Postnoon E-Paper for March 2nd 2013

TILL BEDS DO US PART

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I HAVE NEVER HAD PLASTIC SURGERY: NICKI MINAJ

hey do it in Downton Abbey, so what’s with couples sleeping in different bedrooms (or beds).

A recent survey found that four out of five couples sleep in separate bedrooms or beds. Is this bad for a marriage or your relationship? Is it better for your individual sleep?

Postnoon talks to a few couples and finds their take on the subject.

All is revealed.

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ndia’s top wildlife photographer Sandesh Kadur takes us through his experiences in the wild and lets his pictures do the talking.

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inger Nicki Minaj insists she has never gone under the knife to enhance her appearance and that her changing features are all down to dramatic make-up.

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M ANIL KUMAR

Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

MARCH 2, 2013 HYDERABAD

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32 PAGES

ON SATURDAY

SHELLACKED!

FOUR FALL AS OZ WOBBLES

WATER WOES

PLAGUE CITY

That the City is going to exhaust its ground water supplies has been declared a fact.

But while the shock of this statistic is yet to sink in with the governing municipal authorities, many of the cities’ localities continue to suffer from severe water shortage. Postnoon’s visit to Secunderabad has shown debilitating lifestyles, mainly because of water shortage.

PG 4

REPORT ON PG 31

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PAGE TWO SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

AIR POLLUTION

Antenatal workshop LifeCell International is organising a workshop on the care and precautions that are needed before, during and post pregnancy to ensure good health of both mother and the child.

Where: Hotel Fortune Select Manohar When: March 2, 2pm to 6pm Contact: 99666 97504

The Great Oxford Sale Discounts on books, magazines, stationery and gift items.

Where: Oxford Bookstore, Tresorie, The Park , 22 Raj Bhavan Road When: Up to March 31, 10am to 10pm Contact: (040) 31002959

Urban Stampede The run is aimed at encouraging amateurs and seasoned runners alike to take part in a sport that is enjoyable and beneficial.

Where: CBIT, Gandipet When: March 3 Contact: urban-stampede.com

Awadh food festival Lazzat-E-Awadh brings kebabs, qormas and kalias from the Nawab’s kitchen.

Where: Kangan, Westin Hyderabad Mindspace When: Up to March 3 Contact: (040) 6767 6838

ConfiDance 2013 Shiamak Davar’s ConfiDance show is a display of dance styles from different parts of the world. These are performed by hand-picked students who get advanced training.

Where: Shilpa Kala Vedika When: March 3

The First Cut A festival of short films and documentaries, where amateurs can showcase their talents.

Where: St Francis College for Women, Uma Nagar, Begumpet When: March 4, 10.30am onwards

Imany World music- jazz and soul.

Where: Hyderabad International Convention Centre Novotel & HICC complex Near Hitec City Cyberabad Post Office When: March 15 Contact: (040) 2355 4486

Maya Bazaar Surabhi is a unique theatre group, created 127 years ago, comprising of 65 members of the same family.

This traditional play in Telugu with

CINEMAS

Osmania University campus is engulfed in smoke after piles of garbage were burnt nearby.

English overtitles is a fund raising event before their tour to France.

Where: Public Gardens, Nampally When: March 2, 5.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 2355 4485

Special lunch A changing menu, with a wide spread of food items and special packages for kitty and group lunches.

Where: Kailash Parbat Above Ebony Gautier, 2nd floor, Road No. 36, Jubilee Hills When: Ongoing Contact: (040) 2355 8856

Sushi food festival There is a Feng Sushi food festival.

Where: Deccan Pavilion, Begumpet When: Up to March 3, 7.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 2340 0132

All you can eat Guests can taste unlimited amount of food from a variety of cuisines, from hot curries to delicious desserts, at a fixed price.

Where: Holy Basil, Radisson Blu Plaza When: Ongoing

For the love of fauna ‘For the love of fauna’ is a group

art exhibition by G Jagadeesh, Jaya Prakash and Maddileti Gaddam.

Where: Residence Inn, Opp SBH Bank, Kavuri Hills

M ANIL KUMAR

When: Up to March 6 11am to 7pm Contact: (040) 2311 3709

Narayan. The book will be unveiled

by Amala Akkineni and Suma Kanakala.

Where: Landmark, KMC Retail Mall, Somajiguda When: March 2, 6pm onwards Contact: (040) 6463 1597

Solo art show

Vibgyor

Display of works by Saraswathi L. Where: Muse, Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre When: Up to March 2

‘Vibgyor’ is a group art show by seven artists: Maredu Ramu, Harikumar, Sujatha Basu, Srinivas, Narayan Naik, Madhu Kuruva and Abhiram Bairu.

Where: Rainbow Art Gallery, GHMC Balayogi Paryatak Bhavan, Begumpet When: Up to March 5, 11am to 7pm Contact: www.rainbowartgallery.in

Return Of Innocence Sculptural paintings by Lester Paul will be on display.

Where: Iconart Gallery, Banjara Hills When: Up to March 2, 11.30am to 7pm Contact: www.iconart.in

Cancer prevention talk There will be a screening and talk on cancer prevention by Dr P Vijay Anand Reddy.

Where: Public Gardens Walkers Association When: March 3, 7am onwards

Bonsai Kitten Landmark hosts the launch of the book Bonsai Kitten by Lakshmi

Go! 5k Women’s Walk The Hyderabad 10k Foundation is organising the second round of Go! 5k Women’s Walk/Run, as part of the celebrations for International Women’s Day. Where: People’s Plaza, Necklace Road When: March 3, Reporting: 6.30am Bicycling: 6.55am Walk/Run: 7am Contact: 97037 00884

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, MARCH 2, 2013

Farmers oppose privatisation

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he Federation of Independent Farmers’ Associations (FIFA) and representatives of political parties have requested the chief minister to undo the process of privatisation of Nizam Sugars. They resolved unanimously that the government should follow the recommendations of House Committee, while endorsing the Advocate General and AP High Court.

Man hangs self

AP to reward power saving

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nergy conservation is being rewarded by the State government. As per the latest scheme introduced by the APCPDCL, the scheme is open for domestic consumers between 0 to 200 units and above 200 units consumption limits. The scheme is open in Anantapur, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy and Hyderabad districts.

urgesh Singh, 30, hanged himself at his home in Jinsi Chauraha Jummerat Bazar on Friday. The deceased used to sell gudumba illegally. His marriage proposal was rejected when the girl’s family came to know about his activities.

Depressed, he took the extreme step.

The Shahinayatgunj police registered a case and started investigations.

Cops conspired with con woman?

The City police arrested a woman accused of duping job applicants of crores of rupees. But some victims suspect that the cops helped the cheat as not a single rupee was recovered from her.

Mohd SUBHAN

md.subhan@postnoon.com

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he Mahankali police have arrested a City-based woman accused of cheating people of crores of rupees on the pretext of guaranteeing them a job in the navy and air force. The police were, however, unable to recover a single rupee from her.

Abhilasha, 38, started her own consultancy firm, Indblue Consultancy, at Chenoy Trade Centre in Secunderabad last year. She took out an advertisement in the local newspaper,

promising jobs in the navy and air force. Dozens of qualified and unemployed youth approached her and she charged each candidate between `3 lakh and `6 lakh, promising them jobs in three months.

But when K Yadgiri Reddy, like many other aspirants, went to her office, he found that Abhilasha had downed the shutters and had made away with his money. He lodged a complaint with the Mahankali police and Abhilasha was soon arrested from a resort in Medak district’s Bhanur village.

“Upon further investigation, we found that this woman has cheated people from across the country in cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and

Vizag. There is a case of cheating lodged against her in the LB Nagar police station as well,” said Mahankali inspector K Satyanarayana.

However, what is curious is

that the police were unable to recover any money from Abhilasha, who, given the gravity of her crime, would be in possession of crores of rupees.

Some of the victims suspect

Youth picked up by Maharashtra ATS The 24-year-old was arrested in the City on Thursday night. His family has still not been informed on what charges he is being held.

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student, Shaik Aqueel, was arrested by the Maharashtra AntiTerrorism Squad (ATS) a week after the Dilsukhnagar twin blasts.

So far, four people have been taken into custody from different parts of the City by the counter intelligence cell and the special operations team in connection with the blasts.

Aqueel was arrested on Thursday but his detention came to light only on Friday when his family members went to Nampally police station to lodge a missing persons complaint.

Inspector Sridhar of Nampally police station took the complaint but reportedly didn’t book a missing case.

Meanwhile, Aqueel’s family received information that he had been caught by Maharashtra ATS officials, but the reason for his arrest hasn’t been disclosed so far, said his father, Mohammed Jameel.

Aqueel, 24, is a resident of Bazarghat and has been studying fire services at a private institute in Mehdipatnam for the past one year. His family is

originally from Bhiwandi in Maharashtra. The family had shifted to the City five years ago. Aqueel lives with his father, who runs a readymade

garments shop near Noble Talkies, mother and brother Mohammed Farhad.

On the night of February 28, Aqueel was returning home with a friend after attending a dinner function when some officials of Maharashtra ATS took him into custody. They were aided by the Nampally police.

He was immediately shifted to Maharashtra.

When Aqueel didn’t come home, his family members continuously tried to call him on his mobile, but it was switched off. Later, on Friday night, they received a call from Aqueel’s mobile. He informed his family that he had been arrested by the ATS. Officers of the squad also spoke to the family members, officially informing them of the arrest.

Aqueel’s father and brother have left for Maharashtra for a detailed inquiry into the matter. So far, the ATS officials haven’t told them on what charges Aqueel has been arrested. His family members said that Aqueel has no criminal record.

that the police are involved with the accused and have struck a deal with her. “The policemen told us that when they asked the culprit about the money, she said she did not have any. How is this possible? This racket definitely involves more people but the police are not on the lookout for the other wrongdoers. They sent Abhilasha to prison directly. I suspect that she has paid off the police with the money she duped us of,” said one victim.

The unemployed youth that Abhilasha conned are in a quandary. They have appealed to the City police commissioner for justice as many mortgaged jewellery and had taken huge loans to pay the con woman in hopes of securing high-paying jobs.

‘File review petition on Babli project’

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DP Telangana Forum convener Yerrabelli Dayakara Rao demanded that the government file a review petition on the recent judgment of the Supreme Court, allowing the Maharashtra government to complete the Babli project. He expressed anguish that the lands of north Telangana would turn into deserts because of it.

TDP Telangana Forum met on Friday to discuss the issue.

Speaking to the media later, Yerrabelli said the CM should immediately call an all-party meeting on the matter to prevent Telangana from becoming a desert. He also demanded that the Prime Minister should intervene and do justice to the state.

Yerrabelli also announced that his party would launch a movement for protecting the SRSP. He said dharnas and rasta rokos would be undertaken in all the mandal headquarters in the SRSP region to save the project from drying up. He said farmers and people’s organisations would be taken along to oppose the project. He dismissed the charge that it was during the TDP’s rule that the Babli project NSS was launched.

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CITY SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

TDP’s plan worries Congress The opposition party plans to move a no-confidence motion against the ruling party. The Congress fears the move, as many of its leaders have defected and it has lost the support of the people.

Md INKESHAF AHMED

ahmed.m@postnoon.com

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he announcement of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) that it is seriously thinking of moving a no-confidence motion during the budget session of AP Assembly sent shockwaves through the ruling Congress, including in Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s camp.

Congress leaders, who were rejoicing due to the recent electoral successes in co-operative elections, are a worried lot now.

There is a valid reason for the worries of these leaders, especially the CM’s supporters.

Unlike the no-confidence motion of the past, the chances of toppling the State government are bright this time around.

In December 2011, the noconfidence motion moved by the TDP against the State government was defeated by the Congress, with the support of Chiranjeevi-led erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party (PRP). A total of 160 MLAs voted against the motion, while 122 MLAs voted in favour of it then.

Reacting to the proposed

no-confidence motion results in mid-term elections, it would be difficult for our party to retain power. It will be the end of our party’s government in the State,” he said.

TDP

intention of the TDP, a senior Congress leader and supporter of CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy expressed his concern over the no-confidence motion and said that if the TDP went ahead with its proposal, then it would definitely lead to toppling of the State government. “The situation we had in 2011 was different from what we have now. We received support from PRP Party, which later merged into our party. But this time around,

Bandh to clash with budget

most of our party MLAs have left our party and publicly announced that they would not hesitate to see the end of the State government,” he said.

It may be emphasised here that in the last couple of months, around nine MLAs of the Congress quit their party and joined the rival YSR Congress led by Kadapa MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Interestingly, most of these MLAs also tendered their resig-

nations from MLA posts.

Another senior Congress leader, going a step further, said that the no-confidence motion would be the end of Congress in the State and added that the party cannot afford to face a noconfidence motion. “The people of the State are angry with us due to various public problems, especially unprecedented hike in the prices of essential commodities and restriction on supply of domestic gas cylinders. If the

UPBEAT

On the other hand, the existing political and economical situation in the State and positive response received by the ongoing padayatra of party president N Chandrababu Naidu seems to be encouraging the TDP to move a no-confidence motion in the budget session. “ We cannot be mute spectators to the severe sufferings of the people, which is the result of bad administration of this government. We are seriously thinking about moving the noconfidence motion to see that the people get rid of this government,” a TDP politburo member told Postnoon on Friday.

TRUE COLOURS

The T-JAC plans to hold the bandh to pressure to Centre to announce the formation of a separate Telangana state.

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he Telangana Joint Action Committee (T-JAC), which had postponed its decision of holding a massive sadak bandh (road bandh) at the last minute following the deadly bomb blasts in Hyderabad on February 21, has decided to hold the programme in the third week of this month.

The sadak bandh will clash with the budget session of AP Assembly. Speaking to Postnoon this morning, T-JAC leader and Telangana Non-Gazetted Employees’ Association (TNGOA)’s president C Devi Prasad said that the T-JAC leaders will meet today and announce the date of the sadak bandh programme. “We are meeting today to reschedule the

date for holding the massive sadak bandh. We have decided to hold it in the third week of this month. The exact date of the road blockade will be announced after the meeting,” Devi said.

The T-JAC had made elaborate arrangements to make the sadak bandh a grand success despite the visible restrictions from the State government. The agitation is being organised with the prime objective of mounting pressure on the Central government to announce the creation of a separate Telangana state.

Immediately after holding the sadak bandh, the T-JAC, with the active support of proTelangana political parties like TRS, CPI, and BJP, will organise a massive Chalo Assembly programme as part of its action plan.

A cricket fan waves the Indian flag at Uppal Stadium on Friday. The second cricket test match between India and Australia started today.

M ANIL KUMAR

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CITY SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

Water woes plague residents There is only enough water in the reservoirs to serve drinking water purposes for the next three months.

However, for residents of Secunderabad, water shortage has been a permanent fixture for years now.

N SHIVA KUMAR

RAHUL RAMAKRISHNA

rahul.r@postnoon.com

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hat the City is going to exhaust its ground water supplies has been declared a fact. But while the shock of this statistic is yet to sink in with the governing municipal authorities, many of the cities’ localities continue to suffer from severe water shortage. Postnoon’s visit to different parts of the City has shown debilitating life styles, mainly because of water shortage.

Despite the HMWS&SB pushing its water tankers through the City to cater to the demands, the shortage still exists.

Take the Tadbund locality in Secunderabad. Most of the residents in Bapuji Nagar are yet to know what a drinking water supply or a groundwater connection means. Says Sangam Yashoda, a resident, “A ground water bore was dug last year, and we get water every alternate day. But we rely on Cantonment Board tankers for drinking

water every two days.”

The women in the locality say that drinking water is a wake up call at 4am every day, and that sometimes it depends entirely on

luck to even avail the water connection. “This situation was worse about three years ago when we’d get water supply twice a week,” Yashoda says. There were times when we relied only on hand pumps for water, the residents say.

Across other areas of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board like Bowenpally, residents say the use of borewells has long before vanished. “In a span of two years, the number of localities in this area have gone from 10 to 25, and suddenly most people here avail water tankers for bore and drinking water,” says Yadaiah, from the ICRISAT colony area. The number of people digging borewells here has almost exhausted ground water supply in this locality, residents say.

Other localities around AS Rao Nagar, Marredpally say water connection is a rarity and drinking water supply is a privilege. “One hour of drinking water supply is what we get. And by the time summer is here, the supply timings are cut or are randomly absent,” says K Krishna Reddy, resident of AS Rao Nagar.

Marredpally residents complain that there is no actual gov-

erning body to discuss their problems with. “Road expansions have consumed the attention of the Cantonment Board.

And now, between the State gov-

ernment and the Cantonment Board, there is no consesus as to who is going to solve the problem. If you consider the Mud Fort Area, there is no water connection to speak of. And the people living in the area suffer from lack of public toilets, unhygienic problems that are dime a dozen.

We don’t know where to go,” says Krishna Mannan, resident of Marredpally. “And now we hear that the Cantonment is planning to hike water prices, while there are lakhs of complaints about billing discrepancies that already exist,” he says.

Ground water research experts say that the blame lies solely with the governing bodies.

“Absolutely no measures are taken to ensure that rainwater harvesting is made mandatory among residents in localities.

Every three storey apartment building gets a permission, while there is no cognitive research on the sustenance of the groundwater resource in the city,” says Narsimha Reddy, convenor of the Joint Action for Water society in Hyderabad.

While the many wards of the Cantonment Board have been ensured water supply, the realisty is starkly different for the residents of these areas.

Please nature and your wallet!

Making big bucks does not have to burden your conscience. With the emergence of ‘green buildings’, businesses have found a way to successfully create jobs and save the planet at the same time.

Aleena Alice aleena.t@postnoon.com

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ndia has done well in the ‘green’ building arena in the past decade. With a modest beginning of just 20,000 sqft of eco-friendly built-up area in the country in 2003, more than 1,920 registered green buildings projects, with a built-up area of over 1.32 billion sqft, have been registered with the Indian Green Building Council today.

Since 75 pre cent of the buildings that would exist in 2030 are yet to be built, there exist huge opportunities in design and construction. This in turn will provide increased job opportunities in the green buildings sector.

The ‘go green’ movement has been looked at as a way to successfully create jobs and save the planet. Since this sustainability shift is comparatively new, the number of green jobs generated has been ambiguous. But, rest assured, the promise of green jobs is not just a tall tale.

Today, one of the biggest reasons why green buildings are widely accepted is because they

make good business sense and are financially viable.

Construction costs of a green building are 5-8 per cent higher for a platinum building than a conventional building, but the incremental cost gets paid back in a short span of 3-4 years with substantial reduction in operational costs.

The green building move-

ment was spearheaded by CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre’s Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). This has spurred the launch of new services such as green building consulting, LEED consulting, life cycle cost analysis, landscape designing and energy modelling; opening up several new jobs.

For instance, in India, 40

new firms that offer green building services have come up since 2003. The CII estimates that by the year 2020, 14 lakh new jobs will be generated in the renewable energy sector under skilled and semi-skilled categories.

Therefore, providing quality ‘green’ education at various academic levels is of paramount national importance to cater to these growing green jobs. At the same time, creating awareness among students about the importance of ‘going green’ is also important. This will get them interested in pursuing green jobs and slowly start working towards building a sustainable nation.

In order to instil a sense of responsibility and commitment towards planet earth, CII has launched the IGBC Students Chapter across the country.

IGBC works closely with several colleges to highlight the need and importance of a sustainable tomorrow. “We have launched the Students Chapter in over 20 architectural and engineering colleges, and will approach many more colleges soon. We organise various awareness pro-

grammes and workshops. For this we work with academic institutions like IIIT, MNIT, CEPT, ISB and NIT-Trichy,” said M Anand, senior counsellor, CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre.

This apart, the IGBC, with the support of all stakeholders, regularly organises several outreach programmes through tools like the Green Building Congress, Green Building Missions, training awareness programmes and exhibitions.

The 13 IGBC local chapters spread across the country also aim at spreading green building concepts at regional levels. The Green Technology Centre, housed in the CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre, acts as a platform to showcase green products and technologies.

The Green Building Congress, which is organised annually, is another key platform where one can learn more about the latest technologies.

IGBC hopes to mould young minds and make them eco-sensitive citizens in its endeavour to see India become a global leader in embracing green concepts.

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NATION SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

Illegal gun factory busted

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ecurity personnel busted a country-made gun factory in Odisha’s Malkangiri district and seized explosives from Kandhamal district in separate raids. The country-made guns were being manufactured by Madhi Unga under Kalimela police station area in Malkangiri district. The guns were being supplied to Maoists, said Kalimela police inspector.

Kerala MPs want more from Rly budget

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lleging negligence towards Kerala in the rail budget, MPs from the state’s ruling Congress-led UDF today met PM Manmohan Singh and sought his intervention to get an improved budgetary allocation. At the same time, Left party MPs from Kerala criticised the central ministers and the Congress-led UDF for failing to get necessary allocation.”The rail budget allocation to the state has come down drastically. We need more money for railway development,” said PC Chacko.

Spotlight on Modi at conclave The three-day BJP conclave kicked off to ratify the presidentship of Rajnath Singh, who took over in January. However, the spotlight was all on Modi was sweeping the Guj polls for the third time.

NEW DELHI: The threeday conclave of BJP has kicked off with the spotlight on Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, projected by some as the party’s prime ministerial face, amid voices in the party that his popularity has grown significantly to make a mark on the national polity.

The conclave, convened mainly to ratify the presidentship of Rajnath Singh who took over in January, will see the party deliberate on its roadmap in the run up to the next general elections besides discussing the political and econom-

ic issues confronting the country.

The BJP will chalk out a strategy to project itself as an alternative in the next general elections at the meeting of its National Council starting from Saturday.

In the national executive meeting on Friday, the rising stock of Modi was visible as party leaders, including Rajnath Singh, gave him a special welcome and noted that the European Union is recognising his achievements.

Modi was lauded by Singh for achieving the unprecedented feat of

Quake hits NE India AGARTALA: An earthquake of moderate intensity rocked parts of northeast India and Bangladesh Saturday, an official said. According to district administrations in Tripura and southern Assam, no loss of life or damage to property was reported. A meteorological department official told IANS in Agartala that the 7am quake measured 5.2 on the Richter scale. Its epicentre was in Karimganj (southern Assam), on the border with Bangladesh. “The quake was also felt in many parts of eastern Bangladesh as well,” he said.

winning three consecutive assembly elections in Gujarat, with Singh saying no other BJP chief minister has such a record.

“The party president accorded a special welcome to Narendra Modi.

He has created a new record among the BJP chief ministers by being the first to be re-elected for the third consecutive term with a very convincing majority. All the national executive members also welcomed him,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told a press conference on Saturday.

Singh appreciated Modi’s performance again in his speech when he criticised UPA government’s “failure” to revive the economy.

“There’s a growing interest in Modi as the PM candidate. This is due to a groundswell building up among the people...I think Modi has made a huge mark on Indian polity,” Jaitley told a news channel. PTI

HC acquits murder accused MUMBAI: A man sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a labourer here 10 years ago has been acquitted by the Bombay High Court on the ground that he was suffering from a mental disorder.

Tikaram Pandey was sentenced for life for killing a labourer, Murugan in 2003.

Pandey filed an appeal in the HC against the conviction. After his arrest, Pandey told police that he used to kill people as he believed them to be “spies of the country”. Pandey was sent for medical examination to ascertain his mental condition.

HC notice to Odisha govt

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olding preliminary hearings on a PIL alleging human rights violation by Odisha police who forced three girls and as many boys to kneel down at a police station, the High Court today issued notices to the government asking it to reply within four weeks. The Jajpur police had made three girls and three boys kneel down after they were found in a park.

Tapping report given The three-member committee of experts constituted by the Himachal Pradesh government submitted its final report.

SHIMLA: The final report into the alleged phone tapping by state Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau during the previous BJP government was submitted today, claiming that about 500 more phones were tapped.

The three-member committee of experts from State Forensic Laboratory (SFL) constituted by the Himachal Pradesh government submitted its second and final report.

Chief secretary S Roy said the committee had submitted its report to the

ROY SAID A SPECIAL TEAM OF FORENSIC AND CYBER CRIME EXPERTS WOULD BE CONSTITUTED TO PROBE INTO THE TAPPING CASE. government and said about 500 phones, including that of politicians, bureaucrats and journalists, were tapped.

“I will discuss the report with the chief min-

ister,” he said.

In an earlier report submitted to the government, the committee had said officials of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had put 789 telephones under surveillance with permission for only 34 cases taken.

Roy said a special team of forensic and cyber crime experts and investigators would be constituted to probe into the illegal phone tapping and opinion of legal experts would also PTI be sought.

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WORLD SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

Fireflies in the sky

Medellin most innovative city

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al-Qaeda top gun in Mali killed BAMAKO, Al-Qaeda’s top commander in Mali has been killed, Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno said, signalling a significant blow to the rebels in the seven-week French-led intervention against Islamist insurgents.

Several newspapers in Abou Zeid’s native Algeria had reported his death and Washington had described the reports as “very credible”.

Deby on Friday said Abou Zeid, the Mali-based operative of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), was killed in fighting between Chadian troops and Islamist fighters on February 22.

“On February 22, we lost several soldiers in the Ifogha mountains after destroying the jihadists’ base. This was the first time there was a direct confrontation with the jihadists,” he said.

“Our soldiers killed two jihadist chiefs including Abou Zeid,” said Deby, whose elite forces are among the best desert troops on the continent and have played a key role in the offensive to liberate northern Mali. Algeria’s independent Ennahar TV reported earlier this week that Abou Zeid was killed in northern Mali along with 40 other Islamist militants.

Brazil to get nuke-subs

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his metropolis in northwestern Colombia was named Friday as the winner of the Innovative City of the Year competition, beating out New York and Tel Aviv. The organizers of the competition, Citigroup, the Marketing Services Department of WSJ. Magazine and the Urban Land Institute, said Medellin was chosen for its modern transit system.

razil is set to join the group of countries that have nuclear-powered submarines, President Dilma Rousseff said Friday. She stressed Brazil was committed to peace but needed its defense deterrent, as she inaugurated a naval shipyard in Rio de Janeiro state where the country’s first nuclear-powered sub is set to be built in partnership with France.

n aerobatics team perform during the Australian International Airshow in Melbourne on March 1, 2013.

180,000 patrons are expected through the gates over the duration of the event staged at the Avalon Airfield some 80kms south-west of Melbourne.

AFP PHOTO / PAUL CROCK

Obama orders $85bn austerity drive

He blamed the Republicans for refusing to stop the “dumb” spending cuts.

DAMASCUS: WASHINGTON, March 1, 2013 (AFP) - President Barack Obama reluctantly ordered an $85 billion austerity drive Friday that could slow the US economy and slash jobs, after blaming Republicans for refusing to stop the “dumb” spending cuts.

Obama complied with his legal obligations and initiated the automatic, across-the-board cuts in domestic and defense spending, following the failure of efforts to clinch a deal with Republicans on cutting the deficit.

The president signed an order bringing the arbitrary cuts into force, saying they should be made in “strict accordance” to US law, and a report by his Office of Management and Budget detailing the cuts to each agency.

Obama had earlier blamed the austerity time bomb on Republicans, who refused to close tax loopholes used by the rich and corporations combined with more targeted spending cuts, in what he calls a “balanced” approach to deficit reduction.

“I am not a dictator. I’m the president,” Obama said, warning he could not force his Republican foes to “do the right thing,” or make the Secret Service barricade Republicans leaders in a room until a deal is done.

Hagel rues cuts

M

ajor budget cuts initiated Friday will endanger the US military’s ability to conduct its missions, Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel warned.

Hagel, whose budget at the Pentagon is set to be slashed by roughly

$46 billion,

said earlier: “Let me make it clear that this uncertainty puts at risk our ability to effectively fulfill all of our missions.”

I am not a dictator. I’m the president.

Barack Obama The US President was hinting that he cannot force his Republican foes to do the right thing, nor can the Secret Service barricade Republicans leaders in a room until a deal is done.

“These cuts will hurt our economy, will cost us jobs and to set it right both sides need to be able to compromise,” Obama

said, before decrying the budget trimming as “dumb” and “unnecessary.”

Only three months after winning re-election, and with the extent of his authority in Washington again constrained, Obama bemoaned his inability to do a “Jedi mind-meld” to get Republicans to change their minds, using imagery from Star Wars and Star Trek.

Obama was bound by law to initiate the automatic, indiscriminate cuts, which could wound the already fragile economy, cost a million jobs and harm military readiness, by the end of Friday.

The hit to military and domestic spending, known as the sequester, was never supposed to happen, but was rather a device seen as so punishing that rival lawmakers would be forced to find a better compromise to cut the deficit. Both sides agree that the sequester is a blunt instrument to cut spending, as it does not distinguish between essential and wasteful programs — in what Obama has branded a “meat-cleaver” approach. New Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned that the sequester could endanger the military’s capacity to conduct its missions.

Chavez fighting for his life: VP

Anti-whalers predict low catch for Japan

Death of Russian, 3, ruled accident

LONDON: President Hugo Chavez is in “good spirits”

SYDNEY: Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said the Japanese fleet had left the Antarctic whale sanctuary and appeared to be heading home with its smallest catch yet, hailing an “enormously successful” harassment campaign. Founder Paul Watson said this year would likely see the lowest haul by the Japanese whalers in history, with “no more than 75” of the mammals killed due to the group’s efforts. That compares with a catch of 267 last year — 266 minke whales and one fin whale — and is dramatically below the target of 935 minke whales and up to 50 fin whales set for this season by Japan’s Institute for Cetacean Research. “The entire Japanese whaling fleet is now north of 60 degrees and out of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary,” Watson said.

CHICAGO: The death of a boy adopted from Russia

but fighting for his life as he undergoes chemotherapy in a Caracas military hospital, his vice president said late Friday. Vice President Nicolas Maduro revealed for the first time that Chavez began chemotherapy following his fourth cancer surgery in Cuba in December and decided to continue the “intense” treatment here last week. “He has strength that is superior to the treatments that he is receiving and he is in good spirits, battling, receiving his treatments,” Maduro told reporters after a mass for Chavez in a new hospital chapel. The leftist leader and his doctors in Cuba decided to begin chemotherapy and radiation therapy after his condition improved in January, he said.

at his Texas home was an accident and the bruises found on his body self-inflicted, a coroner ruled in a case that ignited a diplomatic row. Russian officials had claimed Max Shatto (born Maxim Kuzmin), 3, was tortured and murdered by his adoptive mother, whipping up a storm of controversy less than two months after Russia banned US adoptions. But four doctors who reviewed the autopsy results cleared his adoptive parents of wrongdoing, officials said in a statement.

The autopsy concluded Max — whose mother found him unconscious in the backyard and rushed him to hospital — died from a lacerated artery in his bowel due to blunt force trauma in his abdomen.

8

COMMENT SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

EDITORIALS ACT ERE WILDLIFE becomes a memory As the first Cites (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) summit meets for the first time in three years, delegates have a tough job on their hands. Despite efforts to curb dissipation of wildlife and deforestation, reports suggest that such efforts are failing miserably because the crime cartels, poachers and other gangs are much ahead in the game.

The stats that are available are shocking. The rhinos endemic to Vietnam have disappeared.

There are only 2,500 elephants in Thailand and experts warn if that nation does not act promptly, elephants will be memory and grandparents may tell kids that such beings roamed the earth and as proof they may show the trifles and trinkets of ivory. To prove that there lived some beings called rhinos, children could be shown the trophies hung on walls. As for tigers, there are the claws and the skin and maybe some smelly, slimy potion that may be available in China. Efforts of protectors of wildlife have been failing consistently because of the profits that could be made and ever-rising demand. And those involved include rebel groups in countries gripped by civil war and militias. There are rumours that al Qaeda too is into this trade big time. So the scope of efforts and forces formed to protect wildlife and forests must be wider. Severe punitive measures must be in place for offenders. But the most effective way to stop the trade in wildlife will be to destroy the demand.

When there’s no demand, there won’t be supply. Soups of shark fins, potions made of tiger claws and frog legs — it must be proved to the present generation that these were mere fads of an ancient generation and it is high time we knew better and moved ahead. Or there will be more animals and birds to add to the list of beings that exist in magical worlds and fairytales.

WHY WE LOVE...

Kim Jong-Un His father had his favourite filmmaker kidnapped just to tell him how he admired his work.

But Kim Jong-Un is different.

At least Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman came of his own will to meet him.

A mind without fear Soul Curry SUMAA TEKUR

L

ast week’s twin blasts in Hyderabad have, once again, reminded us of our weaknesses and vulnerabilities. There’s much anger even as political mudslinging and blame-shifting make a mockery of the precious lives lost and the irreversible damage to the city, and everyone directly and indirectly involved in the blasts of February 21. However, there is something each and every one of us can do to conquer fear and to prevent our minds from being terrorised.

Noted author Salam Rushdie said: “How do you defeat terrorism? Don’t be terrorised.” However insensitive this seemingly motivational remark may sound at a time when victims’ families mourn their irreplaceable loss and

many injured lie in hospitals waiting for their bodies to heal and their minds to shake off the terror, it urges us to draw on our inner strength to deal with this difficult time.

Just like the mind has the power to fight bodily cancers, the mind can also fight the cancers of the soul, such as negativity, fear, worry and anxiety.

Here is a list of things you can do to stop fear from taking over your mind.

1 Meditate: This may sound like the magic pill that’s given as a solution to any human problem.

Fact is, it IS a magic pill. Those who practice meditation regularly can vouch for it with a lot of confidence. Get the discipline to meditate every day. It will sweep your mind of impurities just like a shower sweeps your body of dirt.

2 Monitor your intake of news and current events: The 24/7 news culture in India thrives on keeping the insecurities, fears and uncertainties of viewers alive.

It becomes an addiction to watch on TV everything that can go wrong with our lives. To

HYDERABAD HAS A FIGHTING SPIRIT, WHICH IT MUST DRAW UPON AT THIS TIME AND SHOW THE WORLD THAT IT WILL NOT BE COWED BY TERRORISM. crown it, talk show panelists validate those reasons with their ‘expert’ opinions. Switch off. Or better still, switch to something happier.

3 Watch comedy films, listen to happy, healing music: Be careful in your choice of popular culture consumption. Avoid the movies that show bombs exploding, cars flying off roads, people running for their lives — anything that perpetuates the very fears that trigger those negative memories.

4 Work out: Like meditation, this also may seem like an oftrepeated solution to everything from a broken heart to bad health. Truth is, it gives you the opportunity to balance the ener-

gies in your body by relieving stress and anxiety by expending physical energy. Meditation and working out are complementary in many ways.

5 Eat healthy, get good sleep: A bad diet, lack of nutrition and inadequate sleep can negate all the positive effects of anything else you may be doing in order to restore balance and calm in your life. It’s always best to get back to the basics to maintain balance and ensure that the body and mind respond correctly to the environment.

6 Covert all negative thoughts into positive thoughts immediately.

It all boils down to how well we are able to train our minds to think in a certain way. There are times when the mind needs more of help and assistance. It may need more active stilling and calming. Make every negative a positive to win over your mind and defeat fear.

Hyderabad has a fighting spirit, which it must draw upon at this time and show the world that it will not cower down to terrorism.

9

COMMENT SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

The magic of rituals THE WHOLE IDEA IS TO CREATE TINY STORIES WITHIN THE SINGULAR STORY OF LIFE THAT TRANSPORT US TO A SIMPLE WORLD. HISTORY SHOWS RITUALS BROUGHT PEOPLE TOGETHER, STALLED WARS, HERALDED RAIN AND HEALED GRIEVING PEOPLE.

Quirky-side-Up ARPITA BHAWAL

A

VISWAPRASAD RAJU

Urban sketches

Green city

re you a believer?

Believing is a hard job to hold in the business of life. Bombs are going off in market places. Women are molested for sport. Workplaces are becoming a health hazard. The essence of living has undergone a sea change in the last 25 years. In 1994, when I left Kolkata, it was not a battle for sanity. But then it wasn’t the age of iPhone, Botox, MP3 or Space Expeditions either.

So what do you do these days to believe that life is still simple?

Rituals. Hard to digest, but surprisingly, they work! Rituals are sets of actions that may be performed mainly for their symbolic value because they may have no bearing to any solutions you may be seeking. In ancient times, they were prescribed by traditions of a community or religious groups, but today they could be a set of stylized actions that provide a respite, a sense of purpose and fulfillment. They could be created by you - and only followed by you! You could nurture and uphold them for simply the joy they bring you.

Imagine a Friday evening when you are wrapping up from work. It has been a tiresome week filled with family crisis, workplace woes or friendly foes.

What is that one thing which can make you feel: “Things aren’t so bad, you know” or “I still have a life!” or “I am glad that my world will always be happy”? I discovered the power that rituals can bring us a week ago when a colleague at work asked me if I wanted something from Mountain Bakery on Road No 2 Banjara Hills in Hyderabad. I was stumped. There I was recovering from a stint in the hospital, wondering if I should seek a career change, fretting about my move into a new locality, griev-

ing from the dashed notions of faithful friends and distant family, and here was my colleague, standing in front of me with a benevolent smile and an innocent question: Do you want plum cake?

There has never been anything more strange asked of me.

I have been asked if I want to meet up for a movie or go shopping, but plum cake? I was intrigued and fascinated. I discovered that my colleague had a Friday ritual. Why? I asked her in bewilderment. “It is Friday. I

am preparing for the weekend.”

Comfort food, the naysayers will scream. Not true.

The whole idea is to create tiny stories within the singular story of life that transport us to a simple world.

History shows rituals brought people together, stalled wars, heralded rain and healed grieving people. In 2011, in a remote village called Panjal (Kerala, India) a 4,000 year old fire ritual or yagna (Athirathnam) was conducted.

According to a team of scientists

led by Prof VPN Nampoori (former director of the International School of Photonics, Cochin University of Science and Technology) the yagna impacted the atmosphere, soil and environment positively. It accelerated the process of seed germination and microbial presence in air, water and soil in and around the region!

Psychology might say rituals are symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorders. In a technical sense, they are repetitive behavior, systematically used by a person to neutralize or prevent anxiety. But my first-hand experience of performing a ritual was fun!

Whether it be drinking a cup of tea in the early morning sun or going every Saturday evening to the temple or buying plum cake from Mountain Bakery - rituals breathed life into life! It is a perfectly easy way to bring back the magic of living by creating a personal idea of happiness. Try it sometime. It works.

Global edits The Independent (UK)

Polio is going – but not yet gone

W

hen a disease achieves “celebrity status” – garnering attention and resources – there is bound to be resentment among those working on other conditions that have been overlooked. HIV/Aids came to global notice in the 1980s and 1990s and sucked in funds on a scale hitherto undreamt of in the developing world.

Meanwhile, malaria, tuberculosis and, the biggest child killer of all, diarrhoeal disease were neglected, opening up sharp divisions in the aid world.

Today the world is facing a similar situation with polio. Thanks to eradication efforts over the past 25 years, the total of cases worldwide has been reduced by 99 per cent, to just 222 last year. For the generation that remembers the outbreaks in 1950s Britain, Europe and the US, when thousands of children died or were left paralysed and panic gripped parents, that is an astonishing achievement.

But the work is not cheap – $9bn has been spent so far – with an esti-

mated $5.5bn required to root out the last couple of hundred cases, equivalent to $25m for each case. Health workers running routine immunisation programmes for measles, diphtheria and other lethal diseases complain that all the focus has been on polio.

Local people protest, during the frequent polio immunisation days, telling health workers bitterly: “You only give us polio drops, but we have so many other problems.”

There are no easy answers. Even if the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, backed by governments and health organisations around the world, succeeds in banishing the virus completely – and that is by no means certain – more lives might have been saved by, for example, programmes to improve sewage systems.

That might be a practical suggestion, but it would be churlish.

Banishing polio will protect future generations for all time, and it is to the great credit of Bill Gates that he is committing some of his fortune to the task. Success will be far harder to achieve than eradicating smallpox, the only other disease eliminated in the past century. But if it can be done, it would demonstrate, as Mr Gates says, what is best about humanity.

10

BUSINESS SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

Samsung $1bn penalty slashed

US auto post modest gains

U

S auto sales grew four per cent in February amid rising fuel prices, snowbound dealerships and uncertainty over the impact of looming government budget cuts on a fragile economy, data showed Friday. The modest gains were weaker than the double-digit growth reported in recent months as the auto industry recovers from the 2008 crash and credit crunch.

A

judge cut $450 mn from a $1 bn award to be paid by Samsung in a landmark patent lawsuit from Apple, saying a jury had wrongly calculated the damages. US District Judge Lucy Koh affirmed the remainder of the award, amounting to $598.9 mn, in the patent infringement case, while denying Apple's request for a bigger penalty. The decision marked the latest twist in the trial pitting the maker of the iPhone against the surging South Korean electronics giant.

Air China to buy 31 Boeings

A

ir China signed an agreement Friday to buy 31 Boeing passenger and cargo planes from Boeing, subject to government approval, the Chinese flag carrier said. Air China will purchase 20 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, two Boeing 747-8 aircraft, one Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and its unit Air China Cargo would buy 8 Boeing 777 cargo planes. The total value of the deal is $5.2 billion at current Boeing list prices.

Samsung means business

Company integrates offerings for corporate under one vertical; makes an aggressive push for it.

NT Balanarayan Balanarayan.nt@postnoon.com

S

amsung stated that it’ll be focussing more on its corporate customers while simultaneously announcing a plethora of products for consumers at Samsung Forum 2013 that was organised in Hyderabad yesterday.

Samsung South-West Asia president and CEO BD Park said that in the past year they concentrated on removing barriers between people, content and devices, “Innovation should be for everybody and the positive feedback we got last year gives us courage to showcase our upcoming technology here today. We’re focussing this year on corporate customers and we believe that our cutting edge hardware and software with compatible applications can reduce cost and streamline services for companies.”

The company showcased many applications of their technology for the enterprise at the event. Among them were apps made by Vectorform for Microsoft’s Surface Table (manufactured by Samsung) and various Android apps for streamlining work that run on Samsung’s Galaxy line of devices.

The company placed a special emphasis on the trend of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) that is catching up globally as opposed to the company handing over a device to employees.

Taking into account the threats associated with this system to corporate information Samsung announced Knox service for corporate so that no corporate information is compromised. Knox works by keeping enterprise and personal data separate and it’ll work on Galaxy SIII and Note 2.

Samsung has integrated its corporate services that were earlier under several verticals with this move and expects B2B business to make up 25 per cent of their earnings by 2020. Knox was announced at Mobile World Congress being organised in Barcelona earlier this week and this announcement means that the company will be aggressively pushing the roll out of the service in India as well. Android phones make up majority of sales by Samsung in the country according to Samsung mobile

VP Asim Warsi. “Android dominates the market currently and maybe it’s because people here are used to Google ecosystem – Google chat, mail etc. Sales of Microsoft’s Windows devices has been good but has not dominated the market. Android has taken the fancy of the customers,” he said. Warsi earlier dodged a question on the sale of mobiles running Bada operating system that was initially pegged as an OS for low-end devices. Currently Samsung is pushing selling phones with Android in the sub`10,000 segment.

We’re focussing on corporate customers and we believe that our cutting edge hardware and software can reduce cost.

BD Park, president, Samsung S-W Asia The company did not announce the price of any of the devices at the event and only S9 UHD TV got a release date (May 2013). Atul Jain, Vice President of Samsung Consumer Electronics said that they’ll announce the pricing later and added that it’ll be a “good price”.

He also said that Samsung will bring out Smart TVs in smaller sizes if there is a demand for it in the market.

On the mobile front, the five per cent hike in excise duty is something that the company is worried about. “This will definitely affect customers and anything affecting them will have an impact on the whole ecosystem.

We’ll try on our part to see how we can soften the blow on the consumer as this 5 point increase is enough to dent sales.

This directly impacts affordability and this is a worry for us as phones that cost more than `2,000 is the dominant part of the market. It is not just our sales that are affected, but also adoption of 3G among Indias. If phones are costlier fewer people will go for devices that run 3G,” Warsi said.

See more on Pg 12

11

FOCUS SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

Swedish transsexuals seek compensation for

STERILISATION People who had to accept to be sterilised to complete their sex changes are pushing for compensation after a change in the law.

Camille BAS-WOHLERT Agence France-Presse

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weden is often hailed as a forward-thinking society promoting equality for all, but transsexuals who had to accept to be sterilised to complete their sex changes are pushing for compensation after a change in the law.

Nova Colliander, a 31-year-old who completed her transformation from man to woman in 2010, says she suffered discrimination when she was irreversibly sterilised as part of the sex change process. “Beautiful Sweden, with its pretty red wooden cabins... But (the reality is that) forced sterilisations for transsexuals existed until 2013,” she says.

“A lot of people want children, and it’s crazy to think that we are different than anyone else on this point. We want children just as much as anyone else.”

Until last year, the operation was obligatory for transsexuals who wanted their sex change to be officially recognised by authorities, with their personal identity documents reflecting their new gender.

But in December 2012, a Swedish

court ruled that the practice of forced sterilisations, which dated back to a 1972 law on sexual identity, was unconstitutional and violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

The ruling was not appealed, and a ban therefore entered into force on January 10. “We didn’t have the right to become parents, we didn’t have the right to freeze our eggs or our sperm,” explains Love Elfvelin, a 22year-old who recently had a double mastectomy to become a man, and who will not have to undergo sterilisation to complete the sex change.

The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFSL) is now preparing to help transsexuals who were sterilised under the old law to obtain damages.

So far, the government has refused to pay.

“Between the lines, they’re saying they didn’t do anything wrong,” says Nova. “And by doing so, they’re legitimising the kind of violation we face.” Kerstin Burman, the lawyer who represents the 135 transsexuals who plan to file a complaint against the state in a few months’ time,

explains that “since lawmakers are not taking the initiative, we are building a legal case”.

With the law now scrapped by the courts, “we have the state up against a wall,” says Nova. “I’m disappointed, sad, and a little angry, I had expected more of my elected officials,” she says.

“Sterilisation was an unnecessary price to pay but if you indicated that you weren’t willing to do it, that could have put an end to the (sex change) procedure, which was a matter of survival,” she recalls matter-of-factly. She says the government’s refusal to pay damages is disappointing, given the fact that Sweden previously paid compensation to 230,000 victims of forced sterilisations under a eugenics programme from 1935 until 1996.

In 1999, the parliament adopted a law granting damages of 175,000 kronor ($27,000) to those victims.

At the RFSL offices in central Stockholm, Love and Nova speak freely about their sex changes. Nova, a woman of a strong build and long sandy hair, wearing little make-up, is clad in black jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, a woolly cap on her head.

Outgoing and friendly, her voice is that of a woman but she admits she is often “mistaken for a man".

Love, sitting with his legs comfortably spread apart, is slender with

changing his identity documents to show that he is now a man. He is one of the first transsexuals in Sweden who does not need to be sterilised to do so.

And he is ready to take another pioneering step, though he is not sure he will succeed.

“I think I’ll be able to have my own biological children, but at the same time I’m very aware that that is something I really have to believe in in order to have the strength to fight that battle,” he says.

Contrary to his idol, American “pregnant man” Thomas Beatie who retained his female reproductive organs to give birth to three children, Love does not plan to bear his own. The first step will be to retrieve some of his eggs.

“But first I’ll have to stop taking my testosterone. Nobody knows how long I would have to stop for, and if my eggs

are fertile after taking testosterone for three years,” he says. “We don’t know if it’s going to work.”

“I’m heterosexual but my partner isn’t a woman,” Love says, using the gender neutral pronoun “zie” to refer to his partner who he explains “doesn’t want to be (gender) defined”. However, “Zie will probably carry our child,” he says.

For that to happen the couple would need a sperm donor, and then the embryo would be inseminated into Love’s partner.

But since the egg is not his partner’s and the sperm is not his, the insemination would be considered an embryo donation, which is banned in Sweden.

“With activism and politics we plan to try to get the law on embryo donation changed,” Love says of his next battle.

UNTIL LAST YEAR, THE OPERATION WAS OBLIGATORY FOR TRANSSEXUALS WHO WANTED THEIR SEX CHANGE TO BE OFFICIALLY RECOGNISED BY AUTHORITIES. short brown hair and a few days’ stubble, dressed casually in jeans and a plaid shirt.

There is little to indicate that he was born a woman except perhaps that he is not quite as tall as most Swedish men.

Both become more reserved when the subject turns to what the future holds for them.

Nova, who got married on December 1 to someone whose gender she refuses to disclose, does not plan to have children.

But things are different for Love, who is in the process of officially

PICK YOUR

@

Across Stores

ities Twin C

12

TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK www.winHTTrack.com inHTTrack is a free and open source website copier and offline browser

by Xavier Roche, licensed under GNU General Public Licence. In not so many words, the software is free to use and develop.

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APP OF THE WEEK Pocket

MOBILE GAME REVIEW Hero Academy is one of the first games to make multiplayer format work in another genre — in this case, the strategy board game.

Excellent use of multiplayer matchmaking aside, Hero Academy is a surprisingly deep tactical strategy game.

HERO ACADEMY

T

he app formerly known as Read It Later also did a little reinventing this year, with a rename, redesign, and price reduction to the very friendly cost of zero dollars. It works a lot like Instapaper.

NT BALANARAYAN

balanarayan.nt@postnoon.com

S9 UHD TV

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hotos don’t do justice to this 85-inch piece of art. This Ultra HD TV can display visuals at 4K resolution and has 2.2 channel speakers built into its slim frame. The display has very thin bevels and the viewing angles is one of the best available right now. Folks at Samsung weren’t kidding when they said that this TV will compete with the art you have at home. To reduce clutter of cables and to help with cable management, all the ports will be at the base of the TV with a single cable going up along the frame to the display. This display will be available in the market in May.

GALAXY NOTE 510

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ote 510, called Note 8 in other parts of the world, is an eight-inch tablet that incorporates the best features of Galaxy Note phones. It sports a 1280x800 resolution TFT display, runs on Android Jelly Bean and is powered by A9 quad-core processor. It has 2GB RAM and the base model has 16GB internal storage space; this can be upgraded to 32GB using a microSD card.

NX 300

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EYEGASMIC!

Samsung announced quite a lot of new products for India at Samsung Forum 2013 that was held in Hyderabad. Here are the five most interesting ones.

his mirrorless camera is going to be the talk of the town. A 20.3-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, new hybrid autofocus system, and Samsung’s proprietary DRIMe IV imaging engine. It offers rather wide ISO range (ISO100 -25,600), a 1/6000 shutter speed, and can shoot 8.6 frames per second in continuous shooting mode, but what makes it stand out is that you can shoot 3D movies with it. You’ll need to separately buy the lens if you want to shoot in 3D, but it’s definitely worth the buck. The camera is also capable of transferring photos taken on NX to your Android phone using a companion app, making it easy for you to share it on Facebook or Instagram.

SMART

S

EVOLUTION KIT

amsung is bringing out some great updates to Smart TVs this year, but if you bought one of Samsung’s Smart TVs from this year, you can get all that goodness without buying a whole new TV using this evolution kit. This five-inch box can be docked on to a port at the back of the TV and it’ll make your TV faster and sport a faster interface than before. We wish such updates were available for smartphones and tablets too! The company also announced a universal remote with a trackpad which it claims is the future of TV remotes.

SERIES 7

S S9 TV

Smart Evolution Kit Remote

NX 300

amsung announced two ultrabooks for India and these devices will be the topof-the-line devices for the company this year. Both of them look very sleek and are quite powerful, irrespective of the slim looks. 7 Chronos is a MacBook competitor with a 15.6-inch screen, 10 point touch support, up to 16GB RAM and Radeon HD 8870M GPU. Series 7 Ultra is smaller with 13-inch screen and claims to deliver up to eight hours of battery life.

Prices of these devices were not announced.

13

ANIMAL KINGDOM SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

PET NEWS Dogs sneak food

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Bird hatches chick at 62

A

new study suggests dogs might understand people even better than we thought.

The research shows that domestic dogs, when told not to snatch a piece of food, are more likely to disobey the command in a dark room than in a lit room.

T

Know your dog

The Laysan albatross, 62years-old, at least recently hatched a healthy baby in the US Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, her sixth in a row and possibly the 35th of her lifetime, according to the US Geological Survey's (USGS) North American Bird Banding Programme.

T

he ideal Yorkshire Terrier character or "personality" is described with a "carriage very upright".

Though small, the Yorkshire Terrier is active, very overprotective, loves attention, and should not show the soft temperament seen in lap dogs.

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

Be the boss of your dog With your pooch making puppy eyes at you, it becomes a herculean task to get your pup to do what is right. However, dogs yearn to be disciplined and taken control of and it is important not to lose your power to your dog.

AMY ROSE THOMAS

amyrose.t@postnoon.com

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ou realise that you have been going easy on him only when he refuses to listen to you and starts growling at you for ordering him about. Going against your pooch’s whims and wishes and reprimanding him is easier said than done. With your pooch making puppy eyes at you, it becomes a herculean task to get him to do what is right.

However, it is necessary to discipline your pup or else he would end up disappointing you time

and again. You will regret having him when you get back home to chewed-on slippers, scattered clothes and dog poop everywhere. Dogs are intelligent animals and they know the difference between backyard and bedroom and if you find dog poop in your bedroom, your poor disciplinary skills are to be blamed.

Unlike cats, dogs yearn to be disciplined and taken control of and it is important that you do not lose the power to your dog.

“There is a power struggle after the pup enters your life. If you give in and let the pup rule your life then you will lose the power to your dog. During the initial days itself one needs to show the puppy that you are the boss. The trick is to start train-

DOGS ARE INTELLIGENT ANIMALS AND IF YOU REPEATEDLY TELL THEM NOT TO DO A PARTICULAR THING THEY UNDERSTAND. THEY CAN UNDERSTAND YOU BETTER THAN YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THEM. ing your pooch from day one,” Dr Lakshmi S Ramana says.

More often than not, pet owners resort to beating up the pups in a bid to get them to behave. But hurting the pet only makes him afraid of you.

A pet owner Priyangitha who insists that her pet Persia

is her first daughter says, “I never wanted to whack Persia to get her to behave. It was difficult in the beginning when she was a pup. She was hyper active and I had caught her many times dirtying the rooms. We used to lightly flick on her nose to make her understand. Our vet had suggested this way and it worked well for her. To avoid her dirtying the house, we used to rush her down for a walk as soon as she finished her meal.

She used to take way too much time when we started to try this on her, but later she got used to this. Whacking a pup only makes her scared of you and this is not good for the relationship you share with the puppy. I have met many who sincerely believe that beating your pup is

the only way to make them see sense. There are many other ways one can adopt to get her to listen to you.”

According to Dr Ramana, the best way to get your dog to listen to you is to stop playing with it.

“Dogs are intelligent animals and if you repeatedly tell them not to do a particular thing they understand. Dogs can understand you better than you can understand them. So the confusion is caused because of you. If you are in double mind when you give a particular instruction to a dog, he gets confused. Dogs love playing with their owners and if you take that away from him, he will fall in line and start listening to you. You do not have to resort to violence to get them to behave,” she says.

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BOOKS SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

SHORT READS Title: Rapture Author: Lauren Kate Publisher: Delacorte Books The fourth and final Fallen novel. The sky is dark with wings... Time is running out for Luce and Daniel. To stop Lucifer from erasing the past, they must find the place where the angels fell to earth. Together they face an epic battle that will end with lifeless bodies . . . and angel dust.

Title: Wonder Author: RJ Palacio Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers August Pullman was born with a facial deformity that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past his face.

Title: See Now Then Author: Jamaica Kincaid Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Chronicling the dissolution of a middle-class New England marriage from shifting points of view, Kincaid's new novel reflects in artful funhouse-mirror fashion the author's own recent travails. With beguiling language, Kincaid exposes the strange effects of time.

Title: Harvest Author: Jim Crace Publisher: Knopf Doubleday In a novel set in the English countryside and filled with foreboding, an alleged act of arson turns residents of an isolated English town against its newcomers.

As the tension mounts, Crace delineates the fragile notion of community that might subtly shift without warning.

The breakthrough mantra

For every person that accomplishes an above-average task, there are many who go through the everyday grind of life oblivious that they could do better. This book is aimed at such people. tive attitude, the reader has done a favour to her or himself. For, as the author repeatedly drills into the reader; positive attitude can make a world of a difference — the difference between the alsorans and the winner.

SYED SHOAIB

shoaib.s@postnoon.com

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ach one of us goes through the cycle of burning ambition—launching on the path towards that goal—getting stuck in the rut of routine chores for mere existence—losing sight of the aim because of distraction— introspection—remembering the ambition and marching on with vigour.

For each individual, time taken to complete this cycle varies from a few days to ...a lifetime! Needless to say, the luckier ones are those who wake up earlier, realign their focus and achieve set targets. They are the ones who stand apart — the ones the world applauds.

For every person that accomplishes an above-average task, there are a few hundred, or thousand, or dash, who go through the grind of everyday life oblivious to the fact that they too could have pulled off more than they managed or even aimed for.

While all of us are moulded from the same clay, many do not accomplish much because of the

The authors of The Change Book talk about challenging the status quo. And how?

They explain with the help of 50 models.

Fleme Varkey fleme.v@postnoon.com

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uthors Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschappeler previously came out with The Decision Book. It was termed as a book containing excellent strategic models and tools for most leadership environments.

It taught one through 50 models on decision-making. Now, they are out with another — The

lack of guidance. Abilities need opportunities to flourish. To make us aware of those opportunities is the intent of David CM Carter through his book Break Through.

David, by calling himself a mentor, plays god of guidance.

This he does in a distinct style of motivation, cajoling and confi-

dence enhancement.

It is circumstance that defines the different approaches of individuals to a similar situation. To override a predetermined action and do better by believing in oneself is the omnipresent sermon of David.

David emphasises on the importance of unobvious nitty-

gritty, making them palpable and meaningful. The choice of words and body language can bring about a whole lot of change in defining a situation, and in determining which way the situation will lead us, he makes us understand.

If one looked at the book positively and learned from it posi-

Reasons for change Change Book — in which they attempt to give another 50 models to explain how change happens. How do you make your way in a world that is changing at an unprecedented rate? Why do we have less and less time?

Why are some people unfaithful?

How can our government act against threats before they happen? This book is about change — from the small and seemingly insignificant transitions in our day-to-day lives, to the big and almost incomprehensible shifts in human history.

In The Change Book, you'll find models explaining financial crises, why biotechnology is the industry of the future and why

Name The Change Book Authors Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschappeler Pages 151 Publisher Hachette India cities are the new nations. Whether you're buying a new car, deciding whom to vote for, or making an investment, this black book offers simple explanations for our complicated world and radically challenge some of our preconceived ideas.

The Change Book, a pocket-

Name Break Through Author David CM Carter Pages 300 Publisher Hachette India

sized publication, small enough to slip into a handbag, and a mere 151 pages long, makes the following claim: Understand the change before you go around wanting it. Each section uses models and graphs to present ideas in layman terms. The reasoning behind this idea is that we understand concepts better when presented as images.

Krogerus makes use of basic pie charts, mind maps, flow charts and axis models in order to translate his ideas into a simpler format. Most seem childlike and useless, but they all fit into a larger scheme of things.

The Change Book is full of stimulating and thought-provoking facts, providing the reader with a plethora of entertaining conversation, but not all will be enthused by models and charts.

BOOKS SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

The hunt begins

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The first book in The Hunters series will make a perfect masala action film if made into a movie, even if it seems familiar and out-of-the-world in parts.

DEEPASHRI V

deepashri.v@postnoon.com

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he Hunters: If You Seek, They Will Find…, reads like the script of an actionpacked thriller. There are no major surprises that make you go, “Whoa!” and there are scenes where you’ll exclaim, “Really, now” but it’s still an entertainer.

It reads easy and the narrative style makes it seem like you are watching every scene as you read.

The plot had bits and pieces of many adventure-action films; it was original, yet nothing mind boggling.

The story starts in 1916 Romania. It’s the era of World War I. The Romanian government fears the country’s treasures — artefacts, money, paintings, gold — will be looted if Germany wins the war. So they strike a deal with Russia and sign a memorandum that Russia will safeguard their treasures and return it to Romania in due course of time. So trains full of treasures are sent to Kremlin.

Almost a century later, a businessman pulls together a team of experts — a historian, a geek with thorough knowledge of computers, a weapons expert, an ex-soldier and an ex-CIA agent — to search for the lost treasure. Where do they begin, especially when Romania and Russia stopped fighting the war on the same side soon after the valuables changed hands? Was it lost on the way or in Russia? Or is it just scattered all across the globe, having passed down different hands since, rendering the search futile? In the middle of all this they encounter Rasputin’s followers, the ‘Black Robes,’ whose interests are vested in something more than the treasures. And the big question:

Name The Hunters : If you seek, they will find Author Chris Kuzneski Pages 497 Published by Hachette India

Who is the businessman? Is he to be trusted?

The story starts well, loses grip in between and regains momentum towards the end. If you’re expecting mystery that can blow your mind away, you will be disappointed. It’s a feelgood book, where you get your entertainment’s worth, even if you know what’s going to happen in the end; like a movie you

go to watch knowing what to expect and still enjoy it. The characterisation is done well, and so is the blending of history with fiction, except in a place or two, where it becomes unbelievable.

The Hunters is the first book in Chris Kuzneski’s new series.

Things will hopefully unfold and get more engaging as the story unfolds in the next books.

WHAT’S SELLING Landmark’s best in fiction n Immortals of Meluha by Amish n Secret of the Nagas

by Amish n Love Stories that touched my heart

by Ravinder Singh n The Secret Wishlist

by Preeti Shenoy n The Racketeer by John Grisham

Walden’s best in non-fiction

New York Times’ best in fiction

New York Times’ best in non-fiction

n Durbar by Tavleen Singh

n A week in winter by Maeve Binchy

n American Sniper by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice

n Land of the Seven Rivers by Sanjeev Sanyal

n Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

n India Grows At Night by Gurcharan Das

n Tenth of December by George Saunders

n Return of a King

by William Dalrymple

n Guilt by Jonathan Kellerman

n Coolidge by Amity Shlaes

n A memory of light

by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

n The Future by Al Gore

n Our Moon Has Blood Clots by Rahul Pandita

n My Beloved World, by Sonia Sotomayor

n Killing Kennedy

by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

18

WOMEN SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

WEBSITES OF THE WEEK The Chive:The Chive is all about random-but-interesting news. It is also a photo and video blog of the wacky, the inane, the curious, the thoughtinspiring, and the preposterous.

Oddee.com: A fascinating blog about the bizarre, weird, and strange.

There are also some really fascinating stories about medicine, geography, modern anthropology, modern art and pop culture.

Dear Blank: This site is about poignant written letters. Letters from a crash victim to the other driver.

Letters from a gay son to his mother.

Letters from a spurned lover to her ex-partner.

Celebrating women With Women’s Day around the corner, the City is gearing up for Women’s March — a showcase of events that celebrates women achievers and highlights safety issues.

Amy Rose Thomas

All About Eve

JYOTSNA N

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amyrose.t@postnoon.com

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ith an array of events including documentary screenings, photography exhibition and plays to be organised, Women's March is back for the seventh time around this year. Alliance Francaise, Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad, Kalakriti Art Gallery, The University of Hyderabad and Moving Images are coming together for the event. Many other organisations in the City like Lamakaan, Annapurna Institute of Film and Media have joined forces with the existing members for the programme.

One of the organisers Anita Desai from GoetheZentrum says that the event will feature women achievers from different fields and different parts of the country.

“This is an attempt from our side to celebrate women’s success and also highlight the problems faced by her,” Anita Desai says.

Some of the events to look forward to include a photography exhibition Women in Public Spaces that will have more than 15 artists from across the country commenting on women's issues through the medium of photography, Theatre play Bogey System which tells a story about a young mother who has endless monologues with her sevenmonth baby and documentary The Lightning Testimonies that reflects upon a history of conflict in the Indian subcontinent through experiences of sexual violence.

Anita Desai says that the focus of the year’s edition of the event will be women and violence.

“There is a line-up of documentaries dealing with women’s safety. We

We’re not amused

are not just trying to pun on the words when we named the event as ‘Women’s March’. It is high time that women march ahead. We will be bringing down women achievers from across the country for some of the events that are being planned,” Anita Desai says.

Dates to keep in mind n March 3, 18:30, GoetheZentrum: Doc.Splash! The Lightning Testimonies (Film) n March 8, 19.30, AISFM It's a Girl, 2012 by Evan Grae Davis (Film) n March 13, 18:30, GoetheZentrum: The Justice Verma

Report with Vasudha Nagaraj (expert talk) n March 14,18:00, GoetheZentrum: Inauguration of Photography Exhibition “Women in Public Spaces” n March 24, 11am, Goethe-Zentrum: Doc.Splash! Director Focus: Barf, 1997 & Sita's Family, 2002 by & with Saba Dewan (Film) n March 24, 18:00, Goethe-Zentrum: Doc.Splash! Delhi Mumbai Delhi, 2006 & Naach, 2008 by & with Saba Dewan (Film) n April 3, 19:00, NIFT: Theatre Play — Bogey System by Swar Thounaojam. n April 4 & 5, University of Hyderabad: Workshop

Hindi film that released recently has as its protagonist a man-child who believes he's the centre of the universe. He has a doting mother, who thinks her son can do no wrong, and a loving, beautiful girlfriend, who is willing to pay his rent and clean up after him even as he hits on other women shamelessly.

Every man’s dream, right?

But what about the woman? The idea that women exist for a man’s pleasure is so prevalent that movies often portray very anti-woman sentiments without even realising it.

This year at the Oscars, host Seth MacFarlane told us exactly why leading female thespians are so loved — it's because of their perky assets and willingness to show them on screen. He later told us that one of the nominees for best actress was honoured for having a woman's ability of never letting anything go.

Her role? A CIA operative tracking Osama Bin Laden for years.

At the biggest award function recognising excellence, the opening number reduces women to just bodies to be ogled at.

Nothing more. The story, their role, the reason for the nudity — nothing matters. We saw them, and that’s all we care about.

Yet every time people kick up a fuss about women being portrayed badly, either in films, music or books, we're told three things — that it was meant to be a joke, that you just don't get the joke, and women have no sense of humour. That explains everything. Fine. But if you made similar jokes about another minority, say the black community, or about a stereotypical characteristic about another community, say the miserliness of the Jewish people, would you tell them they don't have a sense of humour when they protest?

We expect better from artistes. We think that they believe in equality and in treating women fairly. More than some distant khap panchayat or some fundamentalist preacher, we're more upset when people we believe are our equals show their patriarchal attitude.

Can I just say this — it’s not funny. And we’re not amused.

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SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013 S BALAKRISHNA

BLENDS OF STYLE

MUSICAL ROMANCE In association with the Andhra Pradesh Tourism, Bharathi Cement, Seagrams 100 Pipers and the Park Hotel: Bonjour India 2013 a concert for sarod, symphony and electronic orchestra was held at Shilpa Kala Vedika on Friday. Participating in this grand event were Ananta Opus 195, Pierre Thilloy with Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan & The Symphony Orchestra of Avignon and KORDS. The event needless to say was mesmerising.

1

2

Pochampally Ikat Art Mela 2013, a 10-day handloom products exhibition was inaugurated by Tollywood actresses Sri Lakshmi and Padmini at the YMCA, Narayanguda on Friday.

4

3

Mixing with flair Questions and Answers

Shailandra Singh, author of F?@k Knows was in the City on Friday at Taj Deccan. A meet the author session was held where he interacted with readers.

1 Mariyam

3 Adithi, Tanya

2 Prerna, Veena

4 Dr Manisha

Flair bartender and mixologist Atilla Iskifoglu shows of his skills behind the bar counter at Tease, Vivanta by Taj, Begumpet.

Infotainment (L-R) Ranganayaka Prasad, TDP leader,Hydernagar div; GHMC Corporator M Bhanu Prasad, N Narasimha Reddy, TDP leader Qutubullapur and Anand of Dove Multimedia at the inauguration of the Dove Multimedia Educational DVDs expo on Thursday at Kukatpally.

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RELATIONSHIPS SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

I AM ALL EARS

I

am a working woman of 27 and my boyfriend is 29. He is a fun-loving person and people love being around him. While I am the grumpy bear and prefer to keep a close circle of friends. He often entertains people at my home without telling me and calls me a grouch. How do I get the message across?

Dear disturbed kid, I presume the message you are talking about is a way to tell him to clean up or that you want to tell him to quit his name-calling. I think hanging around with a few more friends and loosening yourself will do you wonders, but if the after effects are unpleasant, I suggest you tell him openly that his friends can very well clean after themselves. If not ask him to do the cleaning. He’ll toe the line.

V

alentine’s Day may have come and gone, but if you’re still crying perhaps On The Rebound can help fix that. The Facebook app aggregates the relationship statuses of your friends and news feed to figure out who’s single and ready to mingle. Possibly. Developed by Anthony Coombs and Jon Tran, the app is a less provocative BangWithFriends — except it’ll also provide data of how many relationships candidates have been in since they’ve joined Facebook and how long they’ve been single.

TILL BEDS DO US PART FLEME VARKEY

fleme.v@postnoon.com

T

here recently was an article about celebrity couples who sleep in separate beds, bedrooms and even houses. It leads one to wonder whether the rest of the population regularly sleeps apart from their partner.

For a fact, this was considered a taboo and more so it meant that there is trouble in paradise.

Hindi movies have further augmented this theory. They show the heroine sleeping in a different bedroom because she is miffed with her husband or hubby dearest has to sleep on the sofa because wifey dearest caught him eyeing the girl next door.

Well, this might be the case for some but in today’s age there are several reasons for a couple sleeping in separate bedrooms. Among the celebrity couples who sleep apart: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip

sleep in separate bedrooms, and Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter sleep in their own houses! Rumours have it that Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise apparently slept in separate bedrooms during their time together.

Those were just celebrities what of the common man?

Akhila Sashi, wife and mum sleeps in a different room and everybody in her family knows about it. Her husband has sleep apnea and as a result of which sleeping for her becomes a task. Their decision was met with apprehension initially, but Akhila asked her mother-inlaw to sleep in the same room as her son and Akhila never had to hear about it again.

Karan Singh, a banker by profession keeps very late hours. Sometimes he enters the house only at 1 pm, he does not want to disturb his wife Shilpa as she is a busy doctor herself.

Both Karan and Shilpa have no problems with this arrangement, in fact, they decided to sleep in separate rooms to be able to give each other space and not because they can’t bear the sight of each other as oth-

Four out of five couples sleep in separate bedrooms or beds.Is this bad for a marriage/ relationship? Is it better for your individual sleep?

Postnoon talks to few couples and finds out their take on the subject.

ers want to believe.

Shilpa says, “It’s important for couples facing these issues to try their best to avoid being influenced by negative social stigma and judgement around sleeping apart. To be stuck with a person who snores loudly, is a somnambulist or hogs the covers is something too much to take in at night, especially when that’s the time you want to have peace and quiet.

However, there are others who say that sleeping in separate beds slowly chips away at the romance. Lily Anthony, 52, feels strongly about this. “My husband snores in his sleep, it’s unbearable but if I were to move to another room to sleep, I wouldn’t as I am so accustomed to hear him snore that I have now adjusted to it. I become restless without him by my side. Sleep, or any one of the mealtimes are a few of the moments in the day when you get to share with your husband because the

whole day is spent in the rat race, earning money, working and the whole charade, why would you like to part with them? I fail to understand.”

It’s easy for any couple to get caught up in the daily grind and take each other for granted. If you’re not sharing a bed nightly, it may become an issue of emotional attachment as well. Rosalyn Thomas, 27 and newly-married has a solution to this problem. “Both of us sleep in separate beds because we are habituated to it and like to have our own space. I like to stay up late reading, listening to music, basically doing my own thing. My husband too likes to go to sleep early, watch TV at odd hours in the night or even chat with his friends abroad. Having separate rooms allows us to do all that. We make up for this by making it a point to be together for most part of the day, or share a quick nap during the day. It works for us. The intimacy is not lost.” Ultimately, it’s a good night’s rest which should be of concern because an irritated partner in the morning can lead to a lot of problems.

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CINEMA SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

Mr.Pellikoduku is incredibly boring

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Intinta Annamayya’s first look launched

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he first look of K Raghavendra Rao’s upcoming film Intinta Annamayya starring Revanth, Ananya and Sanam Shetty was launched recently in Hyderabad. ANR, K Raghavendra Rao, Ramesh Prasad, Yalamanchali Saibabu and MM Keeravani were some of the dignitaries present at the event. The film’s shooting is almost complete, except for a song and few days of patch work.

Talking about Revanth, ANR said, “He looks 100 times better than I looked in my debut film. Revanth is quite lucky that K Raghavendra Rao is directing his debut film.” The film is expected to release on April 25.

long time ago, much before the six pack mania hit the Telugu film industry, we had an actor who had an uncanny ability to evoke laughter no matter how serious the situation was. We loved him unconditionally and we rooted for him every time he appeared on screen armed with scores of hilarious oneliners and expressions which only a few of his contemporaries could match up to. And then something happened and the actor decided that it was time to move up the ladder and become a hero, shed oodles of weight and sport a six pack. He did all that with astounding results, but there’s no denying that along the way he seems to have the lost the very ability which earned him so much fame. That’s the story of Sunil. One wouldn’t have imagined that his films could be boring but his latest film Mr Pellikoduku does just that and much more.

Mr Pellikoduku, starring Sunil and Isha Chawla, is a remake of Tanu Weds Manu which narrates the story of a US-based Telugu boy Buchi Babu (Sunil) who comes to India after six years to meet his prospective bride. His mother takes him to Rajahmundry where he meets Anjali (Isha Chawla) and immediately falls in love with her. He tells his parents that he wants to marry Anjali; however, he’s shocked to know that Anjali has no interest in

Movie: Mr Pellikoduku Cast: : Sunil, Isha Chawla Directed by: Devi Prasad Rating:

HEMANTH KUMAR

hemanth.k@postnoon.com

Sunil, Isha Chawla starrer Mr Pellikoduku, a remake of Tanu Weds Manu, is no match to its original version.

On top of that, it is also incredibly boring and frivolous. him and also that she’s in love with someone else. The rest of the story is about how their relationship evolves to a point

that Anjali begins to reconsider her decision.

There’s nothing novel about the hero falling in love with the heroine who’s in love with someone else or who has already been engaged. The initial scenes in the film where Buchi Babu meets several prospective brides are well conceived, but as the film progresses, the screenplay turns incredibly lethargic and no matter how many times Sunil tries to fill pathos in to his character, it just doesn’t work.

Isha Chawla does have some spunk in her role, yet her liveliness is toned down by a huge margin in the second half. The film’s much talked aspect is Sunil’s dance and he’s pretty good at it, but Mr Pellikoduku is no ABCD or Step Up. We are expected to sympathise with Buchi Babu’s character who sacrifices everything for the sake of the girl he loves.

Ironically, that doesn’t happen.

It’s either a case of a lapse of judgement in terms of casting or leaving out the very elements which made Tanu Weds Manu work. Devi Prasad, who directed the film, strips the original of its charm and ends up making a mediocre film which neither entertains nor engrosses. Two big thumbs down for Mr Pellikoduku.

Great dance moves or showing off a six pack alone doesn’t necessarily make for a good film and this film banks on just that.

Rajinikanth thrilled after watching Kochadaiyaan

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ajinikanth’s upcoming film Kochadaiyaan is all set to release this summer. Recently, Rajinikanth, KS Ravikumar, Soundarya Rajinikanth watched the film in Chennai and we hear that Rajinikanth was thrilled after watching how the film has shaped up. “One of THE most important days of my life.Kochadaiyaan locked :) Appa& ks Ravikumar uncle watched the entire movie and r thrilled!!! :):):) (sic),” Soundarya Rajinikanth posted on Twitter. Kochaidayaan is the first Indian film to have been shot using performance capture technology and the post-production is expected to begin shortly. Deepika Padukone has played the lead role opposite Rajinikanth and it also stars Rukmini and Sarath Kumar. AR Rahman has scored the music.

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CINEMA SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

‘The Attacks of 26/11’ A STUNNING WAKE-UP CALL

By Subhash K.Jha

Movie: The Attacks Of 26/11 Cast: Nana Patekar, Sanjeev Jaiswal and Atul Kulkarni Directed by: Ram Gopal Varma Rating:

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omewhere in re-telling the bloodbath, torrential shower of bullets and bombs that rained down on Mumbai on November 26, 2008, a little child sitting lost amidst a carpet of corpses in the posh hotel lobby of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel weeps on the gleaming white marble floor now reduced to a bloodied mess. We then hear another round of gunfire and then, the child’s weeping ceases.

The way the soundtrack is used to denote unimaginable brutality and violence in that sequence reminded me of the massacre sequence in Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay, where Gabbar Singh sadistically raises a gun, points it at a defiant child (Master Alankar) and then the soundtrack cuts to the sound of a train chugging into the railway platform.

Varma, in the finest filmmaking foray of his career since Satya and Company, offers us no comfort of cinematic licence in The Attacks Of 26/11. Not his fault, really. The unspeakably aggravated violence of the events we see unfold in front of our disbelieving eyes happened in, and to, Mumbai just five years ago. Believe it or not.

It could happen again. To any city. You or me. That is the terrifying reality that perpetually underlines the gripping narration, clamping the brilliant writing of Rommel Rodrigues down to a whittled numbing sense of hardcore reality where all thrill ends and the feeling of dread begins to creep upon us. We are finally left with only a profound sense of dread and fear.

The volume of research that has gone into the recreation of the events on that fateful night when Mumbai city was under a sanguinary siege, miraculously escapes italicisation in the narration. No aspect of Varma’s storytelling is exaggerated. He displays remarkable restraint even in the way the background music punctuates the relentless violence perpetrated by a handful of selfstyled jehadis who crept into Mumbai through water and soaked the city in blood, making sure that the people of this rapidly moving metropolis would never sleep in peace again.

While the first hour of the film graphically recreates the violence that Ajmal Kasab and his gang unleashed in various strategic centres of Mumbai, where maximum impact was ensured for their mayhem, the second hour of the dread-filled drama, turns into a riveting ruminative debate between the police commissioner Rakesh Maria (Nana Patekar) and Kasab (Sanjeev Jaiswal). The energetic yet bridled equipoise created between these two polarities of the human existence so effortlessly slips into the zone of a

moral debate that we end up listening to echoes of infinite resonance beyond the words that they exchange with such scathing contempt for one another’s moral values.

The dialogues on the relevance and true meaning of the tenets in the Holy Quran between Patekar and Jaiswal simmer with an inner discontent, sparking off a kind of existential turmoil in the narrative and in the audience that takes the narrative way beyond the immediate context of terror and terrorism.

innocent Indians would fetch him a ticket to paradise.

The extravagant violence is not tampered with, though the vantage points of the terror attacks are whittled down. Varma doesn’t spare us the details of the demoniacal attack on Mumbai city, when a group of armed men killed men, women and children in luxury hotels and public places.

“Don’t show any mercy to women and children,” Kasab’s colleague counsels before they rain bullets on innocent civilians.

The recreation of the terror

NO ASPECT OF VARMA’S STORYTELLING IS EXAGGERATED. HE DISPLAYS REMARKABLE RESTRAINT EVEN IN THE WAY THE BACKGROUND MUSIC PUNCTUATES THE RELENTLESS VIOLENCE. While Nana Patekar displays exemplary austerity over his physical and emotional expression of the anguish that every Indian feels for the humiliation of terrorism perpetrated on 26/11, Sanjeev Jaiswal, though very effective as Kasab, tends to go overboard. But then we can’t really expect subtlety of expression from someone who has been brainwashed by his mysterious ‘Aaka’ into believing that killing

attacks on Leopold Cafe, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and Cama Hospital are so chilling in their vivid detailing that we end up watching scenes of violence not for their cinematic element, as much as their unflinching affiliation to the actual events.

Full marks to the superlative technical team. Harshad Shroff and M Ravichandran Thevar’s cinematography captures every

moment of the bloodcurdling events with a documentary-like ferocity. The graphic terror attack sequences are edited (by Sunil Wadhwani and Ajith Nair) in a pattern that replicates the suddenness of the attack. The sound design, and that includes Amar Mohile’s muted but angry background score, doesn’t sound designed. By the time the film’s mordant milieu melts into a chilling climax, we are no longer watching a film. Varma takes his narrative way beyond the semantics of the cinematic language.

The merger of the recent history of terrorism and the more human drama that underlines the violence is achieved with a muted cry of anguish that any conscientious Indian would hear in the narrative, if he only cares to listen.

RGV compels us to watch and think. What the movie tells us is that the wounds of the night, must not be allowed to heal.

Watching the horrific events in this outstanding film is an experience that defies the normal cinematic experience. This is a deviously dramatic and authentic recreation of the ghastly terror attack.

The film’s end-credits roll backwards suggesting that the film imperatively took us back in time to recent history so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes of a lax administration failing to cope with suicidal terror attacks.

RGV ends the film with a moving rendering of “Raghupati raghav” in the background as Nana Patekar’s character gazes hopefully into a peaceful ocean.

Nana holds the film together.

He feels every line that he utters.

His heart bleeds for each one of the 166 people who died on that night.

One of the best films in recent times on the wages of terrorism, and on a par with Katheryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, The Attacks Of 26/11 is a stunning wake-up call for those of us who think Mumbai’s night of terror cannot happen again.

With this one work of riveting resonance, Varma has wiped away the bitter taste of his last half-a-dozen films. Gone is the sluggardness of the ‘rogue technique’ that shook not just the camera, but also the core of this director’s creativity in recent works.

Welcome back, Ramu. IANS

The Beautiful and the Boring

D

espite a great looking cast, I Me Aur Main disappoints with its shaky plotline and rather patriarchal tone.

John Abraham plays Ishan Sabharwal, a talent scout at a music company.

Ishan believes the world revolves around him and most of the women in his life, including his mother (played

by Zarina Wahab) and girlfriend Anushka (Chitrangada Singh), reinforce.

He lives with Anushka, pays no bills, trashes the place and generally acts like a brat, but Anushka puts up with it because she’s in love with him. For all his bad boy behaviour, she’s even willing to consider marriage with him, until she finally gets fed up and throws him out.

Ishan then finds a smaller

Movie: I Me Aur Main Cast: John Abraham, Chitrangada Singh, Prachi Desai Directed by: Kapil Sharma flat to live in, and meets his new neighbour, Gauri (Prachi Desai), a bubbly fashion designer. Gauri firmly puts Ishan in his place, and overnight, he reforms and becomes an all-out good guy.

John Abraham is his usual good looking self, but his acting skills still leave a lot to be desired. The movie is packed with beautiful women — Raima Sen also has a role as John’s boss — and all of the women actors deliver decent performances.

Prachi Desai is a little too bubbly and chirpy, but holds her own. Zarina Wahab is excellent as usual, and Mini Mathur, who plays John’s sister, is quite good as well.

Bottomline? Go for the eyecandy, but don’t expect the movie to make much sense.

CINEMA SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

23

CINEMA SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

24

25

CINEMA SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

I have never had plastic surgery:

NICKI MINAJ Updating a classic J

ack the Giant Slayer, isn’t bad in and of itself; it’s well made, attractively cast and has some lively as well as ghoulish moments.

But a castle fit for a king to anyone who can find an original or singular element to this handsome reupholstering of the English folk tale, a version notable for its fine visual effects and vastly multiplied population of giants.

Even though the script by Darren Lemke (co-writer of Shrek Forever After), Christopher McQuarrie and Dan Studney elaborates enormously on the Jack and the Beanstalk tale that inspired it, all the elements here remain familiar: The poor commoner who makes his mark among the royals, the princess anxious for a taste of life outside the castle, an ancient enemy unleashed after many dormant years, the royal aide-decamp with treacherous intent, a king worthy of his throne and beastly ogres with bad table manners and no regard for hygiene. Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson), who’s already pledged to the foppishly sinister

nobleman Roderick (Stanley Tucci), yearns for a way out of this engagement as well as to experience “an adventure of my own.” She might get both prayers answered by the inadvertent arrival in her life of a handsome 18-year-old Jack (Nicholas Hoult), an orphan farm boy.

To rescue Isabelle, the boldest knights spring into action, led by the imperturbable Elmont (Ewan McGregor) and Roderick. Residing there is not just one giant but a whole tribe of them, seemingly males only perhaps 40 or 50 feet tall who snack on the first humans they see and have been waiting donkey’s years for the chance at revenge for having been driven off Earth in their last encounter.

Singer confidently handles the combat and big action scenes in what plays as an energetic, robust, old-fashioned romantic adventure yarn; simply in terms of efficient storytelling, clear logistics and consistent viewer engagement, Jack is markedly superior to the recent Hobbit.

Jen’s wedding to be a small A affair

ctress Jennifer Aniston has reportedly started planning her wedding to fiance Justin Theroux, which is rumoured to be a “small affair”. The 44-year-old has already checked off some major tasks on her to-do list, including choosing wedding bands, setting a date and narrowing down dresses, reported People magazine.

The ceremony is likely to take place soon after Aniston wraps up her

S

inger Nicki Minaj insists she has never gone under the knife in a bid to enhance her appearance and that her changing features are all down to dramatic make-up.

The 30-year-old is famous for her eccentric fashion and loud make -up and recent reports suggested that Minaj had undergone a surgery to change the appearance of her nose, reported Femalefirst.

“I have never had surgery on my face.

They will see contour and they will think you had surgery on your nose, no no no. When people see my make-up they think all types of crazy things that I am doing to my skin, but it’s makeup,” Minaj said.

The singer also said she hopes to carve out a career as an actress and is looking for the right movie for her big screen debut.

“I would love to act, it just has to be the right project, the right movie. I have an agent, and we are looking at a couple of scripts, so we’ll see.”

PTI

current film in Connecticut on March 8."It will be a small affair with their closest friends. Jen seems more confident than ever, and they’ve become a great team,” a source close to Aniston said. The source also added that Aniston is more than confident about her relation. The former Friends’ star was previously married to actor Brad PTI Pitt for six years.

26

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

SUDOKU

THOUGHT OF THE DAY The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter life by altering her or his attitudes of mind.

– William James

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 Top of the heap 5 Jane Pratt’s old magazine 10 Reagan’s ‘evil empire’ 14 Radar screen image 15 Chosen few 16 Bounder 17 Formally hand over 18 Taxi ticker 19 Revealing skirt feature 20 1999 Kevin Spacey film 23 Matter-of-fact, as text 24 Lion’s warning 25 Kind of hat or coat 26 Span of epoch proportions?

27 Start to sing?

30 Seeker’s question 32 Babe who’s famous 34 Newton subject 38 1969 Michael Caine movie remade in 2003 42 More hoarse sounding 43 Checked for proof of age, for short 45 Spectrum maker 48 Internet chuckle 50 Literary tribute 51 Nightfall, to bards 52 Fairness obstacle 56 Young’s partner in accounting 58 1996 film with 12 Oscar nominations (with ‘The’) 62 Prefix with ‘scope’ or ‘meter’ 63 Midmorning prayer 64 Act on, as advice 66 ‘Holy Toledo!’

67 Hibernation locations 68 Jai ___ (fast-paced court game) 69 GOP rivals 70 Does lawn work 71 You may be in one now (Abbr) DOWN 1 Part of the Disney empire 2 Leave a place quickly

3 The ides, eg 4 Fencing weapons 5 Highway hauler 6 Original Obi-Wan portrayer 7 Lute of India 8 Shorthand pro 9 ___ Buena, Calif 10 Major or Minor constellation 11 Alka-Seltzer in water, eg 12 Beau 13 Enter data again 21 Reuben bread 22 Rommel known as the ‘Desert Fox’ 23 For each 28 Gains a lap 29 Child’s play 31 One who has been to Mecca 33 Towel word

55 Parsley unit 35 Manning of the Giants 57 Place to kick a habit 36 Cambodian coin unit 59 Tupperware pieces 37 Hawaiian tuber 60 One of Monaco’s 368 39 Stressed feet, in 61 The former Miss poetry Trueheart 40 Rosie or Chris 65 Act like an 41 Mattress holder archaeologist 44 Police dept title 45 Sounded like a PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER chick 46 Back out of a deal 47 ‘Somewhere Out There’ singer James 49 Sweetsmelling necklace 53 Weaver’s fiber 54 Directly in front

27

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

The High Priestess

Ten of Swords

The Moon

Death

Two of Wands

The Hermit

W

W

ork – Mystery surrounds you. You probably don’t know the full story of why you’re being asked to do something. Don’t be impulsive.

Romance – Your relationship with a partner is completely karmic. There was no other way it could have gone. Health – There’s a lot of subconscious activity going on and you find it difficult to navigate all those feelings.

Consult a doctor. Money – There may be a slight delay in finances settling down but it will eventually happy. Your worry will only make it worse. Think positive! Tarot message – The answers to your questions may lie in your dreams. You feel empowered to go down a new path of the subconscious.

W

W

ork – Your boss is happy with your work and has put you in a prestigious assignment where you need to collaborate with others.

Romance – You and your partner find a new, happy and comfortable zone.

You reach a deeper understanding of each other.

Health – Your health is looking great and you are recovering well from minor illnesses. You need to do things you like in order to maintain good mental health. Money – Extra money comes your way either through an increment or through a freelance job. Tarot message – You have the power to steer your life the way you want to.

Make sure to sit with yourself first before you decide anything.

W

W

ork –Avoid gossip and don’t believe everything you hear at the smoking zone or near the water cooler. The gossip monger also has much to hide. Romance – Your partner may not be giving you full details and this may cause you to build unfair expectations.

Health – Accept nothing at face value. You need a second opinion. Be brave while making decisions about your health.

Money – Read the fine print. Don’t sign financial documents before checking out the pros and cons from every possible angle. Tarot message – There’s an air of secrecy around you. The only way to overcome it is by following your instinct and doing what feels right.

ork – You’ve come to the end of the phase in career when there’s nothing new to look forward to. Take active steps to motivate yourself, or you might get into depression.

Romance – A relationship has run its course and there’s little you can do to revive it at this point. Let things be for a while. Health – Mental stress is taking a toll on you. Though, to the world, you seem happy, you’re actually restless.

Meditate! Money – Finances are stable but you wonder if it matches the number of sacrifices you’ve made in order to get it. Tarot message – This is a difficult time and one always takes away important life lessons from this time.

ork – You may be considering changing your career path or trying something that’s totally unfamiliar to you.

You may actually not have a choice. Romance – You see an existing relationship differently or decide to call it quits. Either way, major changes are headed your way. Health – Your body is crying for a system overhaul. Review your diet and lifestyle, and make necessary changes to ward off diseases. Money – Take care of finances and don’t blow away money that’s just about come into your bank balance. Steer clear of risky investments. Tarot message – Change is inevitable and this is the time when you cannot help but face major change. Keep an open mind.

ork – Team work may not be the best at this time. You need to be left on your own to come up with creative ideas. Romance – You may not be in the frame of mind to go the conventional way with candlelight dinners and mushy movies. Do what pleases your heart. Health – You’re anxious to get something done or to find answers. It bothers you and this has an impact on your overall health.

Relax. Money – Finances are looking good and there is no dearth of money for your needs.

You’re not interested right now in making more money, though.

Tarot message – You’re in a spot where you want to be left alone, need to find yourself.

SUMAA TEKUR tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

Libra

Scorpio

Two of Wands

Eight of Pentacles

W

ork – You may be considering taking up a job in which you don’t have much experience. But you do well anyway.

Romance – It’s the small expectations that can make a big difference to your relationship. Small gifts, cooking for a partner – they all work. Health – Your energy is low and you feel like you haven’t hit the right balance of work and life. Exercise and eat right.

Money – You get financial assistance when you need it. If you’re planning a study course or an entrepreneurship project, you get the money to support you. Tarot message – You take a lot of pride in all your choices. You feel hurt when they don’t work out. But it’s an important for your growth.

ork – Your boss is happy with your work and has put you in a prestigious assignment where you need to collaborate with others. Romance – You and your partner find a new, happy and comfortable zone. You reach a deeper understanding of each other. Health – Your health is looking great and you are recovering well from minor illnesses. You need to do things you like in order to maintain good mental health. Money – Extra money comes your way either through an increment or through a freelance job. Tarot message – You have the power to steer your life the way you want to. Make sure to sit with yourself first before you decide anything.

W

Sagittarius Ace of Cups

W

ork – Your mind is brimming with new ideas. The task will be to sit your boss down, get her/his full attention and get your ideas passed.

Romance – Time is ripe for romance. You will be wined and dined. There will be surprises in store.

In short, great time for love. Health – You have been managing to stick to the fitness routine and the results are showing on your body and also your mental outlook.

Money – Work is directly related to how much money you make.

Entrepreneurship is a strong possibility. Tarot message – Fertile time for the imagination.

Make use of this time and enjoy the creativity that flows through you.

Capricorn

Date 3-3-2013

Aquarius

Four of Pentacles

Five of Cups

W

W

ork – You’ve gotten into a comfortable routine and have garnered the confidence to know that you can handle a crisis in your office. Romance – You may need to make extra effort to convince your partner that you feel the love. Maybe you’re coming across as cold and insensitive. Health – The stability and comfort of routine is making you happy. The familiarity of situations around you is important.

Money – Finances are stable. Just keep an eye on your bank account and ensure that money transactions from one account to the other are smooth and timely. Tarot message – This is an important phase when you understand the importance of tradition and old world charm.

ork – You’re feeling burned out and are unable to come up with new and creative ideas at work. Take it easy.

Romance – If the chemistry is not there, you cannot force it. If you have to end the relationship do it with grace and dignity. Health – It’s not a good idea to harbor resentments and negative emotions that will impact the way you perceive the world around you.

Money – Finances are stuck and what you thought will make you huge profits is not exactly living up to your expectations. Tarot message – Pick up the pieces and move forward. Ups and downs are part of life and are essential for us to learn from the lows.

Pisces The High Priest

W

ork – You use your instincts to solve work problems. Sometimes it may come across as weird to those around you. Romance – You’re not looking for love at the moment. You’re happy with where you are, emotionally, and are not missing something sorely.

Health – Beware of overeating or partying over the top with fried foods and you should be fine.

Take a break from work and don’t let the stress get to you. Money – Money flow is stable and there’s nothing to worry about on that front. Take care to protect whatever you’ve earned so far. Tarot message – Strange, occult experiences take you off your feet and you feel powerful and renewed.

Vol: 2, No 224 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon.com and for subscription, please call 040-40672222, Fax: 040-40672211

28

THE SATURDAY QUIZ SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

IN THE NEWS

8. In which century did the French Revolution take place?

9. From which country does Gold Fassl beer come?

10. How many floors are there in the Sky tower building in Abu Dhabi?

11. Which director made a film from Chuck

Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club?

12. In which year was the Dolby Surround format adapted for home use?

13. For how many months is a white whale pregnant?

14.For how many years did John Fitzgerald Kennedy live?

Answers

of coins needed to pay EURO21?

5. What country does the Alfa Romeo come from?

6. In which year was the penalty kick introduced into football?

7. Which english physician discovered that the heart works like a pump?

1. Zero 2. 1981 3. 5 4. 11 5. Italy 6. 1891 7. William Harvey 8. 18 9. Austria 10. 74 11. David Flincher 12. 1982 13. 12 14. 46 15. 162

TEST YOURSELF

DO YOU KNOW THESE FASHION DESIGNERS?

CURRENT AFFAIRS 1

Which company put up a new policy according to which work from home arrangement is banned?

Sugar

Salt

Groupon Inc fired its chief executive officer who is also the cofounder of the company. Who is he?

Saltpeter Limestone

Who became the first pope in 600 years to resign?

Laughing gas Brimstone

4

3

6

1. Yahoo 2. Facebook 3. Andrew Mason 4. Benedict XVI 5. Cancer 6. Steven Spielberg

Which smartphone is gearing up to launch software that supports Indian languages like Hindi, Telugu and Tamil?

with Santosh Ghule There is more than the silhouette of an animal here... name them.

Answer for 55 :

4

PICTURE PUZZLE 56

Thirty!

3

Which Bollywood actress will essay the role of boxer Mary Kom in her biopic?

Answers: 1. Alexander Wang 2. Coco Chanel 3. Ralph-Lauren 4. Giorgio Armani

How many crores are allotted for Delhi Metro in the union budget?

WHO AM I? I have been living in selfimposed exile for the last five years. I held the most important position in my country before my exile. Who am I?

Answer : Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf,

Answers

2

Marble

Plaster of Paris

KNOW YOUR COUNTRY Which Indian player entered the men's singles quarterfinals of the German Open badminton championship?

Bleach

Rubbing alcohol

A famous filmmaker is being selected to head the jury of 66th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival. Who is he?

1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Wood Alcohol

Which company will be buying advertising technology from Microsoft Corp that measures the effectiveness of ads on Facebook?

Technology gurus from Amazon, Facebook and Google are teaming up to design and develop a mobile game aimed at speeding the search for an illness' drug. Which illness is it?

Do you know their chemical names?

Answers:

1 2 3 4 5

2

1. Methyl alcohol 2. Sucrose 3. Sodium chloride 4. Potassium nitrate 5. Calcium carbonate 6. Dinitrogen oxide 7. Sulfur 8. Sodium perborate 9. Isopropyl alcohol 10. Calcium carbonate 11. Calcium sulfate ½ hydrate

1. How many teeth does a frog have?

2. In what year was the first space shuttle (Columbia) first launched?

3. What age was Michael Jackson when he stared his musical career with the Jackson Five?

4. What is the fewest number

1. Anand Pawar 2. Rs 3,120 crore 3. Priyanka Chopra 4. Blackberry

Answers

29

SPORTS SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

Serena runs afoul of ban WASHINGTON: Serena Williams knows her way around a tennis court, but the 15-time Grand Slam champion got a crash course in golf fan etiquette on Friday. World number one Williams tweeted that she was taken to task by an official at the US PGA Tour's Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, for taking a picture of Tiger Woods in action.

CM gives `50 lakh to Saina

Rio police to occupy slum

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Kiran

RIO DE JANEIRO: Rio police on

Kumar Reddy handed over a cheque for `50 lakh to badminton ace Saina Nehwal here on Friday. This was in fulfilment of the announcement made by the government about the reward for Saina winning the Indonesia Open title recently. Saina who came to the secretariat with her parents to the secretariat, received the cheque from him.

Friday prepared to occupy slums near the city's international airport and seaport as part of efforts to drive out drug traffickers ahead of the 2014 World Cup. Officials said 1,100 police backed by 200 navy commandos in armoured vehicles were poised to punch into the Caju complex at dawn on Saturday.

Toroloco for Invitation Cup Toroloco looks good to win the The Indian Turf Invitation Cup, the feature event of Sunday, the big annual day of Indian horseracing, scheduled this year at Kolkata.

1. The Hoverplane Cup (Div - II); A Handicap For Horses Rated 20-45; Rated 00-25 Eligible; (About) 1200 Metres; 12:45pm 1 Alacrity 62.00 (44) Imran Chisty 2 Petaloid 60.00 (40) Jorawar Singh 3 Rappadan Glory 59.00 (38) David Allan 4 Haynestown 57.00 (34) C Alford 5 Piaffe 54.00 (28) P Kamlesh 6 Hurricane Andrew 53.00 (26) Carlos Henrique 7 Swiss King 53.00 (26) Sameer Khan 8 Glorious Song 52.50 (25) B Sreekanth Selections: 1 Haynestown 2 Alacrity 3 Glorious Song 2. The Sans Craintes Cup (Terms); For Maiden Horses 3 Years Old Only; (About) 1200 Metres; 1:15pm 1 Self Directed 55.00 Shailesh Shinde 12 2 Afrah 53.50 Vikram Jodha 2 3 Conquest 53.50 Imran Chisty 11 4 Cynosure 53.50 B Sreekanth 7 5 Iron Lady 53.50 A Sandesh 3 6 Luck Luck Lucky 53.50 Dashrath Singh 9 7 Pearly Queen 53.50 M Krishna 4 8 Rainbow Dancer 53.50 Valdir De`Souza 1 9 Shamrock 53.50 P Trevor 6 10 Shivalik Empress 53.50 Mohit Singh 5 11 Significant 53.50 Carlos Henrique 8 12 Spanish Moon 53.50 David Allan 10 Selections: 1 Shamrock 2 Luck Luck Lucky 3 Cynosure 3. The Hoverplane Cup (Div - I); A Handicap For Horses Rated 20-45; Rated 00-25 Eligible; (About) 1200 Metres; 1:45pm 1 Focus 62.50 (45) B Mahesh 5 2 Fankaar 61.50 (43) Mohit Singh 3 3 Don Magnifico 59.50 (39) Md Azharuddin 1 4 Azorian 59.00 (38) D Gnaneshwar 7 5 Hot Iron 54.00 (28) M Krishna 8 6 Secret Gloss 54.00 (28) Vikash Tamang 6 7 Ijlal 53.00 (26) Zarar Alam 2 8 Regal Bearing 52.50 (25) NS Parmar 4 Selections: 1 Azorian 2 Regalbearing 3 Focus 4. The Rohan Lifescapes Cup; A Handicap For Horses Rated 20-45; Rated 00-25 Eligible; (About) 1600 Metres; 2:15pm 1 River Pride 62.00 (44) S John 5 2 Stiling Veil 59.50 (39) C Alford 1 3 Combined Operation 58.50 (37) Dashrath Singh 10 4 Eros 58.00 (36) Vikash Tamang 3 5 Beethoven 57.50 (35) Md Imran 11 6 La Dominique 57.50 (35) Md Islam 8

7 Rembrandt 57.50 (35) B Sreekanth 6 8 Big Old Man 56.50 (33) Kishore Kadam 9 9 Classical Romance 56.50 (33) A Sandesh 7 10 Rise Above 56.00 (32) NS Parmar 2 11 Scarlatti 56.00 (32) P Trevor 12 12 Hills Of The Moon 53.00 (26) Martin J Dwyer 4 Selections: 1 Rembrandt 2 River Pride 3 Hills Of The Moon 5 The In The Spotlight Cup; A Handicap For Horses Rated 60-85, Rated 40-65 Eligible; (About) 1200 Metres; 2:50pm 1 Viva La Diva 61.00 (82) Vikash Tamang 13 2 Iverness 60.00 (80) R Hughes 8 3 Royal Honour 59.50 (79) Zarar Alam 6 4 Charlemagne 59.00 (78) P Trevor 4 5 Sunny Sue 58.50 (77) A Sandesh 2 6 Fireback 58.00 (76) Martin J Dwyer 3 7 Oriental Diana 57.50 (75) Dashrath Singh 10 8 Sreedhan 57.50 (75) Shailesh Shinde 7 9 Stand Apart 56.00 (72) Imran Chisty 9 10 Zillionaire 56.00 (72) Vinay Jaiswal 11 11 Follow The Dream 54.50 (69) Jorawar Singh 1 12 Torch Of Life 54.50 (69) Md Islam 5 13 Signor Sassi 53.50 (67) Kishore Kadam 12 14 Wild Card 53.50 (67) P Kamlesh 14 Selections: 1 Fire Break 2 Stand Apart 3 Iverness 6. The Maj PK Mehra Memorial Super Mile Cup (Grade I) (Terms); For Indian Horses 4 Years Old & Over; (About) 1600 Metres; 3:20pm 1 Aristos 59.00 (106) P Trevor 1 2 Arktouros 59.00 (116) C Alford 7 3 Berlusconi 59.00 (108) R Hughes 8 4 Immense 59.00 (115) S John 3 5 Kohinoor Wish 59.00 (117) NS Parmar 2 6 Ranthambhore 59.00 (119) Jimmy Fortune 6 7 Star of Gibraltar 59.00 (121) A Sandesh 5 8 Chase The Sun 54.5 (102) David Allan 4 Selections: 1 Ranthambore 2 Immense 3 Kohinoor Wish 7. The Suresh Mahindra Multi Million Trophy (Grade III); Terms For Indian Horses 4 Years Old And Over; (About) 1400 Metres; 3-55pm 1 Optimus Prime 60.00 (119) S John 3 2 Bold Police 58.00 (110) Carlos Henrique 2 3 Sunday Storm 58.00 (119) David Allan 4 4 Rajasthan Royals 57.50 (119) Jimmy Fortune 7 5 River Star 56.00 (113) Shailesh Shinde 12 6 Plenipotent 55.50 (104) PS Chouhan 6 7 Master Bullet 55.00 (114) CS Jodha 1 8 River Blitz 54.00 (111) Imran Chisty 9

9 Coccinella 52.50 (115) S Zervaan 8 10 Klipspringer 52.50 (108) Martin J Dwyer 10 11 Sovetskaya 52.50 (108) P Trevor 11 12 Nickel Chrome 50.00 (78) Dashrath Singh 5 Selections: 1 Rajasthanroyals 2 Sunday Storm 3 Plenipotent 8. The Indian Turf Invitation Cup (Grade I) (Terms); For Indian Horses 4 Years Old & Over; (About) 2400 Metres; 4:30pm 1 Dandified 59.00 (125) C Alford 10 2 Ocean And Beyond 59.00 (122) Imran Chisty 13 3 Onassis 59.00 (125) S Zervaan 6 4 Toroloco 59.00 (126) Paul Mulrennan 1 5 An Acquired Taste 55.00 (90) P Kamlesh 8 6 Angel Crown 55.00 (80) SN Chavan 14 7 Borsalino 55.00 (99) David Allan 2 8 Hemisphere 55.00 (102) R Hughes 11 9 Snowscape 55.00 (107) Shailesh Shinde 7 10 Super Storm 55.00 (114) Jimmy Fortune 4 11 Supreme Star (late Shivalik Hero 55.00 (84) P Trevor3 12 Tintinnabulation 55.00 (105) P S Chouhan 5 13 Wind Stream 55.00 (110) Martin J Dwyer 9 14 Maple Star 53.50 (117) B Sreekanth 12 Selections: 1 Toroloco 2 Onasis 3 Tintinnabulation 9. The Sentouki Cup; A Handicap For Horses Rated 40-65; Rated 20-45 Eligible; (About) 1400 Metres; 5:15pm 1 Snow Princess 62.50 (65) Martin J Dwyer 15 2 Ardent N Graceful 62.00 (64) C Alford 3 3 Head Hunter 61.00 (62) D K Ashish 2 4 Skyway 60.00 (60) N S Parmar 12 5 Legends Order 59.00 (58) Valdir De`Souza 9 6 Aletris 58.50 (57) D Gnaneshwar 10 7 Manhattan Rain 58.00 (56) S John 7 8 Awesome Indian 57.00 (54) Mohit Singh 6 9 Haddock 56.50 (53) Imran Chisty 5 10 Isle Of Capri 54.50 (49) C S Jodha 8 11 Serena 54.50 (49) P Trevor 4 12 Schwarzenegger 54.00 (48) Vinay Jaiswal 13 13 Spectacular Style 53.50 (47) Md Islam 1 14 Incanto Bliss 53.00 (46) B Sreekanth 14 15 Tasveer 53.00 (46) B Srinivas Rao 11 Selections: 1 Snow Princess 2 Haddock 3 Serena

Days Best: Ranthambore Jackpot Race Nos: 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 1stTreble Race Nos: 1, 2 and 3 2nd Treble Race Nos: 4, 5 and 6 3rd Treble Race Nos: 7, 8 and 9 Tanalapool will operate on races where there are ďŹ ve or more starters.

The Breeders' Cup keeps juvenile Lasix ban LOS ANGELES: The Breeders' Cup board of directors voted on Friday to keep a Lasix ban for juvenile events and decided to eliminate the juvenile sprint race from the two-day horse racing extravaganza.

The move maintains the same medical policies used last year for this year's event, set for November 1-2 at Santa Anita.

Horses in non-juvenile races will be allowed to race on Lasix,

or furosemide, provided its use is approved by race officials and administered by approved veterinarians.

The diuretic is used in US racing to combat exerciseinduced bleeding in the respiratory system.

The panel also called upon thoroughbred racing organizations to unite in studying the impact of medications upon horses.

"We recognise that there has been great divisiveness in our industry over medication rules, but joining together in the common goal of independent scientific research of the effects of race-day medications, coupled with industry pursuit of uniform rules, will move us toward eliminating such divisions," said Breeders' Cup chairman Tom Ludt of the AFP development.

30

SPORTS SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

Federer beaten by Berdych again Richard Eaton

DUBAI: Roger Federer’s (left) defence of the Dubai Open title came to a dramatic end in the semi-finals after he failed to convert three match points against Tomas Berdych, the man who also upset him in the US Open.

The world number six from the Czech Republic thrillingly turned the match

Isner, Haas reach semis

DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA: John Isner (above) advanced to the semi-finals by avenging a loss to defending champ Kevin Anderson at the ATP Tour’s Delray Beach Tennis Championships on Friday.

Top seed Isner won in straight sets, beating South Africa’s Anderson 6-2, 7-6 (7/1) in one of four quarter-final matches that featured three formers winners.

Isner, who is the last American left in the draw, hammered 17 aces, had one double fault and won 85 percent of his first-serve points in the 79minute match.

Isner moves to the semifinals where he will face France’s Edouard RogerVasselin who cruised past Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 6-3.

around after a neck-and-neck second set tie-break, going on to win 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 against the five-time champion and set up a final against Novak Djokovic.

The Serbian world number one extended his unbeaten run to 17 matches and reached the 55th final of his career with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win over Juan Martin Del Potro, the former US Open champion from Argentina.

Federer was on the verge of success at 6-4 and 8-7 in the tie break, with the second of the three points coming on his serve, but Berdych somehow got into a rally and won it with some fierce ground strokes.

One break of serve halfway through the final set then proved decisive, as Federer gambled more and more on rushing the net instead of continuing the bruising baseline exchanges

Guthrie grabs lead World No 1 Rory McIlroy, who missed the cut in Abu Dhabi and the World Golf Championships Match Play, continued to struggle.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA: Well after World No 1 Rory McIlroy had withdrawn from the Honda Classic during the second round with a toothache, unheraled American Luke Guthrie (in pic) took the lead of the US PGA event. Guthrie fired a bogey-free 63, sevenunder par, to grab a one-stroke lead over countryman Michael Thompson on nine-under 131 after 36 holes of the $6 million tournament on a day when McIlroy’s walkout stole the major attention.

After starting on the back nine, McIlroy had a double bogey, triple bogey and two bogeys before finding the water off the tee at the 18th and leaving behind playing partners Ernie Els and Mark Wilson as he walked off the course. “I sincerely apoloize to The Honda Classic and PGA Tour for my sudden withdrawal,” McIlroy said. “I have been suffering with a sore wisdom tooth, which is due to come out in the near future.“I was simply

unable to concentrate. It was really bothering me and had begun to affect my playing partners.”

And as McIlroy’s bid to repeat as champion ended in tatters, No 2 Tiger Woods fared little better. The 14-time major champion fired his second 70 in a row to make the cut only on the number. Woods birdied the fourth and par-3 fifth holes but made bogeys on the next two holes. He closed the front nine with a birdie, stumbled to a double bogey at the par-4 13th but birdied 14 and parred in to reach the weekend.

“I’ve got to get something going,” Woods said. “There are 70 guys within nine shots of the lead. It’s pretty well bunched. I’ve got to give myself a good chance to win it.”

Leader Guthrie is a tour rookie whose best finish in his eight prior PGA events was a share of fifth at last year’s John Deere AFP Classic.

which characterised the first two sets.

“It’s obviously unfortunate, you know,” said Federer, for whom this is a tournament in his second home. “Pity to lose that one, but Tomas did well to hang in there.

“Obviously I leave this match with a lot of regrets I’m feeling: serving for the match, with the serve, having chances in the beginning of the second, you know.”

Heat beat Grizzlies

MIAMI: LeBron James (above) scored 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Miami Heat extended their win-streak to 13 games with a 98-91 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.

James finished with 18 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds and had a clutch three pointer late in the fourth for the Heat who snapped the Grizzlies win streak at eight games Dwyane Wade finished with 22 points and eight assists in the win.

Marc Gasol scored a gamehigh 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Mike Conley and Zach Randolph donated 14 points apiece for the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies eight straight wins tied their most in franchise history dating back to their days as the Vancouver Grizzlies.

Juventus escape Napoli siege with hard-fought point

Let’s stick together: Benitez

ROME: Juventus survived a sec-

under-pressure Chelsea interim manager, urged all connected with the club to unite Friday as he tried to get irate fans onside.

Benitez has faced renewed calls for his dismissal after he launched an astonishing attack on the club’s supporters and the Stamford Bridge hierarchy following Chelsea’s 2-0 victory at Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday.

ond-half Napoli onslaught to draw 1-1 with their closest title rivals Friday, maintaining a sixpoint lead after a testing examination at a ground where they haven’t won in 13 years. Juventus took the lead in the game but were indebted to veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (in pic) for salvaging a point.

“The title is far away, we are six points in front which is a good advantage,” said Conte.

Julian Guyer

LONDON: Rafael Benitez, the

“What I said is we have 11 games to play, 33 points (to play for), we must stick together and get behind the team,” Benitez told a Friday news conference.

“The message is clear -- I have no problem with the board, Michael Emenalo (Chelsea’s technical director), Roman Abramovich or the players.

“I will do the best for the club. I have 26 years of principles, respect and education to achieve what I have,” the Spaniard added.

31

SPORTS SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

Bhuvaneshwar rattles Aussies Scoreboard APARNA G SAI

aparna.saig@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Bhuvaneshwar Kumar struck early for India, rattling the Australian batting line-up at the end of the morning session on Day 1 of the second Test match, here, today. Australia were staggering at 83 for four at the end of 28 overs with Clarke and Wade at the crease on 20 and two respectively.

Having won the toss, Australian skipper, Michael Clarke elected to bat. On a pitch which did not seem to turn too much in the morning, the tourists would have hoped to amass a huge total but failed in their endeavour as Kumar struck on three occasions.

The first to depart was David Warner. The opener was stunned by a ball from Kumar which took a sharp turn and uprooted one of his stump, with Australia losing their first wicket for a paltry score of 10.

Ed Cowan soon followed suit, having being trapped in front of the stumps by Kumar. Just when the tourists looked like they were settling down, they lost their third wicket after Shane Watson also had to take the long walk back to the pavilion, leaving Austra-

Australia 1st innings DA Warner b Kumar 6 Cowan lbw b Kumar 4 PJ Hughes c Dhoni b Ashwin 19 SR Watson lbw b Kumar 23 MJ Clarke* not out 20 MS Wade† not out 2 Extras (b8, lb1) 9 Total (4 wickets) 83 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-15, 3-57, 4-63 Bowling O M R W B Kumar 9 1 36 3 I Sharma 9 3 27 0 R Ashwin 7 5 10 1 Harbhajan Singh 1 0 1 0 RA Jadeja 1 1 0 0

OZ WERE STAGGERING AT 83 FOR FOUR AT LUNCH WITH CLARKE AND WADE BATTING ON 20 AND 2. lia struggling at 57 for three.

As Australia were trying to recover from the jolt they received, Ravichandran Ashwin struck to claim his first wicket after Phillip Hughes was dismissed after captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni took a brilliant catch behind the wickets .

But it was Clarke’s patient knock of 20 runs which gave Australia some hope. His batting showed that it was a reasonable pitch to bat on, although

there was enough damage done to the touring side.

The captain was undeterred even as he saw his side crumbling. His innings included a six and two fours and if Clarke manages to stay for a longer duration at the crease, there is every possibility that he could end up with a big score, on the lines of something he had done during the first innings at Chennai.

For the hosts, all the bowlers put up a splendid show on a bright Saturday morning which saw a huge crowd turn up to view the proceedings of the match.

The Indians not only bowled well but were alert and agile on the field applying the brakes on easy runs. Australia on the other hand would hope to see a change of fortunes during the remainder period of the day.

Earlier, India decided to go with the same XI who played in Chennai, implying that Pragyan Ohja will have to wait a while before he can get his chance to play against Australia during this series.

Meanwhile, Australia made two changes in the team. They brought Xavier Doherty in place of Nathan Lyon while Glenn Maxwell was replacing Mitchell Starc.

Continuing the dominance they had over the Australians in the first Test at Chennai, Team India had the visitors on the mat in the first session of play in the second Test in the City.

M ANIL KUMAR

Dhoni is best person to lead: Laxman

report in the media about that event,” he said.

The Hyderabadi stylish re-

Waiting to get Lucky in Pakistan

Postnoon news service feedback@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: The recent past has seen many sports tournaments between arch rivals India and Pakistan being shelved due to the strained relations among the two nations. Coming as a breather from

the on-going trouble, both the nations are set to clash in a snooker tournament set to take place in Karachi from March 7 to 10. Four players represent each side.

Among the players from India is our local lad, Lucky Vatnani (the other three players are Kamal Chawla, Brijesh Damani and Rafat Habib).

iterated that the timing of his retirement -- in August last year -- was perfect.

“Initially, my aim was to beat Australia in Australia and then retire, but unfortunately we had a very poor series. But the matter (retirement) was at the back of my mind for around six months. I could have easily played against England and Australia but I thought it would be better to give a youngster a chance to play 10 Tests at home before India’s South Africa tour.

“The toughest day after taking the decision to retire was the very next day. As I woke up I told my wife I have taken a brilliant decision,” he said.

Laxman stressed the need for

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youngsters to take Test cricket seriously. At the same time, he termed IPL as the best form of cricket entertainment.

“There has to be a balance and youngsters should understand that money is the byproduct of your hard work and good performance you put in for your country. There is no bigger prize than representing your country.

“At same time, T20 requires a special set of skills. And I could have never imagined someone like A B de Villiers reversesweep a fast bowler for six over third man. In my entire career I could have never imagined of playing that shot,” said PTI Laxman.

SON UNCLE AUNT NIECE COUSIN FATHER

Suduko

at my place would become a topic of national discussion. It was really disturbing to read the

Scrabble

ulations to rest about his alleged strained relationship with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, former India batsman VVS Laxman (centre in pic) on Friday said that the Jharkhand dasher is the best person to lead the Indian team.

“Dhoni is a fantastic player and I believe he is the best person to lead the Indian team,” Laxman said at the launch of ESPNcricinfo’s new book ‘Talking Cricket’ here.

Laxman also sought to clear the air about the controversy that took place last year when Dhoni was not among the invitees during a dinner function at the former’s residence here.

“I never knew that a dinner

Number game

HYDERABAD: Putting all spec-