Epaper 28 september 2013

X MARKS THE SPOT Actress Aditi Chengappa talks to Postnoon about her upcoming film X, and bond with Anushka Shetty.

PG 4 WWW.POSTNOON.COM

WEATHER: SCATTERED CLOUDS; 31°C

Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 HYDERABAD

32 PAGES

`3

ON SATURDAY

AP politics has come to a boil. Soon, there will be lava gushing out and the political landscape will undergo seminal changes. One of the changes is Kiran Kumar Reddy emerging a champion of United Andhra and reaping a good electoral harvest in Seemandhra where the Congress is currently persona non grata. When it happens, it will change its dynamics with the YSRC that is currently the darling of Samaikyandhra.

KIRAN TO FLOAT PG 5 NEW REPORT ON

PARTY?

THEATRE IS MY BREAD AND BUTTER

Actress Achint Kaur, who was in town as part of a play The Big Fat City, spoke to Postnoon about her role in the play, her passions, her views on issues women face today and much more.

PG 18

THE BAD BOY SYNDROME

There will always be that one guy at school or college or at a bar who seems to be getting all the attention from women even though he is rude, and arrogant.

Still women flock to him. Let’s find out why.

PG 20 ‘SERIAL GROOM’ GETS TIED UP IN KNOTS The Musheerabad police have stopped a ‘serial groom’ who was planning his fourth marriage, without a divorce in sight.

PG 3

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PAGE TWO SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

FOOLISH AND LOVING IT!

Beat Boxing Beat Boxing Workshop By Jaydeep Hora.

Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills When: 28-Sep-13 (5pm to 6pm).

Contact: 040 2790 8260

Weekend Theatre Director of Samahaara, Ratna Shekhar Reddy is organising a Weekend Theatre Workshop. If you are interested, you can join.

Where: La Makaan, Lane adjacent to CBAY, Road No. 1, Banjara Hills When: Sept 28, 10am to 12pm Contact: 9642731329

Gigapan Photography The Great Hyderabad Adventure Club and TCPC present you with a workshop on introduction to gigapan photography by Ravinder Reddy. For further details, check the events calendar on the GHAC web-

Gauri Jayaram and Milind Soman launch the book Wise Enough to be Foolish at Landmark site.

Where: The Great Hyderabad Adventure Club When: Sept 29, 11am to 4:30pm

Grape stomping Grape Stomping & Cake Mixing.

Where: Novotel (At Shamshabad Rajiv Gandhi

at Urban Asia as they whip you up hordes of delicacies from all across a continent.

Where: Urban Asia, 3rd Floor, 1259/A, Next To ICICI Bank, Road No. 36, Banjara Hills.

When: Sept 29, 12noon Contact: (040) 6555-6888

10 pin bowling tournament

International Airport), Shamshabad, Hyderabad.

When: Sept 29, 12noon to 4pm.

Contact: (040) 6555-6888

Pan Asian Sunday Bubbly Brunch Enjoy the gastronomic experience

In order to promote a s port that has so tremendously grown in the past couple of months, SVM is organising a 3 day long tournament. The winners will earn prize money up to Rs. 20,000 Where: SVM Bowling and Gaming, 4th level, 6 Mall When: Sept 27, 28,29, 10am to 1pm Contact: 8096991297

Navratra Menu On this holy occasion, the chefs from Firdaus bring you the special food to enjoy the starting of the festive season. Brighten up your festive mood with the various delicacies and feel the tradition come alive at its truest sense.

Where: Firdaus - Taj Krishna Road No.1, Banjara-hills When: Oct 5, 07:30pm - 10:00pm Contact: (040) 2339 2323

Toughest Trek in Monsoon Are you ready for some serious trekking! Here you go Harishchandraghat via Nalchivat. It is one of the toughest trek in monsoon. Go along with the members of the Great Hyderabad Adventure Club.

Where: Great Hyderabad Adventure Club, Banajra Hills When: Sept 27- Oct 1 Contact: (040) 23350008, 09603473470

Basics of Photography Interested in capturing the beauty around you! Here is a good chance for you to start it. A workshop will be conducted in the city.

Where: Hampshire Plaza Hotel,

CINEMAS

Lakdikapool When: Sept 28 Contact: (040) 2333 5555

Fruit of the Month Explore and treat yourself with the season of Kiwi cheese cake blossom, Honey and Kiwi custard tart, kiwi mint salad and much more.

Where: Okra, Hotel Marriot, Opp Hussain Sagar Lake When: September 28 10am to 11pm Contact: (040) 2752 2999

Walking Sticks Gallery Salarjung Museum has just opened a Walking Sticks Gallery. No other museum in the world boasts of a gallery exclusively dedicated to Walking sticks.

Where: Salar Jung Museum, Afzal Gunj When: Sept 28, 10am to 5pm

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 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Woman sues employers

YSRC slams bifurcation

HYDERABAD: One S Manjira, aged

Keshav wants CBI probed

HYDERABAD: The YSRC party has

32, has lodged a complaint with the Mahankali police against her ex employers, LD Varma and his son Mayur Varma, for intimidation. She says she was prevented from leaving their services and when she refused to buckle, her salary was withheld. The employers insisted she return to work, the complainant said.

HYDERABAD: TDP senior leader

declared its solidarity with striking Seemandhra employees. Honorary President YS Vijayalxmi, along with party leaders took part in the dharna.

Addressing the gathering Vijayamma lambasted the Congress for creating a wedge between the Telugu people with its decision to bifurcate the state.

Payyavula Keshav said there was a need to register a case against CBI officer Chandrasekhar, who investigated Jagan’s disproportionate assets case. Pointing out that the CBI had stated that there were financial irregularities in the case, he asked, how can the same agency now say there was no evidence of quid pro quo in the case.

City doc bites consultancy bait, loses `72 lakh Medicos longing for a post graduation continue to fall victim to ‘consulting’ agencies that put out newspaper ads claiming they could procure PG seats.

Postnoon news Feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: A Banglore-

‘Serial groom’ gets tied up in knots PREM LANDED A JOB MOHD SUBHAN

mohd.s@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: The Musheerabad police have stopped a ‘serial groom’ who was planning his fourth marriage, without a divorce in sight.

Prem Kumar was handcuffed before his fourth marriage was consecrated after taking a fat dowry. Kumar, 33, is a native of West Godavari district who had first married one Saritha of the same village and left for Hyderabad in search of a livelihood. He landed a job with a private company as a legal adviser and stayed in a rented house in Bholakpur.

He kept his marriage secret from his colleagues.

Some time ago he met one Suchitra who hails from Medak. He posed as an unmarried man and proposed to her.

The unwary girl accepted and

WITH A PRIVATE COMPANY AS A LEGAL ADVISER AND STAYED IN A RENTED HOUSE IN BHOLAKPUR. HE KEPT HIS MARRIAGE A SECRET FROM COLLEAGUES. they both ‘fell in love’. As she was a Christian the marriage was performed at a church in Medak and he got a huge dowry as reward. How he hoodwinked the parents is still unclear.

They then set off on their honeymoon and enjoyed life for a while till the marriage bug bit Prem again.

A few months ago he met a girl from Jhansi and played the same trick on her as he did on Suchitra.

Both exchanged mobile numbers and began courting in earnest. And, here again, he successfully managed to

bring ‘parents on hire’ and dupe the girl’s parents.

Their marriage was conducted in the Warangal district and they went on a honeymoon with the money he swiped from the girl’s parents.

When they returned, he sent her back to her parents and went back to Suchitra as if nothing had happened.

But soon he began to distance himself from Suchitra and he had also failed to contact his latest wife for a long time.

Her parents made enquiries and were shocked to learn that he was a married man and had been duping women all this while. They also stumbled on another fact — he was planning a fourth marriage.

Then the parents of both girls met each other and they jointly petitioned the Musheerabad police. He was nabbed before he could escape and on interrogation revealed his ‘addiction’ to marriage for money.

based ‘consultancy’ has cheated a Hyderabad medico, Dr KB Srinivas, to the tune of `72 lakh.

Srinivas paid the sum on assurance that he would be given a post graduate medical seat in Nepal.

Dr Srinivas, 28, is a resident of Mahankali street in Secunderabad. He had completed his MBBS and was trying to for an MD Ortho seat. He was reportedly willing to pay and he stumbled on an advertisement in an English daily that ‘Non Cam Associates’ in Bangalore procures medical seats for lower than usual payment.

The doctor contacted the company on phone. A man going by the name of Paigesh came on the line and said the seat was available. Dr Srinivas, along with his uncle KB Satyanarayana, went to Bangalore and came to an understanding that he would pay Paigesh `72 lakh for a seat in a Nepal medical college.

After the payment there was no call from the agency. Paigesh’s phone was switched off.

The two again travelled to Bangalore and went to Paigesh’s office which was found to be locked. Neighbours did not know anything about him.

Worried, the doctor contacted a Hyderabad-based person

who was reportedly in touch with Paigesh but he too expressed his inability to say anything about Paigesh’s whereabouts. After a couple of days a call came from Paigesh who apologised for the delay and said he had arranged a seat in a Belgaum college and given the address of the college.

Dr Srinivas and his uncle went to the said Belgaum college but college authorities expressed the inability to help and said they had never heard of Paigesh. Duped, the two returned and lodged a complaint with the city police.

Later Paigesh called Dr Srinivas again, apologised and said his admission was completed in Belgaum Medical College. Dr Srinivas once again trooped off to Belgaum, only to be given the same response by the college. Dr Srinivas then managed to make contact with Paigesh and demanded that he return his money. Paigesh said he would do so in a few days.

But Paigesh once again fell off the map and his phone was switched off. When Dr Srinivas’s mother found out about her son being duped in such a manner, she suffered a heart attack and had to be rushed to hospital.

Dr Srinivas’s uncle then went to Mahankali police station and lodged a complaint against Paigesh. An investigation into the alleged scam has begun.

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CITY SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

X MARKS THE SPOT Actress Aditi Chengappa talks to Postnoon about her upcoming film X, and bonding with Anushka Shetty.

Arun Yellamaty

A YOGA ENTHUSIAST, ADITI ALSO WRITES

A

diti Chengappa, who recently finished shooting for her first Bollywood film, caught up with Postnoon and talked about her bonding with Anushka Shetty, her upcoming Telugu and Tamil projects, her passion for music and much more.

About the Hindi project X, the movie that has 11 directors, she says: “I am very excited to be part of the film, there are so many talented actors and directors. I just can’t wait for the movie to come out. It was great working with Rajat Kapoor and it was also a great learning experience.”

The part featuring her was directed by Sudhish Kamath.

She is also playing the role of Anushka’s sister in the much talked about Indian 3D historic film Rudhramadevi.

“I am playing the role of Rudhramadevi’s sister, it’s an epic film. For me it’s a dream come true working on this film. I always wanted to be part of a period film. I love the idea of going back in time, I am looking forward to this film too.”

Speaking about working with Anushka Shetty, she says, “Anushka is like my family, she’s known me since I was a kid. We basically have the same Guru, Bharat Thakur. She used to teach Yoga, before she became

POETRY AND IS PASSIONATE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT AND ANIMALS, SHE ALSO LOVES TO TRAVEL.

an actress. It’s great that on screen I will be acting as her sister, but in reality we are one. She is like my big sister.”

The actress also has a Tamil film set for release, RA, a fantasy thriller, in which she is playing the lead.

For Aditi movies just happened by chance. The literature

student would probably have been in some recording studio today, was it not for a wedding (Bharat Thakur and Bhumika Chawla’s) that came her way.

Director Srihari Nanu, when he was actress-hunting for his flick Thakita Thakita, his focus narrowed on the sprightly Delhi lass.

Auditions and screen tests later, it was decided she would indeed essay the character.

Aditi is a trained singer and a musician: “I love music, I never thought I would be doing films, acting happened by chance. I will not leave music behind. When I get a great opportunity I will surely come

up with some albums. I miss having my piano and of course my guitar on set.” Singing in one of her films will surely not be that far-fetched.

Aditi seems content. With senior journalist Raj Chengappa for a father, and artist-yoga instructor Usha Chengappa for a mother, Aditi was always been artistically-inclined. She loves yoga too and she even conducted a few classes in her mother’s absence.

She even did a health show Bodylicious on NDTV Good Times with her mother, when she was in college.

A yoga enthusiast, Aditi also writes poetry and is passionate about the environment and animals, she loves to travel. Aditi likes playing videogames too.

It is unlikely that Aditi will run out of career options. If not acting, then a musician, if not a musician then a yoga instructor.

She likes the idea of being a photo journalist too. She gives all the credit for her success to her parents.

The rains have gone, but viruses remain Mohsin Ali

V

iral fevers are still roaming the city taking their toll although the Government health department, District Medical and Health Officer, and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation claim to the contrary.

According to statistics from Fever Hospital, 236 diarrhoea cases have been registered this year, a rise of 15 per cent over the last year. Similarly the number of people infected with malaria has also risen steadily — from 66 to 71.

Government health officials are, however, patting themselves on the back for a job well done. But long queues of outpatients in government and private hospitals signal that contagious diseases are still victimising a lot of people, especially children who lose out on academic days, as well as health.

Dr D Nagaiah, a senior

doctor at KPHB, said, “Lack of public hygiene, stagnant water and accumulating filth on roadsides helps breed mosquitoes and pests. Junk food sold by the roadside is also blamed for ill-health of the general public. There is no check on hygiene in food joints and roadside pushcarts.”

“Often people wait for government authorities to clean stagnant water and garbage from their surroundings due to which the growth of mosquitoes is reinforced. People should be pro-active and take measures to ensure filth and stagnant water do not exist around housing colonies,” the doctor said.

District Medical & Health Officer Dr A Narendrudu says, “After the rainy season, spread of viral diseases is common. This season the infectous period is stretching. People are suffering with high fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, throat infections, and colds. Incidence of seri-

ous forms of fevers such as typhoid and malaria are also high. We’re makibg every effort to prevent proliferation of disease,” he claimed.

Moreover, says Dr.narendrudu, “Viral diseases can’t be stopped, but can be prevented. We are conducting health camps in various places in the City and districts. We have joined hands with the GHMC and are distributing medicines among the people through the Urban Primary Health centers”.

The doctor said five deaths have taken place due to Dengue and Diphtheria.

But there is no convincing answer from the GHMC why public hygiene is not being regularly checked to prevent public health hazards.

Viral and vector-borne diseases are usually identified with monsoons and they should subside after the rains have gone.

This, however, is not happening, reports say, thanks to condescending and incompetent health authorities.

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CITY SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Kiran to float new party?

AP politics has come to a boil.

Soon, there will be lava gushing out and the political landscape will undergo seminal changes. One of the changes is Kiran Kumar Reddy emerging a champion of United Andhra and reaping a good electoral harvest in Seemandhra where the Congress is currently persona no grata. When it happens it will change the dynamic with the YSRC which is currently the darling of Samiakhayandhra.

INKESHAF AHMED

ahmed.m@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: By all indications, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, is on his way to form a new political outfit in an attempt to emerge the champion of united AP cause.

Public reprimand of the AICC’s AP in-charge Digvijay Singh has hastened the process, it seems. Digvijay chided the CM Kiran for appearing to be acting

THE CONGRESS PARTY LEADERS CLOSE TO PARTY HIGH COMMAND ARE ADMITTING THAT THE CM MIGHT QUIT AS HEAD OF GOVERNMENT. as the leader of the Seemandhra region and not of the AP state.

After his ‘advice’ to Kiran that he should mend his ways as the MLAs of the entire AP including Telangana had elected him CM of the State, it appears that Kiran has only one honourable way out — quit.

Significantly, Kiran has in his media meeting on Friday rebuffed Digvijay saying that every time he (Diggy) reprimands him his desire to see the state united becomes stronger.

The Congress Party leaders close to party high command are admitting that the CM might quit as head of government and form his own political party and contest the next General Elections on its symbol. “There

KKR stance addles many

S

enior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao has said he considered the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy a gentle person and never expected that the latter would speak in such a harsh manner against the party decision to create Telangana.

VH lashed out at the Seemandhra leaders of all political parties. He said due to their unreasonable stance on T, many political leaders are now playing trapeze. The TDP Chief N Chandababu Naidu has reversed his stand on the division of the State after watching Kiran Kumar Reddy’s hostile attitude on the division of the State. He also questioned the Chief Minister what he had done when the party high command asked

RAO LASHED OUT AT THE SEEMANDHRA LEADERS OF ALL PARTIES. for a road map.

He said former chief minister late Y S Rajashekar Reddy had sowed the seed of division of Andhra Pradesh while Chandrababu Naidu poured water on it. He asked the Seemandhra leaders, who were shrieking madly against division of the State, as to why they were not speaking in a similar manner against YSRCP Chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. He also asked why the government allowed YSRCP workers to welcome Jagan in a grand manner when he was released from jail.

will be a change of guard in the state very soon. It might happen after the debate over separate Telangana in Assembly. The chances of Kiran quitting Congress party are very high,” a senior Congress leader who is very close to party high command leaders told Postnoon. In a clear indication that he would no more continue in the Congress, the CM has, in an interview to Rajya Sabha television, had reiterated his earlier stand that people’s aspirations are more important for any politician. As part of his plans, the CM camp has already been mustering media support.

Besides, a few TV channels being befriended, supporters of the CM have also reportedly bought one very old Telugu daily called Krishna Patrika, which was a rage during its initial days.

CONGRESS

TO REIN IN

STRATEGY YS JAGAN?

There is another school of thought. Some sources in the Congress say it is a strategy of the Congress to send CM Kiran out of the party with the sole objective of taming the YS Jagan’s clout during the next General Elections. “Many survey reports say that YS Jagan’s YSRCP would win majority in the state by defeating Congress.

We will not allow it to happen. If Kiran forms a new political party as the champion of ongoing united AP, he will emerge as a strong contender to Jagan and win many seats for his party.

After elections, Kiran would merge his political party with Congress and form a Congressled government,” a close aide of high command leaders told Postnoon on Thursday.

T hurls stones at Seemandhra

Postnoon News

feedback@postnoon.com

S

enior TRS leader T Harish Rao has alleged that Seemandhra capitalists were trying to loot assets in Hyderabad after the Congress working committee delivered its verdict in favour of Telangana State. It is an orchestrated move by the leaders of Seemandhra, he said.

In his meeting with the media on Friday, the TRS leader said, they have submitted a letter to the Chief Secretary to disclose the number of GOs issued by the Kiran Kumar Reddy government after the CWC pronounced its verdict

HARISH RAO ALLEGED THAT SEEMANDHRA CAPITALISTS WERE TRYING TO LOOT ASSETS IN HYDERABAD. for bifurcation of Telangana State by dividing the State. He also questioned the Telangana ministers as to what they were doing when the Seemandhra Chief Minister was issuing GOs to take away resources from Telangana.

Rao believe the Congress ministers from Telangana should have quit by now rather than be party to the decisions the Kiran government takes.

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NATION SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Sidhu begins fast-unto-death today

Nagpal shifted to Kanpur

U

ttar Pradesh IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, who had taken on sand mining mafia in Gautam Budh Nagar district, was tonight posted as Joint Magistrate of Kanpur (Rural). Nagpal, who was awaiting posting after the revocation of her suspension, had allegedly earned the wrath of the government for her action against the mafia.

B

JP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday said he would go on a fast-unto-death from Saturday to protest against the stalling of disbursement of development funds for his Amritsar constituency. In a press statement, Sidhu said, "I know what are my duties towards the development of Amritsar being an elected Member of Parliament. I will do my duty honestly without criticising anybody and without speaking against anybody... I will sit on a fast-unto-death from tomorrow (Saturday)."

Action against Khemka

T

he Haryana government on Friday said whistleblower Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Ashok Khemka, who had sparked off a political storm by ordering a probe into a land deal between Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and realty firm DLF, will be chargesheeted for administrative misconduct.

Mumbai building collapse toll shoots to 25 MUMBAI: The death toll in Friday's col-

US President Barack Obama listens as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh makes a statement to reporters after a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House September 27, 2013 in Washington, DC.

Pak epicentre of terrorism: Singh

WASHINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday toned down expectations for his planned meeting with Premier Nawaz Sharif this weekend at the UN, saying Pakistan remained an "epicenter of terrorism."

Singh, making what will likely be a farewell visit to the White House after a decade in power, told President Barack Obama that India still faced "difficulties" because of the activities of its neighbor and bitter rival. Singh and Sharif are expected to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York despite the tensions. A diplomat said the talks were expected Sunday morning. "I look forward to the meeting with (Prime Minister) Nawaz Sharif even though the expectations have to be toned down given the terror arm which is still active in our subcontinent," Singhtold reporters in the Oval Office.

Singh told Obama that India was

N-deal inked

T

he landmark India-US civil nuclear stalled over India's 2010 nuclear liability law is finally moving forward with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and the Westinghouse Electric Company signing a preliminary commercial contract.

The agreement on the first commercial deal was announced

by President Obama himself after his summit meeting Friday with Prime Minister Singh.

I look forward to the meeting with (Prime Minister) Nawaz Sharif even though the expectations have to be toned down given the terror arm which is still active in our subcontinent.

Manmohan Singh facing difficulties because the "epicenter of terrorist activity remains focused in Pakistan."

India has blamed militant groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and even elements of the Pakistani state for attacks on its soil, including the assault in a luxury hotel on Mumbai nearly five years ago which killed 166 people.

Deadly skirmishes across the de facto border in divided Kashmir meanwhile have jeopardized the atmospherics for the meeting in New York, which would come months after peace talks again stalled between the two neighbors. Since winning an election in May, Sharif has been vocal in his desire for better relations with India, but the recent flare-ups have overshadowed the prospects. Earlier, Sharif warmed up for the expected talks by saying that a nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan was a huge waste of money.

"Our two countries have wasted massive resources in an arms race," Sharif said in his speech to the General Assembly.

lapse of a four-storey building here shot up to 25, with 32 people injured, including four who are serious, officials said Saturday.

The death toll could increase as at least another dozen people remain trapped below the debris, officials of the BMC Disaster Control said.

Till now, 20 people were rescued without injuries and search operations are underway on a war footing to save many more feared trapped under the rubble, said an official of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Disaster Control unit.

Situated near the Dockyard Road, south Mumbai, the 33-year-old building was a civic employees' staff quarters, said an official of the chief minister's office.

The building, which housed around 21 families, suddenly collapsed 5.45 am Friday,

THE DEATH TOLL COULD INCREASE AS AT LEAST ANOTHER DOZEN PEOPLE REMAIN TRAPPED BELOW THE DEBRIS, OFFICIALS OF THE BMC DISASTER CONTROL SAID. catching the sleeping residents unaware, the official added.

The 28-flat building, of which seven were unoccupied, and a ground floor warehouse was declared "extremely dilapidated" a few years ago.

Last month, it was surveyed by a BMC team which recommended urgent repairs after shifting the families living IANS there.

7

WORLD SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

IPCC: Humans to blame

C

limate scientists believe it is “extremely likely” that human activity is to blame for the bulk of global warming since the 1950s, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)has said. IPCC experts are now 95 percent certain about the preponderant role of humans in climate change, a report released Friday said.

Dave gets on purr-fectly with Larry

Syria inspection on Tuesday

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T

ritish Prime Minister David Cameron’s office denied Saturday that his family has no love for Larry, the Downing Street cat. Following claims in a new book that Cameron acquiring the moggy was little more than a public relations stunt, a “savelarry” hashtag began trending on Twitter. Downing Street dismissed suggestions in journalist Matthew d’Ancona’s book on Cameron’s coalition government, “In It Together”, that Larry was an unloved pet. A spokesman said: “Totally untrue. He is very popular with everyone in the building and we all get on purr-fectly well.

he Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) passed an agreement Saturday, authorising the chemical weapons watchdog to start inspecting Syria’s stockpile by Tuesday. “The good news is there’s a decision and we expect to have an advance team on the ground (in Syria) next week,” OPCW spokesman Michael Luhan said.

‘Hello, Hassan? Barry here’ The stunning 15minute call, starting at 1830 GMT, was the fruit of a diplomatic opening forged by Rouhani’s election in June on a mandate to ease confrontation with the West and lift nuclear sanctions that have pulverized Iranian economy.

Stephen COLLINSON Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani spoke by phone Friday in a historic and first direct contact between leaders of their estranged nations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The stunning 15-minute call, starting at 2:30 pm (1830 GMT), was the fruit of a diplomatic opening forged by Rouhani’s election in June on a mandate to

The two of us discussed our ongoing efforts to reach an agreement over Iran’s nuclear program.

Barack Obama

ease confrontation with the West and lift nuclear sanctions that have pulverized the Iranian economy.

“Just now, I spoke on the phone with President Rouhani of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Obama said in a televised statement, revealing the most intriguing turn yet in relations between the Islamic Republic and a superpower it branded the “Great Satan.”

“The two of us discussed our ongoing efforts to reach an agreement over Iran’s nuclear

program.”

The impetus for the call came from Iranian officials, who US officials said told them hours earlier in New York that Rouhani wanted to speak to Obama before leaving the United Nations General Assembly.

The White House had indicated to Tehran earlier this week that it was open to an informal encounter between the leaders at the United Nations.

But the Iranians at the time said such a meeting was too complicated, raising questions

as to whether Rouhani was wary of angering hardliners in Iran’s clerical hierarchy.

The leaders’ momentous conversation took place when Rouhani was on his way to the airport in his official limousine, the Iranian side said.

Obama spoke in English and Rouhani spoke Farsi as they chatted through interpreters, according to US officials.

But before hanging up, in an exchange that would have been thought impossible only days ago, Obama bade Rouhani “kho-

dahafez” — farsi for “goodbye.”

Rouhani replied “have a good day, Mr president” in English, according to tweets by the Iranian leader’s office and a US official. The two countries severed diplomatic relations in 1980, a year after the Islamic Revolution in Iran toppled the US-backed shah. The aftermath of the revolution also triggered a 444-day standoff at the US Embassy in Tehran in which a total of 52 American hostages were held by militant students until January 1981.

Islamists release video of hostage

Kenya vows no Somalia pullout

Guineans go to polls today

LAGOS: Nigerian Islamist group Ansaru on Friday released a video of a French national kidnapped in December, the SITE jihadi tracking website said. In the video, posted online, the hostage identifies himself as 63-year-old Francis Collomp, an engineer with the French firm Vergnet, who was “kidnapped in Rimi in Katsina state on 19 December 2012 till today, 25 September 2013.” The hostage appears wearing a white t-shirt, with an unidentified person holding a weapon in the background. If authentic, it would be the first video of Collomp to emerge since his abduction. The abductee’s brother, Denis Collomp, told AFP of his relief at seeing the images, while still fearing for his safety.

NAIROBI: Kenya has vowed not to bow to Shebab

CONAKRY: Guineans got to the polls Saturday in the first parliamentary elections for more than a decade in the troubled west African nation, after months of delays and a campaign plagued by deadly unrest.

Voters have a choice of more than 1,700 candidates vying for 114 seats in a national assembly which will replace the transitional parliament that has been running the country since military rule came to an end in 2010. The vote, originally due to have been held within six months of the swearing-in of President Alpha Conde in 2010, has been delayed numerous times amid disputes over its organisation, stoking deadly ethnic tensions that have dogged Guinean politics since the country’s independence from France in 1958.

threats of more attacks if troops are not pulled out of Somalia, following a devastating mall attack in Nairobi by the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents. “We went to Somalia because Al-Shebab was a threat to national security... We will continue to take action on that front until our security and interests in the country are protected,” Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku told reporters on Friday.

Somalia’s Shebab chief Ahmed Abdi Godane said the Nairobi Westgate mall carnage in which at least 67 people were killed would be followed by “more bloodshed” unless Kenya left Somalia. Kenya invaded southern Somalia to attack Shebab bases two years ago, and joined the 17,700-strong African Union force deployed there.

8

COMMENT SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

EDITORIALS CSG ENSURES sustained charity Philanthropy has to be spontaneous and can't be forced, says Wipro's Azim Premji. This opinion of a person who has given away crores of rupees in charity may not apply to everyone.

Those who indulge themselves far outnumber the likes of Premji who are self-satisfied at some point and give away excesses to the needy.

Real charity never becomes a debate or even a discussion for that matter, because the left hand did not know what the right hand gave away! Charity not done from the bottom of the heart is bound to have a limited reach. But the numbers that form this category are few and the need a lot more, especially in India.

An idealistic condition does not always work. A little bit of nudging and sometimes forcing, in the larger interest, does no harm.

Though addressing hunger is a must, it could make a person lazy. Providing a means of earning a livelihood would be a better form of charity, which may be beyond the purview of many individuals.

Corporate social giving is an orderly system of successful companies sharing their profits with those who are struggling to make ends meet. A systematic money flow will ensure implementation of bigger projects that can be sustained till they become self-sufficient.

Also, the Corporate Social Responsibility machinery helps those who always wanted to give, but were not able to take that extra step, either because of lack of time or because they were not sure that their giving reached the right recipient.

WHY WE LOVE...

Rahul Gandhi It takes great strength of character to stand up for the right. And to do be able to do it in the face of adversity as decisive as the one the Congress leader was faced with speaks volumes of it. By snubbing the ordinance floated to save convicted MPs, he has struck the right chord with the aam janata.

The karmic cycle Soul Curry SUMAA TEKUR

A

ll lists are always subjective. When Mumbai emerged as the second most honest city in the world, I couldn’t help but guffaw at the idea. It’s a fascinating one, considering how Bollywood has always played on the story of a simpleton from a small town coming to the large city of Mumbai with dreams of making it big, and then getting conned and robbed of everything. Most often, this happens at the very moment he steps out of the train on to the platform in the famous VT station in Mumbai.

Reader’s Digest is said to have conducted a simple dropped-wallet experiment in 16 cities across four continents and Mumbai ranked second, with nine out of 12 wallets – each carrying `3,000 – being returned to the owner. When I was living in

I ASKED MYSELF THAT IF I FOUND `3,000 LYING ON THE ROAD, WOULD I RETURN IT. IT DEPENDS ON VARIOUS REASONS. I’D INSPECT THE WALLET TO DETERMINE HOW EASY OR TOUGH IT WOULD BE TO REACH ITS OWNER. Mumbai in 2007, I had a similar experience. Not of a dropped wallet but a dropped mobile phone. I left my mobile phone on the seat of a taxi in Central Mumbai. I realised that my phone was missing within a few minutes of the taxi dropping me at the train station and speeding away. I called my mobile phone from a payphone. The driver heard the phone ringing, cut my call, switched off the phone immediately and pocketed it.

I could only laugh at the experience. I didn’t go the train station to catch a train home.

Instead, I went to a mobile phone store and bought myself a new handset with a SIM card.

But the story here is not about the Mumbaikars who pocketed the money and proba-

bly threw the wallet away. It’s about the nine honest people who took the trouble to return the wallet. I asked myself that if I found `3,000 lying on the road, would I return it. It depends on various reasons. I’d inspect the wallet to determine how easy or tough it would be to reach its owner. It would also depend on my mood at that time.

Being a believer in karma, I can twist and turn my thinking to comfort myself in any way that I choose to. So if I decide that the wallet needs to be returned, then I believe that the wallet owner and I have a karmic connection so deep that the dropped wallet has played a role in making us meet in this lifetime, if only for a few minutes. I would also believe that

the trouble I take to return the wallet was my karma.

If I decide, on the other hand, that I wouldn’t return the wallet, I’d tell myself that the money was probably mine all along and the only way destiny could reach it to me was via this dropped wallet.

I was in a very crowded Chicago domestic airport last year when a traveller rushing to his boarding gate dropped a dollar. I picked it up intending to give it to him but he was gone.

There were too many people and I didn’t know where he had gone. I held up the note wondering what to do with it. Just then, a woman plucked the note from my hand and said: “It’s mine.” Before I could react, she was gone. I was shocked but again, it’s karma. Either, the dollar always belonged to that lady anyway and I was the medium for her to get it, or the lady and the man who dropped the dollar will meet again (in this lifetime or next) to settle the transaction. What fun it would be if I could watch that story unfold!

9

COMMENT SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Games Congress plays PK SURENDRAN

HARD TALK

A

VISWAPRASAD RAJU

Urban sketches

Auto ride

true journalist is a cynic for he lives nearer to the societal gutter than on the lavender hills. Having seen from close quarters the kind of politics played by India’s seminal political party the Congress, I am apt to take its every action with a spoonful of salt.

This party, which the Father of the Nation had advised to be disbanded after freedom was achieved, has never acted as a true patriot. Take all its actions from the Kashmir issue in the fifties to the present day, each one results in an injury to the body politics. The Kashmir issue could have been settled at the time and immediately after independence but Jawaharlal Nehru in his avuncular fashion took it to the UN as if it was a dispute! Since then it has been bleeding, thousands of young men have been sacrificed, lakhs of native pundits driven out of home, and it continues to be a gaping wound that refuses to heal.

Another landmark flop came during Rajiv Gandhi’s time. We put a man of absolutely no political background at the helm and he, poor man, did what he was expected of — messed up the sit-

uation further. The Supreme Court gave the nation a golden opportunity to make a common civil code with the Shah Bano case where the law would proclaim every natural Indian equal, whether they belonged to minority or majority, upper caste or lower caste. The Parliament went ahead and kicked the SC with a law overcoming it. If we can have a common criminal code, what’s wrong with a common civil code that would have ensured equal rights to all women irrespective of caste and faith?

Then came the reservation issue. Reservation, a skewed justice, was anyway accepted as a historical correction of injustice done to a section of the society for ages. Fine, but it was exclusively meant for SC and ST. The vote-hungry, selfish Congress extended it to many other castes and finally to the minorities! The reservation had no rationale in non-Hindu religions, but who cares?

After that came a card called Aadhar. Touted as the one-point solution to all ills, the Congress government came out with a white elephant whose real intention was giving legitimacy to illegal migrants (SC has said so). To give it legitimacy, the government arm-twisted all institutions to insist on the card.

A nail in the dying Indian identity came recently in silent manner. The AP government ‘compensated’ for ‘wrong confinement’ of Muslim men caught

blame for it? Seven out of 10 cases have government as the respondent.

LATEST

on charge of the Mecca Masjid blasts! If this logic is extended, millions of under-trials and people in custody ought to be compensated. Mercifully, the AP High Court has set it aside and asked the government to recover the money. But, I am sure the government will go to the higher court with an appeal.

ANOTHER

GAME

The Congress party that has

ruled almost all of 65 years now blames the judiciary for all ills.

The party comes out with atrocious moves like the latest one of ordinance to allow criminals to continue in Parliament and Assembly. If it fails, well, it can tell its vote bank, it tried only, the ‘villain’ (court) does not allow it.

But you give us a majority and we will clip its (court) wings and do it. Today, the judiciary is running the government, yes, but who’s to

PLOYS

It is in this scenario, I am tempted to take a view of some happenings in the recent days. One is the possible resignation of the AP Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and forming a regional party to reap Seemandhra votes.

It remains a hypothetical question today but may prove true tomorrow. The tempting conclusion is that the party wants to put up a trusted man to reap the votes of an angry populace and after the elections, deliver it to the parent party. To know the veracity of this charge we must wait for about 9 months. Well, we must wait for 9 months for a human baby, must not we?

Same it seems to me is the case with Rahul Gandhi who yesterday surprised all by turning against the ordinance supporting criminals in politics. I wonder if it is not another ploy of the Congress satraps to put him in the bright light vis-as-vis Narendra Modi because his image has been of a dull boy despite years of dressing up. If it was not orchestrated, pray, will anybody tell me how come he was not aware of the ordinance and did not nip it as a bud? He only had to say no when the ordinance was hurriedly being prepared to scrap it.

Making it a public show and asking him to mouth the ‘No’ is too much of an incidental happening.

Global edits The New York Times

Is Obamacare working?

I

t's not perfect. A single-payer system is preferable, or at least one in which people had an option to buy into Medicare. And I'm sure there will be some glitches as the federal government rolls out new insurance markets in 36 states starting next week.

Anything this large and ambitious will need fine-tuning. That was the case with Social Security after it was introduced in 1935, and Medicare in 1965.

But the Affordable Care Act — now the law of the land — is a step in the right direction. Doing nothing wasn't an option: ours is the most expensive and complex health care system in the world that delivers poorer results and leaves a larger portion of the population without care than that of any other advanced nation. One benefit already apparent even before the law implemented: health care cost increases are beginning to slow in anticipation of it.

That means savings for almost every American already insured.

We'll learn a lot more in coming months and years. And as with Social Security and Medicare, what needs fixing can be fixed. If it turns out we don't like it at all, we can repeal it —

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION THIS WEEK PROVIDED THE FIRST DETAILED LOOK AT PREMIUMS TO BE CHARGED TO CONSUMERS IN FEDERALLY RUN HEALTH INSURANCE MARKETS, ESTABLISHED UNDER THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT. the same way we occasionally repeal other laws, through an orderly process of legislating.

But some Republicans want to repeal the law before we even try it, threatening to shut down the government and not pay the nation's debts if the rest of us don't go along.

They don't even want to try. And why are they threatening to hold the whole government hostage if they don't get their way? They must fear that once fully implemented, the law will prove immensely popular, as did Social Security and Medicare. Republicans had bitterly opposed both of these acts of Congress as well. Fortunately for the rest of us, they didn't try to gut them before they were implemented.

10

BUSINESS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

US stocks fall

British pilots’ sleep issues

Romania gets $2.7bn loan

NEW YORK CITY: US stocks closed a

LONDON: More than half of Britain’s

WASHINGTON: The International

downcast week on a sour note, declining amid squabbling over a budget bill to avert a partial US government shutdown. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 70.06 points (0.46 per cent) at 15,258.24. The broad-based S&P 500 lost 6.92 (0.41 per cent) at 1,691.75, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 5.83 (0.15 per cent).

airline pilots have fallen asleep in the cockpit and a third have woken up to find their co-pilot asleep, according to a new survey. The poll of 500 pilots commissioned by the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) also found that 43 per cent believed tiredness had compromised their ability to fly a plane at least once a month.

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama warned his opponents in Congress Friday that he would not back down in the face of their threat to shut down the government over a budget dispute.

“My message to Congress is this. Do not shut down the government, do not shut down the economy, pass a budget on time, pay our bills on time,” Obama said.

The standoff on Capitol Hill is showing no signs of being averted before an October 1 deadline, and Obama warned Republicans in the House of Representatives that they faced a choice.

“Over the next three days, House Republicans will have to decide whether to join the Senate and keep the government open or shut it down because they can’t get their way on an issue that has nothing to do with the deficit,” he said.

Republicans oppose backing an operating plan for the government unless Obama agrees to delay or defund his signature health care reform law, a step the president has flatly refused to take.

“On Tuesday,

about 40 million more Americans will be able to finally buy quality, affordable health care just like anybody else,” Obama said.

“Those marketplaces will be open for business on Tuesday. No matter what, even if there’s a government shutdown. That’s a done deal.”

Congress will need to raise the nation’s legal borrowing limit by October 17, according to the US Treasury, or the United States would default on its debts for the first time in history.

The president warned that failure to do so would have consequences that would reach even further than the shutdown of federal agencies, and would hurt the global economy.

“It would effectively be an economic shutdown with impacts not just here, but around the world,” Obama said.

“It would have a profound destabilizing effect on the entire economy. On the world economy. Because America is the bedrock of world investment,” he added.

“The dollar is the reserve currency. The debt that is issued by the Treasury is the foundation for our capital mar-

Monetary Fund approved a standby loan of nearly two billion euros ($2.7 billion) to match a backup loan of the same size requested from the European Union. The IMF loan is a two-year standby arrangement for 1.98 billion euros, to give the government space to continue reforms.

kets. That’s why you don’t fool with it.”

If the Republican-led House and the Senate, ruled

by Obama’s fellow Democrats, fail to reach an agreement by Monday night, hundreds of thousands of federal workers will not get paid to work on Tuesday.

“If Republicans have specific ideas on how to genuinely improve the law rather than gut it, rather than delay it, rather than repeal it, I’m happy to work with them on that, through the normal democratic processes,” Obama said in reference to the health care law.

AFP

Obama warns Congress as shutdown looms The standoff on Capitol Hill is showing no signs of being averted before an October 1 deadline, and Obama warned Republicans in the House of Representatives that they faced a choice.

Detroit offered $300mn in aid The aid includes nearly $150 million in public and private funds.

WASHINGTON: The White House offered more than $300 million in aid and support to bankrupt Detroit on Friday, as the crumbling, bankrupt Midwestern city struggles to survive.

The aid includes nearly $150 million in public and private funds to help the former US auto manufacturing hub tear down blighted properties and revitalize neighborhoods hard hit by the hollowing of the Detroit economy.

It also includes $30 million in

support for police, firefighters and other public safety programs, addressing the breakdown in policing the city after the city government has had to cut back staffing.

“The Obama administration is dedicated to ensuring that the federal government remains an active partner in bringing jobs back into the City, and turning the people of Detroit’s vision of the future into a reality,” the White House said in a statement.

Some $140 million are due to be deployed to improve the poor-

ly maintained transportation systems for residents of the city and region.

The city filed for bankruptcy in July, saddled with $18 billion in debt and a tax base depleted by decades of population loss and urban blight.

It was the largest US city to declare bankruptcy, and the move set off shockwaves even though decades of fiscal mismanagement had made it foreseeable.

The city’s emergency worker force has been trimmed, street-

lights are out or turned off to save power, and some 78,000 buildings and structures are vacant, giving rise to recent reports of thousands of stray

dogs menacing the city.

Detroit has seen its population shrink by more than half, from 1.8 million people in 1950 to AFP 700,000 today.

11

FOCUS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

THE ‘VILLAGE’

A court order last week that closed dozens of popular restaurants has thrown a spotlight on the rapid rise of a Hauz Khas Village in New Delhi that is a microcosm of India’s anarchic, unsafe and corruption-riddled urban development.

Cause for worry

Cause for worry

I

T

ndian cities are expanding exponentially as the still largely agricultural economy grows and farming families leave ancestral lands in the countryside in search of jobs and better education in urban areas.

Annie Banerji

feedback@postnoon.com

NEW DELHI: Hauz Khas Village in New Delhi is to the Indian capital what Brooklyn is to New York City or Shoreditch is to London — a bustling area of art galleries, bars, shops and 20-something hipsters.

But a court order last week that closed dozens of popular restaurants has thrown a spotlight on the rapid rise of a zone that is a microcosm of India’s anarchic, unsafe and corrup-

tion-riddled urban development.

The restaurants were closed for five days by the National Green Tribunal, a government environment court, which found that 34 restaurants had failed to obtain emissions permits or build waste water treatment facilities.

“This problem had been festering for the past couple of months, but nobody took it seriously and now it has backfired,” said Virat Chhabra, marketing manager of multi-cuisine restaurant Mia Bella.

“When push came to shove, the authorities forced us to shut down,” said Chhabra, adding that the restaurant faced a loss of nearly 350,000 rupees ($5,600) over the weekend, when it usually swarms with middle-class professionals and expats.

The tribunal allowed Mia Bella along with 25 of the 34 shuttered eateries to re-open on Wednesday, provided they addressed the pollution concerns.

Hauz Khas Village houses about 75 art galleries, designer boutiques, bistros and bars, many competing for views atop colourful concrete buildings that overlook the ruins of a nearby 13th-century tomb built next to a lake.

The “Village” has expanded vertically at break-neck speed, with building owners adding floors for new bars and restaurants. In the narrow alleys at ground level, power cables dangle overhead while giant back-up generators hum in the background.

“This country works on money. If you have the cash or know the right guys, then your work is sorted. If not, then you toil for months, even years,” the owner of one of the restaurants told AFP on the condition of anonymity.

This attitude has led to fears that fire and building regulations are routinely flouted in the rush to add new premises in the area, a bohemian alternative to the five-star hotels and shopping malls of the capital.

Many restauranteurs believe last week’s court action was because they failed to line the pockets of local officials adequately. Several admitted to paying nearly 10 million rupees ($160,000) to obtain their licences when starting out.

Monthly they slip up to 10,000 rupees ($160) to the police, or hand over crates of beer, to keep the loud music blaring late at night -- a violation of a Supreme Court order that prohibits loud music between 10:00

pm and 6:00 am.

Pankaj Sharma, the activist who filed complaints against the restaurants in court, said tackling the waste problem was just the tip of the iceberg.

Concerns remain about restaurants illegally drawing groundwater from the area, the overcrowded parking, as well as air and noise pollution caused by dieselpowered generators.

“The place is a complete death trap. God forbid if ever a fire breaks out, there will be a lot of chaos,” Sharma told AFP. “The village went from a cultural hub to an eating hub and that would have been all right had these guys been able to sustain the place.”

As in other business sectors, entrepreneurs com-

he UN’s 2011 World Urbanization Prospects report predicts India’s urban population will grow 28 percent from its current level of 377 million to 483 million by 2020. By 2030, it will have grown 60 per cent to 606 million.

plain they face a choice between paying bribes to secure the licences they need, or face a frustrating wait of months.

Emissions and wastewater permits are required along with licences for health, food safety, fire safety, pollution control, music and a “no objection certificate” from police.

“The intricate maze of multiple windows imposes a high and avoidable cost of compliance that benefits neither the industry nor the public,” Samir Kuckreja, president of the National Restaurant Association of India, told AFP in an email.

“In fact, the delays in licence/project approvals alone take as much time as building out the whole facilAFP ity.”

PICK YOUR

@

Across Stores

ities Twin C

12

TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Samsung appeases EU

Petrobras makes new find RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil’s oil giant

BlackBerry loses $965mn

BRUSSELS: Samsung has answered

Petrobras announced a new crude find off the country’s northeastern coast.

The state-run company’s president Graca Foster did not provide detailed production estimates, saying only that the discovery was “relevant.” The find was located in the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the coast.

MONTREAL: Canadian tech pioneer

accusations that the company abused its dominant market position by taking out unfair injunctions against Apple. In the fight between the giants over the smartphone and tablet market, the Commission believes legal manoeuvres launched by Samsung would unfairly prevent Apple from access to crucial shared patents.

BlackBerry, which earlier this week agreed to a $4.7 billion buyout, said Friday that it lost $965 million in the second quarter. The company, formerly a leader in mobile phone technology, has been squeezed by rivals Android and Apple, steadily losing market share, a trend which continues according to its latest earnings report.

Curiosity finds ‘abundant’ water in Martian soil

WASHINGTON: The first scoop

of soil analysed by the Curiosity rover reveals that fine materials on the Martian surface may contain “abundant” water, Xinhua reported Thursday citing US researchers.

Curiosity touched down Mars last August and began its 100-day mission of collecting and analysing samples of all kinds in Gale crater, which is near the Martian equator, with its high-tech lasers and scoops.

In this study, researchers from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute used the rover’s scoop to collect dust, dirt and finely grained soil from a sandy patch known as “Rocknest”.

The researchers then fed portions of the fifth scoop into an instrument onboard Curiosity called the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) to heat them to 835 degrees Celsius.

“One of the most exciting results from this very first solid sample ingested by Curiosity is the high percentage of water in the soil,” said lead author Laurie Leshin, dean of science at the institute.

“About two percent of the soil on the surface of Mars is made up of water, which is a great resource, and interesting scientifically,” Leshin said.

CURIOSITY TOUCHED DOWN MARS LAST AUGUST AND BEGAN ITS 100-DAY MISSION OF COLLECTING AND ANALYSING SAMPLES. The sample also released significant carbon dioxide, oxygen, and sulfur compounds when heated, the researchers reported in the journal Science.

Baking the sample also revealed a compound containing chlorine and oxygen, likely chlorate or perchlorate, previously known only from high-latitude locations on Mars. This finding at Curiosity’s equatorial site suggests more global distribution, the researchers said.

In addition to determining the amount of the major gases released, SAM also analysed ratios of isotopes of hydrogen and carbon in the released water and carbon dioxide. Isotopes are variants of the same chemical element with different numbers of neutrons, and therefore different atomic weights.

The analysis found that the ratio of isotopes in the soil is similar to that found in the

atmosphere analysed earlier by Curiosity, indicating that the surface soil has interacted heavily with the atmosphere.

“The isotopic ratios, including hydrogen-to-deuterium ratios and carbon isotopes, tend to support the idea that as the dust is moving around the planet, it’s reacting with some of the gases from the atmosphere,” Leshin said.

The results shed light on the composition of the planet’s surface, while offering direction for future research, said Leshin.

“Mars has kind of a global layer, a layer of surface soil that has been mixed and distributed by frequent dust storms. So a scoop of this stuff is basically a microscopic Mars rock collection,” said Leshin.

“If you mix many grains of it together, you probably have an accurate picture of typical martian crust. By learning about it in any one place, you’re learning about the entire planet.”

These results have implications for future Mars explorers.

“We now know there should be abundant, easily accessible water on Mars,” said Leshin.

“When we send people, they could scoop up the soil anywhere on the surface, heat it just IANS a bit, and obtain water.”

Olympus pays US investors $2.6mn over accounting scandal TOKYO: Japanese camera giant Olympus said Friday it has agreed to pay $2.6 million to settle a US investor lawsuit stemming from a huge accounting scandal that hammered its shares. The claim was filed two years ago by an investor who claimed that a loss cover-up by Olympus executives was responsible for its plunging stock price.

The scandal also battered the country’s corporate governance image, and sparked probes by regulators in Japan, Britain and the United States.

Olympus stock dived in the wake of the scandal, but is now about 25 percent higher than before the loss cover-up was exposed. The firm’s Tokyo-listed shares closed 1.60 percent lower to 3,060 yen on Thursday.

The US investors who sued the company bought American Depositary Receipts, which hold shares in a foreign company but are priced in US dollars.

Olympus said Friday it was embroiled in about 20 other lawsuits in Japan and overseas that had yet to be settled.

The company reportedly agreed to pay its whistleblowing chief Michael Woodford 10 million pounds ($16 million) in a wrongful-dismissal lawsuit.

Woodford, the company’s first foreign leader, exposed the scheme in late 2011 after he was sacked for questioning the firm’s past conduct.

Earlier this month, Britain’s Serious Fraud Office said it would prosecute Olympus and a subsidiary over the huge loss cover-up scandal.

In July, a Japanese court handed suspended jail sentences to three former Olympus executives for engineering the scheme to hide about $1.7 billion in losses that had accumulated since the 1990s by using outsized consulting fees and buying unrelated companies.

The firm has also been slapped with millions of dollars in penalties.

Olympus has since undergone a major overhaul that included cutting about seven per cent of its workforce and forging a capital tie-up with electronics giant Sony, which is seeking to tap the lucrative medical equipment market.

Although better known as a camera maker, Olympus is a world leader in medical endoAFP scopes.

13

ANIMAL KINGDOM SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

PET NEWS Cat shopping

A

Python cremation

ccording to the Canadian Amazon Website, Saskatchewan pet owners are leading online sales of pet goods in Canada. Pet owners in Regina also bought the most cat goods including laser toys and bedding.

A

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Pampered pets

public memorial will be held at North Vancouver’s pet crematorium in honour of a Surrey man’s pet python. Bigfoot, the python was 4.5 metres long and weighed 54 kilograms.

A

pets have evolved into family members - a trend market researchers refer to as humanization - it is hardly surprising that people want to take them along when they travel and more and more hotels are happy to oblige.

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

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

YOU DIRTY RAT!

The rats, Derrick, Thomson and Thompson, Magnum and Poirot, all named after fictional detectives, are being groomed to help police not only keep the streets clean but also save time and money.

NICOLAS DELAUNAY

ROTTERDAM: The latest species to join Dutch police is hard at work behind the blackedout windows of a building in Rotterdam: rats learning to sniff out crime and a new forensic future.

Derrick, Thomson and Thompson, Magnum and Poirot, all named after fictional detectives, are being groomed to help police not only keep the streets clean but also save time and money.

“As far as we know we’re the first in the world to train rats to be used in police investigations,” said Mark Wiebes, who heads the Dutch police “innovation” centre.

Each rat costs just 10 euros (around $13) and can, in theory, be taught to identify any odour, from drugs to gunpowder, while a sniffer dog costs tens of thousands of euros to buy and train.

A police dog’s training also takes around eight months, although once completed the dog’s abilities are far greater than a rat’s.

The rats have been living in a cage inside a small prefab building since late 2011, alongside more grandiose buildings and grounds where police dogs and horses are trained.

The rats learn quickly in the darkness the nocturnal rodents prefer.

“They need barely 10 to 15 days to learn to distinguish a certain smell,” the policewoman in charge of the project, Monique Hamerslag, told AFP, lifting Derrick out of his large cage and into a smaller one where he will be put to work.

“The more boring a rat’s life is, the better” it is at detective work, said Hamerslag, who also discovered that male rats are better at the job than female rats.

Rather shy animals Four small metal tea diffusers are tied to the side of the cage, one of which contains gunpowder traces. It takes Derrick, a largish brown-black rat, two seconds to point it out with his

Dutch police inspector Monique Hamerslag holds a rat in the premises of the Dutch police in Rotterdam. Since the end of 2011, the Dutch police trains rats to recognise the smell of gunpowder and drugs, rats being much cheaper than dogs, traditionally assigned to these tasks.

AFP/ NICOLAS DELAUNAY whiskered snout.

He is rewarded with a ‘click’ sound and a sunflower seed to nibble on.

Detecting gunpowder traces is a particularly useful ability to have when there are several suspects after a shooting.

Each laboratory test to identify traces of gunpowder is expensive and takes up to two hours, more for multiple suspects.

And while getting fingered by a rat cannot be used in court, it gives forensics a clue as to which clothing they should test first.

TESTS ON THE RAT DETECTIVES’ VIABILITY ARE PROMISING. WIEBES HOPES THEY CAN START SNIFFING OUT REAL CRIME BY EARLY NEXT YEAR. Dutch police can only hold someone without evidence for a few hours, so the rats can help prevent a guilty suspect being released.

Hamerslag developed the

idea in her thesis while studying to join the police, drawing inspiration from an aid group that used rats to sniff out anti-personnel mines in Tanzania.

Tests on the rat detectives’ viability are promising. Wiebes hopes they can start sniffing out real crime by early next year, although he admits that date may be “optimistic”.

The major problem with rats is their shyness. They are reluctant to be placed in new situations, such as crime scenes where they might be called upon to find a body in a strange building or drugs in a shipping con-

tainer.

“It’s best to bring the smell to the rats and not the other way round,” said Hamerslag. “That means we have to take samples and bring them to where the rats live.”

Police rats will never replace police dogs, she said, but they have different and complimentary skill sets.

“A dog is a natural predator, and so is not afraid to explore an unfamiliar place,” said Wiebes.

“On the other hand a dog couldn’t live like a rat, spending their whole time in a small enclosed space, he’d get bored.”

14

BOOKS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

SHORT READS Title: Robot Dreams Author: Sara Varon Publisher: Macmillan This moving and charming graphic novel which centers around a dog and a robot. It shows us in poignant detail how powerful and fragile relationships can be. After a Labour Day jaunt to the beach leaves the robot rusted and the dog must return alone to the life they shared.

Title: My Kind of Girl Author: Buddhadeva Bose Publisher: Hesperus Press Four middle-aged men, strangers to one another, wait patiently at Tundla station in Uttar Pradesh. Struck by the bliss and obliviousness of a passing young couple, they while away the long December’s night by telling of the secret loves of their own pasts.

Title: The Moonlight Bride Author: Buchi Emecheta Publisher: Masquerade Born of Ibo parents in Nigeria, Buchi Emecheta is widely known for her multi-layered stories of black women struggling to maintain their identity and construct viable lives for themselves and their families. She writes, according to the New York Times, “with subtlety and power.”

Title: The Pelcari Project Author: Rodrigo Rey Rosa Publisher: Cadmus Editions A simple country doctor stumbles onto the hideous medical experiments being forcibly carried out on political prisoners at a secret jungle prison camp. thus begins The Pelcari Project with a glimpse into the darkest side of the human condition.

By George! He’s got it

The Fred W Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington was inaugurated in a ceremony at his Mount Vernon estate some 25 kilometers from the US capital.

ALEXANDRIA: George

In addition to the first president, the busts of five other figures from his time, including Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, are on display in the reading room facing a bay window overlooking the garden.

Rare books and manuscripts are kept in small, adjacent rooms without windows.

The highlight of the collection is a copy of the Acts of Congress and the US Constitution annotated by Washington himself.

Purchased at auction last year for $9.8 million was the most expensive American volume ever bought under the hammer.

Washington’s vast book collection included encyclopedias, poetry and agriculture volumes, comedies and plays.

“He particularly liked agricultural books and books on politics and war, books he used to improve himself,” library director Douglas Bradburn told AFP. “He didn’t have a formal education, he was a man of action.”

The library, which cost $106.4 million, was funded by private donations. In addition to preserving the archived materials, the facility will also make them available to researchers and organize conferences and seminars.

Washington, the first president of the United States, was finally honored with a library Friday, more than 200 years after the end of his tenure.

The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington was inaugurated in a ceremony at his Mount Vernon estate some 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the US capital.

The library and research center houses 103 of some 1,200 titles that belonged to Washington, in addition to 2,000 publications from the era, 6,000 historical manuscripts and some 12,000 other works, newspapers, and films pertaining to the former president.

It’s an expansive body of literature that would likely have impressed Washington, who received no formal education beyond about the age 15 and relied heavily on books to guide him in his academic pursuits thereafter.

The three-story building, spread across 43,000 feet (4,000 meters) sports neo-classical architecture in light-colored stone and sits in the middle of a park just steps from the historic Mount Vernon mansion where George Washington lived and died.

WARSAW: The daughter of Rene Goscinny on Wednesday unveiled a bronze bust of the late French co-creator of hyper popular comic book Asterix in his ancestral Warsaw.

“Papa, allow me to address you from this Poland that you never saw. I’m sure you’re not far away,” Anne Goscinny said at the ceremony alongside the bust bearing her father’s characteristic dimples and smile.

The statue stands in the courtyard of the Polish capital’s sole French school, which bears his name. Its students crowded around the bust flashing grins and holding up his books.

Writer Goscinny and illustrator Albert Uderzo created the adventures of Asterix, a diminu-

Goscinny immortalised tive moustachioed warrior battling the Roman occupation of his native Gaul, or ancient France.

The humourous pun-filled series is brimming with fistfights, drunken arguments, heroic rescues and romantic interludes.

After Goscinny’s death in 1977 at age 51, Uderzo carried on alone. The ongoing series has been translated into over 100 languages, with more than 350 million copies sold.

“The name Goscinny means ‘hospitable’, ‘welcoming’ in Polish. This reference happily sheds light on this endearing per-

son,” French ambassador to Warsaw Pierre Buhler said at the ceremony.

Goscinny was born in Paris to Jewish parents from Warsaw who emigrated in the 1920s, escaping the fate of relatives killed in the Holocaust.

Polish publisher Znak spearheaded the bust initiative, timing the unveiling with a Polish release of Anne Goscinny’s memoirs of her father.

It also released a Polish audiobook and e-book versions of Little Nicholas, another series written by Goscinny, who also did the text for the Lucky Luke cowboy comic strip.

The 35th book in the Asterix series, “Asterix and the Picts”, hits bookstores on October 24.

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BOOKS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Torn cloak, blunt dagger This episode of ‘Liz’ Carlyle’s cloak-and-dagger outing is a tepid attempt at squeezing the last few drops of juice from an established spy hero.

Name The Geneva Trap Author Stella Rimington Pages 328 Publisher Bloomsbury India Arun Koshy

S

witzerland is a neutral country, and that has allowed its cities to be the hub of international activities. Geneva, a hub for diplomatic personnel, is therefore, of great interest to intelligence agencies.

However, the seemingly calm neighbourhood becomes active when a senior Russian intelligence officer says he wants to initiate contact with ‘Lees Carlyle’ and no one else.

Unknown to the rest, they have a connection from the past.

Elizabeth Carlyle is surprised when he says that a topsecret drone project jointly operated by the US and the UK has been compromised. When the Russian is spirited away by his own people after their second rendezvous, it becomes clear that there is something worth worrying.

And soon their fears come true at a drone field testing location in an Arab country. A drone snaps its controls and plummets to a populated area. It is now up to Carlyle and her partners to stop further damage.

This episode of ‘Liz’ Carlyle’s cloak-and-dagger out-

ing is a tepid attempt at squeezing last few drops of juice from an established spy hero. The attempt to say that ‘world is in great danger’ falls flat on its face. What could have been thrilling spy novel sounds like a sub-chapter from a history book.

The attempt of the author to add a variety of elements into the plot has resulted in a loose narrative and mid-way you find there is no horse before the cart.

An example would be the inclusion of Carlyle’s mother’s partner’s family problem. Such unnecessary fillers, possibly a go at ‘humanising’ the spy at

her latest outing, have only served the purpose of diverting one’s attention from a lukewarm plot.

The thread of the story is convoluted, characters are offthe-shelf stereotypes and the predictable end is glaringly obvious from one-third of the way. In the effort to migrate from the action-packed genre to a high-tech one, The Geneva Trap, falls between the boats.

Worst of all are the characters. Despite playing their parts in the plot, not even one is convincing enough in showing their involvement – be it the CIA station chief or the anar-

chist. It is a struggle to retain your attention due to the dull drone of the narrative.

Rimington’s latest book is a wake-up call for all authors who are trying to milk the success of earlier books by conjuring a hollow sequel.

In the dark abyss, however, there is a ray of light. The chapters have been kept (mercifully) short and keep you guessing.

The author has also wisely decided to spare the reader from action overkill in accordance with the nature of the story’s backdrop.

The Geneva Trap disappoints as an average read.

WHAT’S SELLING Walden best in fiction

Walden best in non-fiction

New York Times best in fiction

New York Times best in non-fiction

n Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

n Daily Inspiration

by Robin Sharma

n W is for Wasted

by Sue Grafton

n Si-cology 1 by Si Robertson with Mark Schlabach

n The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

n Never Go Back by Lee Child

n Change Your Thoughts by Dr. Wayne W Dyer

n The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

n Egonomics by David Marcum

n The Mayan Secrets by Clive Cussler and Thomas Perry

n Almost Single

by Advaita Kala n Girl Named Indie by Kavita Daswani n Critical by Robin Cook n Last Testament by Sam Bourne

n Wikinomics by Don Tapscott

n Inferno by Dan Brown

n Still Foolin’ ‘Em

by Billy Crystal n The Liberty Amendments by Mark R Levin n Empty Mansions

by Bill Dedman n Zealot by Reza Aslan

18

WOMEN SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

WEBSITES OF THE WEEK Savvy Ladies: It is a 501-C3 non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering women through financial education.

Savvy Ladies teaches women about personal finances in an authentic way.

Hello Ladies: It is a news information source for smart, busy women. Register yourself to talk to other women about work, politics, parenting, news, or shoes.

Do checkit out this fun website!

SRINIVAS SETTY

The Juggle: The Juggle is a blog site which examines the innumerable choices that people have to make while juggling their work as well as their family.

Interesting read!

THEATRE IS MY BREAD AND BUTTER

Actress Achint Kaur, who was in town as part of a play The Big Fat City, spoke to Postnoon about her role in the play, her passions, her views on issues women face today and much more.

Arun Yellamaty arunyellamaty@postnoon.com

S

peaking about the play, Achint Kaur’s, says, we are very excited to come to the city. I used to come to the city regularly when my ex-husband used to work here. I am also very excited about the play, as we have been staging this at various cities and have been getting a great response. We just hope people appreciate and like the play.”

She adds, “the play is all about people coming from different places and settling in Mumbai.

My role is about this actress who is used to a certain lifestyle and wants to maintain it. The play also talks about how many come with big dreams and are mugged up in the rush of the city.”

About working with Mahesh Dattani, she says, “I have worked with him before too, this is my second play with him. Working with mahesh is always fun, We have a very special bond and extremely fond of him. He is very professional and his written work is brilliant.”

When asked whether she has taken a break from television, she says, “I am actually busy with theatre. I have also been playing few characters in films that are keeping me busy. After 30-35 projects I thought of taking little break from television. I would surely go back but theatre is my bread and butter. “ The actress is also set to play an important role in Karan Johar’s 2 States. The film, which

THE ACTRESS IS ALSO SET TO STAR IN KARAN JOHAR’S 2 STATES. THE FILM, WHICH IS BASED ON CHETAN BHAGAT’S 2 STATES: THE STORY OF MY MARRIAGE. is based on Chetan Bhagat’s 2 States: The Story Of My Marriage, will be directed by Abhishek Varman. about the role she says, “I play an important role, that of a punjabi lady, who has a mind of her own and is extremely dominating.”

Talking about the issues the women are facing in India, she says, “These issues that have cropped up against women are nothing new but have always been a part of our society.

“I remember I used to live in a very small town, as a kid we used to be told to be home by 6pm. When I was eighteen,

I am actually busy with theatre. I have also been playing a few characters in films that are keeping me busy. I thought of taking a little break from television.

Achint Kaur, Actor

roaming out in the afternoon wasn’t safe. Things have probably gotten worse. But a lot of these women safety issues are being talked about and taken a keen interest in. The social network, Facebook and Twitter have given a platform for people to be opinionated and various issues is creating awareness.

Now at least someone will do something about these issues.”

Achint when she is not acting is busy cooking, traveling, likes to do yoga, I have been working for various films, life has keeping her busy and looks like she has been having a blast.

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SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

VIBRANT CITY 1

2

6

7

Akritti Elite celebrated Dandia Doom at the Park Hotel. The event was organised

by Sashinehata.

3

LOST AND FOUND

The launch of Lost Society, the City's latest cocktail bar and lounge at Jubilee Hills was a glittering affair.

1 Neelam

4 Madhavi

2 Sunita

5 Alka

7 Radhika 8 Anuradha

3 Reena

6 Kosha

9 Sushila

4

5

8

9

20

RELATIONSHIPS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

I AM ALL EARS

I

am 20 and have been with my boyfriend for 3 months. He is 21. He had warned me that he had a high sex drive, which freaked me out because he keeps asking me to please him in bed using new ways. He always wants me to dress dirty for him.

Is this normal? I don’t want to be made a fool of by him.

There will always be that one guy at school or college or at a bar that seems to be getting all the attention from women even though he is rude, and arrogant. Still women flock to him. Let’s find out why

B

urlesque costumes are the epitome of sexy -think Dita Von Teese and lingerie; however a few centuries ago, the outfits had a slightly different purpose. According to the Museum of Sex, merkins (the bottom half of burlesque costumes) were originally created as “public wigs” for 15th century prostitutes.

Source: www.sheknows.com

Dear freaked out girlfriend Your boyfriend may simply want to experiment.

There is nothing wrong in having a high sex drive.

In fact, it is healthy. If you are uncomfortable in dressing up in a certain way or feel uncomfortable doing certain things, then he needs to take your permission first. He should make you a part of these couple activities. I think he is just looking to have fun and there is nothing you need to be scared about. Just talk to him.

THE BAD BOY SYNDROME

Roshni Donny Chandy feedback@postnoon.com

T

he term “Bad boys” when used generally makes us think of Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. The term “falling in love with a bad boy” makes us think of John Travolta of Grease. A very hunky looking Smith and a hip swinging John!

In our lives, at some point, we have all dated a bad boy.

Either to spite Dad, or to make an ex jealous or just for the experience, dating a bad boy is definitely on every woman’s “To Do” list. But what draws us to them?

Let’s start with the hair.

Majority of these guys look as thou they have never seen the inside of a barber shop let alone a salon. One actually wonders whether the long hair is to aid in style or to help his woman use it as reins! It is for sure, bald bad boys are definitely a minority. Next on our list is the clothing style. Due to their assumed rebellious nature they have a clothing style exactly opposite to what the current trends are. If the style is to wear baggy pants, they wear the skinniest of jeans.

But the topping on the ice cream will always be the leather jacket. The leather jacket acts like a magic cloak.

No matter how much of a simpleton he may look like, maybe even wearing just a vest, but as soon as he puts on the leather jacket he becomes a forbidden fruit. A taunting apple in the Garden of Eden.

Next on the list is the “Mysterious” effect, there is some mystery in the air when the “bad boy” approaches. It’s as though there is an unspoken connection, an alarm that sounds off all throughout the body when he is in the vicini-

ty. The effect doubles if there are any tattoos or body piercings on him.

All in all there are a lot of factors that draw us towards them not just one that can be narrowed down to.

But after the bad boy phase is done, that’s when the perfect guy phase comes in.

We feel experienced and conclude what we really want in a guy.

Although they are some women who stick on to their

NO MATTER HOW MUCH OF A SIMPLETON HE MAY LOOK LIKE, MAYBE EVEN WEARING JUST A VEST, BUT AS SOON AS HE PUTS ON THE LEATHER JACKET HE BECOMES A FORBIDDEN FRUIT.

bad boy, get married to him and then immediately change him into her perfect guy.

In conclusion, there isn’t a barrier that separates the good guys from the bad; it’s our perspective that changes. It’s our experience and maturity that counts and makes our judgment.

So when you find yourself drawn towards a bad boy, or are in a relationship with one, ask yourself: Why is he a bad boy?

21

CINEMA SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Ramayya Vasthavayya shoot ends

J

r. NTR has finally completed the shoot of Ramayya Vasthavayya. The movie is all set to release worldwide on October 10 as of now. The makers are planning to have a massive release to take advantage of the festive season. SS Thaman has composed the music for the film.

According to director Harish Shankar the film is going to be a blockbuster. Samantha and Sruthi Haasan are paired opposite NTR in the film. This film is produced by Dil Raju under Sri Venkateswara Creations.

A

ctress Kajal Agarwal was in the news for all the wrong reasons. Earlier, there had been reports that Kajal had apparently missed attending a fashion show at the very last minute which had the organisers fuming at her for her unprofessional behaviour. However, Kajal said that the allegations were false and it’s all rumours.

According to Kajal, when the organisers asked her to sport JJ Valya’s collection, she refused as she had other commitments.

Putting an end to the controversy, Designer JJ Valya himself condemned the news and said that everything was good between them.

Satya 2 will release on October 25

D

irector Ram Gopal Varma is all set to release Satya 2, simultaneously in three languages — Telugu, Tamil and Hindi — on October 25. The Telugu version of the audio was launched recently. Sharwanand plays the lead in the Telugu version and Anaika is making her

debut in all three languages.

This movie is a crime thriller.

The Telugu version of the movie is produced by Sumanth Kumar Reddy. Meanwhile, RGV is arranging a press meet on the 30th of this month to explain the real truth behind the making of Satya 2.

Kajal denies ‘unprofessional’ rumours

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CINEMA SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

13th ITA awards Celebrities capture to be held Oct 23 stories on mobile phone T I n a unique collaboration with Nokia India, designer JJ Valaya, director Imtiaz Ali and celebrity chef Vikas Khanna used the 41 megapixel camera of Nokia Lumia 1020 to capture unique stories in the form of photographs.

The photographs taken by the three celebrities were displayed at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. Khanna captured the vibrant community of Mumbai. His imagery was on the theme - the invisible thread, based on the Chinese philosophy of the invisible red thread, according to which everything and every moment in time and every frame is connected.

“As a chef, detailing is a critical aspect of presenting a good

dish. Likewise, a good image is the one which has details captured in it, and that’s exactly what stands out about the camera on the Lumia 1020,” Khanna said in a statement.

Ali, who used the device to capture the spirit and soul of Mumbai, said: “The city has moods beyond the obvious. I pushed the Nokia Lumia 1020

and the camera pushed me to get images of the inner story of Bombay.”

Valaya’s theme was the maker, the muse and as the title indicates, his muse for the shoot were the talented craftsmen who create his beautiful apparel.

“I am constantly traveling, courtesy my profession. I constantly notice compositions around me which I want to capture but have always shied from because of my dislike of carrying two devices - a camera and a phone,” he said.

“Nokia just took care of my wish! The resolution and the depth of the colours are impressive on the Nokia Lumia 1020 and the level of detail I captured using this device is quite simply IANS phenomenal,” he said.

KAREENA TOOK ON FROM WHERE I LEFT OFF: KARISMA KAPOOR

K

arisma Kapoor feels that the gap created by her exit from the movie industry has been more than filled up by her sister Kareena. She also expresses joy over carrying forward their family’s acting tradition along with their cousin Ranbir.

“I don’t regret my decision. I think it is a great graduation for me. Kareena took the place where I left off, if I can say so. Now my cousin (Ranbir) is also doing so well. I am glad that the tradition is continuing,” Karisma, who quit the industry in 2003 after marriage, said in an interview.

Her comeback film was 2012 release Dangerous Ishhq, which got a lukewarm response at the box office. Even though she is back under the arc lights, she still puts her children before everything else.

“Earlier, it was a conscious decision for me not to work. I was happy to be away and I wanted to be with my children during their formative years. I do step out now, but my first priority is my kids. This is how it will always be for me,” said Karisma, who also acted in non-commercial films like Fiza and Zubeidaa.

Asked about her children’s response to her star status, she says her daughter treats her like a regular mother.

“My daughter is the most normal towards me. For her, I am just her mom. I am just a regular mom and the actor comes after that. If she likes something that I am wearing, she tells me and if she doesn’t, she still makes it a point to let me know,” she said. Karisma said that she is more of a disciplinarian than a strict parent.

“I won’t say I am a strict mother, but discipline is important. Timing and routine are important for kids,” she said.

“I think it is important to be a friend to your kids. But it is also equally important to set boundaries. My mother was a strong influence and so was my dad. My mom was my friend whom I couldn’t cross,” she said.

Karisma also wants to protect her children from the limelight.

“I try to shield my children as far as possible from the public glare. I want them to have a normal childhood, like we had.

We went to school by the school bus, had school food. There was no special treatment given to us. The same applies to my children as well,” the 39-year-old said.

But being brought up in the lap of luxury, it was very tough for Samaira to believe that her family was different from the rest.

“She thought everyone’s mom was an actor and everyone’s autographs are taken.

Having a masi (Kareena), a mama (Ranbir) like that, it was tough for her to understand. My son’s still young, but he will get a grip of this from my daughter,” said the actress. The actress recently launched her book My Yummy Mummy Guide on pregnancy and motherhood. IANS

he 13th Indian Television Academy (ITA) Awards 2013 will be held on October 23. The awards, one of the most coveted for the Indian TV industry, will be organised at Reliance Mediaworks in Filmcity.

The jury, headed by yesteryear actress Simi Garewal, includes Rakesh Bedi, Mir Muneer, Javed Sayyed, Umesh Gupta, Maya Rao, Bharti Pradhan and Anil Sehgal.

“This year we have received close to 1850 nomi-

nations competing in about 45 categories. These include 18 technical awards, six popular awards via public voting and 18 jury awards,” Shashi Ranjan, convener of ITA, said in a statement.

“Cutting across genres, the awards embrace one and all from soaps to talk/chat shows to music/films based shows to news and current affairs programs to children’s programs, directors to actors to anchors/hosts to technicians among others,” Ranjan added.

The ITA awards will air on Star Plus November 3.

IANS

CINEMA SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

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CINEMA SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

24

25

CINEMA SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Madonna gets cozy with her ex, Sean Penn

Perrie excited about the wedding S

inger Perrie Edwards is looking forward to plan her wedding with One Direction band member Zayn Malik.

The couple got engaged in August this year and haven’t made any solid decision about the preparations of their big day.

“I haven’t started making any decisions yet wedding-wise.

But I’m excited to start planning it all. I can’t wait,” mirror.co.uk quoted Edwards, member of band Little Mix, as saying.

Asked if her fellow band members - Jesy Nelson, LeighAnne Pinnock and Jade Thirwall will be bridesmaid at her wedding, Edwards said: “Little Mix aren’t bridesmaids material. I’m joking!”

“Imagine if I didn’t have them? I wouldn’t take one off to the side and say, ‘Oh, you’ve made the cut’ and then say to the other two, ‘Sorry guys.’ It’s all or nothing with these girls,” IANS she added.

P

op star Madonna greeted ex-husband Sean Penn with an unusually affectionate embrace when they met at a party. They were married for four years before parting ways in 1989. But they looked like a new couple at the party organised by Steven Klein, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Madonna was dressed in a tight black dress with curled blonde locks and bright red lipstick and Penn was dressed in a black suit, black tie and white shirt.

After taking a few photos together, Madonna thanked Penn for coming to the event and he thanked her right back by kissing her on the cheek. IANS

EVA MENDES

wants emotional connect with clothes A ctress Eva Mendes likes to wear clothes that have an emotional connect while dressing up for an occasion.

The 39-year-old talked about her preference on a TV chat show after seeing some of her old pictures, reports contactmusic.com.

“I love a turban, I know I’m like 50 years too late. And

they’re actually my grandmother’s earrings that I wore that night, (who) I never met,” said Mendes after going through the pictures.

“It was very emotional for me. I always think it’s important to wear something which is emotional to you,” she added.

Even though people are ready to lend her a lot of

things to wear, Mendes prefers something of her own.

“Everybody always wants to lend you things for these events and stuff and it’s all wonderful and you give it back at the end of the night, but I like to have a little emotional piece with me,” she said.

IANS

26

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

SUDOKU

THOUGHT OF THE DAY There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing them.

– Mary Wilson Little

KAKURO

How to play kakuro

SCRIBBLING PAD

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

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

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

Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14.

This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on...

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

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

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Like many cold drafts 6 Thoroughly befuddled 11 Lid or chapeau 14 Sheer fabric 15 Tilts to one side 16 Savings initials 17 Machu Picchu, for one 19 Final amt 20 Time before anything 21 No game, in bridge 22 Little dog’s bark 23 Has lunch in the park 27 Bridge supports 29 Japanese sash 30 Dele that dele!

32 Oscar-winning actor Jannings 33 Net-nicking serve 34 Word typically following ‘wreak’ 36 Disdainer’s noise 39 Drop for the count 41 Fasten the diaper again 43 Almond’s kin, colorwise 44 ‘My Cherie ___’ 46 Excessive sternness 48 Brothers and sisters, etc 49 Bar on a guitar 51 What a spelunker may explore 52 After dark, poetically 53 Rotating neutron stars 56 Emulate Burton and Taylor 58 Nickname for a Skywalker in ‘The Phantom Menace’ 59 Game cube 60 Negative chorus 61 Clown’s need 62 Rome (with ‘The’) 68 Indefinitely large degree 69 Grier of the Fearsome Foursome 70 Andrea ___ (lost ship) 71 China collection 72 Botched job 73 At quite an incline

DOWN 1 Fertility clinic needs 2 Smoking alternative 3 Involuntary movement 4 Visitor from beyond our solar system 5 Easily irritated 6 Space bar’s neighbour 7 G-man 8 New Orleans athlete 9 All in one piece 10 Sanctuaries 11 Billy Crystal, once 12 ‘The Sopranos’ chef Bucco 13 Touches 18 Bees collect it 23 Dance in duple meter 24 Letter-shaped bar 25 Capital of France, informally 26 Cut off from a whole 28 Trig ratio

31 Talking point spooked) 35 Practical joker’s 57 Broad-ended neckwear exploder 63 B-ball arbitrator 37 Young chicken in a pan 64 Greenwich Village 38 Causing laughter campus, briefly 40 Group’s pronoun 65 Fury 42 Roman Catholic 66 57-Down is one devotion 67 Bit of toy dog chatter 45 Library frequenters PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER 47 Shapes anew 50 Neptune’s largest moon 53 They’re often sacrificed in gambits 54 Word on a striker’s placard, perhaps 55 ___ ghost (gets

27

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Death

Four of Pentacles

Page of Cups

The Chariot

The Hanged Man

Three of Cups

W

ork – Do the minimum you can and leave the rest to destiny.

The problem is that you’re trying to control everything. Romance – You may be stepping on your partner’s territory, which is causing the rift between you two. Stay away when you know it’s not your business. Health – Make health a part of your daily subroutine. It’s very important that you take out that half hour everyday to maintain your health. Money – There are too many people getting into the same problem. You want to make quick money but also don’t want to wait too long. Tarot message – Don’t rush through life as though it were a series of jobs to be completed.

Savour your experiences.

W

ork – Make changes to your daily routine so that you don’t feel bored. Your challenge is in making your must-do work interesting every day. Romance – Get into a fun mode with your partner. Kid around, lighten up and make each other feel de-stressed. Health – Read books about people who have similar health problems as yours. Learn from their experiences on how they tackled the problems. Money – Get straight to the issue. If an insurance agent si trying to sell you something you don’t need, cut him off straight away. Tarot message – Use your imagination to increase the quality of your creative work.

Remember that nothing’s strange or unusual if you suspend disbelief.

W

W

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ork – You know you have the intellectual ability to deliver.

However, in a real world, that’s not sufficient.

Romance – What’s commonly understood as love may not apply in your situation. You have a different perspective of romance. Health – Deal with the conflict arising within you about two different methods of treatment. Don’t stay in the state of confusion for too long. Money – Whatever passes the test of profit should work for you at this point. You may be bogged down by financial pressures. Tarot message – It’s going to be more downs than ups at this stage. It’s a learning curve like no other. Take the lessons and grow from the experience.

ork – You’re tempted to rate yourself and how you do right now in the face of stiff competition in your office. Take the rating with a pinch of salt. Romance – You may not be listening to your partner. He/she may be saying something important, but not directly.

Listen more closely and empathise. Health – Rid your home of rodents, rats, insects and other pests. It may be leading to some health problems without your knowledge. Money – When investing in something, get acquainted with the terms and conditions, especially the hidden clauses that don’t jump out at you. Tarot message – Open your mind to new possibilities. Don’t lock yourself into only one way of thinking or acting.

ork – There may be some important grapevine news doing the rounds in the smoking area. You may want to listen in on these conversations. Romance – It’s tricky when you get into the ‘yours and mine’ situation. What’s yours should be shared with your partner. Make the first move. Health – If you’re starting a new health regimen, be sure to cover all the practical aspects like availability of coach, timings, etc.

Money – You get interested in some new investment plans. Look deeper and bide your time on it.

Don’t jump into anything yet. Tarot message – Change is inevitable. You have to deal with it, no matter what. May as well go with the flow.

SUMAA TEKUR tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

Libra

Scorpio

Six of Swords

King of Pentacles

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ork – Don’t be hung up on your status at the office. It does not matter as long as the work interests you, and you do well on projects. Romance – It will be dangerous to draw inferences about something by merely observing half a truth and then imagining the other half. Health – Make yourself comfortable. You need to do things that make you happy in order to relax and have some fun. Break the rules. Money – The terms and conditions may change from region to region. So ensure you know all the rules before you sign up for a scheme. Tarot message – If gathering articles and collecting material experiences makes you happy, you should go ahead and do just that.

ork – Toggle tasks and do a little bit of each at a time so that you don’t waste too much time waiting for something to get done.

Romance – Your partner has the wandering instinct. You should not stop this as it could lead to trouble within your relationship. Health – Beware of seasonal infections. Pay attention to the source of the water and food you consume. Money – Take charge and make changes to your finance portfolio. Speak to someone in authority before you revisit your investments. Tarot message – Take the load off your work by delegating as much as you can. Share the work and let time take its course.

Sagittarius Knight of Cups

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ork –You have the urge to quit what you’re doing now and take up something else. Think it through carefully before jumping into any decision.

Romance – You have experienced the horror of a break-up and are doing everything to avoid another such. Is it suppressing your personality in the process? Health – You can be bashful in your attitude to your health. But it is going to eventually take a toll on your body and mind. Be moderate. Money – You tend to be taken in by a scheme someone has informed you about.

Research about it from several different sources.

Tarot message – You have the tendency to lecture about life’s lessons to younger people.

Capricorn

Date 29-9-2013

Aquarius

Judgment

Six of Cups

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ork – Update yourself with the latest in technology and working methods. Modern tools and services may ease your pressure significantly.

Romance – Hear the sweet sound of romance. The violin strings will reach your heart strings and get you into a passionate mood.

Health – Take advice from only those people who practice what they preach.

There are too many people out there giving free advice. Money – Toe the line and stay in the conventional box. Getting too adventurous at this stage will not work well. Tarot message – There is much to be said and done. Don’t get bogged down by expectation. Create your own benchmarks and move ahead with confidence.

ork – Drop a team member if he/she is not serving your purpose well. It may be too taxing to carry on working with this member around.

Romance – You and your partner tend to match your interests just so you can be together. Take out time each week to pursue your individual interests, too. Health – Your ups and downs in health are rather violent, and you need to tone it down a bit.

Binge eating and drinking should be avoided. Money – This is a stable period and not many changes are coming up for now. Keep it going without disrupting anything. Tarot message – You don’t have to be in the driver’s seat all the time. Sometimes, it’s nice to just follow, too.

ork –There is a lot of repetition in your work and it is bugging you no end. You want work to be more creative and interesting than this.

Romance – Pay attention to the details. Your relationship status needs a revamp. Singles must mingle more. Those attached must go to the next level. Health – There may be some blocks and clogs that need to be addressed immediately.

Mental blocks can be dealt with through meditation. Money – Don’t ignore notices and changes from your finance advisor. These may be sent in the form of regular mailers. Tarot message – Enjoy your leisure time. Go out for music gigs and de-stress in ways that make you happy.

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Pisces Queen of Pentacles

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ork – Someone may be saying something against another person to poison your mind. Be careful of what you hear and how you react to it.

Romance – You are strongly influenced by the mainstream pop culture ideals of what a hero/heroine should be like. Shatter those stereotypes. Health – Before starting a health treatment, investigate into the cause and effects.

Confirm that you are doing the right thing. Money – There are bound to be some hitches with any long-term investment plan you take up. Be in it for the long haul, and it won’t matter.

Tarot message – To prevent the mind from decay, take steps like staying active all the time. Puzzles and mind games help.

Vol: 3, No 67 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at # Plot no.550-A1,3rd floor, Road no-92, Jubilee hills, Hyderabad-500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon. com and for subscription, please call 040-23541412,

28

THE SATURDAY QUIZ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

IN THE NEWS

rine in The Beatles song?

10. What is the chemical symbol of iron?

11. What does CIA stand for?

12. Who painted Garçon à la pipe?

13. What is the origin of jagermeister drink?

14.In which city is the Golden Gate Bridge located?

15. Which is the biggest planet?

16. Where did Apollo 11 land on the moon?

17. 1, 4, 7, 10, ? What comes next?

18. In which year was Michael Jackson's single Thriller release?

19. When was Johan Strauss Jr. born?

Answers

5. How many bases does a baseball field have, excluding home plate?

6. How many degree celsius is the melting point of aluminium?

7. In which century did Richard I become the king of England?

8. What is 10x10+100?

9. What colour was the subma-

1. 1 2. Using the formula 3. 6 million 4. Precipitation 5. 3 6. 660 7. 12th century 8. 200 9. Yellow 10. Fe 11 Cental Intelligence Agency 12.

Pablo Picasso 13. Germany 14. San Francisco 15. Jupiter 16.Sea of Tranquility 17. 13 18.

1884 19. 1825

1. 15, 13, 10, 6, ? Next number in the series is?

2. What is the only method used to solve any quadratic equation?

3. How many million jewish people were killed approximately during the second world war?

4. What does a pluviometer measure?

TEST YOURSELF

IDENTIFY THE ARTISTS

CURRENT AFFAIRS 1

2

1

An Italian cycling champion was recognised as “Righteous Among the Nations” by the Israeli Yad Vashem Museum, which has formally added him on to the honour list of gentiles who helped Jews escape the Holocaust. Who is he?

Name their famous better halves?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Darren Le Gallo Guillame Canet Sandra Blazic

2 3 4 5

Where was the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards this year?

Jennifer Meyer

People were taken hostage in a mall by Al-Qaeda linked AlShebab group. Where was the mall?

Eve Mavrakis Andrew Upton

Who is being appointed as the Director General Analysis of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)?

Daniel Moder

4

3

Who is being sworn in as the Cambodian Prime Minister?

Jim Toth Rhea Durham . Jenna Dewan

1. Gino Bartali 2. Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, California 3. Nairobi 4. Maj. Gen. Ahmad Hayat 5.Hun Sen

Answers An Indian artist’s work American Survey Officer fetched $401,000 at Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art. Who is he?

with Santosh Ghule What is superimposed in this scenery?

Answer for 85:

Where did the biggest museum in the North-east open up?

WHO AM I? I took up an important position at the Reserve Bank of India this month. I have also even been termed as the Ranbir Kapoor of banking by many and make women’s hearts go dhak-dhak.

Answer : Raghuram Rajan

3 4

PICTURE PUZZLE 86

Portraits of MF Hussain.

Which Indian sportsperson was conferred with the Arjuna award

by Sports Minister, Jitendra Singh?

Answers:

Where will Formula One Grand Prix be held?

Answers: 1. Vincent Van Gogh 2. Pablo Picasso 3. Willem de Kooning 4. Andy Warhol

1 2

1.Amy Adams 2.Marion Cotillard 3. Christian Bale 4. Tobey MAguire 5. Ewan McGregor 6. Cate Blanchett 7.Julia Roberts 8. Reese Witherspoon 9. Mark Wahlberg 10 Channing Tatum

KNOW YOUR COUNTRY

1. Buddha International Circuit in Greater Noida 2. P V Sindhu 3.Tripura Palace 4. Bhupen Khakhar

Answers

29

SPORTS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Howard eyes NBA title

151 teams for Himalaya race

Rohit, Viljoen reprimanded

D

wight Howard, who recently signed a four-year deal worth about $88 million with the Houston Rockets, said the only to matter this season was the NBA basketball championship. A star-studded Rockets team met the press Friday in Houston’s Toyota Center, talking about their ambitions of winning the championship this season, reports Xinhua.

R

I

ohit Sharma of Mumbai Indians was reprimanded and handed a fine of US$1,000 for breaching the CLT20 Code of Conduct during the match against Highveld Lions on Friday. Sharma admitted to the Level 1 offence (Section 1 – A1). Meanwhile, Hardus Viljoen of Highveld Lions was reprimanded after he admitted to a Level 1 offence (Section 1 – A1/A2).

n all, 151 teams, including an all-woman crew entered by the Indian Army, will be participating in the Maruti Suzuki 15th Raid de Himalaya rally that will be flagged off from Shimla October 5 to 12. The entry list also includes six scooters, which will be making their debut in the rally that will cover about 1,800 km, traversing through some of the toughest and treacherous terrains.

Glimpse of F1 future at Sochi LONDON: Sergey Sirotkin gave Formula One a glimpse of the future on Friday when he drove a Sauber in a demonstration event at Sochi, venue for next year’s Winter Olympics and the inaugural Russian Grand Prix.

The 18-year-old Russian, whose arrival in F1 has been surrounded by speculation, is expected to race for Sauber next season, subject to him being given a racing driver’s ‘super licence’ by the sport’s ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA).

“These were my first metres in a F1 car, which is obviously something very special even though it was only a short part of the Sochi track,” said Sirotkin.

“Nevertheless, I was able to gain a first impression and this was awesome. It was fun to drive in front of such a big crowd, particularly because most of them were compatriots. Russia can be proud of this great track.”

Sirotkin drove only 700 metres of the Sochi circuit and in doing so he had to miss free practice for his “normal” racing activities in the penultimate round of the Formula Renault championship at Le Castellet, in

Raikkonen shrugs off back pain

France.

For him, Sauber and Sochi, however, it was an exercise in gaining public and media attention as Russia, and the nation’s sports stars, gather momentum ahead of hosting such major events as the Winter Games, Russian Grand Prix and the World Cup in 2018.

Doubts about Sirotkin’s experience and ability, however, continued to swirl with Sauber moving swiftly to reassure critics that he will be fully-prepared for the challenge of racing with the elite next season.

His next scheduled run in an F1 car is due to take place at the end of October

Jersey, Mexico on provisional 2014 grid

League Cricket A division two days n Oxford Blues 354 bt Osmania University 221

(Santosh Kumar Reddy 105, Ram Prasad 33, Akshar 3/31, Amit Singh 4/30) n Gujrathi 212 bt Kosa Raju 211 (D Lohit 76, Sachin Tandle 5/31, Vidath 4/78) n Galaxy 214 lost to Gemini Friends 215/9 (Thomas George 37, Chandrasekhar 56, Ganesh 54, T Akshay 3/46, Rajendar 3/39) n Zinda 281 bt Jai Bhagwati 253 (Ganapathi Hemanth 47, Rahul Patantgay 34, SS Bharath 53, Mannan Nayeem 4/63) n Pasha Beedi 209 lost to Venus Cybertech 211/2 (Sreekanth 115, B Naresh Kumar 53no) n HBCC 426/9 bt National 132 (Prasad 35, Pranay 34, Omer 3/37) n Budding Star 200 bt Hyd Titans 184 (Mahesh 33, Rajendar 40, Sri Aditya 31, Bharath Simha Reddy 6/51, Dhruv Krishna 3/86) n Charminar 356 bt Ours 209 (Shah Mohd Zainuddin Quadri 47, Pushpender Singh 72, V Kiran Kumar 35, Mohd Younus 3/64, Syed Ahmed 5/59) A division two days n WMCC 230/9 (Pradeep 116, Nihanth Reddy 51, Ajay Dev Goud 5/63, Vikas 4/24) bt Young Citizen 66 (Kapil Vyas 4/34, B Mannaus 6/27)

Oz happy with Brian election Cookson was elected president of the UCI on Friday after beating embattled incumbent Pat McQuaid at the end of a protracted election process.

DUBROVNIK: New Jersey and Mexico were included on a 22race Formula One world championship calendar for 2014 on Friday but will need to be confirmed.

The sport’s governing body, the FIA, agreed the extended schedule at a World Council meeting in Dubrovnik.

But the street race in New Jersey, the return of F1 to Mexico as well as the South Korean Grand Prix are listed as provisional pending agreements with promoters.

The event in New Jersey, with the New York skyline providing a spectacular backdrop, will be a completely new event as will the Russian Grand Prix which will run around the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics in AFP Sochi.

as part of a test programme aimed at developing him in readiness for 2014.

He is set to complete at least 15 days’ driving in an F1 car before the end of the season to ensure he is ready for the start of pre-season testing next year.

Sauber had hoped to run him in an older car on Friday, but after logistical difficulties decided instead to pitch him into a 2013 machine.

It could be that he also has a chance to test a Ferrari — one of the teams in F1 with a special relationship with Sauber — in the next part of his developAFP ment programme.

LONDON: Kimi Raikkonen will head into next weekend’s Korean Grand Prix still dogged by the back problems that upset his qualifying in Singapore, but keen to race through the pain barrier.

The Ferrari-bound Finn said he will assess his fitness levels during practice in Korea, but expects to be able to take part and, as in Singapore, to line up in the race. In Singapore, he overcame the pain and secured a podium finish by taking third place, having qualified only 13th for Lotus.

“It’s better than it was in Singapore, which is when it didn’t feel too good,” he said. “The important thing was that I was able to race and we did a pretty good job with the podium finish.

It’s not the first time I’ve had a problem, as there have been issues with my back for a long time.”

AITA tennis tournament Results (Semifinals): Boys U-12: V Preetham (AP) bt R Ruchit Goud (AP) 62, 7-5; Kosaraju Harshit (AP) bt Anurag Agarwal (WB) 6-2, 6-0 Boys U-14: Venkat Anikait (AP) bt T Sri Harsha (AP) 06, 6-4, 6-3; Ganta Sai Karthik R (AP) bt Kosaraju Harshit (AP) 6-2, 6-0 Girls U-12: D Sumaskrithi (AP) bt Avanthika Reddy (AP) S5 6-4, 6-1; M Sahithi Reddy (AP) bt Smrithi Bhasin (AP) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (4) Girls U-14: Omer Mishgahn (AP) bt Juveria Fatima (AP) 3-6, 6-4,6-4; Sravya Shivani (AP) bt Kudumala Shreya (AP) 6-1, 6-1.

A

ustralian cycling chiefs believe Brian Cookson’s election as president of the sport’s world governing body can prompt a positive, global impact.

Cookson was elected president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) on Friday after beating embattled incumbent Pat McQuaid at the end of a protracted election process.

It capped a long and frustrating day in Florence’s be Palazzo Vecchio, where McQuaid, in power since 2005, had initially failed to gain nomination but forced his way through by relying on loopholes in the UCI constitution.

In the end Cookson called McQuaid’s bluff by calling for a quickfire vote, and was rewarded by gaining 24 votes to McQuaid’s 18.

A year after cycling suffered a hammer blow due to Lance Armstrong’s spectacular

International Cycling Union (UCI) outgoing President Pat McQuaid (L) shaking hands with newly-elected UCI President Britain’s Brian Cookson on Friday. AFP/UCI /GRAHAM WATSON fall from grace following a lifetime doping ban, the UCI still has damage to repair.

With plans to run the UCI differently,

and hand anti-doping tasks to an independent body, Cookson is hopeful cycling can still reach its “enormous potential”.

“I have said throughout my campaign that we must embrace a new style of governance and a collegiate way of working so that a new era of growth and commercial success for the UCI and our sport can begin,” said the Englishman.

“Ultimately that’s how we are going to grow our sport worldwide and get fans into cycling.”

Cycling Australia vice president Jon Leighton said his federation had been the first to publicly endorse Cookson because of the need for change.

And while the Scots-born administrator does not expect a direct impact on the sport Down Under, he believes Cookson can be the “catalyst” that will pull the sport forAFP ward.

30

SPORTS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Peter Uihlein shoots 60 at Dunhill Links ST ANDREWS: Peter Uihlein came within one shot of breaking 60 as he produced a superb round in the European Tour Dunhill Links event on Friday.

The pro-am tournament which is played across three course including the British Open Championship venues of St Andrews and Carnoustie, saw the United States’ Uihlein post a 60 at nearby Kingsbairns.

That left him two shots off the lead held by England’s Tom Lewis. But while Uihlein came agonisingly close to shooting 59, missing a long putt on the par-

five ninth, his final hole, he could take some consolation from the performance last year of South Africa’s Branden Grace, who also shot 60 on the same course before going on to win the event “I knew I needed to make an eagle and I thought I hit a good putt,” said Uihlein, who won his maiden title in Madeira in May. The 24-year-old, who shot the 17th round of 60 on the

European Tour, added: “I thought it would come back to the right but it kept going left.”

Reflecting on his round overall, he said: “Today started off with me hitting it close and not making anything and then I started holing it from everywhere. It was just one of those days that went for me.

“When I made that birdie on the 17th to go 11 under that was the first time 59 crossed my mind. I was in the zone out there and it was cool. I am definitely not as calm underneath (as it looked) but I just tried to stay with my routines and keep the same

swing thought. “I put a lot of work in during the off-season and even on my off weeks I’m still practising and grinding so it’s nice to see the results so quickly.” South Africa’s Ernie Els, Uihlein’s playing partner, shot 65 and afterwards the South African major-winner joked: “I feel like I shot 90.” AFP

UNITED KINGDOM, St Andrews : US golfer Peter Uihlein looks on after playing a shot as he takes part in The Alfred Dunhill Links Championships on Kings Barns near St Andrews, Fife, Scotland on September 27, 2013. AFP PHOTO / IAN MACNICOL - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE

Srikanth, Thulasi win titles NEW DELHI: Kidambi Srikanth and P.C. Thulasi won the men’s and women’s singles titles, respectively, on the final day of the 35th PSPB Inter Unit Badminton Tournament at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here Friday.

In the men’s singles match, Srikanth (IOCL) was in prime form against Saurabh Verma (ONGC).

Srikanth raised his game to beat in-form Verma 21-19, 21-16. There were some close net exchanges mixed with some hard hitting rallies but Srikanth’s ability to reach and return most smashes worked.

Meanwhile, in women’s singles, Thulasi (ONGC) announced her growing stature when she beat India No.1 Arundhati Panthawane (ONGC) in a closely contested match.

India eves win bronze KUALA LUMPUR: Putting behind the disappointment of missing out on a World Cup berth, India eves beat China 5-4 via penalty shoot-out to finish with the bronze in the 8th Women Asia Cup at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil here Friday.

India led 2-0 at halftime scored through brilliant field goals by Anuradha Thokchom in the 16th minute and Vandana Katariya in the 31st minute.

China reduced the margin in the 50th minute through a field goal scored by Yan Yan. In the 64th minute China scored the equaliser through Wu Mengrong.

The two teams ended 2-2 in the regulation time.

Anuradha Devi Thokchom’s stike handed India 5-4 lead in the shootout and secured India’s win. Anuradha scored twice and Ritu Rani once in the penalty IANS shoot-out.

Big-serving Tomas Berdych in semis

BANGKOK: World number six Tomas Berdych battled his way into the semi-finals of the Thailand Open Friday, slamming 20 aces in a hard-fought victory over Lu Yen-Hsun.

The top seed was made to sweat for his 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 win against his Taiwanese rival, who has lost all 10 of his career quarter-finals. “Credit to the opponent,” said the big-serving Czech, playing in Bangkok for the first time in half a decade.

“Sometimes I felt like I was in PlayStation. He was hitting so fast, so low and making so many winners. It was a tough match and I’m happy to go through. He played well. It proves how tough tennis is these days.”

Top seed Berdych needed a string of aces to claim his victory in just over one and threequarter hours, coming back

Tomas Berdych of Czech gestures after winning against Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan during the quarter final round of the ATP Thailand Open 2013 tennis tournament in Bangkok on Friday. Berdych beat Lu 7-6, 6-4.

AFP/PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL

from a break down in the opening set. He only lost serve once while breaking his opponent three times.

Berdych last won a trophy in October in Stockholm and remains the only member of the ATP top 10 without a 2013 win.

He now faces world number 14 Gilles Simon, who overcame a back injury and jet lag to struggle past Dutchman Igor Sijsling.

The Frenchman, seeded fourth and winner of the Bangkok event in 2009, called for the trainer after the opening game of the final set, but recovered to take the match 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

“My back is not in a great shape now. The injury is a bit of everything,” said Simon, who is bidding to reach his third Thailand final, having lost to compatriot Richard Gasquet last AFP year.

31

SPORTS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Court clears Srinivasan A cricket association in eastern Bihar had petitioned the court to stop Srinivasan from contesting the vote for president of the BCCI.

NEW DELHIL: India’s Supreme Court on Friday cleared the country’s cricket chief N. Srinivasan to seek a third term in his role at an election this weekend, but barred him from taking charge immediately after the vote.

A cricket association in eastern Bihar state had petitioned the court to stop Srinivasan from contesting the vote for president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) because his son-in-law was charged in a corruption scandal.

Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan is among several officials, players and bookmakers charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy in a spot-fixing scandal that has rocked the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 tournament run by the BCCI. “Why he is in charge if his son-in-law has been

Lawyer dismisses ‘vague’ Rauf allegations LAHORE: Asad Rauf ’s lawyer

charge-sheeted,” the Press Trust of India quoted the judge as asking Srinivasan’s lawyers.

“Why are you so keen to be elected? The elections can take place, but he cannot assume charge until the matter is decided.”

Srinivasan had temporarily stepped aside as president in June when he handed interim charge to Jagmohan Dalmiya, a former head of the

Smith keeps MI dreams alive JAIPUR: Dwayne Smith starred in Mumbai Indians seven-wicket win over the Lions in a Champions League Twenty20 Group A match here Friday that kept alive his team’s dreams of qualifying for the knockout stage.

With one loss and a washout game, Mumbai Indians were in dire need of a win and the West Indian all-rounder obliged as his unbeaten 63 off 47 balls helped overhaul Lions’ score of 140 for five with nine balls to spare at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here.

Mumbai are tied with second placed Otago from New Zealand on six points having played a match more. Rajasthan Royals lead the table with two wins from as many games.

The win, however, didn’t come easy for Mumbai. Sachin Tendulkar (5) once again failed to show any sort of form. Pakistan pacer Sohail Tanvir had him in heaps of trouble, beating the Indian maestro’s bat consistently.

And finally a slower ball from the Pakistani beat Tendulkar all ends up and disturbed the timber. Dinesh Karthik (13) too didn’t look comfortable and fell to South African spinner Imran Tahir.

A lot was expected from captain Rohit Sharma but his innings came to a premature end after getting caught at the square leg IANS boundary.

THE 68-YEAR-OLD, WHO HAS HEADED THE BCCI SINCE 2011, IS WIDELY EXPECTED TO BE ELECTED UNOPPOSED FOR ANOTHER YEAR. International Cricket Council.

However he has continued to pull the strings behind the scene and ensured on Wednesday that his bete noire, IPL founder Lalit Modi, was banned for life from the sport.

The 68-year-old, who has headed the BCCI since 2011, is widely expected to be elected unopposed for another year when the elections take place in his home city of Chennai on Sunday.

Srinivasan has distanced himself from his son-in-law, saying he himself has not been blamed or charged in the scandal.

Meiyappan was the team

principal of the Chennai Super Kings franchise, which is owned by the India Cements conglomerate run

by Srinivasan.

The Bihar association, which is not part of the BCCI, had opposed Srinivasan’s return since another court had termed as “illegal” an internal probe panel that absolved Srinivasan, Meiyappan, India Cements and other IPL officials of wrongdoing.

The petitioner, Aditya Verma, said the court’s interim order should convince BCCI members to keep Srinivasan out.

“Would they want to elect someone who has no powers to discharge any function?” Verma asked reporters. “I am very happy with the Supreme Court ruling.”

The BCCI chief is widely regarded as the most powerful man in world cricket due to India’s vast television audience which enables the board to generate almost 70 per cent of the game’s revenues and allows India to have its way in major decisions.

International news organisations, including Agence France-Presse, have suspended their on-field coverage of matches hosted by the BCCI since last year after the board imposed restrictions on picture AFP agencies.

Friday rubbished a Mumbai police chargesheet which declared the Pakistani Test umpire “wanted accused”, saying his client will not go to India.

Mumbai police last week presented a chargesheet alleging Rauf was involved in an IPL betting scandal which surfaced in May this year and ended in life bans for two Indian players, including Test paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.

THE INTERNATIONAL CRICKET COUNCIL (ICC) WITHDREW RAUF FROM THE CHAMPIONS TROPHY IN JUNE. The International Cricket Council (ICC) withdrew Rauf from the Champions Trophy in June before removing him from the Elite Umpire panel pending an inquiry by the world governing body. Rauf ’s legal adviser, Syed Ali Zafar, said: “We have not officially received any chargesheet from Mumbai police, we came to know whatever was reported in the media.

“Rauf is a well-known, professional and a competent Pakistani umpire. We think Mumbai police is doing his character assassination and it’s a conspiracy against him,” Zafar, flanked by Rauf, said at a press conference.

AFP

Panesar in spotlight again LONDON: Fresh questions over Monty Panesar’s character were raised Friday when the England spinner accepted he’d acted in a “potentially threatening and intimidating” manner towards an opponent.

Just a few days after being named in England’s squad for the forthcoming Ashes tour of Australia, Panesar was given a suspended one-match ban by the England and Wales Cricket Board’s disciplinary commission after pleading guilty to a breach of directive 3.2 in the County Championship match between Essex and Worcestershire earlier this month.

The ECB did not specify exactly what had caused Panesar to be charged, their statement referring only to “two incidents” one of which was likely a heated exchange with Worcestershire batsman Ross Whiteley.

Experienced umpire Peter Willey, the former Test batsman, intervened while Essex captain James Foster also summoned by the match officials.

Panesar’s ban will be suspended until the end of next season, pending any further violations of the ECB code.

Friday’s ECB statement said

Panesar had “apologised for his behaviour during the match”.

But it was something both Panesar and the England selectors ciould have done without following the controversy surrounding his Test recall.

Last month the 31-year-old leftarmer, who has taken 164 wickets at 33.78 in 48 Tests, found himself making the wrong sort of headlines after he was fined for urinating on night-

club bouncers in Brighton on England’s south coast.

It was all too much for his then employers Sussex, who promptly released Panesar, now completing the season on loan at rival county Essex.

But the fact that Panesar remains England’s second best spinner behind off-break bowler Graeme Swann was emphasised by the wretched Test debut of Lancashire left-armer Simon Kerrigan, whose eight wicketless overs in the drawn Ashes finale at The Oval last month cost 53 runs.

England national selector Geoff Miller, himself a former Test spinner, said when announcing the Ashes squad on Monday: “Monty had his problems, which we’ve worked hard to rectify in the last six weeks -- and he has too.

“He’s a proven international bowler, who has shown what he’s capable of doing on many occasions for us.”

Miller added: “He’s very prepared to let his bowling do the talking for him, so I’m prepared to accept that.

He’s an experienced international player and it’s up to him to actually AFP produce the goods for us.”

32

SPORTS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Portuguese men at war Jose Mourinho’s dysfunctional relationship with his former pupil Villas-Boas makes the London rivals’ latest clash at White Hart Lane more flammable than usual.

Steven GRIFFITHS

LONDON: All eyes will be on Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho (right) and Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas (left) as the former friends meet in a bitter grudge match on Saturday.

Any derby between Spurs and Chelsea offers the potential for an explosive encounter, but Mourinho’s dysfunctional relationship with his former pupil Villas-Boas makes the London rivals’ latest clash at White Hart Lane even more flammable than usual.

Mourinho was infuriated this week when Villas-Boas lifted the lid on the simmering tensions between the two Portuguese coaches, who have gone from close colleagues to feuding enemies in the space of four years.

“We had a great personal and professional relationship before that we don’t have now,” VillasBoas said.

“I don’t think we need explanations. But our relationship broke down.

“I think we have the mutual respect for each other and we understand what we have been through cannot just disappear but it’s not like it was before.”

Mourinho responded by attempting to take the moral high ground, saying: “I don’t

MOURINHO WAS INFURIATED THIS WEEK WHEN VILLAS-BOAS LIFTED THE LID ON THE SIMMERING TENSIONS BETWEEN THE TWO PORTUGUESE COACHES. describe (the relationship), because I’m not a kid to discuss relationships with the media. It’s a personal thing.

“I don’t care what he says.

I’m here, not to comment on what he says or what to know what he says. I’m not interested.”

The enmity between the two grew slowly over the years.

Villas-Boas, who worked as a scout compiling dossiers on

opponents, was a trusted member of Mourinho’s backroom staff at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan.

Crushing loss to City But the first fracture in their relationship occurred when Mourinho rejected Villas-Boas’s request for more involvement in coaching, a decision that prompted Villas-Boas to quit Inter to go it alone as a manager

Messi answers charges in court Daniel Bosque

GAVA: Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has appeared in court to answer charges of evading 4.16 million euros ($5 million) in taxes in a case that stunned the sporting world.

The 26-year-old made no comment before or after the closed-door hearing on Friday at a court in Gava, the coastal suburb of Barcelona where he lives.

Testimony by the four-time winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year award revealed his desire to resolve the matter, Messi’s lawyer, Cristobal Martel, told reporters after the hearing.

“It showed little intent to defraud and great intent to resolve the situation with the tax office instead of entering into a bitter battle with the state,” the lawyer said.

Crowds of reporters and fans gathered outside the court where first Messi’s father Jorge Messi and then the player himself were quizzed on charges of evading tax on the striker’s image rights to the tune of 4.16 million euros.

They have denied wrongdoing, pointing the finger at a former agent of the player. The court said Jorge Messi paid the tax authorities five million euros in

August -- the 4.16 million euros claimed by the taxman plus interest -- which is likely to significantly reduce any sentence should they be found guilty.

‘I am not worried’ Lionel Messi’s form on the field has scarcely been affected, with the Barcelona forward scoring 10 goals in just seven matches this season as the Spanish champions remain unbeaten.

POND LAKE GULF OCEAN PUDDLE LAGOON

Suduko

Boggle Number game

Scrabble

SOLUTIONS

Lionel Messi (R), his brother Rodrigo and lawyer Cristobal Martell (L) leave the courhouse in the coastal town of Gava near Barcelona on Friday.

AFP/JOSEP LAGO

in Portugal. When Villas-Boas eventually took over at Porto and credited legendary boss Bobby Robson, rather than Mourinho, with his rise to prominence, the rift grew wider still.

Now they will face off for the first time since their separation in 2009 and there have been enough barbs between the pair over the last few months to suggest the bench at White Hart

Lane will be as closely watched as the action on the pitch.

Meanwhile, leaders Arsenal, unbeaten in eight games in all competitions, visit a Swansea City side smarting after their League Cup defence was ended by second-tier Birmingham City.

Manchester United reacted to their 4-1 derby humiliation at Manchester City last weekend by eliminating Liverpool in the League Cup and the champions will hope to get back to winning ways in the league by defeating West Brom.

The crushing loss to City left the champions five points below Arsenal in eighth place, but centre-back Jonny Evans says he has known darker days at Old Trafford.

“I have been on the training ground where the atmosphere has been worse than it was when we came in the day after the (City) game,” Evans said.

“We had no complaints at the weekend. Everyone was honest in their assessment that we didn’t apply ourselves the way we AFP should have.

Moyes yet to settle at United MANCHESTER: David Moyes (in pic), the new Manchester United manager, has admitted he is still coming to terms with the enormity of the job he’s inherited from Alex Ferguson.

The Scotsman took on one of the most unenviable challenges in modern football when he agreed to leave Everton and succeed the long-serving Ferguson as United manager before the start of this season.

And while Moyes, 50, had more than a decade of experience at Goodison Park behind him, he said Friday the size of his new job had taken some getting used to.

“When you first come into the job as a manager, it can be different,” said Moyes. “I found that when I was a young manager at Preston and then when I was a young manager at Everton. I feel like I’ve come into this job as an experienced manager.

“I’ve done a lot of years in the Premier League, I know exactly how it works. You’ll never get used to the enormity of this club, or at least not until you’ve been here for awhile,” he also told a news conference.

“But you have to deal with that, that’s what happens when you come into these football management jobs.”

The challenge facing Moyes has been made all the harder by a difficult start to the season, most notably last weekend’s Manchester derby in which his side suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat by Manchester City.

However, with the pressure mount-

ing, Moyes steadied the ship when he led his team to a midweek 1-0 home victory over Liverpool in the League Cup. “Any game against Liverpool is a big game, you could see by the crowd and the side Liverpool put out how important,” said Moyes.

“We made seven or eight changes and made sure that everyone at the club was able to show what they can do.

“They did well. I thought it was a really good game and was really pleased with how we performed to get through to the next round of the cup.

“The players reacted how you would expect them to react. They were hurt by the defeat and I think they played like they wanted to show that. I’m looking for them to do the same again in the next AFP games.”