next assignments.

CANCER:

Five of Pentacles – You get a good salary hike but are disappointed with the politics in your office. Organize your priorities and know where to place your emotions.

VIRGO:

Page of Wands – Someone is pretending to be on your side but is not. Be careful about who you give out crucial information to. Be on your guard.

SCORPIO:

The Sun – An overseas trip in the offing. You’re feeling confident about meeting new people and making new business contacts. You’re on a roll.

CAPRICORN:

The Fool – If something is not working out, learn to quickly change tack instead of holding on to something you know is only harming you.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Three of Pentacles – You’re skeptical about something and this is eating you up.

If you had better self confidence, you would be doing a better job.

NUMBER GAME

There are going to be changes in your life and the sooner you accept this, the better. Drop the high-headedness and come down to earth.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: The Tower –

POOCH CAFE

You will fulfill the wishes of your children and the family.

Happy events are likely at home. Good inflow of cash is likely with which all your debts will get cleared. Artists are likely to get promising opportunities.

for 28-3-2013

King of Pentacles – Too much expectation may play spoilsport.Your bosses are watching and will give you a break when the time is right.

NON SEQUITUR

You might have to face a lot of hurdles which might test your patience. But never give up your cool approach.

Businessmen will prosper and there is no need to worry. Keep your apprehensions away and proceed.

SUDUKO

With the help and support of blood relatives you will derive benefits. Chances of raising new debt and medical expenses are most likely. Be cautious before taking a plunge.

Businessmen might face tough competition; need to be alert.

Boggle POP RAP JAZZ BLUES GOSPEL Vol: 2, No 250 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 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

NOT THE LEAD

CINE BYTES

WILL SMITH cool about passing up Django’s role

B

efore Jamie Foxx was set to play the role, writerdirector Quentin Tarantino had another actor in mind to play the titular character in Django Unchained.

That actor was Will Smith, who will next be seen this summer in After Earth.

While Smith as Django might have been a very interesting movie, the actor turned down the role for one simple reason. “Django wasn’t the lead, so it was like, I need to be the lead,” he tells Entertainment Weekly. Smith even asked Tarantino to alter the movie, saying, “I was like, ‘No, Quentin, please, I need to kill the bad guy!’”

In a strange twist, come awards season, Christoph Waltz was billed as the supporting role, which he won an Oscar for, while Foxx was credited as the lead. Still, Smith has no hard feelings, and enjoyed the movie.

“I thought it was brilliant,” he says, “Just not for me.”

Jackman’s muscles in Wolverine’s new poster

T

here truly is something for everyone to enjoy in The Wolverine. Marvel comics fans can anticipate seeing the X-Man's new adventures, while those who just enjoy a nice helping of beefcake have Hugh Jackman to stare at. The film’s latest movie poster has been released and we are reminded that Jackman is more than a pretty singing voice — he’s also got a super-ripped bod.

Pamela’s Malibu home up for sale

D

o you want a Baywatch vista of your very own?

Prospective home buyers can now get a glimpse inside the Malibu home of Pamela Anderson, 45, who has put her posh digs up for sale. Anderson’s property, which is listed for $7.75 million, features 2,752 sq ft of living space along with five bedrooms and three baths.

Mel Gibson enjoys some daughter time

A

fter all the lawsuits, recorded phone calls and bitter custody battles, there is something both Mel Gibson and his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva can agree on... their daughter Lucia is absolutely gorgeous.The adorable threeyear-old enjoyed some quality joint custody time with Daddy Mel while riding in a shopping cart at a grocery store in Malibu last weekend.

sports

29

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

DOPING

Veerpalu’s ban dismissed TALLINN: Two-time Olympic nordic skiing champion Andrus Veerpalu was left overjoyed Tuesday after his doping ban was dismissed on appeal, despite the court’s lingering questions over his innocence.

“I’m glad that justice has been served but it doesn’t eliminate what I’ve gone through the last two years,” the 42-year-old said in a statement.

The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said it upheld Veerpalu’s appeal against a 2011 three-year doping ban because of certain procedural flaws upping the risk of false positives.

It added, however, that “there are many factors in this case which tend to indicate that the athlete did in fact himself administer exogenous HGH” or human growth hormone.

The International Ski Federation (FIS) hit Veerpalu with a ban after the (WADA) test detected a higher-thanpermitted level of HGH. AFP

League Cricket A institution one day CCMB 133 (V.K. Chaitanya 5/39) lost to APSEB 138/7 (Rasheed 38 n.o., Manga Rao 30 n.o.).

NBA

Heat to chase history Six games shy of matching the longest win streak in NBA history, Miami Heat will play at Chicago and hope to be crowned NBA champions again.

CHICAGO: Six games shy of matching the longest win streak in NBA history, the Miami Heat will play Wednesday at Chicago with more concern about repeating as NBA champions than boosting their epic 27-game run.

Powered by superstar playmaker LeBron James, the Heat have compiled the second-best win streak in major North American professional sport, trailing only the 33-game NBA win streak of the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.

But winning the last playoff game will always be more important to James than winning the 34th in a row.

“It’s about winning the championship. That’s what we want to be known for,” James said. “But it’s a process.

Whatever comes in between that, we can be excited about.

“We didn’t have a goal in mind to set a consecutive win streak. But we go out every night trying to win. It’s nice to be able to have something like this.”

The Heat, who have not lost since February 1 at Indiana, own the NBA’s best record at 56-14 as they open a three-game road trip against the Bulls (38-31), with

games Friday at New Orleans (25-46) and Sunday at San Antonio (53-17).

The Spurs are seen as the most difficult obstacle to the Heat beating the Lakers’ streak, but if the streak clears that hurdle on Sunday then the Heat will have 30 wins in a row.

Miami would then have a

home game April 2 against New York, a visit to Charlotte on April 5, a home game against Philadelphia on April 6 and a home game April 8 against Milwaukee for the record 34th in a row.

“You have to appreciate it,” Miami forward Chris Bosh said.

“When all this is over we can look back and appreciate it. We

will stay focused.

“Right now, we’ve got some work still to do.”

It was Milwaukee which snapped the Lakers’ win streak in 1972 and Lakers legend Jerry West, a star guard whose silhouette is used in the NBA logo, recalled how that defeat felt.

“We were too (excited) and they started very well and kicked our butts,” West said. “I think all of us went in the locker room and felt like we had lost our best friend.”

West is cheering for the Heat to break the mark he helped establish.

“It would be a wonderful story. I have no problem with that,” West said. “I never thought this streak would live forever.” West sees the Spurs as the Heat’s biggest threat to making history.

“Unless they have a horrible, horrible shooting night, I don’t see any of those other teams beating them,” West said. “They have great three-point shooting and they’re never out of a game because of that.

“And then they have the best player in the game (James) who does all the little things.”

AFP

OLYMPIC GAMES 2020

Istanbul to tackle traffic congestion if given event

ISTANBUL: Promoters of Istanbul’s 2020 Olympic bid on Tuesday promised to develop the city’s public transport network to reduce traffic problems by a third over the next seven years — if they are awarded the event.

“In 2020, congestion-related problems will be reduced by 30 percent. We will do our best to avoid congestion,” the deputy secretary-general of the city’s authority in charge of transport, Muzzafer Hacimustafaoglu, told reporters.

“All over the world there is congestion in large cities. This is also a reality for Istanbul. The Olympic Games will happen in summer and in summer the number of cars is reduced by 20 percent.

“Our investment in public transportation will increase dramatically. This will be another plus,” Hacimustafaoglu said on the third day of a visit to the city by the International Olympic

Tokyo bid boosted by record support TOKYO: Organisers of Tokyo’s bid for the 2020 Olympics said Tuesday public support for their campaign had risen to 77 percent as IOC inspectors continued a factfinding tour of three candidate cities.

Organisers of Tokyo’s bid for the 2020 Olympics said the public support for their campaign had risen to 77 percent.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) gives a present to the chief of the IOC evaluation commission for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Craig Reedie (L), during a dinner in Istanbul on Tuesday. The IOC Evaluation Commission is in Istanbul to evaluate the city’s bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

AFP/2020 MEDIA TEAM

Committee’s bid evaluation commission.

Some $9.8 billion (7.6 billion euros) has been ringfenced to develop roads and public trans-

port infrastructure, including a third bridge over the Bosphorus, as well as a seven-line subway tunnel linking the city’s European and Asian shores. AFP

The support rate was up four points from January, the Tokyo bid committee said, citing its own telephone surveys.

The rate started at 58 percent in July last year.

A team from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation commission visited Tokyo

from March 4-7 to scrutinise the bid and inspect existing and planned facilities for the Games.

The team was due to end its four-day visit to Istanbul on Wednesday after a similar trip to Madrid last week.

The IOC inspection tour “enhanced public understanding of our bid activities and led to a rise in the support rate”, a statement said.

According to recent surveys by the IOC itself, public support was 70 percent for Tokyo, 76 percent for Madrid and 83 percent for Istanbul.

Tepid public support was seen as a reason for Tokyo’s failure to secure the the 2016 summer Games won by Rio de Janeiro.

The 100-plus IOC members will vote to choose the 2020 host city in Buenos Aires on September 7 after studying a technical report by the commission on the three bids. AFP

sports

30

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

MIAMI MASTERS

DAVIS CUP

Djoker falls at Haas hurdle Novak Djokovic crashed out in the fourth round, losing in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to Tommy Haas.

MIAMI: World number one Novak Djokovic crashed out of the Miami Masters in the fourth round on Tuesday, losing in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to German Tommy Haas.

Defending champ Djokovic lost for just the second time this season, never getting to grips with Haas, who kept the Serb off his game with a solid mixture of shots on a cool southern Florida evening.

“There are days when you don’t feel good on the court and this is one of those days,” Djokovic said.

“All the credit to him. He was the better player. As far I am concerned it is the worst match I have played in a long time.

“I just didn’t feel good on the court. The conditions were different. The balls didn’t

Djokovic lost for just the second time this season, never getting to grips with Haas, who kept the Serb off his game with a solid mixture of shots. bounce at all and he used a variety of shots very well.

“I just didn’t find a solution to come back into the match. I made so many unforced errors on the forehand side.”

Haas, who turns 35 next week, advances to the quarterfinals where he will face Frenchman Gilles Simon who outlasted Djokovic’s countryman Janko Tipsarevic 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

Haas hit seven forehand

winners and won 76 percent of his firstserve points, snapping Djokovic’s 14match winning streak in Miami.

Haas easily won the first set then clinched the victory on his second match point with a forehand winner to the open court, ending the one hour, 20 minute match on centre court.

Haas has won three of seven career meetings with Djokovic but this was his first win on the hardcourts with his other two coming on grass.

Djokovic, who had won this event three times (2007, 2011, 2012), had one double fault and won just 54 percent of his second serves.

Serena cruises into semis

Serena Williams of the USA returns a shot against Na Li of China during Miami Masters at the Crandon Park Tennis Center on Tuesday in Key Biscayne, Florida.

AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES/AFP

MIAMI; World No. 1 Serena Williams reached the semifinals and British second seed Andy Murray booked a quarterfinal berth with straight-set triumphs Tuesday at the WTA and ATP Miami Masters.

Williams defeated Chinese fifth seed Li Na 6-3, 7-6 (7/5)

while Murray downed Italian 16th seed Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-4 at the $8.5 million hardcourt tournament.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia meets German 15th seed Tommy Haas in a later fourth-round match.

Breaking Li three times in

each set, Williams fell behind in the second set before roaring back to hold off Li, taking the last point off the Chinese’s star’s serve to end matters after one hour and 50 minutes.

“It’s good to be able to at least come back,” Williams said.

“I like to believe that I try to be a solver. I just try to do things different if something is not working. “She played such a good tie-breaker. It was important for me to win that.”

Williams had three aces and six double faults to one ace and seven double faults for Li. “I just can’t hit any more double faults,” Williams said.

“It’s embarrassing and unprofessional. I hit about 50 in one game and it was just outrageous. It was like at this point I shouldn’t be a professional tennis player.

“That was my goal -- I’m not hitting any more double faults.”

Williams improved to 7-1 against Li with her sixth victory in a row, Li’s only win coming at Stuttgart in 2008.

AFP

Novak Djokovic of Serbia wipes his forehead between points while playing Tommy Haas of Germany on Tuesday in Florida. Haas won 6-2, 6-4.

AFP/MATTHEW STOCKMAN

Tomic back on Australia team

SYDNEY: Bernard Tomic was recalled to Australia’s Davis Cup team Wednesday to face Uzbekistan after ending his feud with captain Pat Rafter.

In January, he said he would not be available for Davis Cup duties until at least a World Group playoff in September, should Australia qualify, after Rafter axed him for a tie against Taiwan.

At the time, Rafter said it was to “teach him a lesson” after Tomic last year created more headlines off the court than on it, including run-ins with police in his sports car and claims he was not trying hard enough.

He admitted he was on a “slippery slope” but says he is now reformed and will be an asset in the Asia-Oceania Zone second-round tie, having won eight of his 10 Davis Cup singles rubbers. “I always want to play Davis Cup. I want to thank Pat for picking me. Wherever it is I’ll always be happy to play for (my) country,” said Tomic.

AFP

ON THE TOP

Tiger on prowl for 15th major

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: Tiger Woods, back atop the world rankings for the first time since October of 2010, resumes his quest for a 15th major title in two weeks at the Masters with a hot putter and new confidence.

“It has been a few years,” Woods said, since he has felt so confident heading to Augusta National, where the 14-time major champion will try to close the gap next month on the all-time record of 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus.

“Over a period of time it has been years since I’ve hit the ball this consistently day-in and dayout. “I’m very pleased that some of the shots that I struggled with last year are now strengths. One of the things that we need to continue to work on is getting it more refined because my good ones are really good.”

Woods become No.1 with a victory Monday in the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, collecting his eighth title at Bay Hill and third so far this year.

Ferrer ousts Nishikori to reach last eight MIAMI: Spanish third seed David Ferrer advanced to the quarter-finals of the WTA and ATP Miami Masters hardcourt event on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Japan’s 13th-seeded Kei Nishikori. Ferrer won 84 percent of his first-serve points

and 5-of-9 break chances to eliminate Nishikori and book a last eight-date against Austria’s Jurgen Melzer, who defeated Spain’s Albert Ramos 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. Fifth-ranked Ferrer improved to 3-2 lifetime against Nishikori, having avenged a rou-

nd-of-16 loss at last Olympics by defeating Nishikori in the fourth round of this year’s Australian Open. Nishikori, ranked 15th, won their first meeting in the third round of the 2008 US Open while Ferrer first beat him in 2011 at Tokyo. AFP

Tiger Woods of The United States and the Albany Team on the third tee during the final day of the 2013 Tavistock Cup Matches at Isleworth Golf and Country Club on Tuesday in Orlando, Florida.

AFP/DAVID CANNON

sports

31

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

NZ VS ENGLAND

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE

Sri Lanka demand security guarantee Kolkata prepares for opening ceremony

England’s Matt Prior (L) and Monty Panesar greet each other after drawing the Test against New Zealand on Tuesday.

AFP/MICHAEL BRADLEY

Kiwis take moral series win: Cook AUCKLAND: England captain Alastair Cook acknowledged New Zealand as moral winners of their drawn series on Tuesday, saying the David and Goliath battle had definitely gone David’s way.

England started the series ranked second to New Zealand’s eighth placing. Even though none of the three Tests produced a result, New Zealand were the dominant side in two of them.

“They had the best of the first match, we had the best of the second Test match and they’ve outplayed us here, but at no stage did we underestimate them," Cook said after the dramatic end to the third Test.

The first two drawn Tests were both abbreviated by rain, but with fine weather throughout the five days in Auckland the deciding match went down to the wire. In a desperate final session, England were down to their last pair for 19 balls but Matt Prior, who made 110, and Monty Panesar held on for the draw.

Panesar narrowly missed playing-on with the first ball he faced and later almost ran himself out when he dived well short of his ground on a quick single.

England also counted their luck at one point when the ball hit Prior’s stumps but failed to dislodge the bails.

AFP

KOLKATA: Even as preparations are on at the Salt Lake stadium for the opening ceremony of the upcoming IPL T20 extravaganza, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday began the countdown with the season’s first practice session at the Eden Gardens.

Captain Gautam Gambhir (in pic) , who is down with jaundince, did not attend the session and assistant coach Vijay Dahiya was seen playCOLOMBO: Sri Lanka will not allow its cricketers to travel to India to play in the IPL Twenty20 tournament next month unless it gets guarantees from New Delhi over their safety, the sports minister said Tuesday.

Amid anger among Indian Tamils about the Colombo government’s treatment of their eth-

ing the role of the mentor to the likes of Rajat Bhatia, Pradeep Sangwan and Manvinder Bisla.

“Being the defending champions, we all are motivated to repeat our performance. We all are keen and united to do well," Bisla told reporters after the practice.

The 120,000 capacity stadium, also known as the Yubabharati Krirangan, will host the opening ceremony that will begin at 7.30 pm on nic kinsmen, the chief minister of the southern state of Tamil Nadu had earlier said she would bar any Sri Lankans from playing on her patch.

Organisers then said that none of the 13 Sri Lankan players would take the field in games being hosted by Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu.

April 2, the eve of the first match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Dare Devils, at the Eden Gardens. A huge podium is being erected, while the artificial turf is being covered with a rubber mat, where the artists will perform during the opening ceremony.

“We are taking all precautions so that the astroturf (used for football matches) is not damaged," state Sports Minister Madan Mitra said after an inspection.

The state government, meanwhile, has formed a 40member committee for the development of the stadium.

As the organisers were busy redoing the stadium, many artistes were seen rehearsing their moves in the galleries. Shah Rukh Khan, KKR principal owner, will perform along with Katrina Kaif, while rapper Pitbull will add the international touch to the ceremony.

PTI Speaking on state television, Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said he was now seeking assurances about the safety of all 13 Sri Lankan players signed up to play in the Indian Premier League, including star batsman Kumar Sangakkara, allrounder Tillakaratne Dilshan and the record-breaking spin bowler

SHEFFIELD SHIELD COMPETITION

PONTING TO PLAY ON FOR TASMANIA SYDNEY: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting says he will play another season with Tasmania after they won the Sheffield Shield competition.

The 38-year-old retired from international cricket in December and had been expected to make the current domestic season his last, but said he was in good

Ponting retired from international cricket in Dec and was expected to make the current season his last, but said he was in good touch and wanted to carry on.

touch and wanted to carry on.

“I’ve told Tasmanian cricket this week that I’m really keen to play on again next year," said Ponting, who was last week named Sheffield Shield player of the year, having topped the inter-state competition’s run-scoring list.

“But in the same breath, I’ve also told them not to contract me.

“I don’t want to take a contract spot and pull out at the last minute. “If I get through the (Australian) winter really well and I’m still keen to play again next year, then I’ll obviously go round again." Ponting is due to play in the IPL, for English county Surrey and at a Caribbean T20 tournament throughout 2013. AFP

Muttiah Muralitharan.

“Our cricket board has written to the Indian board and our external affairs ministry has asked the Indian government for assurances of safety," he said.

“The situation in Tamil Nadu appears to be not good right now so no player will be allowed to go without the necessary guarantees of safety."

His comments come after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had said that she would not allow any IPL matches to be staged in the state if they featured Sri Lankan players or officials or support staff in these matches.

“In view of the popular antipathy and anger in Tamil Nadu against the actions of the government of Sri Lanka, the government of Tamil Nadu is of the view that IPL matches involving Sri Lankan players, umpires and other officials should not be played in Tamil Nadu", she said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“In such a hostile and tense environment, we apprehend that the participation of Sri Lankan players in the IPL tournament, with many games to be played in Chennai, will aggravate an already surcharged atmosphere and further offend the sentiments of the people."

Rights groups have said up to 40,000 members of the minority Tamil population were killed by security forces in the final months of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009, a charge denied by Colombo.

The Indian government, which has traditionally been wary of upsetting its neighbour, was among 25 nations which last week backed a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council calling for a probe of alleged war crimes on the island.

AFP

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013

sports

DEL BOSQUE PRAISES SPAIN’S ‘MATURITY’ Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque on Tuesday praised his team for their maturity after the world champions overcame nagging doubts in the wake of recent results to beat France 1-0 at the Stade de France.

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

Flaccid England held to a draw

Spain bounce back to win

If Montenegro win at home to Ukraine in June, England will be five points off the pace.

Portugal beat Azeris BAKU: Without their suspended talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal made hard work of breaking down stubborn Azerbaijan here on Tuesday before winning their 2014 World Cup qualifier 2-0. Bruno Alves and Hugo Almeida scored the goals in the final half hour.

Scotland out of WC

TOM WILLIAMS Agence France-Presse PODGORICA, MONTE NEGRO: Montenegro produced a rousing second-half display to earn a 1-1 draw at home to England on Tuesday that enabled them to preserve a two-point lead in their World Cup qualifying group.

Wayne Rooney appeared to have atoned for his red card on his last visit to Podgorica by giving England a sixth-minute lead that looked set to send Roy Hodgson’s side to the top of Group H. However, the hosts rallied after the interval at a raucous Podgorica City Stadium and claimed a deserved equaliser in the 76th minute when substitute Dejan Damjanovic bundled home.

The result means that, if Montenegro win at home to Ukraine in June, England will be five points off the pace by the time they play their next qualifier at home to Moldova in September.

England coach Hodgson made six changes to the team that outclassed San Marino 8-0, with captain Steven Gerrard returning alongside Glen Johnson, Ashley Cole, Michael Carrick, James Milner and Danny Welbeck.

England had been promised a caustic atmosphere, and fighting broke out between the home fans before the game had even begun, but if there had been any pre-match nerves in the visiting ranks, they did not show.

The compact stadium was rocking, and England’s resistance did not last long.

32

NOVI SAD, SERBIA: Filip Djuricic scored a second half double here on Tuesday as Serbia beat Scotland 2-0 and extinguished their extremely faint hopes of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup finals.

Persie brace sinks Romania France were always a threat going forward but could not find a way past Victor Valdes in the Spain goal.

ANDY SCOTT Agence France-Presse PARIS: World Cup holders Spain retook control of qualifying Group I on Tuesday with a 1-0 win against France in Paris, Pedro Rodriguez scoring the only goal of the game in the second half at the Stade de France.

Pedro’s scrambled effort just before the hour mark was Spain’s reward for dominating possession and playing with assuredness despite coming into the game trailing France by two points at the top of the group.

The home team were always a threat going forward but could not find a way past Victor Valdes in the Spain goal and finished the game with 10 men after young midfielder Paul Pogba was sent off late on.

With just three matches left to play in Group I, Spain now lead France by a point, with

only one team qualifying automatically for the finals in Brazil.

Coach Vicente Del Bosque welcomed Xavi Hernandez back into the Spain starting line-up after injury, and the Barcelona midfielder wore the captain’s armband in the continuing absence of regular skipper Iker

With just three matches left to play, Spain now lead France by a point, with only one team qualifying automatically for Brazil ’14.

Casillas. Xabi Alonso, Pedro and left-back Nacho Monreal also came into a Spain team which showed a total of four changes from Friday’s surprise 1-1 draw at home to Finland.

Meanwhile, France coach

Didier Deschamps kept faith with youngsters Raphael Varane and Pogba after both impressed on their debuts in last Friday’s win against Georgia, while Laurent Koscielny, Patrice Evra and Yohan Cabaye also started as the hosts matched Spain’s 43-3 formation.

Spain, playing all in red, should have taken the lead from their first attack, Monreal cutting the ball back for Xavi to blaze over from a glorious position inside the penalty box five minutes in. Karim Benzema has come in for criticism for his recent poor form at international level, but he was not afraid to try his luck at the other end with a first-time attempt from Christophe Jallet’s cutback as France pressed. Despite that opening, Spain soon settled into their rhythm, controlling possession and removing the sting from the game.

Super Mario raises Italy hopes

Bolivia hold Argentina to draw

Germany steamroll Kazakhs

VALLETTA: Mario Balotelli scored both goals as Italy defeated Malta 2-0 here to move three points clear at the top of their World Cup qualifying group B on Tuesday.

The AC Milan striker opened his account early in the first half from the penalty spot before doubling his tally just before halftime, making it 10 goals in his last nine matches for both club and country.

However, the home side could count themselves a little unlucky as they missed a penalty. With Denmark held to a 1-1 draw by second-placed Bulgaria, Italy extended their lead at the top of their group.

LA PAZ: Argentina suffered a scare before coming from behind to secure a 1-1 draw with Bolivia in their 2014 World Cup qualifying match here Tuesday. Argentina had been thrashed 6-1 by Bolivia when the sides last met in the thin air of La Paz in qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. Another upset looked on the cards when Bolivia striker Marcel Martins headed the home side into a 25th-minute lead. But Argentina — who impressed in a 3-0 win over Venezuela — grabbed a share of the points when Valencia’s Ever Banega headed in the equaliser shortly before half-time.

NUREMBERG: A three-goal barrage within nine first-half minutes set Germany up for a 4-1 home victory over a resilient Kazakhstan Tuesday to remain in control of their 2014 World Cup qualifying group.

Germany’s Marco Reus hit the opener after 23 minutes, Mario Goetze doubled in the 27th and Ilkay Guendogan made it 3-0 in the 32nd. Reus finished the scoring in the 90th minute for the Germans, who could have scored more but hit the posts or crossbar six times in the match in Nuremberg. Genrikh Shmidtgal hit one back for the Kazakhs in the 46th minute.

AMSTERDAM: Manchester United star Robin van Persie bagged a brace as the Netherlands continued their march to Brazil with a 4-0 win over Romania on Tuesday at the Amsterdam ArenA. In so doing the 29-year-old reached 34 international goals, overtaking the legendary Johan Cruyff.

Drama as Egypt win JOHANNESBURG: Mohamed Abou Trika converted a penalty to earn Egypt a dramatic 2-1 home victory over Zimbabwe Tuesday in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. The veteran midfielder netted two minutes from time in Alexandria after Hosny Abd Rabou had put Egypt ahead.

Croats too good for Wales SWANSEA: Eduardo guided Croatia to a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Wales in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday to keep them alongside Belgium at the top of Group A. The Brazilian-born former Arsenal striker struck home the decisive goal with three minutes to play after Gareth Bale’s 21st minute penalty had put Wales ahead, before Dejan Lovren equalised in the 77th minute. The first half was played at a high-tempo, entertaining pace, and when Croatia centre-back Vederan Corluka hacked down a fastadvancing Bale in the seventh minute, the Spurs winger saw his effort from the free-kick go high and wide.