CHOIRBOYS TOLD NOT TO OGLE MILA KUNIS
CHEETAHS IN RACE TO SURVIVE
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hoirboys have reportedly been instructed not to ‘ogle’ Mila Kunis whilst she films scenes for Jupiter Ascending at Ely Cathedral. Kunis and Channing Tatum are currently in the UK filming for the sci-fi adventure, due to be released in UK and US cinemas on July 25, 2014.
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he cheetah survived mass extinction during the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago. But it has taken just a few decades for man to endanger this animal’s existence. PG 13
PG 25 WWW.POSTNOON.COM
WEATHER: SLIGHT CHANCE OF A THUNDERSTORM; 36°C
Parents and teachers’ associations are up in arms as several corporate colleges in the City are admitting students to Intermediate first year even before the Class X results are declared.
Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper
APRIL 28, 2013 HYDERABAD
32 PAGES
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ON SUNDAY REPORT ON PG 4
MOOLAH
TRUMPS MERIT
SRINIVAS SETTY
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CITY SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
GEESE AT PLAY M ANILKUMAR
German movie Krabat will be screened. Where: Muffakham Jah College Of Engineering And Technology (MJET), Banjara Hills When: April 29, 8 pm
Nail art Nail art classes are on. Where: Colorama Printers, Begumpet When: Till April 29, 1. 30 pm to 4.30 pm Contact: 80086-24949
Fit for royalty
A colourful affair
The Taj Group of Hotels is offering Royal Retreat packages for their customers. When: Ongoing, Till September 30
The Wall: Painting and photography exhibition by Chandana Khan will be held. Where: Muffakham Jah College Of Engineering And Technology (MJET), Banjara Hills When: April 28, 6.30 pm
The joy of reading Oxford Bookstore in association with GHAC and LICH is organising an informative, exciting and fun-filled workshop in social sciences and Humanities for kids. Where: Oxford Bookstore, The Park When: Ongoing, Till May 12, 9:30 am to 2:00 pm Contact: 92461-12461
Make music Aao! Bajaao: Let's Drum Together will be held. Where: Pebble Creek High Montessori School, Secunderabad When: April 28, 5 pm to 7pm
The Deviant Digital art on canvas by Aekka Yadagiri Rao. Where: ICON Art Gallery, Road no 12 Banjara Hills When: On till May 3, 11.30 am to 7 pm Contact: www.iconart.in
Summer camp Oakridge is conducting a camp for children in which they can learn story telling, clay modelling and more. Where: Oakridge International School, Nanakramguda Road When: Ongoing 9 am onwards Contact: (040) 20042460
Geese swim across the Shilparamam lake. These birds were recently introduced by the tourism department. Where: Hampshire Plaza Hotel, Lakdi-ka-Pul When: April 28, 9.30 am to 6 pm Contact: 91 80 22442211
Mega mugs
Dancing delight Bharatnatyam dance performance by Akanksha Tadapatri Ramesh. Where: Ravindra Bharathi, Saifabad When: April 28, 6.30 pm
Freezing a moment Basics of photography workshop by Sachin Rai will be conducted.
CINEMAS
TGI Friday's announced TGI Friday’s mega mugs offer to coincide with the start of the IPL. Where: TGIF, RK Cineplex When: Ongoing
Filmmaking workshop for children Yavanika Films will conduct a unique filmmaking workshop this summer vacation for children. Where: Begumpet When: Ongoing, 2pm to 7pm
Lights, camera, action Film Jeeves And Wooster will be screened. Where: The Secunderabad Club, Secunderabad When: April 28, 6.30 pm
It’s showtime Short film Do Pahar will be screened. Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills When: April 28, 7.30pm Contact: 96427-31329
Summer camp Tailoring training camp for children between the age group of 6 and 16 is being organised. Where: Shilparamam, Madhapur When: Till May 20, 11 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 4 pm Contact: 97013-83359
Traditional beats
Movie night
Veena recital by Ayyagari Syamasundaram. Where: Keyes Girls High School, Secunderabad When: April 28, 6.30 pm Contact: 2773-1775
Big Cinemas, Ameerpet, 30581470; Cinemax, Banjara Hills, 44565555; Cine Planet , Kompally, 61606060; INOX, Banjara Hills, 447677770, Prasads, Tank Bund Rd, 23448888; PVR, Punjagutta, 08800900009; Talkie Town, Miyapur, 40214175; Tivoli, Secunderabad 27844973
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CITY SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
New enclosures at zoo
City preps to welcome Naidu
Rival gang attacks youth
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youth in his twenties was attacked by a gang, who inflicted severe injuries on him yesterday. Sony, son of a hooligan Antony of Gopalpuram was reportedly attacked by a rival gang of his father’s. He is in Gandhi hospital undergoing treatment. Gopalpuram police are investigating. No arrests have been made so far.
hief secretary Minnie Mathew will inaugurate two mouse deer display enclosures and release mouse deers into the enclosures at the Nehru Zoological Park today. She will also release one pair of scarlet macaw birds, which are native of South America. SV Kumar, PCCF, will inaugurate the amphi theatre for interactive animal programmes for visitors.
grand reception awaits the TDP supremo in the City today. Naidu ends his 208-day marathon padayatra today. Party cadres have arranged a spectacular welcome for their leader, who will arrive at the RGI airport from Visakhapatnam around 2.30pm. A huge rally is planned after according him reception, party sources said.
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Bikers attack girl, 1 held Three bikers tried to abduct a girl from a bus stop to sexually assault her, after injecting sedatives into her. Police are trying to protect two of the suspects, who reportedly have influential parents, sources say.
Mohd SUBHAN
mohd.s@postnoon.com
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illainy and sexual assault on girls have reached a shocking level in Hyderabad. A glaring incident on Thursday reveals how lax the security is for girls on the streets despite police claims of having clamped on them hyper-security measures. Three youngsters on two bikes appeared suddenly at a bus stop in SR Nagar, where two cousin sisters were waiting for a
bus to return home to Sagar Society of Banjara Hills. The sisters had come to see a film. One of them had gone to the lavatory nearby when the bikers came in. The men, it is reported, had asked her to get on to the bike, but she refused. One of them took out a syringe and injected her forcibly. She screamed and called for help. This brought her cousin and many others to the scene. Seeing people gather, the bikers sped away. The girl, a college student, swooned soon after. Her cousin, with the help of auto drivers, managed to shift her to Gandhi Hospital, where the SR Nagar police recorded her statement. She clearly iden-
tified three youths and the bikes but police inspector S Pratap later claimed that only one boy was involved and that he was arrested. Identified as Mahinder Singh, the youth is in custody. The girl, however, swears that there were three people involved; the police are trying to save the other two who might be sons of influential people. Her parents are planning to approach the home minister and DGP, as local police are clearly out to save the other two accused. “Of the three, only a rootless footloose is arrested while the other two from decent families are being protected,” a relative of the girl told Postnoon.
Gaping gaps, mayor bares his teeth ‘How could there be a variation of `100-200 crore?’ wondered Mayor Mohd Mahid Hussain when Postnoon asked him about the raging issue of civic budget variation going wild. Md Nizamuddin nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com
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fter commissioner MT Krishna Babu tried to clarify the issue of variation in the revised budget estimates (RBE) and the actual budget in a media briefing recently, misunderstandings between the civic head and administration increased. “For the past several years, the standing committee had only cast a cursory look on issue of revenue and expenses. Each week, we present this in front of the standing committee; only in the last meeting they raised the issue,” the commissioner told reporters a few days ago. Now, the mayor is showing his grit and seems to be determined to streamline things. For the first time, the mayor made a rare gesture of going to
the public relations wing and meeting the media personnel present there. It appears that he is committed to plumb the depth of the financial mystery. “The commissioner is being misled by some people. Otherwise, he would not have gone on record explaining things,” he said. Earlier, the commissioner tried to explain in vain the reasons to media personnel, that heads of accounts were inappropriately recorded by those entering online records. Now allegations are ripe that there were ‘misappropriations’ in the last three-four years in the GHMC. For instance, allocation for major roads was `149.59 crore; the revised budget allocation was `45 crore, but actual expenditure was `54.82 crore. Land acquisition was alloted `109.94 crore, RBE was `250 crore, but
ALLEGATIONS ARE RIPE THAT THERE WERE MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS IN THE GHMC IN THE LAST THREEFOUR YEARS.
the actual expenditure was `66.13 crores. Similar variation was found in nala repair work, where allo-
cation was `97.61 crore, RBE `35 crore, and the actual expenditure was `32.18 crore. For maintenance of City parks, it was `7.3
crore, RBE was `5 crore, but the actual expenditure was `4.19 crore. The mayor told the officials to present reports as to why this has been happening for the last few years. While the standing committee has supported him in this, others are too sceptical over going ‘on record’ about what could have actually happened. “We cannot say what it could be—an anomaly or misappropriation of funds,” says TDP floor leader Singireddy Srinivas Reddy.
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CITY SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
Moolah, not merit, reigns
Parents and teachers’ associations are up in arms as several corporate colleges in the City are admitting students to Intermediate first year in their college even before the Class X results are declared. ALEENA ALICE
aleena.t@postnoon.com
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ust after the declaration of the Intermediate results, the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) is drawing flak from parents who feel that the board is turning a blind eye to the illegalities of some of the corporate colleges in the City. Even before the announcement of the Class X results, many students have already got seats in corporate junior colleges. ‘Moolah’ is what seems to be the basis on which corporate colleges have been admitting Class X students for Intermediate first year even before the declaration of their results. The SSC results are tentatively to be declared in the second week of May, only after which the admission process in all junior colleges should begin. However, violating this norm, many private colleges have already filled half the seats in their college. Parents of students who have just written their Class X examinations and various government as well as private teachers’ associations allege that the BIE and the government are hand-inglove with corporate colleges for carrying out this illegal activity.
“If private colleges are giving seats not on the basis of merit, students who score a good percentage in their boards will not stand a fair chance when the admissions take place. Why can’t the BIE stop such illegal activity from taking place?” asks Renuka Prasad a parent from the City. Condemning the private colleges for this, president of the Private Teachers’ Association S Srinivas Reddy says, “From January itself, these private corporate colleges ask their PRs to
SSC RESULTS ARE LIKELY TO BE DECLARED IN THE SECOND WEEK OF MAY, ONLY AFTER WHICH THE ADMISSION PROCESS SHOULD BEGIN. VIOLATING THIS NORM, MANY PRIVATE COLLEGES HAVE ALREADY FILLED HALF THEIR SEATS.
get in touch with the candidates of Class X and tell them about the merits of their college and lure them. Now that the Intermediate results are declared, giving the parents the pass percentage of the college, they have started offering admission to the students. Parents, not wanting to miss out on a seat from a good college for their child, give in and pay the fees. This is not something the government is unaware of. However, they chose to turn a blind eye.”
Stating that many of these junior colleges have turned education into a business, M Ravindar, general secretary of Andhra Pradesh Teaching Federation, says, “The government is supporting the whims and fancies of these private institutions. This has put the whole education system in the hands of the corporate mafia. And it is not that these colleges provide good teachers and quality education. All they do is encourage rote learning.” The Hyderabad Schools Parents Association (HSPA) says that the BIE should intervene and stop the illegal admission process in the various private junior colleges. “It is illegal to give admission even before the SSC results are announced. The BIE should stop this violation of the rules by various corporate colleges. Injustice will be done to thousands of students if admission is taken in on the basis of money instead of merit,” said a representative of the HSPA. When Postnoon contacted the Board of Intermediate Education, the officials said that nothing has come to their notice so far. “We will keep a check on the matter and ensure that the admissions take place only after the SSC results is announced as per the schedule. If any of the colleges violate the rule, action will be taken against them,” said a senior official from the BIE.
Cong-MIM war brews in City
MIM’s anti-CM stance will cost the party dear as the Congress is gearing up to lasso its erstwhile partner. Inkeshaf Ahmed
ahmed.m@postnoon.com
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t’s official now. The ruling Congress has finally decided to take on its erstwhile ally All India Majlis Itehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). The two will never be friends again. Recently, when MIM skipped from contesting MLC elections held under MLC quota with an objective to benefit the ruling Congress candidate, many thought that the erstwhile allies would join hands once again during the next General Elections. But the Congress seems to be in no mood to give any opportunity of reconciliation to the MIM, a strong and dominant force in Hyderabad. According to highly placed Congress sources, CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy wants defeat of the MIM in Hyderabad. One of the strategies include wresting at least four of the seven Assembly seats held by the MIM. These Assembly seats include Malakpet,
Chandrayangutta, Nampally and Bhadurpura. Speaking to Postnoon, a close aide of the CM said that these four Assembly seats have certain unique features which will ensure the victory of the Congress in the next General Elections. “Our surveys found that the
four constituencies have a balance in community-wise voters unlike other constituencies, where only minority community dominates. If we put in extra effort while applying wise strategies, the Congress will easily win these four seats during the next General Elections,” he said.
The most important strategy of the Congress seems to be to corner the whole non-minority vote bank while roping in as much minority support as possible in the four Assembly seats. Apart from consolidating the party position among the nonminority votes of Old City, the chief minister is planning to come up with several incentives for the minority community with the sole objective of winning their hearts at any cost and ensuring the defeat of the MIM in Hyderabad. He already made an announcement regarding his ambitious plans for the development of minority communities at a recent public meeting. The development programmes being conceived to achieve this aim include announcing a huge development package for the comprehensive development of Hyderabad city, especially Old City area. “When YSR was the CM, he announced `2,000-crore development package for Old City. But sadly, that package was never
CM’s plans for Old City n Revival of Quli Qutub Shah Authority n Strengthening of PDS n Slum area development n Schools in all slum areas n Health centres in all slum areas n Micro-finance scheme implemented. Old City too was targeted. The CM is planning to announce a similar package for the development of Old City,” a close aide of the CM added. The plan of the CM includes revival of erstwhile Quli Qutub Shah Urban Development Authority to develop infrastructure in Old City area, generous funds for development of slum areas, exclusive micro-finance schemes for dominant Muslim traders, vendors and hawkers, setting up of government schools and health centers in every slum area of Old City and strengthening of Public Distribution System (PDS).
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READERS’ LETTERS SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
Who’s the target audience? Hemanth Kumar’s ‘existentialist’ review of the movie Shadow (Too bad to be true, April 26) seems to have confounded quite a few people. lease don’t use terrible words because ordinary people are not able to understand those words. For example, TOI, DC and Hindu use very regular and known words that are easy to understand. If unable to understand, no one will read.
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UDAY
via email Read the article at http://postnoon.com/2013/04/26/shadow-moviereview-too-bad-to-be-true/122199
rue. With two more flops, I would very much want the ‘Victory’ title to be officially given to someone else. Wonder why Venky had no reasons to just reject the story ? What say?
ho is the target audience for all that you write? Am not questioning your ability as a writer, but sometimes, it’s way out of this world.
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M ANJUNATH
via email Read the article at http://postnoon.com/2013/04/26/shadowmovie-review-too-bad-to-betrue/122199
Now you know what we’re talking about
SATISH
via email Read the article at http://postnoon.com/2013/04/2 6/shadow-movie-review-toobad-to-be-true/122199
Gender issues ruled the roost this week as well, as people continued to fight it out over Padmini C’s A ministry of men (April 15). One of our readers decided to take on another, who had accused the writer of being biased against men.
s a victim and survivor of domestic violence, I thought I should clarify a few things. But before I lay it out for you, lemme first say.
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ou poor thing. Really, that is so unfair. What did men ever do to deserve this suspicion, I wonder. And men are seeking to eliminate this, how? And oh, the rapes, the murders, the violence, the foeticides just happen to be co-incidental, right? But wait. They must all be lies perpetuated by us women.
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o, now you know how it feels to be wronged, to be powerless, huh? To be blamed for something that was not your fault. To carry the burden of your gender every single minute of every single day. Now, when it came to you, you want to talk about rights and misuse of power and everything else. What did you do to ever help women before this so there would never have been a need for laws like this?
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TOP LETTER
f law enforcement authorities in your country readily believe that men are
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his article is funny and another one-sided one. This reporter suddenly wakes up to the fact that we don’t have enough trees when some trees suddenly started falling. We always have less trees; instead of crying over Metro, think of ways to increase them. Metro is not the total Hyderabad.
T abusers /harassers/ molesters/rapists, it is because it has been proven time and again that 9/10 times they are! You made the system like this. So now if you are caught, you have only yourself to blame. That, my friend, is the truth.
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orrect, all men are not like that. But all women are manipulative and scheming
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Our centrespread on global warming (Change is here, April 22) prompted an SUV-driving reader to comment that it was ridiculous that we were making such a fuss over a phenomenon that is not even fully proven. Well, it doesn’t hurt to be a little considerate of the earth even if disaster wasn’t looming, does it?
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etro should be underground and they need not fell 2,000 trees. I can understand 20 or so, but 2,000? This is nothing but the result of contractor-government nexus. Yes, if you visit the University of Hyderabad, you will see HMR has put up a few tree-guards to protect saplings. But you will need a microscope or a telescope to see the sapling! via email Read the article at http://postnoon.com/2013/04 /22/as-the-metro-riseshydrabads-trees-begin-tofall/121307
and because of this, tens of thousands of men are either killing their wives or themselves. Sure. ere’s the thing. What I think the author was trying to say was that the problems faced by millions of women through the ages does not mitigate the injustice being done to men today. Two wrongs
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Not a real crisis at all Win `500 years of science only saying “maybe” proves it “won’t be” a real crisis. Deny that! You “remaining” climate blame believers love bullying our children with your exaggerated CO2 death threats because science has never said any crisis will happen, only could. Find us one single IPCC warning not swimming in maybes. Science can say if an asteroid hit is real, but science won’t
Readers were eager to comment on Aleena Alice’s article on trees being cut down for the Metro (As the Metro rises, Hyderabad’s trees begin to fall, April 22), protesting the seemingly unwarranted destruction. But as one reader pointed out, we should be looking for solutions, not crying over cut trees.
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City’s tree cutting woes
say a climate change crisis from my SUV is as real as an asteroid hit crisis, so if “maybe” is good enough to condemn your own children to the greenhouse gas ovens, you don’t love the planet, loser, you just hate humanity.
MEMEMINE 69,
via email Read the report at http://postnoon.com/2013/04/22/change-ishere-global-warming-in-numbers/121294
every week
We are giving `500 to the reader who writes in the best letter every week. So get to work. You can e-mail us at feedback@postnoon.com, or write to us at Postnoon, #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Rd no 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, 500033. ALSO SEND US YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS.
don’t make a right. So, technically, she was making a case for you. However, it seems that it’s not just language but also comprehension that seems to have eluded you. Good day.
RIDHI DAS
via email Read the report at http://postnoon.com/2013/04/15 /a-ministry-for-men/119847
ANONYMOUS
via email Read the article at http://postnoon.com/2013/04 /22/as-the-metro-riseshydrabads-trees-begin-tofall/121307
Digging up trouble The GHMC’s plan to conserve water drew incredulous reactions (Md Nizamuddin’s GHMC to dig pits to harvest rainwater, April 23). The rather convoluted plans made a reader suggest that rainwater harvesting be made the responsibility of home-owners. very department in the State works in isolation, creating chaos. Revenue department officials are mute spectators when hundreds of tanks built by former rulers are encroached and apartments/commercial complexes are constructed. Are the tanks not good sources for groundwater charging? Why not compel house owners and borewell drill operators to construct a water harvesting pit in the proximity of the borewell to make it durable for decades?
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GHMC, instead of spending money on rain harvesting pits on streets, plan harvesting pits in individual houses/open plots, where space is not a constraint. It is free of cost, and has to be maintained by the house owner.
SUDHAKARRAO VEPACHEDU
via email Read the report at http://postnoon.com/2013/04/23/ghmc-todig-pits-to-harvestrainwater/121554
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FOCUS SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
US Green Cards may be awarded on merit, not luck Until 2013, a lottery offered 55,000 visas per year. But Republican lawmakers have sought to end the programme, which makes no distinction between skilled and unskilled immigrants.
JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP
Ivan Couronne Agence France-Presse
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or years, millions of immigrant applicants hoped they would be lucky enough to win the US green card lottery. Under reform being considered in Congress, they may soon be asking: "Am I skilled enough?" By 2017, according to a proposed revamp of laws governing admission to the United States, permanent residency permits known as green cards could be doled out not on luck but "on merit," via a points system that would put more qualified applicants at the front of the line. Are you a French computer scientist with a strong command of English, already living in the United States on a visa but
whose employer is reluctant to sponsor you for permanent residency? The new system may work in your favour. Nothing is set in stone yet, but an 844-page measure, the most comprehensive immigration reform in a generation, is working its way through the Senate, and members of the House say they too are hopeful a bill can be signed into law this year. Ten criteria for immigrant applicants will be taken into account in the system, which has a theoretical maximum of 100 points. Under the new system, a university degree will be worth five points, a master's degree 10 and a doctorate 15. Each year of work experience will provide an applicant
For many at a bachelor level, or for someone whose employer doesn't want to serve as a sponsor, you're in a bind Gregory Siskind, immigration attorney
from zero to three points, depending on the employment level, for a maximum of 20 points. Are you a programmer, computer scientist, or software developer? 10 points. If your job is in an occupa-
tion related to your degree: 8-10 points. A TOEFL English language proficiency score of 80 or more? Chalk up another 10. Contractors who employ at least two people: 10 points. Clearly, skills and experience count under the proposed system - but so does youth. Those age 25 and under will receive eight points; 25-32 year old are awarded six points; and age 33-37 years, four. Those age 38 or above receive no bonus. A sibling of a US citizen earns 10 points, as does the married child, 31 or older, of a US citizen. Community service will help. Those who can prove their "civic involvement" will be allocated five points. A final clause gives five points to those from countries with low immigration, which rules out Mexicans, Chinese and Indians. Unlike other countries that have adopted the points scheme, including Britain and Canada, the exact bar for immigration admission under the proposed US system remains a mystery: Other factors are also at play. But if your score is among the top 60,000, you will gain a green card. Another block of 60,000 will also be awarded permanent residency based on criteria that favor lower-skilled labour such as construction. The merit system will come into force from October 2017, provided that the immigration reform law passes President Barack Obama's desk this summer. Over the years, the number of green cards could rise to 2,50,000. "For many at a bachelor level, or for someone whose employer doesn't want to serve as a sponsor, you're in a bind," immigration attorney Gregory
New system will come into force from 2017
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nlike other countries that have adopted the points scheme, including Britain and Canada, the exact bar for immigration admission under the proposed US system remains a mystery: other factors are also at play. But if your score is among the top 60,000, you will gain a green card. Another block of 60,000 will also be awarded permanent residency based on criteria that favour lower-skilled labour such as construction. The merit system will come into force from October 2017.
Siskind told AFP. "So the points system will give you an alternative to relying on your employer to get a green card," he added. "For a lot of people, that's going to mean freedom." Until 2013, a lottery offered 55,000 visas per year. But Republican lawmakers have sought to end the programme, which makes no distinction between skilled and unskilled immigrants. In addition to the points system, the Senate proposal provides quota-free green cards for extraordinarily qualified researchers, scientists and graduates of US universities. "I don't think that the long waits that we've had for a while are going to be a problem for a couple of years."
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NATION SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
Vigilance report indicts SHO
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n a significant development, vigilance enquiry ordered into the allegations of lapses on the part of the Delhi Police in the probe of the gang-rape of the five-year old girl, has found SHO, Dhraram Pal Singh of Gandhi Nagar police station guilty. The report indicts Dhraram Pal Singh of dereliction of his duty.
AAP protest cancelled
SP lauds Akhilesh
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he Aam Admi Party (AAP) Sunday said its protest march in the national capital stands cancelled as Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit telephoned a party representative and agreed to accept letters written to her by residents over inflated water and power bills. She has agreed to accept 10,50,000 letters written to her by the people highlighting the inflated bills.
mid criticism that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav should not have cancelled his lecture at the Harvard Business School to protest “extended frisking” of Urban Development Minister Azam Khan at a Boston airport, his Samajwadi Party (SP) Saturday said the stand was “correct, justified and in line with socialist ethos”.
One more commits suicide Under fire for his alleged complicity in the chit fund muddle, TMC MP Ghosh wrote to Mamata Banerjee pleading innocence and offering to quit.
Sarada chit fund scam KOLKATA: The human toll in West Bengal’s multi billion rupee chit fund muddle rose to four, with another agent of the tainted Saradha Group committing suicide, while a second FIR was filed Saturday against Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh by employees of a Bengali daily run by the chit fund-aided company. The agent Swapan Kumar Biswas,who had deposited over Rs.4 lakh, was found hanging at his home in Purulia district Friday night. Biswas’ family claimed he was suffering from depression after the group went bust and downed shutters across the state, affecting lives of tens of thousands of depositors from poor families who had parked their hard-earned money in the firm. The Saradha fiasco threatens to engulf other such chit fund companies - a large number of which operate in the state. The offices of many of them were rocked by protests by depositors and agents, who demonstrated outside for hours seeking immediate return of their money. Many of these concerns running collective investment schemes have been splashing large display advertisements in
leading dailies every day claiming deposits in their companies were safe, but that has failed to dissipate the mood of anger and panic that has taken over the society in the wake of the Saradha collapse. A chit fund driven company, Tower Group organised a media meet to assure investors, but its
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eanwhile, employees of “Sakalbela” filed an FIR against Ghosh, the head of the media arm of Saradha Group, for alleged financial irregularities.
chairman had to cancel the conference abruptly after he was besieged by angry journalists rendered jobless after the firm closed down its publications. Under fire for his alleged complicity in the chit fund muddle, Trinamool Congress MP Ghosh wrote to party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pleading innocence and offering to quit. “I am ready to resign if you instruct me to do so. I am ready to face any investigation and I am also ready to cooperate with the investigation process,” Ghosh said in the letter posted on the party’s official website. Saradha Group chief Sudipta Sen, behind bars and facing prosecution for cheating, had written to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), accusing several high profile Trinamool Congress and Congress leaders, including Ghosh, of complicity in the chit fund scam. Meanwhile, employees of “Sakalbela” filed an FIR against Ghosh, the head of the media arm of Saradha Group, for alleged financial irregularities. Forum for Integrated National Security (FINS) meanwhile demanded the state government immediately seal offices and confiscate assets of all the fraudulent companies operating in the state.
Sarabjit’s kin to visit him
Dalbir Kaur (L), sister of Sarabjit Singh, and his wife Sukhpreet Kaur cry during a press conference in Amritsar on Saturday.
AMRITSAR: The family members of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who is in coma after a murderous attack on him by fellow prisoners in a Lahore jail, will cross over to Pakistan Sunday afternoon to visit him in hospital. The family was headed for Harmandir Sahib, the holiest of Sikh shrines here, popularly known as Golden Temple, Sunday morning to offer prayers before leaving for the Attari-Wagah international border between India and Pakistan, 30 km from here. “We did not want to go to Pakistan in these circumstances. We are praying that he (Sarabjit) recovers fast,” Sarabjit’s daughter Swapandeep said.
‘Jail authorities involved’ AMRITSAR: The brutal assault on Sarabjit Singh, who is in “deep coma”, was not possible without the involvement of jail authorities in Lahore and Pakistan should take immediate action against the perpetrators of the attack, his family said today. “This is not possible without the involvement of the jail authorities,” the Indian death row convict’s sister Dalbir Kaur told reporters here before crossing over to Pakistan.
Azam Khan says it’s all Khurshid’s plot
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ttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan, who was briefly detained on Wednesday at a US airport, on Sunday accused External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid of hatching a “conspiracy” to defame him outside India. He even claimed that a call on continuation of Samajwadi Party’s support to the UPA government will be taken by party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav after hearing his version and that of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on their return to India. “Our leader knows exactly what had happened and who is behind this and he will take a decision soon on the continuation of support to the UPA government,” he said. On Akhilesh meeting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in Chennai, Khan said formation of a third front with AIADMK and
Pattali Makkal Katchi could not be ruled out. Mulayam Singh, he said, would lead such front, if and when it’s formed, and would become the next prime minister. Insisting that his situation should not be compared to that of Kalam, Shah Rukh, Indian Ambassador to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri or the then Indian envoy to the US Meera Shankar, Khan alleged, “It was a conspiracy because I am a powerful nonCongress Muslim leader of India and he (Khurshid) had cleverly planned with the help of the Department of Homeland Security using his clout as an Indian Cabinet Minister. “My detention at the Boston Logan International can’t be treated on par with insults heaped on either former President APJ Abdul Kalam or actor Shah Rukh Khan as I was targeted by Khurshid and his coterie who had no guts to oppose me on Indian soil,” he told PTI before boarding his flight to India.
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COMMENT SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
EDITORIALS MY NAME IS KHAN... Azam Khan The conspiracy theory that UP minister Azam Khan is propounding and is being bandied about that Salman Khurshid, Union Minister for foreign affairs, was behind the humiliation he suffered at the Boston Airport is mindboggling. However did Khurshid achieve this is astounding, keeping in mind that he is only a high ranking official in India, and not in the US. And he strongly states his case cannot be compared to that of APJ Abdul Kalam, Shah Rukh Khan, and many scores of Indians who may have gone through extra security processes that is routine in US airports. It is nothing but astonishing that Khan could find this as a conspiracy plotted by a fellow Indian. He says this was because Khurshid and the Congress could not take him on Indian soil. A bit dramatic. Then he says he has spoken of his humiliation to his leader and his leader Mulayam Singh will take a decision on the matter. He was also kind enough to share SP’s plans of forming the third front which will be led by Mulayam Singh himself. They are cent per cent sure of their victory and Mulayam Singhji will become Prime Minister. If Azam Khan’s humiliation is the excuse that SP uses to break ties with the Congress, then God help coalition politics.
WHY WE LOVE... Barack Obama For once, a US president has defended a woman’s right to choose without hiding behind maybes and flowery language. We love that Barack Obama, while addressing a Planned Parenthood meeting, stressed that when it comes to a woman’s health, no politician gets to decide what’s best for her. Obama, who is also the first sitting president to address the organisation, denounced Republican and pro-lifers’ efforts to turn it into a punching bag. Sure, he didn’t really mention the word ‘abortion’ at any point in his speech, but in a time when 42 US states are trying to curb a woman’s right to choose, it is heartening to see that one politician has the guts to stand up for a controversial subject.
Drinking is a pause from thinking From the hip
SYED SHOAIB
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ndhra Pradesh Dalit Maha Sabha convener Katti Padma Rao last week demanded a complete prohibition on liquor in the state in the wake of the murder of Bethala Kantha Suneela. Suneela was killed on April 8 after being allegedly pushed under the wheels of a lorry after she had taken objection to a group of men harassing her daughter in front of a wine store. Rao’s demand seems ridiculous for a state that floats on liquor. From financing the electoral campaigns of politicians and ensuring their lavish lifestyle through the liquor syndicate, the liquid helps the state government flourish its business by being the second-highest revenue earner after sales tax. In the 2012-13 financial year, the state government expects to earn Rs14,000 crore through the sale of liquor to implement all its projects including welfare schemes. During the same fiscal, the liquor syndicate comprising politicians, state government officials and retailers are expected to pocket about Rs10,000 crore at the cost of more citizens turning into alcoholics daily. It is not IT but liquor that saves AP the blushes. Cyberabad beats all four south Indian states in tax revenue from liquor sales. Excise officials believe that not many foreign investors, especially from the infotech sector, will opt for Hyderabad if prohibition is in place. The main reason for this year’s steep increase in revenue collection from liquor sales is the considerable increase in sales tax on foreign-made liquor. In Elections 2004, it was the battle of the bottle in AP. In fact, women lamented that there was more alcohol available than drinking water. Forty-five women’s organisations under the Madyam Vyatireka Aikhya Vedika banner launched an antiliquor movement. A protest by ordinary women at Dubagunta in Nellore district later snowballed into a state-wide antiarrack agitation. Even the Maoist imposed a `total prohibition’ in the agency tracts of the Eastern Ghats in the same year. AP had introduced prohibition under the chief ministership of NT Rama Rao. Chandrababu Naidu did not continue his father-in-law’s legacy. He reintroduced liquor from April 1, 1997, restricting the dry
law to arrack. To put it in the words of late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, “he virtually opened the flood gates.” During elections, the Congress and other parties also make a somersault, dodging the issue in their manifestos. They do not insist on total prohibition as there is little scope for success without proper awareness among the public, and want only the winding up of `belt shops’. The Congress had promised a separate budget for “a social campaign”. K Rosaiah, a senior leader had maintained: “Mr Naidu is asking people to drink. We tell them `don’t drink’”. The Congress, which professes prohibition as an ideology, implemented it only once in the state between 1958 and 1969. As a reminder to Mahatma Gandhi’s strong urge to ban liquor production and sale, the framers of the Constitution included Article 47 in the Directives Principles of State
Policy. The Article states, “The state shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the use except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs, which are injurious to health.” When India urged the World Health Organisation to set a tar-
WHILE IT’S EASIER TO PROHIBIT RAGGING, LAND GRABBING, DEDICATION (DEVADASIS) AND PROBABLY EVEN CHILD LABOUR, LIQUOR MIGHT NOT WORK ANY QUICKER. get to reduce the consumption of alcohol in Geneva in 2012, Punjab, AP, Goa and north-eastern states were reported to have the highest consumption figures. According to psychiatric studies conducted in Telangana region
of AP, alcohol drinking and chemical dependence of rural women is on a steep rise, indicating solitary drinking at home to get over aches and introduction to toddy at a young age by elder family members. Ameerpet, a hub of commercial activities, tops the list of liquor sales in Hyderabad followed by Secunderabad and Narayanguda. Wine dealers explain that alcohol consumption is a status symbol today as cool drinks are getting replaced by liquor, thanks to high income levels. Ongoing infrastructure developmental works and real estate scenario is cited as the reason for Ranga Reddy district, which houses areas like Hi-Tec City, Kondapur, Gachibowli and Shamshabad topping in sales in AP. While it’s easier to prohibit ragging, land grabbing, dedication (devadasis) and probably even child labour, liquor might not work any quicker.
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BUSINESS SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
Mexico woos auto firms
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exico, the world’s eighth-largest producer of automobiles and its fourth largest exporter, provides many opportunities for investment to Indian auto companies, said Indian ambassador Sujan R Chinoy. He added that presence of Indian companies in Mexico also gave them access to excellent supply chains and markets across North American Free Trade Agreement.
Dreamliner touches down
Saudi to replace expats
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Dreamliner test flight with top Boeing and All Nippon Airways chiefs aboard landed at a Tokyo airport on Sunday, three months after the global fleet of 787s was grounded, as airlines seek to reassure passengers the planes are safe. The test flight by ANA came a day after Ethiopian Airlines became the first carrier to resume flying the 787s.
audi Arabia has plans to improve competence of local workers to replace the eight million expatriate workers in the country, Xinhua reported Saturday. The government plans to offer training and higher salaries to attract locals to get jobs, especially the blue-collar ones, reported local daily Okaz citing a labour ministry source.
3D printing could herald new industrial revolution Jonathan Fowler Agence France-Presse
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s potentially gamechanging as the steam engine or telegraph were in their day, 3D printing could herald a new industrial revolution, experts say. For the uninitiated, the prospect of printers turning out any object you want at the click of a button may seem like the stuff of science fiction. But 3D printing is already here, is developing fast, and looks set to leap from the labs and niche industries onto the wider market. “There are still limits imposed by the technology available today,” said Olivier Olmo, operational director of Switzerland’s EPFL research institution. “But I’m certain that within 10 or 20 years, we’ll have a kind of revolution in terms of the technology being available to everyone,” he said. The concept’s roots lie in fields ranging from standard two-dimensional printing to machine-tooling. First, a 3D digital design is created either from scratch on a computer or by scanning a real object, before being cut into twodimensional “slices” which are computer-fed into a printer. The printer gradually deposits fine layers of material — such as plastic, carbon or metal — and builds a physical object. The product can be as hard or as flexible as you programme the printer to make it, and even include moving parts rather than being a solid block. “In theory, anything that we have today can be produced through 3D printing. It may just alter manufacturing as we know it,” said Simon Jones, a technology expert at global law firm DLA Piper. In addition to the potential ecological impact of producing products right where they are needed, Jones said, 3D printing could make small-scale produc-
tion of objects cheaper, rather than turning out huge numbers which may go to waste. The uses go beyond easy replication of things that exist already. “The technology offers possibilities that available manufacturing does not,” said Carla van Steenbergen of i.materialise, a Belgium-based service that prints designs for users. Van Steenbergen pointed to objects such as customised screws for broken bones which match a patient’s specific anatomical characteristics and thereby cause less deterioration than the traditional variety. “It’s the kind of thing that traditional technology won’t allow. It’s the kind of area where the big added value lies, making the impossible become possible,” she underlined. The technology has been around for longer than many would think: The first commercial 3D print technology, known as stereo-lithography, was
EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
In addition to the potential ecological impact of producing products right where they are needed, 3D printing could make small-scale production of objects much cheaper.
Visitors look at a 3D printer printing an object, during the ‘Inside 3D Printing’ conference and exhibition in New York. invented in 1994. It has taken time to inch into the limelight, however. “It’s honest to say that 3D printing is far from the mainstream, but it’s a sign that something is happening,” said Tristan Renaud of Prevue-
Medical, a company that turns out models from 3D medical imaging data. His technology chief Erik Ziegler said using online 3D printing services was likely to remain the norm for a while, given printer costs.
An alternative is provided by “Fablabs” — short for “fabrication laboratories” — a concept created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that offers grassroots access to smallscale manufacturing facilities. But for those tempted by home-output, a handful of 3D printers have hit the consumer market, retailing for around $2,000. As with computers, the price is expected to fall over time as demand rises and technology advances. Van Steenbergen said that at the industrial level, 3D printing is not set to take over from classical methods, but rather go hand in hand. “I think it will affect the manufacturing of some products, but it’s never going to replace it,” she said. It also raises a raft of questions. For example, would a car manufacturer be ready to let a neighbourhood mechanic print spare parts? And if such goods were produced under licence, what quality guarantees would be offered to consumers? On the intellectual property front, what constitutes fair production of a replacement part for something you already own? And would designers of 3D objects be protected from an equivalent of file-sharing, bemoaned by the music industry? “We’d tend to see an increase in commercial impact,” said Jones. “It would be very difficult to prevent that once 3D technology got to a cost point that’s sensible.” Francis Gurry, head of the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organisation, underlined that the global 3D printing business is forecast to be worth $3.7 billion by 2015. In contrast, world merchandise exports were worth $18.3 trillion last year, and commercial services, $4.3 trillion. Despite remaining small in global terms, Gurry noted, the value of 3D printing is expected to expand relatively fast, to $6.5 billion by 2019.
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WORLD SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
Boris PM material: Cameron
Mary Thom dies in bike crash
YANGION: British Prime Minister David Cameron admitted that one of his biggest party rivals, London Mayor Boris Johnson, could well be a future premier, in an interview published Sunday. Johnson, one of the bestknown faces in British politics, is considered a potential future challenger for Cameron's leadership of the centreright Conservatives.
New government in Italy
YONKERS: Prominent feminist Mary
ROME: Italy's new coalition govern-
Thom, and former editor of Ms. magazine, crashed while riding on a highway and was killed, her nephew said. She was 68. Thom had a passion for riding motorcycles and died riding her 1996 Honda Magna 750 on Friday evening on a highway just north of New York City, nephew Thom Loubet said yesterday.
ment prepared to swear in Sunday, bringing fresh hope to a country mired in recession after months of a bitter post-election deadlock watched closely by European partners. Prime Minister Enrico Letta is expected to be the first to take the oath of office in Rome, administered by President Giorgio Napolitano.
3 killed in Karachi triple blasts Three bomb explosions killed three including a young girl in Karachi on Saturday, in the latest violence ahead of polls next month. KARACHI: Three bomb explosions killed three people including a young girl in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Saturday, police and hospital officials said, in the latest violence ahead of polls next month. The blasts, two of which targeted secular political parties and another close to a Shiite mosque, came a day after a car bomb at a political meeting in the same city killed at least 10 people. "The first bomb, which was planted near the office of the MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) in Qasba Colony area killed one person and wounded 24 others," local police official Zahid Hussain told AFP. He said the MQM office was the target but it was not open at the time of the explosion, adding that in the second attack a hand grenade was hurled near a Shiite mosque injuring 10 people. In the third blast, which took place during a campaign meeting of a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate in Lyari neighbourhood, two people including a seven-year-old girl were killed and 15 others were wounded, police official Muhammad Azim said. He said that the bomb had been planted on a motorbike. Police surgeon Aslam Pechuho also confirmed the toll from the three attacks. The MQM and the Awami National
Taliban targets
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he MQM and the Awami National Party (ANP), which was targeted in Friday's attack, were coalition partners in the outgoing PPP-led government and have been threatened by the Taliban.
Party (ANP), which was targeted in Friday's attack, were coalition partners in the outgoing PPP-led government and have been threatened by the Taliban. The three parties are perceived as secular and backed military operations against the Islamists. As a result of the threats, there have been few large-scale political rallies leading to a lacklustre campaign for the elections. Amnesty International has also called on Pakistan to investigate the recent wave of attacks, which have resulted in dozens of casualties nationwide and ensure adequate protection for election candidates. May 11 national polls should see power pass from a civilian government that has served a full term to another through the ballot box for the first time in the nuclear-armed country's turbuAFP lent history.
Pakistanis gather to survey the damage in a mosque following a bomb explosion in Karachi on April 27, 2013. AFP
Obama jokes about himself
North Korea plans major military drill
‘Tsarnaevs’ mum talked jihad’
WASHINGTON: Barack Obama poked fun at himself, his political opponents and the news media at the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday. Obama joked about how he his re-election would give him the chance to carry out a radical agenda. But he had aged in the job. "These days I look in the mirror and have to admit, I'm not the strapping young Muslim Socialist that I used to be," he said, mocking that belief among a radical conservative fringe of Americans. He then showed a montage of pictures showing him in a haircut with bangs like his wife Michelle had on inauguration day. Some of the targets of Obama's jokes included billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who spent a fortune backing Mitt Romney and other GOP candidates.
PYONGYANG: North Korea appears to be gearing up for a
WASHINGTON: Russian authorities secretly wire-
major military exercise, a report said today, amid tensions over an expected missile test and South Korea's pullout from a joint industrial complex. Preparations are under way near the North's western port of Nampo for a combined live-fire drill involving artillery units and air force jets, the Yonhap news agency said. "It appears that the scale of the drill will be quite big," an unnamed official was quoted as saying, voicing fears of military provocations against the South or a missile test by Pyongyang during the drill. A North Korean artillery attack on a South Korean island in November 2010 killed four people. Seoul also holds Pyongyang responsible for the sinking of one of its naval vessels with the loss of 46 sailors the same year.
tapped the mother of the Boston bombing suspects and recorded her discussing jihad in vague terms during a 2011 telephone conversation, CNN reported Saturday. The Russians only turned over the information to their US counterparts in recent days, according to the report. Both the CIA and the FBI flagged deceased Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev over possible terror ties after Russian officials contacted the US agencies in 2011. Reports said Russian authorities had also alerted their US counterparts about concerns that his mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, was a religious extremist, and that she was added along with her older son to a terror watchlist.
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INTERVIEW SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
L AUGH AT ME item on radio saying that 85 per cent of New Zealand parents had voted to strip and physically punish their children. When I went into the school and greeted people, I looked at each of the teachers and spoke about the issue. I was also a high-school teacher and I didn’t have to use the cane to discipline the kids. The very reason why I decided to teach was because I was punished as a child and found another way just to know that there is another way.
AMY ROSE THOMAS
amyrose.t@postnoon.com
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tars of the night, flowers of the day and the eyes of the children, are the three things left from paradise for us. If you can see them you are in heaven,” says Gunter Bennung also known as Clown Shiven from Germany who brought out the child in everyone during this performance. Laughing louder than their kids who sat beside them and singing out loud, grown-ups went back to their childhood days while Shiven fooled around on stage. According to him, his favourite age group of children is age four to 94 and believes that there is a child in everyone. He took some time out from his schedule to talk about his life, inspirations and much more.
Are you a happy person in real life too? When you come to a clown show, you expect something funny to happen. But in real life we have become ‘laughter-blind’. People have stopped laughing. So wherever I go, I try to make people laugh. I take the laughter everywhere I go. Just recently the hotel manager came up to me and asked me if I liked the stay at the hotel. And I said no. He asked the same question and again I answered no. Now, he was fretting and asked why I didn’t like his hotel. Then I told him, “I gave my trousers for laundry last night and when I got it back, this is what I got back,” I said showing him a pair of kid’s shorts. He was astonished and puzzled and took some time to realise that I was joking. We had a good laugh about the incident after that. I call myself rainbowcoloured. I have days of total happiness and sometimes it is different. However, I never take it on stage unless it is of importance. One day when I was in New Zealand and was on my way to a school for a stage performance, I heard a news
Your stage name is Shiven. How did that come about?
PICS: S BALAKRISHNA
Thirty-eight years ago when I came for my second trip to India I met Osho. He is still master of my heart. He is the one who opened my third eye and gave me the name Prem Shiven which means ‘one who loves the good’.
Fooling around on stage and singing songs, clown Shiven had the audience in splits during his visit to the City. Gunter Bennung aka Shiven took some time out from his schedule to talk about his life, inspirations and much more.
Thirty-eight years ago when I came for my second trip to India I met Osho. He is still master of my heart. He is the one who opened my third eye and gave me the name Prem Shiven which means ‘one who loves the good’. It was at that time that I rediscovered my childhood dream to become a person who brings laughter into the world.
How were you as a kid? Were you always the funny guy in the group trying to make everyone laugh? Not for a while because my father had passed away when I was very young. At the age of eight, I went to see a circus show and I fell in love with clowns and I decided that I wanted to become a clown when I grew up. For the next few years as a child, when I and children from the neighbourhood played in our grandfather’s garden, I always played the clown. Initially my ambition was to become a singer. I still enjoy singing and I believe that singing is the greatest heart opener. Some years ago I picked up a beautiful saying that when children sing they heal themselves. I think by singing on stage I am healing myself and others.
What is your message to the world where child suicides are the order of the day? I stayed for two months in India last year and I used to go through the newspapers everyday. I, a person who had never heard of the word ‘gang rape’ before in my life saw not one but four or five gang rapes in the paper each day. That made me sick. To do any harm to a child is worse. And my message is that I want people to tune into gentleness and not into violence.
How are clowns in the West different from clowns here? European tradition is different from the Indians. You had a great comedian like Raj Kapoor. He was a comedian and not a clown. Ninety-five per cent of all comedians make fun of other people. And sometimes they go a step further and make fun of cripples and laugh at the underdogs. I don’t believe in that. I make a fool of myself and laugh at myself.
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ART AND CULTURE SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
Shortlist for Turner out An artist who paints portraits of imaginary people joined a French-born filmmaker, a British-German performance artist and a British multimedia artist on the shortlist formodern art’s most prestigious and controversial award on Thursday. The portraits of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye appear traditional but are of imaginary people with invented histories, the Tate Britain museum said.
Basquiat works at NYC exhibit
Decoration on iconic pyramid
More than 30 works by artist Jean-Michel Basquiat will appear at a New York City exhibit before a private sale. The exhibit at Sotheby’s galleries runs May 2 through June 9. Most will be available for sale. They include works on paper in marker and crayon from 1979 and monumental canvases from 1987. The Brooklyn-born Basquiat was 27 when he died of a drug overdose in 1988.
An Italian artist decorated the Louvre museum’s glass pyramid Wednesday for the first time in the iconic monument’s history, in a protest against capitalism. Michelangelo Pistoletto covered one panel of the pyramid with the reflective symbol that’s meant as a defiant political gesture: Politicians and society must look at follies of excess that led to the global financial crisis.
Preserving a tradition
S BALAKRISHNA
Dance is my passion, not my profession, says Kavita Golechha, who has been the driving force behind Nritya Kala Academy for over 14 years. JYOTSNA NAMBIAR
jyotsna.n@postnoon.com
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ike many Indian children, Kavita Golechha was enrolled in a classical dance class at the age of five. She was made to give the national classical dance exams (“which I hated”) and practise for years. But when you see her on stage now, anyone can see it was all worth it. From performing all across the country and the world to setting up a respected dance academy, she has gracefully made a mark in Hyderabad’s cultural scene. “I now realise the value of formal training in art,” Kavita laughs. “I took up Kathak as a hobby. It is still my hobby, my passion, not my profession. What excites me is that I can teach the next generation. I retain my passion to perform, to teach and to enjoy.” Apart from performing professionally, Kavita also teaches at Nritya Kala Academy, which she set up in 1999. She rues the fact that with the exposure to Bollywood and international dance through media, Indian classical forms of dance are slowing fading away. She adds that few youngsters consider classical dance a viable
future. “It is becoming difficult to sustain this slow form. To achieve anything in classical dance, you have to do it for years. It takes years to climb the stage and perform. With Bollywood dance, you could be performing on stage within four to six days,” Kavita says. Another problem is the changing dynamics of the teacher-student relationship. “Teenagers these days do not have the guru-shishya parampara. To explain the system and slowly take them on the journey... it is slightly difficult. Also, 80 per cent of the time, it is parents who are forcing the children to learn Kathak. Intially it is difficult to get through to them. But once we get them interested, through enjoyable exercises and moves, they stay on,” she adds. This is not to say that there are no takers for Kathak. “Some youngsters stick on. They flourish,” she says. A lot of adults who haven’t or couldn’t learn dance as children are also enthusiastic students. “They come and just learn for the sake of freshness, as a hobby, to enjoy the feeling of doing a beautiful art form,” said Kavita. Dance has long moved out of its classical mode, and many dancers are experimenting with classical forms. Kavita sits on the fence on the question of fusion. “It has its pluses and minuses. There are two schools of thought. While
the classical form does get slightly diluted, the positive thing is that a wider audience is exposed to the dance form.” In 2011, Kavita added another feather to her cap — she became the CEO of Panache, a finishing school in Hyderabad. The roots of this unusual choice lie in her childhood. “My father was a tea taster in Assam and until college, I lived on tea estates. There was a lot of British influence there. When I came to Hyderabad after getting married, there was nothing like a finishing school. As my children grew up (she had an 18-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter), I saw that corporate employees and other professionals needed to get a ‘special icing’ on their education. So over the years, the vision finally was realised,” she says. Kavita seems to be a unending fount of energy. When Postnoon spoke to her, she was preparing for a show in the evening. Soon after, she will be heading for a world tour. She constantly pushes the boundaries of performance as well. For a couple of years now, she has been performing to the poetry of Iqbal Patni, the ghazals of Mala Bararia and has been shadow dancing to Sufi influences. She signs off, with the promise that she will be holding several shows in and around Hyderabad in the near future.
Imitation of the real Photorealist artists are those who strive to create paintings that resemble photographs as closely as possible.
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hotorealism is the genre of painting based on using cameras and photographs to gather visual information and then from this creating a painting that appears to be photographic. The term is primarily applied to paintings from the United States art movement that began in the late 1960s and early 1970s. People often mistake photorealist paintings for actual
photographs. It sometimes takes a second look to realise that the artwork is actually a painting! Photorealist art is also often referred to as Super-Realism, New Realism, Sharp Focus Realism, Verism, or HyperRealism, although technically each of these names falls under its own specific genre. They are all generally considered to be offshoots of Photorealism,
emerging later with their own particular areas of concentration. Photorealist artists were reacting against Abstract Expressionism, which for many years was the predominant painting style in the United States. Whereas Abstract Expressionism favored spontaneous application of the paint, with no pre-planning, Photorealist art required intri-
ART FOR DUMMIES
cate pre-planning and careful replication of the chosen imagery. Photorealist art shares some similarities with the Pop Art movement, whose return to representational forms was also a reaction against the subconsciously-driven, process-oriented paintings of Abstract Expressionism. Both Photorealist Art and Pop Art feature recognizable imagery that is heavily based on consumer culture. Photorealist paintings usually depict commonplace objects or scenery, and sometimes portraits. The imagery is often banal and ordinary, capturing the “everydayness” of American life.
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ENVIRONMENT SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
Activists against coal exports
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ix activists from Greenpeace have boarded a coal ship leaving Australian waters in a direct action aimed at curbing coal exports. The activists, from several different countries, boarded the Koreanowned MV Meister at 7am on Wednesday. The ship is carrying thermal coal loaded from Abbot Point in Queensland.
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nlike rhinos and elephants, the cheetah is not a target in Africa’s poaching bloodbath. But it is the only big cat to adapt poorly in wildlife reserves as its natural habitat is increasingly wiped out. “Cheetahs don’t do well in protected wildlife reserves due to increased competition from other larger predators, such as lions and hyenas, which thrive in protected areas,” Laurie Marker of the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia told AFP. “Most protected areas are unable to maintain viable cheetah populations,” she added. In the early 20th century, the global cheetah population was around 1,00,000 with populations throughout Africa, the Middle East and several Asian countries. There are barely 10,000 in the wild today, in Africa, and a small population in Iran which is
Samsung’s tin from Indonesia
Extreme algae blooms
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obile phone company Samsung has admitted to using tin sourced from Indonesia’s controversial Bangka Island, where an investigation last year byThe Guardian and environmental charity Friends of the Earth (FoE) found that unregulated tin mining depends on child labour, wrecks the environment and kills an estimated 150 miners every year.
he advent of fertilizers and high-yield crops have helped growers keep pa ce with the demand for food. But there’s an unintended crop flourishing around the world that is not always so beneficial. Microscopic, plantlike organisms called algae thrive on the excess nutrients — like nitrogen and phosphorus — found in fertilisers that make their way from backyards and fields, producing blooms.
critically endangered. According to big cat NGO Panthera, cheetahs have disappeared from 77 per cent of their original territory in Africa. The International Union of the Conservation of Nature lists the southern African species as vulnerable. “The main limitation to the survival of the species in the wild is reduction and fragmentation of habitat as well as human wildlife conflict,” said Marker. If no special measures are taken, wild cheetahs will disappear by 2030, according to Panthera. The greyhound-like cat, with its distinctive tear-stainlike facial markings and spotted golden coat, is a consistent loser in confrontations with lions or leopards which are heavier and more powerful. The sprinter, which reaches speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour (74 miles per hour) needs vast open spaces with a low density of fellow carnivores to thrive. In Africa, it is estimated that 90 per cent of cheetahs live alongside humans where they are often in conflict with
livestock farms. Another handicap it faces is natural inbreeding dating back to the last Ice Age when the global population plunged. As a result, according to the Cheetah Conservation Fund, every cheetah today is as closely related as if they were twins, leading to a genetic bottleneck. This puts
the cheetah in an unenviable position. To enable the mixing of genes, they need a greater range than other animals to be able to freely migrate. But as humans increasingly encroach on its environment, this has become even more difficult. Researchers know that isolated micro-populations of threatened species lead to rapid extinction. So in the short-term, the easily tamed animal is being raised in captivity. Private farmers, notably in South Africa, exchange individuals to maintain a healthy population. A pioneer of this approach is the Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre near Johannesburg, which has achieved 800 births since the 1970s. It’s an encouraging figure for the survival of the species. But what lies ahead for those in the wild? “Our research and experience shows that even wild cheetahs that have not had at least 18 months of life with a mother in their natural habitat have a difficult time being re-wilded,” said Cheetah Conservation Fund’s Marker.
“They simply don’t learn the survival skills necessary to sustain themselves in the wild. A cheetah born in captivity, one that never has the experience of living in the wild with its mother, would have virtually no chance of success if released.” Against these odds, some game farm owners are hoping for miracles. Damien Vergnaud is one of them. In the desert-like Karoo, a few hours from Cape Town, he owns the 10,000 hectare Inverdoorn private reserve. “We hope to soon release three cheetahs in a totally wild environment, with minimal human interaction,” he told AFP. The Cheetah Conservation Fund would like to see the cat’s range boosted— not by traditional means of snapping up large areas of land, but through corridors that allow them to move freely. “We’d like to see the cheetah’s range increasing, with populations linked with each other through corridors, and even see cheetahs reintroduced to former range countries, like India,” said AFP Marker.
HEETAHS The cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal, survived mass extinction during the last ice age 10,000 years ago. But it has taken just the last few decades for man to place the hunter on the endangered species list, with experts warning it could disappear from the wild by 2030.
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FOOD SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
PepsiCo’s Pepsi Atom
Finest restaurants of Asia
In tune with the summer season, PepsiCo India has introduced Pepsi Atom. According to a press release, it is the second mainstream cola from PepsiCo India, after the company’s flagship brand Pepsi. Created for the Indian market, in collaboration with PepsiCo’s global innovation team, it is a result of extensive flavour development and consumer testing in the country.
Oko, the rooftop pan-Asian restaurant at The Lalit Ashok, is now recognised amongst the top 500 finest restaurants of Asia by The Miele Guide. The Miele Guide was created in 2008 in order to better recognise and celebrate Asia’s best chefs and restaurants. This annual publication evaluates restaurants across the region and releases an annual ranking of Asia’s top restaurants in addition to profiling the best restaurants across Asia.
Minister unaware of ban Union commerce minister Anand Sharma is not aware of the latest with regard to the ban on import of Chinese milk and milk products to India because of presence of melamine, which is harmful for human health, in them. As for the concerns raised over signing of free trade agreement with European Union, the minister explained that the negotiations were still on.
POP THE BUBBLY!
SRINIVAS SETTY
Typical Sunday brunches cover almost everything in terms of cuisines — Chinese, Italian and Indian being the usual suspects. Taj Krishna decided to break this tradition by introducing its all-Chinese Sunday brunch at the Golden Dragon. Nidhi Bhushan
nidhi.b@postnoon.com
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Sunday brunch is probably the best way to spend your day off, unless of course, travelling is an option for you. Hotels, with their attractive schemes, wait all week for this day to offer some of the best from their Italian, Chinese, Continental and Indian kitchens. Whether it’s bread and butter, or mouth-watering biryanis, a Sunday brunch comes packed. For many, that’s the best part about a brunch — the choices. However, for me and many like me, the variety is nothing but a hotchpotch affair. Thanks to Golden Dragon’s Sparkling Yumcha, people like me have an option now. In this competitive business of pleasing customers, especially localities who can’t get over biryanis, Taj Krishna has shown the guts to tread the unbeaten path. The Chinese Sunday brunch, which was introduced almost a month ago, is also a great way to spend your day off. The brunch, rich
with assorted dimsums — veg and non-veg — is worth every penny. And, the bubbly served along with it makes it even better. The brunch starts with Chinese tea, which is served out of a very traditional looking teapot. However, the only drawback about the perfectly warm drink and its jasmine flavour is the fact that it’ll make it much harder for you to wait for the goodness that is to follow. All set to devour some Chinese delicacies, your appetite will then be further teased with vegetable dimsums and vegetable sui mai, part of the assorted vegetable dimsums. The first round of champagne will then set the ball rolling. The Snow Fungus and Dry Lily Bud soup served along with the first round of dimsums is also a treat, especially for vegetarians. Speaking of which, the Sparkling Yumcha brunch is actually a good option for vegetarians as its most unique dishes like the abovementioned soup and dimsums made with vegetables and orange peel are good. In fact, even the main course
has a great selection for those who prefer the greens. I thought this was a huge plus as most brunches don’t seem to care too much about vegetarian souls. While the assorted vegetable dimsums comprised vegetable sui mai, vegetable dimsums and the orange peel dimsums, the non-vegetarian selection was equally interesting with its prawn dumplings, non-veg sui mai and chicken dimsums.
What: Sparkling Yumcha Brunch Where: Golden Dragon, Taj Krishna Price: `1,550 inclusive of taxes Timing: Sundays, 12.30-3pm
Typically, the true flavours of dumplings only come out when paired with the perfect sauces. Even in this department, Taj Krishna gets a thumbs up with its signature dimsum and chilli-garlic sauce. Apart from the very satisfying dimsums, the starters on the menu also included Prawn Spring Roll Sticks — a must-have at the brunch, Stir Fried Scallops Butter Chilli Garlic, Macadamia Nuts and Steamed Vegetable Pepper Rolls. Out of these, the nuts and pepper rolls were a personal favourite. After a satiating round of starters and at least two rounds of the bubbly, it was time for the main course. Among the nine dishes on offer as part of the main course, at least four were vegetarian, reiterating the vegetarian-friendliness of the Sparkling Yumcha. The main course dishes included the East Coast Prawns in Exotic Sauce, Whole Boneless Fish in Ginger Onion Sauce, Stir Fried Chicken Beans Sprout Coriander Chilli, Konjee Crispy Lamb, Braised Tofu
in Devil Sauce, Steamed Bok Choy with Shittake and Broccoli Whole Garlic Sauce, Shredded Eggplant in Spicy Tobandjan Sauce, Singapore Vegetable Rice Noodles and Aromatic Five Spice Flavoured Moon Fan Rice. While it’s ideal to try them all because they are that good, we understand if you can’t manage it all. A quick way to enjoy the best among the best would be to dig into the prawns, the fish along with the flavourful moon fan rice. And, for vegetarians, the braised tofu and steamed Bok Choy are must-haves. This brunch, like all others, ended with something sweet too. While the prettylooking dessert platter comprising panna cotta, a chocolate dumpling and something fruity seemed like a great way to end the experience, I chose to go with one last glass of champagne. So, if you’re like me, confused by the number of cuisines available at a brunch, head to the Sparkling Yumcha right now. And, Golden Dragon doesn’t have that noisy kiddie-space either!
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FOOD SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
'SINGLE-HANDED' MAGIC With original melt-in-the-mouth Galavati kebabs on the menu, Bidri's Awadhi food festival is worth your time and money. Postnoon reviews. eatery located in Lucknow's Chowki area cost `25 for 12 pieces. Tunday kebabs or Galavati kebabs are also a big hit with Bollywood celebrities, brags Usman. “Recently, Ranbir Kapoor and Imtiaz Ali had come to the restaurant in Lucknow to relish the original kebabs,” he says. Awadh, which is the ancient name of modern-day Lucknow, is also known for kormas, biryani, kaliya, nahari-kulchas, roomali rotis, and other gourmet delights. In fact, the ‘dum’ style of cooking is accredited to the Awadhi cuisine. This festival at Bidri includes a variety of mouth-
NIDHI BHUSHAN
nidhi.b@postnoon.com
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ringing the true Awadhi taste to Hyderabad was never going to be a bad idea. After all, devouring melt-in-the-mouth kind of kebabs is always welcomed by us, Nawabis. The Hyderabad Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre has cashed in on this neverending demand for kebabs and more with their latest Awadhi food festival at Bidri. Apart from providing guests the authentic flavours of the cuisine, the hotel has gone out of its way to put on the tables the original Tunday Kebabs from Lucknow. For those who don't know, Tunday kebabs is to Lucknow what Biryani is to Hyderabad. It’s almost like the City’s identity. Lucknow-based eatery Tunday Kebabi, famous for its Galavati kebabs, was founded by Haji Murad Ali in 1905. Haji Murad is still known as the culinary gem who cooked heavenly kebabs with just one hand. Mohammed Usman, the third generation of this family, says: “When my great grandfather started making the tunday kebabs, he used to sell 12 pieces for only 1 paise.” Today, the original Galavati kebabs at the Tunday Kebabi
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watering dishes from the kitchens of Awadh. Sahi Subz ka Gilaawat Kebab (tender mahi tawa-fried vegetable kebab), Kakori Kebabs, Chicken Chap, Galavat Kebabs and Murgh Awadhi Korma are a few must-haves at the festival.
While the Galavati kebabs are best had with mint chutney, at least that’s the way I liked it as there’s hardly anything to chew, the traditional way of relishing them is by wrapping them in an ulte tawe wala paratha till they disappear in your mouth. Another must-have at the festival is the unique Burrhani, which is basically garlic yoghurt with roasted cumin and chilli. So, if you’re in the mood to experience the goodness of Awadhi cuisine, Bidri is the place to be. Actually, even if you aren’t in the mood, a visit is a must, you have time till May 7.
JUST THE RIGHT MIX
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What: Awadhi Food Festival Where: Bidri, Hyderabad Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre Must-have: Ulte-tawe ka paratha, Burrhani Time: 6.30pm-11.30pm
In a corner of The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace’s lobby, is the Hyderabad Mix lounge & bar. From a distance, it hardly seems like one. But once you are guided to it, the bustle of the place rubs off on you.
KANCHAN AGARWAL kanchan.a@postnoon.com
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he live music catches your attention, but not so much that your company should feel you are too distracted. The sound of the bar, clattering cutlery, hearty laughter, distant whispers, and lively conversation, also add to the ambience. Settle in. Bartender Rajesh Kumar took to looking after us, and he did it well. Since we were there to experience the best of Mix, we let him decide what we would sip on. He came back with a White Russian and a Vodka Smash. Impressive. If the names don’t a ring a bell, White Russian is vodka,
kahlua, whipped cream with a pinch of cinnamon, garnished with coffee beans; and Vodka Smash is vodka in fresh water-
melon juice with vanilla syrup, cinnamon powder, lime juice, sugar syrup, topped with mint leaves. Refreshing, and it tastes good, too. Something I essentially like in my glass. And is mild. The White Russian is an interesting looking drink to have on the table, each sip of which you can’t say if it is strong or mild. A change of base, we asked for whisky and rum, this time. Rajesh got us a couple, which looked plain, were transparent and then called for my favourite — green olives. Caipirinha Brazilian, one of the concoctions is a mixture of brazilian rum (Cachaca, Brazilian’s most distilled alcoholic beverage), lime
chunks, brown sugar, muddled lime and sugar (lime juice and sugar syrup). Turns out, this is the national cocktail of Brazil, and Cachaca is made with fermented sugarcane juice, which is then distilled. Whisky refresh came alongside. Whisky Sour (Black Dog, in this glass, we were told), pineapple juice, sweet vermouth and muddled lime and sugar again. There was a slice of pineapple on the rim and olives were doing their job of complementing the taste of this drink. A wine lover, are you? Mix gives you everything from Sula, Chardonnay, Chenin, Shiraz, Merlot, Lombard & Cie, Moet and Chandon to Zinfandel to sip.
Noor’s Kitchen NOOR JAFRI
Kairi ka do pyaza Raw mango curry with lamb Ingredients Quantity n Medium-sized lamb breast pieces 500 gms n Raw Mangoes (Kairi) 2 medium-sized n Onions ( roughly chopped ) 500 gms n Oil 100 ml n Red chilli powder 2 tsp n Ginger garlic paste 2 tsp n Haldi powder 1/2 tsp n Jeera powder 1/2 tsp n Salt to taste n Kotmeer leaves & green chillies for garnishing n Curry leaves 4 to 5 Procedure n Wash and clean the lamb pieces and put them in a pressure cooker. n Heat it for sometime to evaporate the water from the mutton. n Squeeze out the water from the onions and add it to the mutton. n Heat the oil with four to five curry leaves and pour it into the mutton. n Add about half a cup of water, salt, ginger-garlic paste, chilli & haldi powder. n Pressure cook it for 10 minutes till the mutton is tender. n Peel the raw mangoes and roughly grate them. n Add this to the lamb mixture, along with the stone. n Keep stirring and cook it till the kairi blends with the masalas. Wait till the oil separates and sprinkle jeera powder. n Cover it for a while. Serve hot, garnished with kotmeer. Chef’s note: n It's a delicious sour and spicy, seasonal preparation, which is mostly served with steamed rice or with parathas. Contact us @ Noor kitchen Mobile + 91 9441282318 Residence + 91 40 23356947 Like us @ https://www.facebook.com/Noorkitchen
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HISTORY SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
April 29
April 30
April 30
May 1
May 1
1991 - Cyclone strikes Bangladesh, 139,000 die and leaves10 million homeless.The storm forced a 6 metre storm surge inland.
1952 - Mr Potato Head is the first toy to be advertised on television. It is a plastic model of a potato with a variety of plastic parts.
1993: Top women’s tennis player Monica Seles is stabbed by a deranged German man during a match in Hamburg.
1931: President Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City's Empire State Building, pressing a button from the White House that turns on the building's lights.
2011: US President Barack Obama announced that US soldiers had killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Osama was the mastermind behind the September 11, terrorist attacks.
April 29 2011: Great Britain’s Prince William marries his longtime girlfriend Catherine Elizabeth “Kate” Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London. Some 1,900 guests attended the ceremony, while another one million spectators lined the streets of London and an estimated two billion people around the world watched on television.
May 2 1902 - A Trip to the Moon, the first science fiction film was released. It was created by magician George Melies.
M a y 3 1944 - Dr Robert Woodward and Dr William Doering produced the first synthetic quinine at Harvard University.
May 2 1994 Nelson Mandela claimed victory after South Africa's first democratic elections.
M a y 4
1977: British journalist David Frost interviews former President Richard Nixon. In the televised interview, Nixon answered questions regarding the Watergate scandal.
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SPOTLIGHT SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013 1
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FUN UNPLUGGED 6
Striking blend Furniture by Neeta Kumar, jewellery by Tansi and artworks curated by Kaali Sudheer were on display at Art, Vivanta & Jewellery show organised at Vivanta on Saturday. Seen at the do were Rekha, Reena and Vini among others.
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Samanvay — The Management Meet organised by students of Villa Marie Post Graduate College for Women turned out to be a gala event. Spotted were Abiba, Sonu and others.
1 Raksha 2 Vini, Bindhu
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7 Sana, Reshma 8 Heena, Syeda
2 Shruti 3 Shilpa
9 Anisha
4 Pooja 5 Deepika
10 Sonu 11 Abiba
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Agarwal
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CINEMA SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
I want to do more glam roles:
MADHURIMA
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our years after she made her debut, Madhurima Banerjee has finally realised where she went wrong. Her debut film Aa Okkade got her good recognition and soon after the film released, she was approached for several big films. So what went wrong? “Honestly, I had no proper guidance when I came to the Telugu film industry. Aa Okkade gave me a good platform and there were so many directors who were interested to cast me. But I was misguided by my manager. Since he was around for a much longer time than me, I had no other choice, but to trust him. That’s one of the several reasons why things never fell into place initially,” Madhurima reveals. None of the films she has been part of have managed to click at the box-office which has made it all the more difficult for her to break the mould, but she avers that all she needs is one good film. “I can fit into any role and I am more suited for glamorous roles because that’s what I relate to. My onscreen avatar in Telugu is nowhere close to how I am in real life,” she quips. Last year, she graduated with a Law degree and her much
IDDARAMMAYILATHO
audio launch today A
ll eyes are on the audio launch of Allu Arjun’s Iddarammayilatho, which will be held later today at Shilpakala Vedika, Hyderabad. Allu Arjun, Amala Paul and Catherine Tresa are playing the lead roles in the action, romantic entertainer, directed by Puri Jagannadh. Bandla Ganesh is producing this film, which is in the last leg of shooting. A song featuring Allu Arjun and Catherine Tresa was recently shot in Hyderabad. It’s the fifth time that Devi Sri Prasad has scored music for an Allu Arjun film and all their previous films including Arya, Arya-2 and Julayi were big musical hits. For Iddarammayilatho,
we hear that Devi Sri Prasad has roped in a popular pop and reggae singer for the first time in Telugu. The audio promos have already become a huge hit and this film too is expected to follow suit of DSP-Allu Arjun’s earlier films. “We recently shot a song titled Top Lechipoddhi, with which the entire shooting is going to be wrapped up. I am quite confident that the film will go on to become a blockbuster,” Bandla Ganesh said. Kecha is the action choreographer. Amol Rathod is the cinematographer and Puri Jagannadh has written the story, dialogues and screenplay. The film is expected to hit the screens on May 24.
awaited Bollywood film Kamal Dhamaal Malamaal, which was directed by Priyadarshan, finally hit the screens. Did the film’s failure at the box-office disappoint her? “To an extent, yes. But I believe every film has its own destiny. I am happy that I worked with great actors like Nana Patekar, Paresh Rawal and Om Puri. If it went on to become a hit, things would have been a lot different today. I am still a fresh face and it’s not that difficult to start afresh,” she says. We ask her if she plans to do something with her law degree at a later point of time and pat comes the reply, “My parents allowed me to act on one condition that I should complete my studies. I have specialised in intellectual property rights and I have learnt classical music right from my childhood. I keep telling my mother that I want to act and also have a parallel career as a singer and she thinks I have gone nuts,” she laughs. In her latest film Shadow, she played Venkatesh’s sister. “I haven’t done a second lead role in my career, but this was too big a film to let go,” she says. “I am going to be patient from now on in Telugu. I can’t afford to repeat mistakes.”
A fresh start for Sumanth Ashwin
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umanth Ashwin, who made his acting debut in Tuneega Tuneega, can’t stop praising Indraganti Mohankrishna, the director of his upcoming film Anthaka Mundhu Aa Tharuvatha. The film is going to hit the screens in the last week of May. Talking about the film, “It’s been a great experience working with Indraganti Mohankrishna. I have improved a lot in terms of acting. I thank both Indraganti Mohankrishna and producer Damodhar Prasad for this,” he said. Eesha is making her debut and the film also stars yesteryear’s actress Madhubala in a crucial role. The film is said to be a romantic drama which gives an insight about what happens after a couple fall in love and before they get married. The audio is going to be launched early next month.
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CINEMA SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
WE CHANGED SHOLAY’S CLIMAX BECAUSE OF CBFC:
RAMESH SIPPY F
ilmmaker Ramesh Sippy was not happy with the way his magnum opus Sholay ended as he had to re-shoot the climax after the censor board objected to the violence in the original scene. Taking part in a debate on the use of cuss words and onscreen violence in cinema, Sippy agreed that filmmakers have a responsibility while portraying violence in films but said he was not happy to re-shoot the ending of his 1975 film. “Many of us are not aware of the fact that Sholay’s climax was actually
suggested by CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) because they found it too violent to show it onscreen. I had to re-shoot the whole scene and made it the way they wanted it to be. But as a filmmaker, I was not satisfied with the end,” the 66-year-old Sippy said. “I had to call Sanjeev Kumar again who was in Russia for a film festival. We had to re-shoot the whole scene in Bangalore,” he added. The final scene of the movie shows Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) being taken in custody by police after Thakur (Kumar) beats him black and blue. Sippy said he was not “creatively satisfied” as every other film had the same ending where a cop showed up at the last minute. PTI
Vidyut Jammwal to open martial arts school N
ot many know that Bollywood actor Vidyut Jammwal started learning an Indian martial art form, Kalaripayattu, when he was just three-years-old. Now, the 34-yearold actor is planning to open a university in Kerala where martial arts aspirants can seek expert training. “People know about world martial art forms like kung fu and karate. But they are not aware of Indian martial art forms like kalaripayattu. Also, we don’t have many schools here that teach the art. I am working on opening a university in Kerala,” Vidyut said. That’s what he is looking forward to do apart from films. IANS
Asha Bhosle, T Mala Sinha to get Phalke Academy awards
he Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards will be bestowed on singer Asha Bhosle, actress Mala Sinha, late filmmaker Yash Chopra, and late superstar Rajesh Khanna among several others at a ceremony on April 30. Asha, who has regaled music lovers with her melodious voice in her over six decades old career, will receive the Phalke Ratna Award from the academy, while Mala Sinha, who has acted in Pyaasa, Maryada and Hariyali Aur Rasta will get the Golden Era Award. A special award has been reserved for the late Yash Chopra, who, in his dynamic career, emerged as one of the most iconic filmmakers of the country, offering the best in romance, action and even social dramas.
The ‘First Superstar of Indian Cinema’ award has been rightfully reserved for Rajesh Khanna, whose death in July 2012 left his millions of fans mourning across the country. His estranged wife, actress Dimple Kapadia will receive the Phalke Ever Memorable Award, while their son-in-law Akshay Kumar will be given the best performance award for Rowdy Rathore. Akshay is married to RajeshDimple’s elder daughter Twinkle. As many as 40 honours will be presented to people from various fields at the event, Prabhat Pandey, secretary of Dadasaheb Phalke Academy, said. Former Indian president Pratibha Patil will be the chief guest IANS for the event.
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CINEMA SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
QSQT WAS MAGIC
WHICH JUST HAPPENED: JUHI CHAWLA
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xcited at the prospect of a reunion with fellow cast and crew members of the iconic Bollywood film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (QSQT), that completes 25 years this April, the film’s leading lady Juhi Chawla said the blockbuster was “magic which just happened”. “It’s been 25 years, unbelievable and it was on April 29 that the film released. We are having a get together with the entire cast and crew. We will be screening the film and will be watching it after many years,” Juhi said. Directed by Mansoor Khan and written by his father Nasir Hussain, QSQT saw the debut of Hussain’s nephew Aamir Khan and actress Juhi Chawla who went on to become superstars overnight. “Not only were we nobodies at the
‘I’VE NEVER WATCHED A FILM WITH MUM’
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ollywood actress Prachi Desai says her mother has sacrificed “her dreams for me and I owe everything to her”. She adds that she has yet to visit a theatre with her musm. The 24-year-old, who started working at the age of 17, said her mother has been her pillar of strength. “My mother used to teach in my hometown, Panchgani. She left her career and house just to be with me in Mumbai. I was too young at that time. And she supported me throughout,” the actress said. Prachi’s debut vehicle was TV shows Kasamh Se and after that she took big leap into bollywood with movies like Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai and Rock On!!. The actress, who often receives compliments that she resembles her mother, knows everything about her: “Her favourite colours are white and blue. I have never watched a film with her, but her favourite movies are Kati Patang and Mera Saya.” The actress was with her mother Amita Desai to launch a survey on mothers done by P&G Thank You, Mom. IANS
time, the movie was so different from the films that were being made at the time. The crew sniggered at what we were making.” “Nobody really knew it. The movie was magic which just happened,” Juhi added. Released on April 29, 1988, the love story drama broke through the norm of formula films that essayed violence. QSQT’s music also stood out from the 80’s predilection towards disco tracks. “He (Mansoor Khan) is the one who called us all for it. I am so thrilled because everybody kind of fell out of touch and we will be coming together after a long time,” Juhi said. QSQT made the debutant pair a hit with the masses, following which Khan and Chawla were paired in Love Love Love, Tum Mere Ho, Daulat Ki Jung, Hum hain Rahi Pyaar Ke and Ishq. IANS
Vivian, Vabheez’s honeymoon
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eems like TV stars Vivian Dsena and Vabheez Dorabjee have caught the fancy of Tourism Australia. The group invited the celebrity TV couple to spend their honeymoon in the states of Queensland and Victoria. For Vivian (popular as RK of the hit TV serial Madhubala) and wife Vahbeez (of TV serial Pyaar Ki Ek Kahaani fame) this was a dream come true. Needless to say the couple soaked in the coastal adventure. They engaged in various fun and adventure activities like sand tobogganing, ATV bike rides and dolphin feeding at Tangalooma; fed kangaroos and elephants at Australia Zoo. Vabheez got another surprise as Vivian proposed to her again while flying over the majestic 12 Apostles.
CINEMA SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
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CINEMA SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
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CINEMA SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
Road to be named after Winehouse
L
ate singer Amy Winehouse will reportedly have a road named after her. Her father Mitch has also been working on a statue to be put up in Camden, and her family has confirmed there will be a docu-film about her short life. Now, the late singer could also be immortalised with a road named after her, reports thesun.co.uk. “To think that our surname would be indelibly linked with London through the naming of a street after Winehouse is remarkable. We’re a London family through and through and it would be a tremendous honour if
To think that our surname would be indelibly linked with London through the naming of a street after Winehouse is remarkable. It would be a tremendous honour if we do become a literal part of the fabric of this great city.
CHOIRBOYS TOLD NOT TO OGLE MILA KUNIS C hoirboys have reportedly been instructed not to ‘ogle’ Mila Kunis whilst she films scenes for Jupiter Ascending at Ely Cathedral. Kunis and Channing Tatum are currently in the UK filming for the sci-fi adventure, due to be released in UK and US cinemas on July 25, 2014. Staff at the cathedral, near Cambridge, have been instructed not to even make eye contact with the stars, The Mirror reports. A source said: “Staff and volunteers at the cathedral have each received a memo instructing them not to bother the stars, or even make eye contact. It is a real coup for Ely having someone like Mila filming and they realise how important it is to let her get on with her work without being bothered by overexcited choristers. She and Channing have been squirrelled away, and they are being smuggled in so as to cause as little bother and distraction as possible. Much of the cathedral has been closed down as well to ensure filming continues seamlessly,” a source said.
Johnny Depp in talks to join Disney’s Into the Woods J ohnny Depp is in talks with Disney to join its bigscreen adaptation of the Broadway musical Into the Woods. Meryl Streep is also in discussions with the Mouse House
to join the production to play the evil witch. Rob Marshall (who helmed Disney’s fourth Pirates of the Caribbean) will direct the film. The musical revolved around a child-
less baker and his wife who attempt to lift a family curse by journeying into the woods to confront the witch that put the spell on them. Along the way, they
encounter Rapunzel, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk’s Jack, Little Red Riding Hood and other classic fairy tale characters. There is no production start date yet for the film.
Mitch Winehouse Amy Winehouse’s father
we do become a literal part of the fabric of this great city,” thesun.co.uk quoted Mitch as saying. Bigwigs in north London are considering calling a new road Winehouse Street or perhaps Winehouse Way in memory of the singer, who died two years ago due to drug overdose. Locals in the King’s Cross area, which borders Winehouse’s old Camden stomping ground, have been asked to help pick 10 street names for an area being redeveloped for housing. And Winehouse’s fans have rushed to submit the name Winehouse IANS Street.
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CHAI TIME SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
SUNDAY CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 Not quite 7 Clears a trail 12 Punch server 17 “Hello, matey!” 21 Without heat 22 Wouldn’t hurt — — 23 From the top 24 Muck 25 Openness 26 Soaked (2 wds.) 28 King of Siam’s governess 29 Peculiar 30 Spreads rumors 32 Valhalla host 33 Forest-fire fighter 35 Interpret tea leaves 37 Architect’s info 38 Trouser part 39 Pantries 40 Major appliance 42 A Gershwin 43 Bone-dry 44 Daydream 45 “Holy cats!” 47 Expansive story 48 Soul food 49 Sacred snake of Eygpt 52 Platoon mems. 53 Cad 54 Trade shows 55 Whitefish 59 Entrap (2 wds.) 61 Tennis great Ivan — 62 Cheers for matadors 63 Hotel offering 64 Found a vein 65 Breezy 66 WWW addresses 67 Made candles 68 I’m working — —! 69 Provokes 70 “That’s it!” 72 Put the kibosh on 73 Stimpy’s pal 74 Allot 75 Lanza or Andretti 76 Big-ticket — 77 Ms. Thurman 80 Deal with (2 wds.) 82 Clammy 83 Superman’s girl 84 — — it bad! 85 Lizard with a fringe 87 Golfer’s tap 88 Do another hitch (hyph.) 89 In concealment (Brit. slang) 90 Thick wools 91 Horror-flick staple 92 Theater awards 94 Dinosaur’s place 95 Mournful wail 96 Travel papers 97 Enjoy the sun 98 — kwon do 99 “Kidnapped” monogram 100 Come clean 101 Flimsy 102 Butler of fiction 104 Contrived 107 Some scouts 108 Aberdeen’s river 109 Too charming 113 City neighbors 114 Business VIPs
115 — B. DeMille 117 College sports org. 118 Gum arabic tree 119 Fellow 120 Pilot’s flap 122 They, in Calais 123 It may be floppy 124 Jumped over 127 Desperado 129 Fit to — — 130 Fiber optics pulse 131 Ramble on 132 Familiar threat (2 wds.) 133 Analyze 134 Icky 135 Lop- — bunny 136 Twain lad DOWN 1 Pact 2 Stevedore 3 Calendar column 4 Dilapidated 5 Wade through 6 Greenhorns 7 Anchor cables 8 Where the Nile is 9 Barrettes 10 Kesey and Maynard 11 Mattress problem 12 Made shore
13 Shooting marble 14 Night follower 15 Rumor, perhaps 16 Contest hopefuls 17 Actress Blake or Peet 18 Depends on 19 Mean and nasty 20 Birthday count 27 Chemical bond 31 Double agents 34 Fine and liberal 36 Ottoman ruler 38 Whale’s diet 39 Foxes’ abodes 41 Not flexible 43 Parroted 44 Potato snacks 46 Kegler’s target 47 Counting-out start 48 Vintner Ernest or Julio 49 Armadillo’s protection 50 Trawler gear 51 Geographical feature 53 Milady’s 54 Do without 55 Tea holders 56 Type of jeans 57 Sporty truck 58 Converted sofa 60 “— It Be” 61 Admire 63 Thailand, once
65 Younger Guthrie of folk music 66 Volt or watt 67 Country-club fees 69 Slightest trace 70 Minnows 71 W-2 collectors 72 Handy swab (hyph.) 74 Family rooms 75 Dust particles 76 Promissory notes 78 Big shot 79 Quark hangouts 81 Has lunch 82 Wall decor 83 Scallion kin 84 Showy yellow moths 85 — — tree falls 86 Hair-styling goo 87 Sat for a portrait 88 Gamble 89 Recital pieces 91 Donates 92 Toes the line 93 Meadow murmurs 94 Fannie — 96 By word of mouth 98 Not our 100 Petty or Loughlin 101 Suitor 102 Ebbed 103 252 gallons
104 Plexiglas 105 Demeans 106 KFC order 107 Steeple 108 Erase, as data 110 In a biting way 111 Traveling bag 112 Island or holiday 113 Anwar of Egypt 114 “R.U.R.” playwright
115 Havana export 116 Timber wolves 119 Not fem. 120 Taj Mahal site 121 Former capital of Japan 125 — de cologne 126 Unseal, to a poet 128 Modern PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER
27
CHAI TIME SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
STAR POWER Date 29-4-2013
As per Hindu panchang
THIRUVAIKUMAR
thiruvaikumar@yahoo. co. in 040-27177230 / 9949870449
TAURUS
GEMINI
Financial position starts improving letting you relax. Avoid arguments and controversial stand at workplace. Wellplanned work succeeds. A very cheerful atmosphere will prevail at home.
Health problem likely; attend to it without delay. Self-confidence and courage levels are set to rise. As good effects are to take place avoid being headstrong. Employees could get promoted.
It will be prudent to avoid magnifying others’ mistakes as it might have an impact on your growth prospects. Govt officials need to be careful at workplace and avoid standing guarantee.
CANCER
LEO
VIRGO
Avoid interfering into others’ personal issues at office. This is the right time to lay the foundation for your future projects; go ahead without any hesitation. Misunderstanding with spouse ends.
Dull trend for businessmen will change to flourishing times as bad effects are about to disappear. All efforts you have put in so far will yield expected results, which will make you happy.
Avoid luxurious expenses and start saving for the future. Need to drive out the laziness in you; planning and completing all work in stipulated time is very important for employees.
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
Avoid handing important work to others as they might mishandle them, which will speak on your reputation. Your sweet and nice approach alone can bring success in difficult tasks.
Stay away from friends who talk bad about others and have bad habits. Expected transfer with promotion on the cards for employees. Avoid discouragement of children; support them.
Employees to avoid murmuring at extra work entrusted to them and blaming management. To avoid disappointment, efforts must be complete and sincere to achieve expected targets.
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
PISCES
Focused efforts will bring success to businessmen. Unwanted apprehension will disappear and favourable atmosphere will set in. Be cordial with life partner to avoid misunderstandings.
Both financial inflow as well as expenses increase. Never indulge acts that hurt colleagues at workplace. Be careful in completing assignments as minor mistakes too might cost you dear.
Be careful while driving. Couples advised not to allow a third person’s interference in their personal issues. Give respect to your spouse’s words. Hurdles in the way of good events end.
SUMAA TEKUR
tarotreadhyd@gmail. com
ARIES
TAURUS
GEMINI
Two of Wands – This is a waiting period. Not much may move ahead and things may get delayed or postponed. Use this time to prepare yourself. Read a lot.
The Magician – Intuition plays an important role. You figure out what may happen next without really putting all the pieces together in a logical manner.
Three of Wands – Success is around the corner. Be patient and don’t get excited about reaching the destination. Enjoy the journey as much as well.
CANCER
LEO
VIRGO
Three of Pentacles – Your skills will come to use. A foreign trip is in the offing. It will happen quickly and you may be expected to make a longish trip abroad.
Nine of Pentacles – There are times when you feel like you want to be left alone and don’t want to socialise or take the trouble to be around others.
The Devil – You’re tempted to take a shortcut. Not a very good idea because you run the risk of putting all good work down the drain in no time.
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
Six of Pentacles – An elderly person in your industry will come to your rescue and help you understand difference between being professional and being pushy.
Five of Swords – Some conflict is likely. You should not get into a brawl. Stay away from all kinds of politicking. Put your ego aside and do what’s best for you.
Page of Cups – Pay attention to health. Drink lots of water and eat fresh fruits to stay upbeat and feel healthy from within. Avoid fried foods and excesses.
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
PISCES
Three of Cups – A celebration will take place. You will be excited about an achievement, however small that may be. But it’s important you celebrate it.
Ten of Swords – Dreams hold the key to understanding your feelings. When you wake up, try to remember your dreams. Talk it out with someone.
Three of Swords – A heartbreak is likely. Don’t be upset about it. This is a test to strengthen emotions and get immune to the smaller disappointments of life.
NON SEQUITUR PEARLS BEFORE SWINE POOCH CAFE
STRIP TEASE
AGNES
ARIES
TAROT READ Date 29-4-2013
(In)famous predictions Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy. -- Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859. “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” --Western Union internal memo, 1876 The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives.
-- Admiral William Leahy, US Atomic Bomb Project. Charles Lindbergh will never make it. He’s doomed. -- Harry Guggenheim, millionaire aviation enthusiast. Stocks have reached what looks like a permanent plateau. -- Irving Fisher, Prof of Economics, Yale University, 1929. Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value. -- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.
Vol: 2, No 283 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
CINEMA SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
Searching for the HEMANTH KUMAR
hemanth.k@postnoon.com
T
here is a saying that truth is stranger than fiction and it couldn’t be more true in the case of English films which are being made in India. Every year when the National Awards are announced by the Government of India, there’s one category which leaves most of us puzzled — National Award for Best Feature Film in English. The category was first introduced in 1964 and it was discontinued for nearly seventeen years before it resumed again in 1981. Since the inception of this category, nineteen English films have won this award and the last film which won the award was Unni Vijayan’s Lessons In Forgetting, which was released in only one screen in Hyderabad. It lasted for just a week and the film did modest business. For a country where nearly one-fourth of its population can understand English to some extent, the number of English films made in India is less than 10. According to the annual report of Censor Board for 2011, the total number of English films in India that were censored dropped from eight in 2010 to six in 2011. The total number of films censored that year was 3,548 including 244 foreign films. These figures clearly put the state of English films being made in India into perspective and thus force us to ask a question — why is it so difficult to make more English films in India and is there a market for such films? Sudhish Kamath, the director of Good Night Good Morning, says, “There’s a lack of quality Indian English talent,
PARIAH
A still from Good Night Good Morning.
Contrary to the boom in regional film industries across India, English films made by filmmakers in India are down to less than 10 films a year. We take a look at the current state of English cinema in India and the road ahead.
both in terms of actors and writers because very few have managed to crack the accent and managed to make it sound colloquial. Since the market is niche, the budget needs to be smaller which in turn means smaller marketing spends and smaller returns. There’s no avenue in India to recover even `20-30 lakh of total investment while big Hindi films today spend `10-25 crore on publicity alone.” The situation was slightly better few years ago when there were avenues to showcase English films being made in India. “The only two TV channels that used to support locally produced independent films — NDTV Lumiere and UTV World Movies — stopped buying films and shut shop. Nowadays, English movie channels in India play only Hollywood content and mostly only action movies,” Sudhish Kamath adds. Shiladitya Bora, head of PVR Director’s Rare, avers that even indie films made in regional languages have a better chance of finding an audience. “There have been very few good English films made locally in recent few years. Since we are non-native speakers, Indian English sounds absurd. A lot of filmmakers made English films and send them to international film festivals, although I feel that the acceptance will be higher if the content is in their native language. It’s true that some filmmakers are good at visualising their story in English because they think in English. However, there’s not much of an audience for such films even in multiplexes,” he says. When Anand Gandhi’s Ship of Theseus was screened at Mumbai Film Festival last year, it received a standing ovation. The film hasn’t released in theatres yet, but will it manage to find its audience when it does release? Only time will tell if the audience embrace it or treat it like a pariah.
DEOOL (2011)
U
mesh Kulkarni’s award winning film Deool narrates a heart-warming tale of a series of events which are triggered after a village simpleton Keshya proclaims that he has seen God. The film throws light on the commercialisation of religion and how politicians get involved to turn the tide in their favour even if it means ignoring the basic demands of the people. Nana Patekar, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Girish Kulkarni and Sonali Kulkarni have played the lead roles in the film and it won three National Awards including Best Film, Best Actor and Best Dialogues.
When I write an original story, I write about people I know first-hand and situations I’m familiar with. I don’t write stories about the nineteenth century. Satyajith Ray, director
DID YOU KNOW ?
A still from Ship of Theseus.
Tanguturi Suryakumari was the first actress in Telugu who was cast in a film purely on the basis of her singing talent. That film was Vipranarayana which released in 1937. She is also the original voice behind Maa Telugu Thalli Ki.... A great talent!
Ellis R Dungan, one of the prominent directors in Tamil in preIndependence era, is credited with introducing modern make-up and cabaret dance numbers in Tamil. In 1936, when he made Sathi Leelavathi, he roped in MGR to play an important role. That was MGR’s debut film.
29
SPORTS SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
Ashok, Rathore injured
O
Drugs spreading like cancer
Ferrer takes top seeding
lympian Ashok Kumar and Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy goalkeeper Amit Rathore were injured when the motorcycle on which they were travelling was hit by a Maruti car on Saturday. The mishap took place near Sultania Hospital when Rathore was going to drop Dhyanchand at the Bhopal Railway Station from where he was to go to Jhansi, Madhya Pradesh Directorate of Sports and Youth Welfare said in a statement.
D
L
avid Ferrer has been drafted in as a late replacement for ailing Juan Martin del Potro just in time to save face for the Portugal Open as the event begins on Monday. The re-branded ATP 250 tournament, formerly the Estoril Open, got the bad news from Del Potro’s agent that the Argentine was dealing with a stomach virus and would not be able to play the tournament which he won a year ago over Richard Gasquet.
egendary Indian athlete Milkha Singh today said doping menace in the country had spread like cancer and urged the athletes to pursue success the hard way instead of going for short-term gains. “It took me 12 years of hard work to get there... But today’s athletes want instant success by taking drugs. It has spread like cancer,” Milkha said, citing the example of the drug controversy surrounding Olympic bronze medalist Vijender Singh.
Bulls thrash Nets
JR Smith suspended
Nate Robinson came off the Chicago bench to score 34 points and the Bulls rallied to stun the Brooklyn Nets 142-134 in triple overtime. CHICAGO: Nate Robinson came off the Chicago bench to score 34 points and the Bulls rallied to stun the Brooklyn Nets 142-134 in triple overtime on Saturday to seize command of their NBA playoff series. The thriller matched the second-longest game in NBA playoff history, falling just short of Boston’s four-overtime triumph against Syracuse in 1953, and resulted in record playoff point totals for both clubs. Chicago took a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference best-ofseven matchup and will try to finish off the Nets and advance to the second round with a triumph in game five at Brooklyn on Monday. The Nets led 109-95 late in the fourth quarter before Robinson scored 12 points in a 14-0 run that equalized. Robinson’s 23 points in the fourth quarter was one shy of Michael Jordan’s team playoff record for scoring in a quarter.
THE THRILLER MATCHED THE SECOND-LONGEST GAME IN NBA PLAYOFF HISTORY, FALLING JUST SHORT OF BOSTON’S FOUR-OVERTIME TRIUMPH AGAINST SYRACUSE IN 1953.
Joakim Noah #13 and Jimmy Butler #21 of the Chicago Bulls reach for a rebound against the Brooklyn Nets during the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the NBA Playoffs on Saturday. AFP/JESSE D. GARRABRANT Robinson connected on 14-of-23 shots from the field but fouled out in the second extra session. “We got a stop, and got the ball to Nate. Then we got a stop, and got the ball to Nate. Then
‘Need to spend more time training’ SHEFFIELD, UNITED KINGDOM: Amir Khan admits he will have to spend more time with his trainer Virgil Hunter in San Francisco after being floored on his way to a 12-round points win over Julio Diaz. The Briton quickly bounced up off the canvas in the fourth round but after a count there were more worrying moments before he looked on the verge of being stopped in the 11th round. However, the former light-welterweight world champion prevailed and won a unanimous -- but narrow -- points decision by scores of 114-113, 115113 and 115-112 in an enthralling encounter at the Sheffield Arena on Saturday. The victory kept Khan on course for a shot at the world titles late this year, but before that the 26-year-old admits he needs once again to work on his defence. It was the second fight Khan had with Hunter in his corner since sacking trainer Freddie Roach following his fourth-round stoppage loss to Danny Garcia in July last year. Hunter, who also trains world super-middleweight number one Andre Ward, is based in San Francisco and has urged the boxer to spend more time with him in the California city. Khan gets married in New York next month and admits he will be in the United States more with his trainer as well as his soon-to-be-wife Faryal Makhdoom than in his hometown of AFP Bolton in northwest England.
we got a stop, and got the ball to Nate,” Carlos Boozer said of Chicago’s formula for the win. Boozer added 21 points for Chicago, which had 15 points and 13 rebounds from Joakim
Noah despite a foot injury. Deron Williams led Brooklyn with 32 points while Brook Lopez added 26 and Joe Johnson contributed 22. “It’s tough, man,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely a heartbreaker ... Honestly, this is definitely, definitely a game that we let get away. It’s disappointing ... but the series is not over and we’ve got to keep working and trying to get better.” Noah sank a jumper early in the third over-time to give Chicago a 129-127 lead but then AFP fouled out.
NEW YORK: The New York Knicks will be without J.R. Smith on Sunday as they try to close out Boston in the NBA playoffs after he was suspended one game for elbowing the Celtics’ Jason Terry. NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson announced the sanction on Saturday. Smith was assessed a flagrant foul and ejected from a game on Friday after he appeared to deliberately jam his elbow into Terry’s chin with 7:06 remaining in the fourth quarter. The move in the game at Boston’s TD Garden seemed inexplicable, given the Knicks’ comfortable 78-59 lead at the time. It almost sparked a brawl, with Celtics coach Doc Rivers having to hold Terry back as he attempted to charge at Smith. Smith, who scored 15 points in 24:21 minutes, said he was trying to prevent Terry from knocking the ball away from him. “He poked at the ball. Almost knocked it out of my hands,” said Smith, who scored the NBA’s Sixth Man Award as the league’s top reserve on Monday. “I thought he was going to make AFP another swipe.”
Garcia earns decision over Judah NEW YORK: Unbeaten
Danny Garcia retained his World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council light welterweight world titles Saturday with a 12-round unanimous decision over Zab Judah. Garcia knocked down Judah in the eighth round en route to his 26th victory in as many fights, with 16 wins inside the distance. The three judges at ringside scored it 114-112, 115-112, and 116-111 for Garcia. “Whoo! It was a hell of a fight, man,” said the champion, who survived Judah’s fierce surge in the last three rounds to earn the decision. After a build-up to the bout marked by ill-will between the fighters, the champion came out strong, moving forward against veteran southpaw Judah to con-
trol the early rounds. Garcia stepped it up in the fifth, staggering Judah with a right to the jaw. Garcia continued to apply the pressure in the sixth. He hurt Judah with another right, but the experienced challenger kept his cool, making good use of strategic clinches and continuing to punch, even though he didn’t appear to be hurting the champion. Judah, a former champion who fell to 42-8, had just unleashed one of his best punches of the night, a left in the eighth round, when Garcia answered with a straight right that sent Judah to the canvas. AFP
Zab Judah punches Danny Garcia during the WBA Super and WBC Super Lightweight title fight at Barclays Center on April 27, 2013 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.Garcia was declared the winner after 12 rounds. AFP/ELSA
30
SPORTS SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
Ciganda at top in LPGA Shootout IRVING, TEXAS: Spain’s Carlotta Ciganda fired six birdies in a fiveunder par 66 on Saturday to seize a two-shot lead after three rounds of the inaugural North Texas LPGA Shootout. Ciganda, 2012's Rookie of the Year on the Ladies European Tour, had a 54-hole total of 11-under par 202. World No. 1 Park In-Bee of South Korea carded a 67 to claim a share of second place on 204. She was tied with German LPGA rookie Caroline Masson, who led after both of the first two rounds. Masson shook off a double-bogey at the first to post a 69. South Korea’s Choi Na-Yeon carded a 66 to stand
alone in fourth on 205. Ciganda, a two-time winner on the LET last season, will try to become the fourth Spanish player to win an LPGA tour title. “It would be a dream," Ciganda said. “I mean, winning is always great, but I just want to try to focus on each shot. “Just like today, have a great round and then at the end if someone plays better, just congratulate." Ciganda’s six birdies included an unlikely one at the par-four 12th, where she hit her drive right into a lateral hazard to leave her ball part underwater in a concrete drainage ditch.
She blasted an eight-iron off the concrete and with a fortuitous bounce her ball rolled 10 feet from the pin and she made the putt for birdie. “I just tried to hit it as well as I could, and I think I was pretty lucky," Ciganda said. “It bounced really well to the right, and then I was lucky again to make that putt." The 22-year-old has plenty of proven talent chasing her, including Park, who claimed the world number one ranking less than two weeks ago. Park opened with a bogey, but nabbed five birdies — including two to end her round — to keep herself AFP in contention.
Nadal destroys Raonic Nadal kept alive his hopes of an eighth title as he beat Raonic 6-4, 6-0. BARCELONA: Rafael Nadal kept alive his hopes of an eighth title at the Barcelona Open on Saturday as he waited out a rain delay before hammering Canadian Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-0 in their semi-final. The 26-year-old has made a remarkable comeback from the depths of 2012 when he sat out seven months from July to February with knee problems. His Barcelona success marks his sixth straight final since his return to the game. The second seed will face Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro on Sunday after the fourth seed beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-1 in well under an hour. “Whatever happens tomorrow it’s been a great tournament for me," said the world number five. “Six finals out of six since my injury return is fantastic. What could be better. I’m so happy to be in this final again." The semis were played simultaneously at the Real Club de Tenis after rain delayed the start for nearly five hours. Both
Li relishing final against Sharapova STUTTGART, GERMANY:
Spaini’s Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Canada’s Milos Raonic during their Barcelona Open semis’ match on Saturday. AFP/JOSEP LAGO Nadal and Raonic had won two matches on Friday as the event was delayed earlier by a rainy Thursday. Nadal holds a perfect 9-0 record over Almagro and has already beaten his compatriot this season in an Acapulco semi-final. Raonic duplicated his finalfour showing here from 2012
but was stopped cold in 72 minutes by an inspired Nadal, making light of the heavy, wet conditions on the clay. Nadal extended his Barcelona win streak to 38 matches and stands 39-1 lifetime at the tournament where his lone loss came a decade ago to Alex Corretja, current
Li Na has said she expects a tough battle in Sunday’s final at the Stuttgart WTA clay-court tournament against defending French Open champion Maria Sharapova. Li takes on Sharapova after the top seeds came through Saturday’s semi-finals, but the Russian is unbeaten in Stuttgart having won all seven of her games on her two appearances here. “Sharapova’s a fighter, she never gives up and I will have to focus on every point out on the court," said Li. AFP Spanish Davis Cup captain. Nadal improved to 3-0 over Raonic after knocking the Canadian out of the Toyko hardcourt tournament in successive years in 2010 and 2011.
Harrison soars past Olympians DES MOINES, IOWA: American Queen Harrison won the women’s 100m hurdles at the Drake Relays on Saturday, clocking 12.71sec to beat the women who finished second, third and fourth at the 2012 Games. Harrison’s time was one of five 2013 world leading performances on the final day of the 104th edition of the meeting. Harrison demonstrated the depth of US talent in the 100m hurdles as she finished in front of compatriot Dawn Harper, the ’08 Olympic champion and runner-up at London, plus London bronze medalist Kellie Wells and local favorite Lolo Jones, who was fourth in London.
The top quartet notched the fastest four times in the world this year and promised an exciting 100m hurdles showdown when the US World Championship trials are held on the same Des Moines track in June. “I felt like it was a really great time, especially early in the season and such a loaded field," Harrison said. “I was a little nervous in the beginning, but I showed that my training is going well and I’m confident in switching to just hurdles this year." New Zealand’s Nick Willis, silver medalist at the 2008 Olympics, ran the fastest mile in the world this year in 3:55.70. American Reese Hoffa, bronze
medalist in the shot put in London, won the shot with a 2013 world-leading 21.71m. Czech Zusana Hejnova, Olympic bronze medalist, triumphed in a world-leading 54.41sec, and Spain’s European champion Ruth Beitia won the women’s high jump in a season’s best by a centimeter, clearing 1.95m Olympic gold medalist Christian Taylor won the men’s triple jump with a leap of 17.12m, but London Games pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie got his 2013 outdoor season off to a lackluster start, finishing equal third in the event won by London runner-up Bjorn Otto.
Lucas Glover stretches lead at New Orleans NEW ORLEANS: Lucas Glover, the 2009 US Open champion, fired a two-under par 70 on Saturday to stretch his lead to two strokes after the third round of the $6.6 million US PGA Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Glover stood atop an allAmerican leaderboard on 14under par 202 after 54 holes with Kyle Stanley, Jimmy Walker, Billy Horschel and D.A. Points on 204 and Kevin Stadler another stroke off the pace. “My speed was a little off today," Glover said. “I left a bunch of 8- and 10-footers short. I just didn’t have the speed right." Early starters fired low scores before afternoon winds began swirling, with Stanley shooting 65 and Walker and Horschel firing 66s while Glover played a roller-coaster round that included five birdies and three bogeys. “The wind picked up more than was forecast," Glover said. “It was good to see some good scores up there early." Glover, whose wife is expecting a baby in the next few days, birdied the par-5 second and answered a bogey at the fifth with birdies on the par-5 seventh and par-4 eighth. On the back nine, Glover made bogeys on the par-3 14th and 17th holes but birdied the par-5 11th and 18th to stay on top.
IPL 6
31
BATTLE OF THE TITANS
METRE
6 S 299
I don’t know why the crowd gets so worked up during IPL matches. IPL is not the end of the world. And they forget that the players they are booing, also play for their country. Virat Kohli RCB captain on being booed.
Chris Gayle (RCB) 450 runs
James Faulkner (RR) 16 wickets
Sehwag might be back to wearing spectacles RAIPUR: Wearing spectacles during the first Test against Australia had raised a question mark over his reflexes slowing down but Virender Sehwag was again seen wearing the glasses during Delhi Daredevils’ training session, here today. Sehwag used glasses during the Chennai Test without much success and it is widely believed that he chucked it for a more convenient contact lenses during the next Test match after which he was dropped from the squad. But on Saturday, when Sehwag came into the field wearing rimless spectacles with red sides, doubts were again raised whether everything is okay as far as his reflexes are concerned. He seemed comfortable wearing the spectacles as he was seen joking and fooling around with PTI his teammates.
P
W
L
T PT
RCB
9
6
3
0
12 +0.784
CSK
8
6
2
0
12 +0.591
RR
8
5
3
0
10 +0.631
MI
8
5
3
0
10 +0.248
SRH
9
5
4
0
10 -0.197
KXIP
8
4
4
0
8 +0.217
KKR
8
3
5
0
6 +0.072
PWI
8
2
6
0
4 -1.467
DD
8
1
7
0
2 -0.954
P-played; W-win; L-lost; T-tie; NR-net run rate; PT-points
NR
Chris Gayle (RCB)
35 4S 1000
Michael Hussey (CSK)
40
HIGHEST SCORE
SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
175*
Chris Gayle (RCB)
BEST BOWLER
5-20
James Faulkner (RR)
Knights challenge Kings SYED SHOAIB
shoaib.s@postnoon.com
C
hampions of the Indian Premier League Kolkata Knight Riders are struggling to qualify for the next stage of the tournament this year. This indicates the fierce competition in the tournament, but it also emphasises correctness in basics to be counted among the better teams. That correctness is what makes a certain colour stand out in the IPL, and it has been so over the years. Distinctly different from the other team colours, the yellow of the Chennai Super Kings has been associated with champions. The Aussies, remember, dominated world cricket for decades in these colours. It is not just this colour that could work against the Knights today. The body language of captain Gautham Gambhir of late does not befit the gentleman’s game, nor does it infuse
confidence in the teammates. While it may be true that with matches going their way everything else works well for a team, Gambhir can do himself a favour by emulating Mahender Singh Dhoni. Captain Cool’s aggression is more obvious when he has his bat in his hands rather than in his interaction with players of his team, even if they have erred.
CSK VS KKR AT 4PM ON SET MAX It is motivation that brings out the best in a person and not reprimand. In that aspect, the promotion of Yousuf Pathan to the opener’s slot has begun to work. He is looking more confident and this is showing in his improved fielding. It is not long before he will come good with the bat too, providing the team with the much-needed impetus. Having laboured to victory over a struggling Kings XI Punjab at home in their previous outing, the Knights are bound to have it tough against Dhoni’s CSK in Chennai.
SCORECARD RAJASTHAN ROYALS VS SUNRISERS HYDERABAD Sunrisers Hyderabad innings (20 overs maximum) PA Reddy c Watson b Chandila 2 (5) S Dhawan c Rahane b Faulkner 0 (2) Sangakkara*† c Watson b Faulkner 4 (4) GH Vihari c †Yagnik b Cooper 4 (9) KV Sharma c Hodge b Faulkner 6 (8) NLTC Perera c Cooper b Chandila 4 (4) DJG Sammy lbw b Faulkner 60 (41) A Mishra c Cooper b Faulkner 21 (28) Ashish Reddy c Rahane b Binny14 (11) DW Steyn not out 18 (8) I Sharma not out 0 (0) Extras (lb 2, w 9) 11 Total (9 wickets; 20 overs) 144 Bowling O M R W Econ A Chandila 3 0 13 2 4.33 JP Faulkner 4 0 20 5 5.00 SR Watson 2 0 16 0 8.00 K Cooper 4 0 42 1 10.50 SK Trivedi 3 0 26 0 8.66 STR Binny 4 0 25 1 6.25 Rajasthan Royals innings (target: 145 runs from 20 overs) R Dravid* c Vihari b Perera 36 (35) Rahane c †Sangakkara b Steyn 1 (9) SR Watson not out 98 (53) STR Binny not out 9 (10) Extras (lb 1, w 1) 2 Total (2 wickets; 17.5 overs) 146 Bowling O M R W Econ DW Steyn 4 1 15 1 3.75 I Sharma 3 0 35 0 11.66 NLTC Perera 4 0 34 1 8.50 DJG Sammy 3 0 17 0 5.66 A Mishra 2 0 20 0 10.00 KV Sharma 1.5 0 24 0 13.09
MUMBAI INDIANS VS ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE Mumbai Indians innings (20 overs maximum) DR Smith b Syed Mohammad 50 (36) SR Tendulkar lbw b Singh 23 (13) KD Karthik† run out (Kohli 43 (33) RG Sharma* run out (de Villiers/Syed Mohammad) 10 (8) Pollard c Rampaul b Vinay 34 (16) AT Rayudu run out (Kohli) 0 (0) Harbhajan c Tiwary b Rampaul 16 (8) MG Johnson not out 9 (5) SL Malinga not out 0 (1) Extras (b 4, lb 2, w 3) 9 Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 194 Bowling O M R W Econ R Rampaul 4 0 35 1 8.75 RP Singh 4 0 40 1 10.00 JD Unadkat 4 0 32 0 8.00 R Vinay Kumar 4 0 38 1 9.50 S Mohammad 4 0 43 1 10.75 Royal Challengers Bangalore innings (target: 195 runs from 20 overs) Gayle c Rayudu b Harbhajan 18 (20) Dilshan c Johnson b Kulkarni 13 (18) V Kohli* c †Karthik b Kulkarni 1 (4) AB de Villiers c †Karthik b Kulkarni 2 (3) Tiwary c Harbhajan b Smith 21 (19) Arun Karthik† st †Karthik b Harbhajan12 (8) JS Mohammad c Johnson b Smith 9 (11) R Rampaul not out 23 (18) R Vinay not out 26 (20) Extras (b 4, lb 1, w 5, nb 1) 11 Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 136 Bowling O M R W Econ MG Johnson 4 0 27 0 6.75 SL Malinga 4 0 25 0 6.25 DS Kulkarni 4 0 19 3 4.75 Harbhajan 4 0 21 2 5.25 DR Smith 2 0 20 2 10.00 KA Pollard 2 0 19 0 9.50
Rajasthan Royals won by 8 wickets
Mumbai Indians won by 58 runs
Time running out for DD
D
elhi Daredevils have their best chance to stand up and be counted in the Indian Premier League 6 today when they take on the Pune Warriors India at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. With Virender Sehwag back among runs in their match against the Mumbai Indians, DD can expect to get the better of the struggling Warriors who have lost three matches on the trot. The Daredevils did lose away to Kings XI Punjab after that but have the potential to bounce back. One problem of theirs is the sub-bar performance of Irfan Pathan, of who a lot was expected. The all-rounder has not come good with either the bat or the ball resulting in increased pressure on the top order.
DD VS PWI AT 8PM ON SET MAX The ploy of playing him up the batting order has also not worked for the team that unexplainably is languishing at the rock bottom of the points table. A team that can beat a formidable MI sure has enough in it to do well in the tournament. It is a matter of time before that turnabout comes, but time certainly is running out. Though better placed than their opponents today on the points table, the Warriors have not produced any brilliant stuff to infuse confidence in their fans, but a team that has beaten Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings cannot be taken SS lightly.
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SPORTS SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
Liverpool rout Magpies The 6-0 victory left Brendan Rodgers’ side in seventh place, five points below Everton ahead of next weekend’s Merseyside derby at Anfield. Saturday results Everton 1 Vs Fulham 0 Manchester City 2 Vs West Ham 1 Newcastle 0 Vs Liverpool 6 Southampton 0 Vs West Brom 3 Stoke 1 Vs Norwich 0 Wigan 2 Vs Tottenham 2 Sunday fixtures Arsenal v Manchester Utd (1500GMT), Chelsea v Swansea (1400), Reading v QPR (1230GMT)
Liverpool’s Danish defender Daniel Agger (L) scores a goal during the English Premier League football match between Newcastle United and Liverpool at St James’ Park in Newcastle, England, on Saturday.
NEWCASTLE, UK: Liverpool proved there is life after Luis Suarez by thrashing Newcastle United 6-0 on Saturday to leave their hosts nervously hovering above the Premier League relegation zone. Leading scorer Suarez has been handed a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic, but his absence was barely noticed at St James’ Park as Liverpool returned to winning ways in style after a run of three draws. Goals from Daniel Agger and Jordan Henderson put the visitors 2-0 up at the interval,
AFP
Rodgers thrilled by Suarez-less Liverpool NEWCASTLE, UK: Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers heralded his side for drawing a line beneath the Luis Suarez biting affair with an emphatic 6-0 rout of Newcastle United in the Premier League. In their first game since Suarez was given a 10match ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic, Liverpool destroyed
Newcastle at St James’ Park on Saturday to record their most handsome league win since a 6-0 rout of Derby County in September 2007. Suarez’s antics had placed the club under sustained scrutiny in the buildup to the game and Rodgers praised his players for reacting in such scintillating fashion.
before Suarez’s replacement Daniel Sturridge claimed a brace early in the second half. Substitute Fabio Borini added a fifth and after Mathieu Debuchy was sent off, Henderson completed a brace of his own as Newcastle fell to their heaviest home defeat of the Premier League era. Newcastle, meanwhile, remain at risk of being drawn into the relegation zone. Although they have a five-point lead over third-bottom Wigan, they have played a game more than all four of the teams below them. Newcastle’s fans were still settling into their seats when Liverpool took the lead in the third minute, with Agger beating goalkeeper Rob Elliot to Stewart Downing’s cross and nodding the ball home. As the visiting fans serenaded their absent Uruguayan striker, Rodgers’ side made it 2AFP 0 in the 17th minute.
Napoli put Juve’s title celebrations on hold Justin DAVIS
MILAN: Goals by Gokhan Inler (above), Goran Pandev and Blerim Dzemaili handed Napoli a valuable 3-0 win away to rock-bottom Pescara on Saturday and put Juventus’s title celebrations on hold for at least another week. Juventus began the day with an 11-point lead on Napoli and would have secured their 29th Scudetto with a win over Torino on Sunday had Pescara beaten Napoli or held the visitors to a draw. Given Pescara have only won six times in 33 games, that seemed a tall order for the league new boys who, after a 24th defeat of the season, seem destined for a return to Serie B. Napoli are now nine points shy of Juventus before the ‘Derby della Mole’ on Sunday and have a 10-point lead on AC Milan in third ahead of Catania’s visit to the San Siro. Napoli coach Mazzarri admitted only the heroics of goalkeeper Ivan Pelizzoli denied them a first-half lead.
Maria leads Real to derby win Kieran CANNING
MADRID: Atletico Madrid’s 14year wait for a win over neighbours Real Madrid continued as Real came from behind to win 21 at the Vicente Calderon. Radamel Falcao had got Atleti off to a flying start with a simple header from Diego Godin’s cross just three minutes in. However, Real were level just nine minutes later when Juanfran turned Angel Di Maria’s free-kick into his own goal and Di Maria struck the winner himself with a fine low drive from Karim Benzema’s pass just after the hour mark. And Di Maria quickly turned his attentions to Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second-leg against Borussia Dortmund as Real look to overturn a 4-1 deficit from the firstleg in Germany last week. “Winning today gives us extra motivation for Tuesday,
which we hope will have the best possible outcome,” “he told Gol TV. “We haven’t given up on the league yet and we are doing things well. (Jose) Mourinho put out the team he thought would
THE ATTENTION IS NOW ON TUESDAY’S CL SEMIFINAL AGAINST BORUSSIA DORTMUND AS REAL LOOK TO OVERTURN A
4-1 DEFICIT FROM THE FIRST-LEG IN GERMANY. be best and we gave everything.” With the Dortmund game in mind Mourinho had made eight changes to the side that started in Dortmund with Cristiano Ronaldo not even included in the squad due to a thigh injury. A makeshift Real side had
Real Madrid’s Argentinean midfielder Angel di Maria (R) scores past Atletico Madrid’s Uruguayan defender Diego Godin during their Spanish league match at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid on Saturday. Real Madrid won the AFP/ JAVIER SORIANO match 2-1.
got off to the worst possible start when after three minutes Diego Lopez spilled Gabi’s free-kick and Godin turned the ball back across the area for Falcao to head home at the back post. Atleti’s lead disappaered, though, as Di Maria’s free-kick from the right was inadvertantly directed into his own goal by Juanfran. The game was then disrupted by a flow of yellow cards as referee Miguel Angel Perez Lasa produced five in the opening half hour alone. The only other clear chance of the half fell to Benzema after a fine solo run and pass from Di Maria, but Thiabut Courtois was off his line quickly to block the French international’s effort. Atleti started the second-half just as they had the first and were nearly back in front when Raul Garcia’s header was helped onto the bar by Lopez before the keeper collected at the second attempt.