Postnoon E-Paper for 04 March 2013

32 PAGES

WEATHER: MOSTLY CLEAR; 28°C

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

THE

BUZZ BEES ON

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

A recent study has found that global agriculture today suffers from the dearth of wild bees. We take a look at our once backyard friends who are now missing in action.

P16&17

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PUKKA PUJARA!

Cheteshwar Pujara scored his second double hundred as Indian batsmen continued their run feast against Australia on the third day of the second cricket Test, in the City today. The Pujara-Vijay duo punished the lacklustre Australian attack as India went into lunch at a score of 400 for three.

P31

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

TADBUND UNVEILED SRINIVAS SETTY

THE FORGOTTEN BASTI

The residents of Tadbund slum have been criminally neglected by the government. They have no water, no ration shop and no basic health services.

P8

NAGARJUNA DONS A NEW AVATAR

REPORT ON P6 Skeletons tumble out. Civic and government departments that take years to build a bridge or nallah spent `217 crore with incredible speed for world biodiversity council, and it stinks.

After donning roles of Annamayya and Shirdi Sai, Nagarjuna will soon be seen as Chandaludu.

P21

HIV CURED IN BABY FOR THE FIRST TIME: SCIENTISTS

In this new case, the baby girl received nothing more invasive or complex than commonly available antiretroviral drugs.

P20

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MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

city events

ART FOR CHILDREN

A workshop is being held for children aged 4-6 years to improve their reading and comprehension skills at Treasure House, Banjara Hills. It will be held every Wednesday and Friday, up to March 29. The contact number for the workshop is (040) 2355 0118.

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

28°C

18°C

Mostly clear.

Clear with cloudy periods.

Morning

Afternoon

25°C

34°C

A mix of cloud and sun.

A mix of cloud and sun.

New Delhi Mumbai Max 28 Max 36 Min 15 Min 24 Clear.

Chennai Max 30 Min 26

Partly cloudy.

Thunderstorm.

Bangalore Max 31 Min 20 Thunderstorm.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES mentaries, where amateurs can showcase their talents.

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

ART French heritage A photographic voyage of French heritage in India with Anay Mann, Gigi Scaria, Rishi Singhal, Serena Chopra, Isabel Saij along with JeanPierre Dubois.

Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery, Banjara Hills When: March 16- March 21 11am to 7pm Contact: (040) 6656 4466

Samahaara workshop The workshop will focus on acting on stage, character analysis, movement, voice, stage geography, scene work and improvisation. The minimum age limit is 14.

When: Up to April 7, Monday to Friday Where: The Terrace, Road no.7, Banjara Hills Contact: info@samahaara.org

Tribal art Muse Art Gallery hosts a first-of-itskind tribal art exhibition featuring art from the Gond tribal community.

Where: Muse, Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre When: Up to March 11, 11am onwards Vibgyor ‘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

MISCELLANEOUS

CHEERING INDIA: Fans seen at the Uppal Stadium in the City.

Where: : Residence Inn, Opp SBH Bank, Kavuri Hills, Jubilee Hills When: Up to March 6 11am to 7pm Contact: (040) 2311 3709

For the love of fauna ‘For the love of fauna’ is a group art exhibition by G Jagadeesh, Jaya Prakash and Maddileti Gaddam.

sphagetti, cheese stuffed chicken in wild mushroom sauce, white chocolate spring rolls and country pie will be available.

Where: Cinnamon Fusion, 3rd Floor, SBR Gateway , Madhapur, Hitec City When: Up to March 5, Contact: (040) 6450 6450

DINING 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 New A la Carte Launch Various dishes like French onion soup, bharwan aloo, roasted chilli lamb, legume au gratin, meat balls in

Commissioner & Spl Officer

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

198 155313

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

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

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

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) 23558856

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

155313 23307328 23313163

27505566 23314095 23390933 24600146 27001134 23607777 30418888 30417777 30419000 30416666 39879999

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

M ANIL KUMAR

French classical week Dishes like tournedos rossini, wenier schnitzel, saltimbocca, ossobucco, cordon bleu, a la cheval and diane will be served.

Where: Celeste, Faluknama, Engine Bowli When: Up to March 10 Contact: (040) 6629 8585

SHOWS

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

Imany World music- jazz and soul.

Where: Hyderabad International Convention Centre Novotel & HICC complex Near Hitec City When: March 15, Contact: (040) 2355 4486 The First Cut A festival of short films and docu-

27567892 23559555 23226624 27633087 27035588 27550238 30799999 30418296 30417445

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

Pochampally art mela There is a 10-day handloom products exhibition. Exclusive handloom products like hand made bed and home linen, dress materials, silk and cotton saris will be on display.

Where: YMCA, beside Narayanguda police station When: Up to March 10

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

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

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

24523211 232431300/7641 24521029

Readers’ views

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

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

City

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

SHOULD THERE BE STRICTER LAWS AGAINST CONTRACT MARRIAGE? 72% 28%

YES (A) NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

IS NAREDRA MODI BEING ISOLATED BY OTHER BJP LEADERS? A)

YES

B)

NO

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

CRIME

3

Police wake up, sensitise public on terror

Belatedly though, police have begun to make themselves people-friendly in an aftermath of the twin blasts. How long it lasts remains to be seen.

Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com

Phone Numbers

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Police 100 Traffic Police 103 Police (outside city limits) 108 Fire Control 101 Ambulance of Fire Services Dept.

102 Child Line 1098 Women Help Line 1091

fter the twin blasts in Dilsukhnagar, City police commissioner Anurag Sharma has taken some seemingly sincere steps to make the public aware of the nefarious designs of terrorists and how to keep vigil against such acts. Policemen are now busy on the roads and bylanes checking, frisking, telling residents to keep an eye on unusual people and movements. The

Houze and Nayapul.

THE TRILINGUAL VIGIL

In many places, the awareness camps for public were held in three languages — English, Urdu,and Telugu — to help the people understand. police are also giving them different phone numbers of the authorities concerned if they notice something suspicious.

Recently, deputy commissioner of police, south zone, Dr Tarun Joshi, held a meeting with

the local public in function halls at different places in which hundreds of people participated.

Joshi addressed with them and explained about the situation. He laboured to drill in their minds that without local helps, terror-

ists are usually helpless. They may come in guise as friends, well wishers, innocent people seeking education or job. But residents should be doubly wary of strangers, whatever caste or religion they belong to.

RPublic awareness programmes were conducted in places like Shahali Banda, historical places like Charminar, Macca Masjid, Laad Bazaar, Khilwat, Pathergatti, Madina Market, Patel Market, Shahraan, Gulzar

In many places, the awareness camps for public were held in three languages — English, Urdu,and Telugu — to help the people grasp the gravity of the situation. The public participated in the camps with vigour.

Deputy commissioner of police, central zone, VB Kamlasen Reddy, also conducted similar meetings with the local public in Musheerabad area.

He also has issued a CD containing awareness programmes for the public and the safety drill to be followed in crowded places like markets, theatres, cafes and malls.

CRIME

NIA takes blasts suspects around City Indian mujahideen terrorists, who were brought from Delhi, were taken to the main centres of Hyderabad for a reconstruction of the crime scene.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

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he National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the blasts, brought two more suspects of from Nellore for questioning.

The duo was being questioned at the NIA office in Begumpet.

The sleuths quizzed Indian

mujahideen terrorists Maqbool and Imran Khan, brought from Delhi’s Tihar jail, for the third day on Sunday. In a secret mission, the two were taken in a special vehicle around the main centres of Hyderabad on Saturday night for a reconstruction of the crime scene. They were taken to Dilsukhnagar bomb blasts site, Begum

Bazaar, Secunderabad, Raj Bhavan Road, Kothi, Abids and other places. It is learnt they had admitted to have conducted recce. The local helps they received are under probe, sources said. They seemed to have visited 12 places and shortlisted three for blasting.

According to reports, Indian Mujahideen leader and

fugitives Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Yaseen Bhatkal planned the Hyderabad blasts last year.

They had initially targeted the Sai Baba temple at Dilsukhnagar. However, as there were CC cameras in the temple, and on account of the police commission’s unannounced visit to the temple, they pushed ground zero a few

yards away to the market place.

The suspects are reported to have identified a place where there would be heavy rush of and which does not have much of police surveillance as the site for the twin blasts. However, even as he was planning blasts here, Maqbool was caught by the Maharashtra ATS police in connection with the Pune blasts.

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city MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

GHMC

LAST YEAR... HERE

Blame game begins

Crushed dreams

L

ast year we had reported how the Monda market collapse crushed the dreams of the family of a vendor who was killed in the accident. Mekala Naganath had a spinal problem, but did not miss a day’s work to ensure that his three kids were educated. The deceased’s brother-in-law claimed that negligence by doctors at Gandhi Hospital had cost Naganath his life.

MARCH 4, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

`5cr

The advance received by author Amish Tripathi for his next series.

Though Amish has not decided on a plot as yet, he promises that the story will involve mythology.

I don’t like lying to my parents or going behind their backs. Even though I have to put up a fight for it most of the time, I do get what I want ultimately.

Ritika Sharma, student See page 9

Corporators are furious that their names are mentioned in the GHMC commissioner’s list of wards defaulting in holding meetings.

Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com

A

new row was sparked off in the GHMC after the commissioner threatened to disqualify corporators who did not conduct ward and area sabhas.

Furious are those whose ward names are listed. They are likely submit letters to the commissioner seeking explanation.

It is believed that the GHMC commissioner, MT Krishna Babu, has demanded conducting of local meetings after the High Court gave such a directive to the corporation.

The corporators are directly blaming the absence of officials in the ward committee meetings for their failure.

According to the corporators, several resolutions were passed on various public issues like water and sewerage problem, development of graveyards, roadside sale of liquor, electricity, encroachment of land, traffic, law and order. But no officer from any of the departments concerned

(From L-R) Corporators Amjedullah Khan, Ranjana Devi, Bangari Prakash and Singireddy Srinivas Reddy.

honoured the resolutions of the ward committees and area sabhas. Neither had they attended the meetings nor had the resolutions been implemented by the corporation.

“What are the best efforts made by the GHMC to compel officers to attend the meetings and honour the resolutions adopted? How come the corporation will disqualify the corporators?” asks TDP floor leader, Singireddy Srinivas Reddy.

Among those whose area is listed is the BJP floor leader, who declined answering to the query as to why his area was listed. “I cannot answer this orally. I shall be answering this in writing tomorrow, to the commissioner,” said

Bangari Prakash.

Not only the corporators, but also the deputy mayor, G Rajkumar, felt the heat of this matter, so much so that he met Singireddy for a while in his cabin to discuss the legal aspects and its repercussions.

The listed Congress corporator from Ghansi Bazaar, Ranjana Devi Goel, blamed the officials for failure of conducting meetings. “The in-charge officer, who should be present at the meeting, is never available. Then how could you expect that a meeting would take place? Even though I make a weekly visit of the ward, there have been no formal

meetings for more than a year,” she explains.

However, the only corporator from MBT (Majlis Bachao Tahreek), Amjedullah Khan, blames the politics played by the MIM in his ward for the shortcomings. As the entire committee is filled with detractors, they do not allow meetings to be conducted smoothly.

“Several times I have called for the meeting, but no one is interested. As half of the committee is filled with non-locals, they are not keenly interested. I shall be giving a befitting reply to the commissioner for including my ward name in the list,” says Amjedullah.

THINGS WE 5LEARNT TODAY The column that teaches everyone something new about the way the City functions.

1

Neglected and broken: The story of Tadbund slum.

The government has turned a blind eye to the woes of the residents of Tadbund basti. With no water, no ration shop nor basic health facilities, these locals are being treated as second-class citizens.

2

Beautification of City for CoP hides ugly truths.

RTI applications by activists have revealed large discrepancies in the budget expenditure for various works taken up for CoP-11. The replies they got were vague, inconsistent or absent.

3

Corporators point at officials in ward meeting issue.

Corporators are upset about the GHMC commissioner’s remarks on ward meetings and blame officials for not being present.

4

Born to live free is the mantra of Gen Z. The new generation isn’t interested in sneaking around or taking things lying down.

5

Babli project provides muchneeded ammunition.

Parties are back at attacking each other over the Babli project.

NEWS BRIEFS 8 held for selling match tickets in black

1.3 lakh students apply for EAMCET

Padayatra to get Jagan released

Proposed water tanker strike called off

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N

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gang of eight allegedly involved in selling black tickets to the India-Australia second test match was arrested by the task force. A total of 538 match tickets and net cash of `7,200 were also seized from their possession. Tickets of `100 and `300 had been purchased by the accused from various E-Seva Centers.

early 1.3 lakh students have applied for the Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET) to be held on May 10. While 95,000 applications have been received for the engineering stream, nearly 35,000 students have applied for medicine.

The last date for submission without additional fee is March 27.

ow, a padayatra to get a leader released from jail. YSR Congress activists have launched a padayatra for securing the release of party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in Medak district on Sunday. The rally of 3,000 party workers, led by party leader C Anji Reddy, was flagged off by district convener Bhatti Jagapati at Ramachandrapuram.

he proposed water tanker strike in the twin cities from today has been called off. The State Motor Transport Operators Association announced the postponement after the executive director agreed to consider the removal of the PIN system, which was introduced to prevent black marketing of water.

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city MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

POLITICS

Babli bubbles up, govt squirms AP’s opposition parties have recovered from the benumbing bomb blasts and have issued a fusillade against the Kiran government on the controversial reservoir issue.

INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com

T

he political scene in the State, which went silent after last month’s deadly bomb blast that claimed 16 lives, has become active again.

The recent decision of the Supreme Court of India in the controversial Babli irrigation project case has given rival political parties of the State the much needed ammunition to attack the State government from all quarters.

We categorically told the Congress government that the entire Telangana region would turn into a desert if it didn’t take any step to stop it (Babli project). But the government took our demands lightly.

E Dayakar Rao party leader and MLA

The project had become a bone of contention between Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra for a very long time. What worries the State government is its counterpart’s alleged illegal construction of scores of projects without securing any legal sanction.

It is believed that the construction of the Babli irrigation project would turn the entire Telangana region into a desert, as it would obstruct the flow of Godavari river into the State.

Almost all political parties from Telangana region, including Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), after a brief lull, have resumed blaming the AP government for the mess.

‘STATE FAILED ON BOTH FRONTS’ The main opposition TDP and others say the State has failed in both the political and legal fronts on this matter.

TDP senior leader and party MLA E Dayakar Rao alleged that the State government did nothing to stop the Maharashtra government from going ahead with the project construction.

"We have launched huge agitations highlighting the consequences of construction of Babli

What is Babli?

B

project.

“We categorically told the Congress government that the entire Telangana region would turn into a desert if it didn’t take any step to stop it. But the State government took our demands lightly," he told Postnoon.

Rao demanded that the State government immediately file a review petition in the Supreme Court to stop the construction of the project.

He warned that TDP would launch another round of agitations to mount pressure on the government.

CPI and CPM also made sim-

ilar demands.

Speaking to Postnoon, CPM state secretary BV Raghavulu demanded that the State government immediately convene an all-party meeting on the issue and take suggestions from all political parties.

He also asked the government to immediately seek the intervention of the Central government to prevent the Maharashtra government from constructing illegal projects.

TRS leader T Hareesh Rao also expressed similar views.

The State government, in turn, has agreed to convene a meeting.

abli project is a controversial reservoir project being constructed by Maharashtra across the river Godavari, and disputed by Andhra Pradesh. The Supreme Court delivered a ruling after seven years in favour of Maharashtra. The AP government is expected to appeal against it.

AP has contended that Maharashtra has used up its quota in the course of time by building four projects.

Eighteen lakh acres in the Telangana region will become barren if Maharashtra is allowed to have its way.

Andhra Pradesh is waging a legal battle against Maharashtra’s Babli project and eleven other barrages across the Godavari river, Maharashtra has agreed to AP’s proposal for constituting an inter-state board (ISB) for implementing the `40,300 crore mega Pranahita Chevella lift irrigation scheme.

Babli has also become a political battle ground between the two states.

POLITICS

Orientation for legislators begins today POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

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he three-day orientation programme for MLAs and MLCs will begin here today. The programme is being organised to train public representatives in effectively discharging their duties as the newly formed standing committee (SC) members.

Recently, in a major decision, AP Assembly speaker Nadendla Manohar announced the constitution of standing committees.

The main objective is to make all MLAs and MLCs an integral part of the State administration. They will be able to air their views on various budgetary allocations made by the government in its annual plan and undertake dis-

cussions and debates effectively.

The members will be mandated to recommend changes to the allocations made by the State government through the standing committees. The government on its part will have to implement these changes accordingly.

To accommodate the role of standing committees, the government, departing from its usual convention, had decided to introduce vote-on-account budget for the next fiscal.

12 SCs FORMED

The Assembly speaker has constituted a total of 12 SCs to accommodate almost all members of both the houses — Assembly and Council — of the State legislature.

According to the rules laid

down, each SC will consist of 31 members — 21 MLAs and 10 MLCs. The SCs are given the required manpower to assist them. Apart from this, the speaker had pressed in the services of experts from various fields to assist the MLAs. These experts will not only help the public representatives in understanding the basic concepts related to budget allocations, but also advice them on various other issues.

Former union home minister and Punjab governor Shivaraj Patil and chairman for parliamentary standing committee on human resources Oscar Fernandez are expected address the gathering at the training programme.

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city MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

RTI ACTIVISM

CoP-11: Skeletons tumble out Civic and government departments that take years to build a bridge or nallah spent `217 crore within weeks with incredible speed for the world biodiversity meet.

RAHUL RAMAKRISHNA rahul.r@postnoon.com

A

s Postnoon had long ago forecast, spending on decorating the City for the world biodiversity meet (CoP-11) has seemingly thrown up a dunghill. Nobody really knows what infrastructure was created for the City by such a mega mela, except a lot of empty talk about environment.

RTI requests filed by various activist groups from the City have yielded willy-nilly replies, most of which point to glaring inconsistencies in the budget expenditure for works taken up for CoP-11. Activists Rakesh Reddy Dubbudu of UFRTI, Panasa Ramakrishna, Mahender Reddy, Kumar Shastri, Yogendra, Sai Prasad, Lalita, Bharat, Umesh Varma and Ali Hussaini spent a lot of time filing RTI applications. After waiting for over a month, the replies came in. Financial experts are surprised and are unsure of the veracity of the statements.

From the table, it is evident that most of the replies pertaining to expenditure are either vague, absent or do not tally with the works completed. For instance, the GHMC insists that `125 crore was spent on over 88 works taken up by the urban forestry and horticulture wing. But in reality, these works round up to more than 170 within the GHMC limits. “What we received in reply to the RTIs filed were evasive answers. They said that they had enclosed copies of the works taken up, but we found none. Other excuse was information not being available in that particular office/department,” says Panasa Ramakrishna of ITMD. Other replies from HMDA show that most of the works taken up for CoP-11 were far away from the venue designated. For instance, the HMDA says borewell digging, putting up dustbins and granite benches in parks were all taken up for CoP-11. “We do not understand how these works, taken up

The whole exercise appears to be an act of subterfuge. The expenditure claims ought to be probed by a neutral agency .

Panasa Ramakrishna, RTI activist outside KBR park, Indira and Sanjeeviah parks, were part of the City’s preparations for CoP-11,” says Rakesh Reddy Dubbudu of UFRTI. The activists demanded that the State government constitute an independent inquiry committee to probe into this matter and take punitive action to punish those found guilty. “We also demand that a white paper be released showing complete details of budget and expenditure of all the departments involved in works taken up during CoP-11. These details should be put up on all the government department websites immediately,” the activists say.

“The work specifications and detailed expenditure alone will justify such claims. It looks hazy as of now,” says a financial consultant, KVM Pai.

A breakdown of budget and expenditure as revealed by the RTI replies is as follows: S. Name of No the Department

Amount Expenditure Sanction (` in crores) (` in crores)

1 2 3 4 5

69 2.50 3.43 2 5

46.56 0.94 1.41 5.57

15 7.82 15 125 22.25 5 1.36

11.30 4.42 15 125 5 1.36

273.49

216.56

Police Health State disaster and response National Green Corps AP State Biodiversity Board (Additional `5 crore and budget of `2.31 crore sanctioned) 6 I and PR Department 7 AP forestry department 8 HMDA 9 GHMC 10 R and B 11 AP tourism department 12 YAT and C Total

city

7

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

INTERVIEW

THE END OF THE LINE...

...Or a new beginning? As Amish Tripathi’s Shiva trilogy comes to an end with The Oath of The Vayuputras, he has already bagged a `5 crore advance for his next series.

RAJESH RAVINDRAN rajesh.r@postnoon.com

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he voice that says “Hi, buddy” to me is tired and friendly. He has been travelling around for promotions of the book that marks the end of the trilogy that set him free — in many ways. While talking over the phone to him, him being in Pune, I hear the ripple of laughter of his son. He says the company of his wife and son is the “stress buster” in his life.

An essay in More Intelligent Life, titled We Ten Million, says that there are around 10 million writers yet to be published. That gives us a rough idea how hard it is these days for the men and women of letters.

Amish Tripathi’s life is any aspiring writer’s dream. For this former banker, for whom becoming a writer was nowhere in the back of his mind while growing up and till sometime back, the way his writing career has shaped after the release of The Immortals of Meluha is phenomenal… so phenomenal that as the one that completes it, The Oath of the Vayuputras, is out on the racks in bookstores, Westland publishing house has given him a `5 crore (it’s some sort of a record) advance for his next series. Just that “India’s first

literary pop star” has many ideas for the series, but is yet to zero in on one; be sure “it will be mythological”.

Is it not astounding that the man who made a ‘dude’ out of a god was once an atheist? “I was shocked at the communal riots

that happened in Mumbai in the early nineties. The violence and bloodshed rocked my faith. My friends and I became atheists

after that,” Amish says.

But the books brought him back and gave him back his faith.

It has also changed him a lot. “I was very aggressive and competitive (understandable: He was a ‘financial professional’),” Amish says. “I am calmer as a person now.”

If Valmiki may be credited for telling the story of a Ram who lives a perfect life to become a god, Amish may be credited for doing something similar: Only both works are spaced by centuries and the god who has become mortal is a “dude” who wears snakes for earrings, amulets, bracelets and headbands, and smokes weed.

Amish’s foray into writing was supposed to be on philosophy. He then decided that it be Shiva, and through the trilogy, he portrays the brutal, bloody war between good and evil, the original plan. Since Shiva is a mortal in the books, he will bleed, he will feel, and be like any other man. Since the good vs evil battle is a brutal one, he says “there will be blood” and “there will be deaths”.

At the moment, Amish is fully enjoying the writer’s life.

He is happy and is patient and stays cool about what fate has brought him and has in store for him.

POLITICAL

BARRING NONE

TRS leader vows to stop Polavaram project MLA T Harish Rao claims that the project would displace one lakh people in Telangana region.

T Children play on a bridge across a nullah which has no safety grilles at Nalla Gutta in Secunderabad.

N SHIVA KUMAR

RS senior leader and Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao on Sunday declared that the party would obstruct the Polavaram project, which would ruin the Telangana region.

Speaking to mediapersons in Khammam, Harish Rao expressed grief over the tribal population in the Telangana region losing everything if the Polavaram project was allowed to be constructed. He has alleged that Seemandhra leaders were

conspiring to submerge three lakh acres and displace one lakh persons in the Telangana region in order to provide water to a third crop in the delta region.

The TRS leader also alleged that the Kiran Kumar Reddy government made preparations overnight to hand over the Polavaram project works to the Transtroy company, belonging to Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, by flouting rules and regulations.

NSS

8

city MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

POSTNOON CAMPAIGN

SRINIVAS SETTY

THE FORGOTTEN BASTI

The residents of Tadbund slum have been criminally neglected by the government.

They have no water, no ration shop and no basic health services.

RAHUL RAMAKRISHNA rahul.r@postnoon.com

T

he woes of living in a slum are many. For residents of Tadbund basti, life itself is a perennial problem.

Despite many pompous promises made by the State government and the Secunderabad Cantonment Board, the basics of living are absent in this slum.

Postnoon’s visit revealed problems, dime a dozen, and all obvious to the otherwise socially conditioned eye. The Tadbund slum, given the living conditions and the problems of the residents here, is perched on the edge of a powder keg, waiting to explode.

The entrance to the slum is marked by huge unfinished structures spread over an acre.

These are remnants of a renovation project taken up by the State government over 10 years back.

Prior to the construction, there were around 50 staff quarters and squatter settlements dat-

TADBUND UNVEILED This slum has been neglected because of its weak voter value. Leaders have decided over the years that getting them amenities would not translate into votes.

Lakshman Former corporator ing back to the British era. Only a few now remain. Officials from the Secunderabad Cantonment Board, also residents of the slum, estimate that the project was taken up at a cost of `70 lakh 10 years ago and the land value of

the slum, given its proximity to the main road, can be well over `10 crore. However, none of them wished to speak on record, as the threat of demolition always hangs by a loose thread.

Says M Sai Kumar, resident and social worker, “We have no ground water connection here.

Once every two days, we hire water tankers after much haggling and this too is of little help.

Basic health services are absent here. There has been no polio eradication service here for quite a few years. What makes life most difficult is that there is no ration shop here.”

He explains that the previous fair price market shut down in 2000 due to the usual set of problems — overpricing, black marketeering, and hoarding of supplies. “For 13 years, we have been travelling two kilometers to get our supplies,” he says.

At the construction site, hundreds of sewage pipes lie neglected. Locals say that these pipes were dumped here when the Cantonment Board undertook a major sewage network connection work from Uppal area about a year back. Till date, there is no word or action on moving them from here.

A half demolished temple stands in the middle of this ground, the premises of which are now used as a playground by the young, and as a place for tippling by the elders. This reporter and cameraman were accosted by a group of drunk goons, all of whom intimidated the news crew loudly, while pledging their faith to the temple. The locals say these things are common. “We have no money to run the family but somehow, some find enough to drink all

day,” Anjamma, a local says.

Former corporator Lakshman, who was in charge of the slum before the infamous demarcation of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board, says, “This particular slum has been neglected because of its weak voter value. Leaders have decided over the years that getting them amenities would not translate into votes. Hence, they have always used the same old money-spending schemes right

before the elections to get voted to power and then forget the slum completely.”

In our campaign on Tadbund slum, Postnoon will explore the various problems that have seeped into the basti over the years. While most of them will appear normal to the highly desensitised eyes of the City, there are far greater problems lying here, all of them beginning from the same root — the apathy of the Cantonment Board .

AGE OF MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

9

A PAGE DEDICATED TO THE TRIUMPHS AND TRIBULATIONS OF GEN Z

‘Gen Z’ unchained

Every person has the right to make choices and at the core, most individuals know what’s best for them.

As Generation Z or millennials would put it — to each his own. While they may not care so much about how we bought our freedom, they do give a damn about making the world a better place. Postnoon finds out that today’s youth is all about asking questions and fighting for what’s right.

NIDHI BHUSHAN

nidhi.b@postnoon.com

I

want a smart phone, I want to go out with my friends more often, I don’t want to study mathematics because I’m not going to use it in my career as a bass player, I don’t want to play hopscotch when I can play GTA 4, I want to learn from my own mistakes and I certainly do not ever want to conform. Kids these days!

One might think, at first glance, that the youth today don’t have a clue. However, that’s far from the truth. In fact, thanks to the information overload in this day and age, Generation Z is much wiser than us all at their age. Even at 20, they know exactly what they want and aren’t shy to get it either.

The thread that weaves all their wants together is freedom.

Whether it’s expression or social freedom, to Generation Z, it is not something they need to ask for — it is their right.

“I can’t wait to move to

another city to work and have my own life — free from parents and their rules,” says 17year-old Ritika Sharma. “To me, freedom is the ability to make my own decisions, buy whatever I want, judge people according to my instincts and most of all, learn from my own mistakes. As of now, I’m totally answerable to my parents.

They need to know where I am going, who I am going with and what time I’ll be back.

While I understand that they are like this only because they are concerned about my wellbeing, I feel it interferes with my freedom to just be.”

Remember sneaking out the back door, attending late-night parties with friends and secretly talking to that boy from another school? While we were all fine with a few white lies here and there, today’s youth simply want their parents to adapt. “I don’t like lying to my parents or going behind their backs. Even though I have to put up a fight for it most of the time, I do get what I want ultimately,” adds Sharma, swearing that she has never had to lie

to her folks, but still wants out as soon as possible.

It’s a good thing that young parents today understand the importance of freedom too.

After all, they are the ones who deserve credit for upping the

While the older generations were all fine with a few white lies here and there, today’s youth simply want their parents to adapt. constantly increasing demand for Montessori-type of education, which emphasises on independence, freedom within limits and respect for a child’s natural psychological development. “In today’s competitive world, parents go out of their way to make their child belong and yet be an individual,” says Nisha Dayal, a private school

teacher who has been teaching art for the past 20 years. “Art has always been considered a lesser subject. However, things have changed with respect to that in the past one decade.

Both parents and students take the subject more seriously these days. Though this is partly to do with the fact that children today are freer in terms of choices they make, it has a lot to do with the freedom parents enjoy as well. Because of joint families becoming passé, parents are freer and that freedom is translated into the independence their children.”

FREEDOM TO EXPRESS

What’s common between the Arab uprising and the protests that rocked Delhi after a 23year-old was gangraped?

Youngsters fighting for what’s right. Whether it’s facing tear gas canisters in a dictatorial setting or holding a candle-light vigil at India Gate, the youth today have done it all in the name of setting things right.

With a will to make a change, Generation Z has proved time and again

that they are not afraid of asking questions and fighting for what’s right. “We live in a free country and hence should be free to stand up against wrong,” says 18-year-old Ridhima Mathur, who participated in the protests in the capital.

Even when it comes to freedom with respect to social networking, the present generation is pretty clear. “We should be allowed to post whatever we feel, in our words, on sites like Twitter, Facebook, etc,” adds Mathur. In fact, for Gen Zeds, the freedom to access social networking sites is more important than earning money.

In a recent survey conducted

by Cisco, they found that 40 per cent college students and 45 per cent young professionals were willing to accept lower paying work as long as it offered more flexibility regarding social media access. Also, 50 per cent surveyed (2,800 youngsters from 44 countries) said that if their company didn’t allow access to social media, they would either turn down the offer or find a way to get around the prohibition.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Business

OBAMA TO NOMINATE NEW BUDGET CHIEF

President Barack Obama will nominate Walmart Foundation head Sylvia Mathews Burwell on Monday to be his next budget chief, amid a sharp row with Republican lawmakers, officials said. The announcement comes after Obama signed severe, across-the-board cuts of $85 bn in federal spending.

Start-up momentum takes City by storm

PRUDHVI RAJU K prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

T

he City is becoming home to more and more start-up businesses every day. Recognising the momentum that this has gained with evolving incubation centres, premiere educational institutes like the ISB, IIT, IIIT, BITS, BVRIT and Vasavi College of Engineering have come forward to give their support to start-up entrepreneurs.

Adding to that, private incubation centres like Uthishta, backed by Nuziveedu Seeds and TiE Incubation Centre, are also playing a key role in facilitating budding entrepreneurs.

“For any start-up, mentoring is important as it helps reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the company. A mentor is the one to whom a start-up can talk to and get valuable feedback from. Business leaders like Srini Raju, Srini Koppolu, Murali, JA Chowdary are giving their valu-

Incubation centres IIIT-H TiE Incubator ISB WCED BVRIT Uthishta

What are business incubators?

Business incubators are programmes designed to support the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services, developed and orchestrated by incubator management and offered both in the incubator and through its network.

Source: Wikipedia

able time to encourage this evolving start-up culture. While accelerating programmes such as Start-up Saturdays, TiE Smash Up events are turning out to be platforms for youngsters to network, share and discuss their ideas with the people of similar interests,” says Ramesh Loganathan, vice-president and centre head of Progress Software India and who encourages start-up businesses.

While talking about the entrepreneurial process, he says that passion is the most important quality for any entrepreneur. “More than ever, a lot of young entrepreneurs today can bank on their ideas without losing much in their start-up journey. With a few years of employment, an individual can easily gain experience and seed investments to test and prove the business idea,” says Loganathan.

The VP warns that a potential entrepreneur should also be financially independent to foot

his bills and other personal needs with his prior savings for the two years of incubation period. He can also try and get support from incubation centres once he has proven and tested the business idea. The centres help entrepreneurs with infrastructural support and bring in capital to manage employee salaries. It also acts as a validation for raising investments for future needs.

“A start-up entrepreneur

IMF LOAN FOR EGYPT?

does not have too much to lose if he fails in the business. He may lose the savings and opportunity costs but he will gain holistic experience, which is invaluable in getting a job or to boost his entrepreneurial career.

However, if one is successful, there is nothing that is more satisfying and fulfilling,” says Loganathan.

But is there an availability of investments for a start-up ecosystem in the City?

According to Loganathan, investors are prudent while banking on a business idea.

Undoubtedly, investing in a business is lot riskier than other investment options like real estate.

On the flip side, there are very few interesting ideas that entice these investors to put a stake on ventures. This can be solved either by the generosity of investors or by generating ideas of substance by entrepreneurs. Ideally, the latter has to happen to drive the investment market.

The recent Union Budget brought with it good news for start-ups. The Companies’ Bill states that businesses with at least `5 crore net profit should earmark two per cent of their average net profits in the preceding three years for CSR activities. According to the recent union budget, financial support to academic incubators for innovation also comes under CSR spending. “This will push the companies to support innovation, which will increase and strengthen academic incubators.

“Unlike earlier, funds from angel investors will not be treated as part of taxable income for entrepreneurs. Improving the refinancing capability of SIDBI will also help to provide credit for micro and small enterprises through banks and SFCs,” explains Loganathan.

10g GOLD `30,000 10g GOLD`31,100 1kg `60,100 1kg SILVER `54,000

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10

Egypt’s Finance Minister Al-Morsi alSayyed Hegazi said on Sunday he expected his government to reach an agreement with the IMF on a $4.8 billion loan before parliamentary elections in April, state media reported.

The crucial loan has been postponed amid political instability in the country that has prevented President Mohamed Morsi from undertaking certain key economic reforms. Hegazi said he expected “the agreement with the IMF... to be made before the upcoming parliamentary elections,” which will be held over three months starting on April 22, the official MENA news agency reported.

NUMEROLOGY

60%

of Swiss voted to rein in executive pay and force business leaders to give up golden parachutes.

TROIKA AUDITORS IN ATHENS Greece’s bailout lenders on Sunday began an audit of the country’s accounts to assess its progress in implementing reforms needed to unlock another loan to help it out of the debt crisis. Representatives from the so-called troika of Greece’s creditors — the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — held a meeting with Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras in Athens as part of regular efforts to review the steps Greece has taken to meet its bailout obligations.

Thorny issues that Athens still needs to address include shrinking the number of jobs in the public sector and recapitalise four of its main banks.

THUS SPAKE Today I advised him (Mohamed Morsi) the United States will now provide the first $190 million of our pledged $450 million in budget support funds.

JOHN KERRY US SECRETARY OF STATE

BSE 6,057.70 5,678.70 NSE

20,025.67 18,803.32 44.10 115.20 9.20 41.00

11

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

nation PRICE HIKE Parliament adjourned till noon on petrol price issue NEW DELHI: Parliament was today adjourned till noon amid vociferous protests by the Opposition over the recent hike in petrol prices.

Members of Left parties, Trinamool and AIADMK trooped into the Well of the Lok Sabha while BJP members shouted slogans from their seats against the hike. In the Rajya Sabha, members were seen protesting from the aisles.

It was trouble from the word go in the Lok Sabha. As soon as Speaker Meira Kumar made the obituary references, Basudeb Acharia was on his feet demanding that Question Hour be suspended and the House take up discussion on the petrol price hike. “I have given notice for suspension of Question Hour,” he said as the Speaker called for the Question Hour. State-owned oil companies had on March 1 announced a `1.40 per litre increase in petrol price.

As Asaduddin Owaisi put a supplementary question to Defence Minister AK Antony on the controversial VVIP helicopter deal, Left, TMC and AIADMK members trooped into the Well raising slogans against the hike.

Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) was seen exhorting his party colleagues to join him in the Well.

PTI

VIOLENCE AFTER HINDU GROUP LEADER KILLED IN UP Policemen were attacked and government property damaged as violence broke out in UP’s Ambedkarnagar District after a Hindu leader was shot dead, police said Monday. Ram Babu Gupta, district president of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, was shot dead by unidentified assailants late Sunday night.

CONTROVERSY

ONE KILLED IN MUMBAI

DSP’s killing: Raja Bhaiya resigns

NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: Controversial UP Minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias ‘Raja Bhaiya’ today resigned from the state Cabinet in the wake of the killing of a DSP in Pratapgarh district.

“Raja Bhaiya ka istifa ho gaya hai (Raja Bhaiya has resigned),” SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav told reporters outside Parliament.

Raja Bhaiya met UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow this morning and submitted his resignation, official sources said. His resignation has been accepted by Governor BL Joshi, they said.

The UP Assembly was adjourned for 30 minutes this morning following uproar over killing of the officer.

DSP Zia-ul-Haq was killed by a mob in Pratapgarh on Saturday when he had rushed there after a village head was shot dead over a land dispute.

The slain officer’s wife had accused Raja Bhaiya for the attack. In a complaint to police, the DSP’s wife Pravin Azad said, “On the directions of Raja Bhaiya, Nagar Panchayat Chairman Gulshan Yadav, minister’s representative Hari Om Srivastava, his driver Rohit Singh and supporter Guddu Singh first assaulted

Fact file n DSP Zia-ul-Haq was killed by a mob in Pratapgarh on Saturday when he had rushed there after a village head was shot dead over a land dispute. n The slain officer’s wife had accused Raja Bhaiya for the attack. n She filed the complaint in Kunda police station yesterday where her husband was posted. n Mayawati had earlier told reporters that there is “goonda raj” in UP and that the Centre should take action by clamping President’s Rule in the state. my husband with sticks and rods and later shot him dead.”

She filed the complaint in Kunda police station yesterday where her husband was post-

ed. Asked about BSP chief Mayawati’s demand for imposition of President’s Rule in UP, Yadav said, “It is unnecessary...

It is a classic case of the kettle calling the pot black.”

Mayawati had earlier told reporters that there is “goonda raj” in UP and that the Centre should take action by clamping President’s Rule.

“When a police officer is not secure, what to speak of the common man,” she said.

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Raja Bhaiya had yesterday told PTI, “Anyone who is undergoing mental trauma could be misguided. This is an unfortunate incident...The accusation is being levelled with malafide intention. Truth will prevail in the investigation.

Haq, posted as Circle Officer at Kunda town, had rushed to Balipur village after getting information about the murder of the village head on Saturday. Gram Pradhan Nanhe Yadav was shot dead by unidentified men last evening in the village.

When the police officer reached the village, he was attacked by some men. Haq and the village head’s brother Suresh received serious injuries in the attack and both died later, police said.

PTI

NEWS BRIEFS Bombay HC acquits man Deputy Jailor injured in of murder charge attack by undertrials

Stage set for Karnataka urban local bodies poll

Two J&K residents arrested with detonators

MUMBAI: A man convicted for killing his wife in the presence of their three children has been acquitted of murder by the Bombay High Court, which held that he was guilty of a lesser offence. The HC held that he was not guilty of murder under section 302, but offence fell under section 304 part I (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

BANGALORE: Ahead of the Karnataka assembly elections due in May, political parties are set to get an indication of people’s mood next week when results of the urban local bodies polls will be declared. Voting will take place for 208 local bodies March 7 and results will be known four days later. Around 8.5 million voters are eligible to cast votes.

CHANDIGARH: Two residents of Jammu and Kashmir were today arrested from an inter-state bus terminus here after four detonators were allegedly recovered from their possession, police said. Mohd Shafi and Mudassar Ahmed, residents of Doda district in J&K, were arrested during a routine checking by CRPF at the Sector 43 bus terminus.

FIROZABAD (UP): A deputy jailor was today injured when two undertrials attacked him inside the jail premises. Deputy Jailor Kamal Kishore Mishra was attacked by two inmates when he intervened in an argument they were having with a supervisor for prohibiting items in their meals. The injured officer was rushed to a hospital.

Pick

at the

One person was killed and 14 injured when a gas tanker caught fire near a slum in Mankhurd in Mumbai early Monday, officials said. The incident took place around 2 am when the tanker carrying around 18 tonnes of LPG gas caught fire. The blazing tanker overturned and the flames quickly spread to the nearby slums. One person, whose identity has yet to be established, was killed while 14, including three women, sustained burn injuries.

Nearly 20 fire tenders, including water tankers and foam dispensers, were deployed.

11 STUDENTS KILLED At least 11 children were killed Monday when their school bus collided with a truck near Nakodar town in Punjab, police said. The driver of the bus was also killed. The children from Akal Academy School in Boparai Kalan were on their way to school when the mini-bus in which they were travelling collided with a truck near Gahira village near Nakodar, 170 km from here. The injured children were taken to hospitals in Jalandhar and Nakodar. Most of the children were under 10.

We demand that the government bring the Food Security Bill during the budget session, providing 90 per cent of the population with 35 kg grains per family.

airport,

Prakash Karat CPI (M) gen secretary

-

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

World

IT KILLS ME NOT TO BE PRESIDENT, SAYS ROMNEY As President Barack Obama faces one crisis after another, Mitt Romney, his Republican opponent in the November election, says “it kills me” not to be in the White House finding solutions to the nation’s problems.

BASKETBALL DIPLOMACY

12

THE NEW LOOK

Kim wants call from Obama WASHINGTON: Flamboyant ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman Sunday defended his trip to North Korea, saying leader Kim Jong-Un does not seek war but does want one thing — a call from US President Barack Obama.

When asked about Kim’s human rights record, Rodman admitted he himself was “not a diplomat” and told ABC television:

“I’m not apologizing for him... I don’t condone what he does." But he reiterated that Kim was now a “friend."

He said “basketball diplomacy” could be a way to bridge the divide between Washington and Pyongyang. “He loves basketball. And I said Obama loves basketball. Let’s start there, all right. Start there.”

PAKISTAN

Karachi blast toll hits 45

The explosion, which also injured 150 people, blew the front off two fivestorey apartment blocks in the Abbas town area of Pakistan’s largest city KARACHI: A huge car bomb blast in a mainly Shiite Muslim area of Karachi on Sunday killed at least 45 people, officials said, amid a spate of sectarian violence that has come as Pakistan prepares for elections.

The explosion blew the front off two five-storey apartment blocks in the Abbas town area of Pakistan’s largest city, setting one on fire and trapping people beneath piles of rubble.

Karachi is plagued by sectarian, ethnic and political violence, with more than 2,200 people killed in shootings and bombings last year, but bomb blasts on this scale are rare.

“At least 45 people have been killed and 150 injured. The death toll may rise because the condition of half of the injured is severely critical," Hashim Raza Zaidi, the top government official in Karachi told AFP. Hundreds of shops and houses were badly damaged in the blast, which came as worshippers were leaving nearby mosques, and the balconies of the apartment blocks were destroyed.

Place with a past

K

arachi is plagued by sectarian, ethnic and political violence, with more than

Firefighters try to contain the fire set off by the blast.

In Patel hospital, where many wounded were taken for treatment, a weeping mother frantically searched for her son.

“He was standing in the balcony, where is he?" she cried.

Ijaz Ali was on the third floor of one of the blocks of flats with his wife and two sons when the bomb went off.

“All of a sudden I heard a huge blast and we thought the

building was going to collapse — it was like an earthquake," he told AFP from hospital.

“The windows of my flat exploded towards me, something hit my head and knocked me unconscious. I opened my eyes in hospital and I am just relieved that my family survived."

Suresh Kumar, the health secretary for Sindh province

NUMEROLOGY

$14

2,200

will be given to women in Turkmenistan as a gift from the state ahead of the International Women’s Day, celebrated March 8.

people killed in shootings and bombings last year, but bomb blasts on this scale are rare.

ANGRY SUMMER

told AFP that more than 40 were killed in the blast and the death toll could rise.

Abbas town is dominated by Shiites, who make up around 20 percent of Pakistan’s 180 million population, but officials said the victims of the blast also included members of the majority Sunni group.

Violence against Shiites, who make up around 20 percent of Pakistan’s 180 million population, has reached record levels, raising serious questions about security as the nuclear-armed country prepares for elections due by mid-May.

NEWS BRIEFS Polls on in Kenya after police gunned down

Borneo toll up: Malaysia Austrian far-right loses tightens security power in stronghold

Biden marches with US civil rights leaders

NAIROBI: Long lines of Kenyans queued from far before dawn as polls opened Monday for hardfought elections, hours after several policemen were killed in an ambush in the port city of Mombasa. The elections are the first since bloody post-poll violence five years ago in which over 1,100 people were killed.

TAWAU: Malaysia vowed to beef up security Monday in an eastern state where at least 26 people have been reported killed after a bizarre invasion by Philippine followers of a self-styled sultan. Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is under pressure over Malaysia’s worst security crisis in years, has authorised a “doubling” of police and armed forces.

WASHINGTON: Vice President Joe Biden marched with black civil rights leaders Sunday in Selma, Alabama to commemorate the “Bloody Sunday” beating of voting rights marchers 48 years ago. The gathering took on importance this year among civil liberties groups concerned with a voting rights case before the Supreme Court.

VIENNA: Austria’s far-right has lost power in its late leader Joerg Haider’s stronghold of Carinthia after a drubbing in a state election.

The poll in Carinthia and in a second state on Sunday also marked the arrival as a political force of a new party created by Frank Stronach, 80, an Austro-Canadian auto parts and horseracing billionaire.

Australian broadsheets The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have ditched their centuryold format for tabloid in a major overhaul at ailing media giant Fairfax. The move is part of the company’s bid to shore up readership and advertising revenue in an increasingly digital landscape.

Fairfax announced the sacking of 1,900 staff in June in a radical costsaving move and plans to put the Herald, which has been a broadsheet since 1831, and Melbourne paper The Age, founded in 1854, behind a paywall this year.

Australia’s weather went “on steroids” over a summer that saw an unprecedented heatwave, bushfires and floods, the climate chief said Monday, warning that global warming would only make things worse.

The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed the three summer months ending February 28 were the hottest season ever recorded in Australia, leading the government’s Climate Commission to label it the “Angry Summer” in a new report defined by extreme weather events across much of the continent, including record-breaking heat, severe bushfires, and extreme rainfall.

We expect all those who say it to mean it. Ladies and gentlemen, we mean it. And let me repeat it, we mean it.

Ehud barack Israel defence minister was reiterating that Israel would never allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

13

THE PAGE DEDICATED TO WOMEN AND THE ISSUES THEY FACE ACROSS THE GLOBE

VANGUARD OF CHANGE

For the right to vote

Equal in the eyes of God

J

ust ahead of the International Women's day on March 8, was yet another landmark date. Sunday marked the 100th anniversary of the Woman’s Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C. Back in 1913, Suffragists faced a difficult road in their march towards equality. About 8,000 women marched down Pennsylvania Avenue the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration.

M

VAWA renewed

aking clear that a priest's gender is no longer an issue for the Church, the New archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby has appointed a female chaplain. Dr Jo Bailey joins a handful of women to have ever been appointed to her station thanks to a extremely impressive resume and close to twenty years of experience in conflict and reconciliation.In addition to having worked as the Dean of Clare College Cambridge and Director of the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies at Duke, she is author of God's Holy People and Isaiah.

P

utting partisan politics aside, members of Congress came together to provide justice to victims of violence by renewing the primary federal law providing legal protection and services to counter domestic abuse, sexual violence, and stalking in the form of Violence against Women Act (VAWA). The bill which was first passed in 1994 will now include protection to LGBT victims.

AFP/CHRISTOPHE SIMON

They said, 'Well, that's foolish.

You'll never work, you're not pretty enough, you're not good enough,' and I said, 'You're fired.' I just fired everybody.

A truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes. I believe that this would be a better world.

Sally Fields Actress

Sheryl Sandberg CEO, Facebook

WORKING WOMEN

TWO STEPS BACK

Pay gap increases with age in the UK

Contraception without consent

T

he Israeli health ministry is looking into claims that Ethiopian women were given contraceptives without their consent in the country, reports The Guardian. The drug, Depo-Provera, has been linked to fertility problems and osteoporosis. The problem came to light when Israeli social workers noticed that the birth rate of Ethiopian refugees dropped drastically. Neither Israel nor Ethiopia seems to be willing to claim responsibility for this blatant violation of human rights.

More than 50,000 Ethiopian Jews have immigrated to Israel.

Doctors protest abortion rights bill

A

coalition of doctors in New York have come out to protest Gov. Andrew Cuomo's abortion rights bill. The unnamed coalition said most studies were skewed to support the abortion-rights position but neglect to factor in other side effects like the chronic stress, anguish and depression suffered by women who undergo abortions. "Abortion has inflicted longlasting emotional harm on a large number of women and men,"a spokesperson for the group said.

Children from shantytowns in Rio de Janeiro get lessons from Royal Opera House of London dancers.

28TH RANK AND CLIMBING

While only seven per cent of women are at board level positions in India, the country ranks 28th in terms of the presence of women directors.

W

omen account for nearly 40 per cent of the total workforce of India Inc, but their presence is less than seven per cent when it comes to board-level positions, a survey has found.

India is ranked at 28th in terms of the presence of women directors in a slight improvement from last year's 30th position, according to Women On Board 2013. The ranking is better than that of a few major countries like Japan.

The survey was conducted on more than 1,400 companies in India and it found that the women constituted just 6.81

per cent of the total number of board members in 2013.

However, this marks an improvement from last year when women accounted for 6.69% of the total board seats.

The female presence on company boards is highest in Norway (37.23 per cent), followed by Sweden (27 per cent), Finland (24 per cent), South Africa (17.31 per cent) and the US (16.67 per cent).

The countries having lower women representation on company boards include Italy (4.23%) and Japan (1.26%), the report said. The number of companies surveyed were different in different countries.

"India still needs to promote

more women for senior management level. Presence of women members on board is very low, it's even below the average percentage in developing countries," MyHiringClub.Com CEO Rajesh Kumar said.

"While around 38 per cent of employee strength in India is female, only 16 per cent are able to reach senior management level," he added.

According to the survey, the scenario is not much better in some developed countries as well, with Canada reporting only 11.41 per cent women directors, Ireland 11.16 per cent, Spain 10.79 per cent, New Zealand 9.89 per cent, and Switzerland 8.56 per cent. PTI

A

recent analysis in UK shows that women in their fifties who hold a full-time job earn nearly 20 per cent less than men of the same age. The pay gap also later translates into smaller pensions, says the Trades Union Congress analysis. The report found that women aged from 50 to 59 suffer from the widest gender pay gap of any age group. Women in their 20s earn more than men. In their 30s they fall behind, till the pay gap becomes glaringly obvious in their fifties.

Silver linings at the workplace

T

he pay gap between the sexes exists, even with numerous equal pay movements. However, Forbes has come up with a list of jobs that pays most for women.

Jobs in healthcare, business and computer science pay women as much as or almost as much as men, says the survey.

Among the best equal opportunity jobs in the US are those of pharmacists,chief executives, software developers and psychologists. The worst-paying jobs for women are food preparation workers and laundry.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Comment Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain.

William Faulkner American writer

Homework doesn’t work THE HUMAN CONDITION Dean Williams

Y

ahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s decision not to allow staff to work from home anymore has come under fire from many quarters. But is she really wrong?

Personally I don’t think so.

Successfully working from home requires a shedload of self-discipline. The whole point of an office is to make sure staff are focussed on the job at hand and not distracted by personal issues.

Working from home doesn’t allow that unless you have a dedicated work space free from disturbance and a rigid timetable.

Also families of the employee must adhere strictly to the very same timetable, else it’s absolutely pointless. I know very few people with the discipline to work from home and contribute to the success of their company.

Not because they lack the talent, but rather they just can’t seem to concentrate. Also working from home removes the competitive spirit that is so important in companies where innovation and out-of-the-box thinking are pivotal. Good offices are like Dyson Spheres of talent: Created for and tailored to suit talent, which in turn gives off enough energy to keep a corporate civilization humming. Nothing else matters.

Staff must play off each other; they must compete in an arena for corporate gladiators where only the best survive. This can’t be done from the home. It has to be done in the office. And while the ‘work-from-home’ philosophy could help in some special cases, it’s a nonsensical approach to business (especially those where a majority of the staff live within four hours of the office).

Mayer’s decision is right and it took guts. I applaud her for that.

The writer is the editor of Postnoon.

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS Sheikh Hasina says though she is glad that a Bengali is the Indian President now, she is sad that a Bengali is yet to become the Prime Minister. We don’t know how much you know of India, but the criterion for being PM in our country is being Indian, not Bengali, or Marathi: nothing else counts.

CHINA

14

‘Re-education’ leaves lives shattered LETTER FROM THE RED NATION

Neil Connor

T

wo years of forced labour in China's controversial "re-education" system left Peng Hong's life shattered. Now there ever-louder calls for reform as the country's parliament meets.

Peng was at home in Chongqing on a rainy evening in October 2009 with his wife, planning for the arrival of their first child, when police knocked on the door.

They wanted to question him over a cartoon he had forwarded online mocking a crime crackdown launched in the southwestern metropolis by its now disgraced leader, Bo Xilai.

Six days later he was standing naked in the reception area of a "re-education through labour" camp, bent over with his hands behind his back and staring at the floor, as stick-wielding guards beat anyone who looked up.

The 37-year-old is among hundreds of thousands in China who have had their lives uprooted by local police panels empowered to send people to the camps for up to four years without a trial. "When they told me I would do two years of re-education I felt like my world had come crashing down," said Peng.

"I was very scared. Everyone

says it is a terrifying place. I have no vices and I had done nothing wrong, but I knew I would suffer." He spent his first three months in detention undergoing intensive "re-education", which he compared to military training for new recruits.

He was then sent to work in a canteen at another camp, where his shifts were punctured only by forced recitals of "red" songs extolling the virtues of the Communist Party and the system which robbed him of his freedom. The re-education scheme, known as "laojiao", is blamed for widespread rights abuses as corrupt local officials seek to punish whistleblowers and petitioners who try to complain about them to higher authorities.

China's risk-averse leadership in Beijing has so far failed to remodel or eliminate the archaic system, which was established under Mao Zedong in the 1950s as a tool to impose ideological control.

But the issue is expected to be high on the agenda when the country's legislators meet this week for the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), or parliament.

The legislature is a rubberstamp body that does nothing without the Communist Party's bidding, but calls for reform from government critics and those who have suffered under the system have increased in recent

months.

Speculation that change was on the agenda mounted in January, when state media reports emerged briefly that laojiao would be abolished. But they were swiftly deleted and replaced with predictions of reforms, with few details and no timetable.

"As an ordinary person, you will never know about the details (of abuses)," said Peng, a former security guard.

"But then the media revealed how the law had been violated, that they (the police) have cracked down on freedom of speech and put people in re-education for very small things."

Never smiling, and maintaining a determined stare, Peng's

words are tinged with anger when speaking of his ordeal. "I think there should be a trial procedure before a person is given labour education punishment," he said. "It shouldn't be like it was with me, when a person's freedom could be restricted by a police committee." Many commentators believe that even if there was a strong desire from Beijing for reform, opposition from local areas could stifle any real change for a number of years.

But the scars of re-education have not healed for him or his family. He blames his daughter's health problems on the stress suffered by his wife during his detention, and says he cannot get work because of the enduring psychological effects.

EDITORIALS Advani and the sour grapes

B

hismacharya is angry, and for good reasons. Lal Krishna Advani was breathing fire and brimstone on Sunday against his party leaders for their abject failure in taking up numerous flop shows and corruption cases against the ruling UPA government stand to reason. All those who watch the national political scene for the past year or two would agree with Advani that the BJP had forgotten its political dharma as a principal opposition party in India. It is apparent that after the tragic death of Pramod Mahajan, the party has been going directionless. The Opposition Leader in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj proved the Peter Principle right, viz. members of any organisation will eventually be promoted beyond their level of ability.

READERS’ VIEWS

A fiery orator and a defender of popular rights, Sushma, however proved a total failure in nailing the UPA Sarkar in the House despite the latter throwing up liberally scam after scam of bewildering variety. She could have trampled the government with gusto if she wanted. How easily she surrendered to the government in Robert Vadra issue! She went down without fighting.

Now, the rising star of the saffron camp, Narendra Modi, has to fight a one man show. The party is indeed rudderless and the man whose time has come finds himself alone with not much helps coming from anywhere. Where Advani went wrong is where he praised Sushma and lampooned (albeit indirectly) Modi. Your grudge is showing, Mr Advani. Your bias against anyone except yourself projected as a possible PM is too clear to be glossed over.

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

Editor: Dean Williams

15

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

campus

WOMEN IN THE FOREFRONT

As part of Women’s March, documentaries Mera Apna Sheher and To Think Like a Woman will be screened at Lamakaan on Wednesday from 7pm.

IT’S SHOWTIME

WELCOME TO THE APPY WORLD The 36-hour Apps Development Marathon had 150 apps (application softwares) being created by engineering students at GNIT campus.

App

creators

all

AMY ROSE THOMAS amyrose.t@postnoon.com

A

pps Development Mara thon at Guru nanak Institution ( G N I ) - Te c h n i c a l Campus saw engineering students from across the State hard at work for 36 hours creating apps. At the end, 150 application softwares had been created during the event that was organised in collaboration with Microsoft. A total of 26 application softwares among these have been selected for the finals, which will be held on March 16.

Three such events were held and in total, 100 apps were selected to be part of the finals.

The event was aimed at digging out the intuitive knowledge of the students that will help them in their careers.

A Sai Prajeeth, whose app is

one of those which was selected for the finals, says, “We were divided into teams with five members in each. We were asked to come up with an idea that is unique and which hasn’t been done before. We made a number logic game and named it Deadlock.

ON A ROLL

“It is inspired from a game that we play while travelling in a bus to pass time. It felt good when it got selected. The game is user-friendly and can be played by even a Class II student since one only needs to know numericals from one to 10 to crack the game.” Prajeeth

is from Gurunanak Institution Technical College.

Other applications that were created during the marathon included media player, calculator, voice modifier, word magic, tennis mania and so on. Neeraja from CSIT college and her group members created an app for a calculator that saves data.

“Our project was that of a simple calculator that also saves all the arithmetic operations on a word sheet. Our fivemember team is called Reckoner. However, our project did not make it to the final 26,” she says.

Students can decide if they want to store their applications in the Windows store or make it part of their project presentation. This was also a platform for students to showcase their app building skills to technology giants like Microsoft.

A roaring success C

havvi — Reflecting Society made a debut at Bhavan’s College of Communication and Management with much fanfare. Short Film, Documentary and Music Video were the categories under which entries were invited. And the college received more than 70 entries in these categories.

One of the students at the

The college received more than 70 entries from across the country for Short Film, Documentary and Music Video categories. college, Venkatesh P says, “The response was tremendous with participants sending in entries for comedy, entertain-

ment and thriller. Three winners declared for each of the three categories were awarded with cash prizes.”

St Ann’s College for Women, Mehdipatnam, will be screening Dor on March 12 at 10.30am.

Producer of the movie, Elahe Hiptoola, will be present at the event.

COLLEGE OF THE WEEK

Jai Hind

is a college in Mumbai affiliated with University of Mumbai. After the Partition, it was established in 1948 by a small group of teachers who were displaced from DJ Sind College of Karachi under the supervision of Dr Mohinder-Miles Morton. The college is at ‘A’ Road, Churchgate. It started as an Arts and Science college.

Commerce, Management, Computer Science and Mass Media departments were introduced later.

AMAZING WOMEN

Hatshepsut was one of the most powerful women in the ancient world and the one and only female pharaoh in recorded history.

She was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt after taking over as a supposed regent for her son and reigned for over twenty years.

Journalist Nellie Bly put Jules Verne’s character Phileas Fogg to shame when she completed an around-theworld journey in only seventy two days — quite a feat before the invention of the airplane.

Bly is also known for her expose on mental institutions, a project for which she had to fake psychological illness to gain access.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

spotlight

ROCK AND ROLL

Join the party as DJ Vijay takes you on a high like never before by churning out the best hits. So put on your dancing shoes and dance the night away at Firangi Paani, City Centre Mall.

S BALAKRISHNA

CHOREOGRAPHED TO PERFECTION

18

Sizzling performance 1

Seventy students from the Special potential batch and the showkids picked by dance maestro Shiamak Davar performed at The ConfiDance Show at Shilpa Kala Vedika on Monday.

FOR THE SPARKLING BRIDE The Kashish Store on Sunday launched their wedding sparkle collection. Actresses Richa Panai and Jinal Pandya also modelled a few of the saris from the new collection.

3

4

1 Indrani Bali 2 Suganda 3 Namita, Swathi

5

4 Saloni, Ria 5 Arya

FUN WITH NUMBERS

1

The JCI Club organised a grand tambola evening for its members at the Imperial Gardens, Secunderabad, on Sunday. The evening was an enjoyable one.

2

3

4

5

1 Sangeeta 2 Neha, Vijay 3 Durga, Reena 4 Anchal, Rita 5 Sushila, Raunak 6 Neha

6

S BALAKRISHNA

2

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

health

BHOPAL GAS VICTIMS SUFFER FROM NEW ABNORMALITIES The probability of a baby being born with congenital anomalies is seven times higher in areas of Bhopal affected by the 1984 gas tragedy, doctors said. The effect is evident even in the third generation. Moreover, in many cases the abnormalities are unique and vastly different from the existing ones, say doctors.

EROTOMANIA

19

A crush gone too far What would you do if a friend of yours was obsessed with someone and not just turned a stalker but also began to believe that the object of his/her obsession is now a part of their lives? Chilling isn’t it?

RANJANI RAJENDRA

ranjani.r@postnoon.com

A

few years ago the Sri Lankan police arrested a young girl who claimed to have been married to a popular Sri Lankan cricketer. She even turned up at his home with fake marriage certificates. The police also seized sim cards and fake IDs that the girl used in the past to get in touch with the cricketer.

However, it turned out that the young girl was actually suffering from Erotomania, a form of delusion that leads an individual to first obsess over and then believe that the object of their obsession is somehow a part of their lives.

Erotomania is a type of delusion in which the affected person believes, that the other individual is in love with him/her. This usually occurs during psychosis, especially in people who are already suffering from illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

There have been cases of erotomania reported in patients who have undergone surgery for a ruptured cerebral aneurysm.

So what really happens is that a patient with erotomania, begins to

ANEWS PP-LYBRIEFS YOURSELF

believe that he/she has a ‘secret admirer’ who loves him/her and is sending messages either by glances, signals or even telepathy. Sounds chilling isn’t it?

Even when the person they believe is in love with them, rebuffs their advances, the patient believes that it is merely a ploy to conceal their affection and he/she continues to pursue their object of affection.

Erotomaniacs can be very convincing, since they themselves believe what they are saying. If not caught on time, erotomania can be rather dangerous like most psychological illnesses usually are. In fact, the person might resort to violent behaviour to be closer to the person they think they love or might even harm themselves.

The key to treating erotomania, say experts, is to first pinpoint the cause for such behaviour. There is almost always a triggering factor for such an illness and identifying that will help proceed with the treatment. Treatment usually involves medication prescribed by psychiatrists and extensive counselling.

There have been cases where when the patient displays signs of getting better, the family stops treatment, assuming everything is alright. However, this will only end up in a relapse. Hence, follow up sessions with psychiatrists are extremely essential as erotomania might not be completely curable.

HOUSECALL

CalorieKing

Non-specific urethritis

The CalorieKing Calorie Counter for iPhone has a user-friendly interface that allows a quick comparison, of calories, carbs and fat, between foods.

By tapping on a specific food, you can quickly access more detailed information including protein, fiber, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, and alcohol.

Non-specific urethritis (NSU) is a condition that affects the urethra, which is the tube that drains urine out from the bladder. The main symptoms of NSU (pain, redness and/or swelling) are caused by inflammation of the urethra.

This inflammation is usually, but not always, due to an infection. It is also sometimes called non-gonoccocal urethritis (NGU) to differentiate from similar symptoms caused by gonorrhoea.

DID YOU KNOW?

PIONEERS

Some people taste words

Robert Koch

Your senses of taste, sound and sight are typically separate experiences. But in people with a condition called synesthesia (a neurological condition), these senses overlap. These people may be able to “hear” colors and “taste” words as a regular part of life.

Physician Robert Koch is best known for isolating the tuberculosis bacterium, the cause of numerous deaths in the mid-19th century. He won the Nobel Prize in 1905 for his work. He is considered one of the founders of microbiology and developed criteria which he named Koch's postulates that were meant to help establish a causal relationship between a microbe and a disease.

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health MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

BREAKTHROUGH

HIV CURED IN BABY for the first time: Scientists In this new case, the ba by girl received nothing more invasive or complex than commonly available antiretroviral drugs.

WASHINGTON: Researchers said Sunday they had, for the first time, cured a baby born with HIV — a development that could help improve treatment of babies infected at birth.

There is an important technical nuance: researchers insist on calling it a “functional cure” rather than a complete cure.

That is because the virus is not totally eradicated. Still, its presence is reduced to such a low level that a body can control it without the need for standard drug treatment.

The only fully cured AIDS patient recognized worldwide is the so-called “Berlin patient," American Timothy Brown. He is considered cured of HIV and leukemia five years after receiving bone marrow transplants from a rare donor naturally resistant to HIV. The marrow transplant was aimed at treating his leukemia. But in this new case, the baby girl received nothing more invasive or complex than commonly available antiretroviral drugs. The difference, however, was the dosage and the timing: starting less than 30 hours after her birth.

It is that kind of aggressive treatment that likely yielded the “functional cure," researchers reported at the 20th annual Conference on Retroviruses and

Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Atlanta, Georgia.

What researchers call dormant HIV-infected cells often restart infections in HIV-infected patients within a few weeks after antiretroviral treatment stops.

“Prompt antiviral therapy in newborns that begins within days of exposure may help infants clear the virus and achieve long-term remission without lifelong treatment by preventing such viral hideouts from forming in the first place," said lead researcher Deborah Persaud, of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

It appears to be the first time this was achieved in a baby, she said.

The baby was infected by her HIV-positive mother, and her treatment with therapeutic doses of antiretroviral drugs

Growing Pains

My son is 10. He cannot focus or concentrate on one thing for long, even at school. He is hyperactive. How do I deal with him?

Concentration problems combined with hyperactivity is often a sign of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). According to the American Psychiatric Association, ADHD symptoms include lack of attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Attentional symptoms include being easily dis-

Prompt antiviral therapy in newborns (within days of exposure) may help infants clear the virus and achieve long-term remission without lifelong treatment.

Deborah Persaud Researcher began even before her own positive blood test came back.

The typical protocol for high-risk newborns is to give them smaller doses of the drugs until results from an HIV blood test is available at six weeks old.

Tests showed the baby’s viral count steadily declined until it could not longer be detected 29 days after her birth. The child was given follow-up treatment with antiretrovirals until 18 months, at which point doctors lost contact with her for 10 months. During that period she was not taking antiretrovirals.

Researchers then were able to do a series of blood tests — and none gave an HIV-positive result. Natural viral suppression without treatment is an exceedingly rare occurrence, seen in fewer than half a percent of HIVinfected adults, known as “elite controllers," whose immune systems are able to rein in viral replication and keep the virus at clinically undetectable levels.

Researchers say this new case offers hope as a game-changer, because it suggests prompt antiretroviral therapy in newborns indeed can do that.

AFP

RESEARCH

Schizophrenia linked to pre-natal infection, stress ZURICH: According to a Swiss study, infection in the pregnant mother and stress during puberty could lie at the root of schizophrenia.

Behaviourists from ETH Zurich demonstrated this in a mouse model.

Around one per cent of the population suffers from schizophrenia, a serious mental disorder that usually does not develop until adulthood and is incurable.

Prenatal infections such as toxoplasmosis or influenza, psychological stress or family history have all come into question as risk factors.

Until now, researchers were unable to identify the interplay of the individual factors linked to this serious mental disease.

A research group headed by Urs Meyer, a senior scientist at the Laboratory of Physiology and Behaviour at ETH Zurich, has now made a breakthrough: for the first time, they were able to find clear evidence that the combination of two environmental factors contributed significantly to the development of schizophrenia-relevant brain changes, according to a report in Science Daily.

The researchers developed a special mouse model, with which they were able to simulate the processes in humans, virtually in fast-forward mode.

“Only one of the factors — namely an infection or stress — is not enough to develop schizophrenia,” underscores Meyer. The infection during pregnancy lays the foundation for stress to “take hold” in puberty. The mother’s infection activates certain immune cells of the central nervous system in the brain of the foetus, microglial cells, which produce cytotoxins that alter brain development of the unborn child.

IANS

Dr Diana Monteiro

HELPING CHILDREN WITH ADHD tracted, forgetting things, difficulty in focusing on one thing, getting bored quickly, being disorganised, difficulty in completing work, not listening when spoken to, difficulty with following instructions.

Hyperactivity symptoms include having trouble sitting still, constantly being on the move and difficulty in doing tasks

quietly. Impulsivity symptoms include impatience, blurting things out or difficulty awaiting their turn and interrupting others frequently.

If your child does indeed have this disorder, then they will need additional help.

Children and adults can have this disorder and it always starts in childhood. For 60 per cent of the people, this disor-

der will decrease as they grow into adulthood. Currently, there is no prevention or cure.

Consult a mental health professional who specialises in child psychiatry/counseling.

You can do a few things to help. Teach them some basic ways to organise themselves.

Encourage them to do one thing at a time and avoid distractions. Help them manage

their daily life by creating schedules and routines to follow. Your child might need help from a trained professional. Consult someone who can help your child and you deal with the situation.

The writer is a counselling psychologist at the Hyderabad Academy of Psychology. You can write to her at askdrdiana@gmail.com

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MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Entertainment CINE BYTES

A NEW AVATAR

NAGARJUNA

dons a new avatar Lavanya clears the air

L

avanya Tripathi, who was last seen in Andhala Rakshasi, was caught off-guard when she heard rumours that she had auditioned for a role in SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali. “I have no idea how this news originated. I have not auditioned for any role in Baahubali,” she clarified.

Iddarammayilatho’s first look on March 10

T

he first look of Allu Arjun’s upcoming film Iddarammayilatho is going to be launched on March 10. Puri Jagannadh is directing the film and Bandla Ganesh is producing it. Amala Paul and Catherine Tresa are the lead actresses in this romantic and action entertainer. The film is currently being shot in Barcelona.

Backbench Student gears up for release

M

ahat Raghavendra, Piaa Bajpai and Archana Kavi starrer Backbench Student is gearing up for release on March 15.

Madhura Sreedhar has directed the film and MVK Reddy has produced it. The film is said to be a triangular love story set in a college backdrop. Sunil Kashyap has scored the music.

A

fter donning roles of Annamayya, Sri Ramadasu and Shirdi Sai, Nagarjuna will soon be seen as Chandaludu, an incarnation of Lord Shiva, in an upcoming Telugu film titled Sri Jagadguru Adi Shankara. JK Bharavi is directing this film which is based on the life of Adi Shankaracharya. According to the legend, Adi Shankaracharya comes across Chandaludu in Kashi and soon the former realises that Chandaludu is none other than Lord Shiva himself. JK Bharavi convinced Nagarjuna to don this role and recently, the scenes featuring Nagarjuna were shot in Sarathi Studios in Hyderabad. K Raghavendra Rao has directed this segment in the film and S Gopal Reddy shot the scenes.

The film stars Kaushik, Kamalinee Mukherjee, Sriram Chandra and Kamna Jethmalani in important roles. Apart from Nagarjuna, the film also stars Mohan Babu and Srihari and Chiranjeevi lent his voice to introduce the characters in the film. Nag Srivats has scored the music.

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Entertainment MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

‘GANGNAM STYLE’ RIGHTS, A GIFT FOR DAD:

Jackky Bhagnani

KOREAN POP IN B-TOWN

CINE BYTES

Big B wants to be journalist in next life!

A

mitabh Bachchan won’t mind being a journalist in his next life — just for the freedom of speech that a scribe enjoys.

“Next life? A journalist for sure!

Shall have the joy and liberty to express and speak out, without fear of any repercussions,” tweeted the 70-year-old. The actor is currently in Bhopal, shooting for Prakash Jha’s Satyagraha. IANS

Directing SRK is on John’s wish list

I

t took actor Jackky Bhagnani a long time to get the rights to Korean singer Psy’s superhit number Gangnam style for his film Rangrezz. He says it was his gift from him to his father, producer Vashu Bhagnani.

“I thought that Indians should also have this song. So I started a conversation, which took three months.

When I got the papers signed for the song (Gangnam style), I took them to my dad and said, ‘You have done a lot for me and I have got a gift for you’. He was shocked to see that gift,” the 27-year-old said.

“We have named our Gangnam as Desi gangnam,” said the actor, who admits he is now “trying to establish my own identity.”

Meanwhile, Jackky also wants to concentrate a bit on his personal life.

“Let me earn for myself, then I will spend on my girlfriends. Earlier, I was fat, so girls never noticed me, but now I have shed weight, so let me make girlfriends first!”

Jackky said.

Directed by Priyadarshan, Rangrezz, releasing March 22, features actress Priya Anand opposite Jackky. IANS

J

ohn Abraham turned producer with Vicky Donor.

He admits direction is also a part of his plan, and he would especially love to direct superstar Shah Rukh Khan some day. “Not soon, but yes, definitely I will (direct). I think I will do a fairly decent job directing because I feel I have a vision and I would like to get that across,” he said. IANS

Shilpa Shetty named Wellness Icon, elated

B

ollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was happy to be named the Wellness Icon at the NDTV Good Times Lifestyle Awards 2013 here Saturday. “Received the NDTV WELLNESS ICON award today.

Happy that I continue to inspire people in the field of wellness and fitness (nine months after a baby),” tweeted the actress. Married to businessman Raj Kundra, Shilpa delivered a baby boy in May 2012. IANS

Entertainment MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

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Entertainment MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

24

25

Entertainment MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

AT ODDS?

CINE BYTES

MORRISSEY

slams Beyoncé for choice of hand bags Justin Bieber’s ‘worst birthday’

I

n case you missed the news, Justin Bieber had a bad birthday.

Actually, it wasn’t just bad, it was the “worst birthday," according to the newly-minted 19 year old.

Trouble arose when Bieber and his entourage got into a confrontation with security at London’s Cirque Du Soir after the club wouldn’t let his underage friends in for his birthday party, thus making it supposedly the most awful birthday of Bieber’s life.

Weisz loved doing stunts in Oz the Great

H

ollywood actress Rachel Weisz, 43, simply loved doing risky stunts in Sam Raimi’s Oz the Great and Powerful. Weisz, who plays Evanora, the wicked witch of the East, had to work on tricky wire stunts for the movie. Nevertheless, she loved it and felt safe. “I actually liked being up there. It was a little scary initially but fortunately we had experts with us," Weisz said.

IANS

Ferguson to marry gay partner in New York

M

odern Family actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, 37, is to wed his boyfriend Justin Mikita in New York this summer.

“Gay marriage is legal in New York. That’s the reason we want to get married there. We want to support the state that’s supporting us” Ferguson said.

Ferguson and Mikita have been dating since the last two years.

IANS

B

eyoncé may be dominating 2013, but indierocker Morrissey doesn’t care for her choice of accessories!

The singer, during an L.A. concert targeted Beyoncé for her bags, saying they lead to rhino extinction, according to The

Hollywood Reporter.

The former Smiths frontman, an outspoken vegetarian, not only made the Staples Center go meatless for the show by shutting down McDonald’s, but scolded the Queen Bey onstage before launching into the song, Meat is Murder.

Morrissey’s been on quite a tear of late, also fueding with Jimmy Kimmel this week. The singer cancelled his appearance on the talk show because the cast of the hunting-centric programme, Duck Dynasty, was scheduled for the same night.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.

Charles W Eliot

KAKURO

QUICK CROSSWORD

26

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

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

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

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

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

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

ACROSS

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

SCRIBBLING PAD

1 Punch tools 5 Automobile-eschewing sect 10 Cause for a child’s punishment, perhaps 14 Property encumbrance 15 Often-numbered print 16 Clarinet cousin 17 On the Baltic, say 18 Dole out 19 Dryer fluff 20 What kitty makes on January 1st?

23 Japanese industrial center 24 Palindromic king 25 Likable prez?

28 Epitome of messiness 29 The others 33 Cummerbund accompanier 35 Oft-able one 37 Faith of country music 38 Yankee closer Mariano Rivera in non-save games?

43 Good opponent?

44 Bank employee 45 Small prayer?

48 Fat, as a chance 49 Sphere in a scepter 52 Like overused jokes 53 Stretch the truth or stretch out 55 More colourless 57 Longest reptile in the longest river?

62 Emulated Simon?

64 Fielder’s aid 65 Iris’s location 66 Competent 67 Gave relief to 68 Chain piece 69 Splashy party 70 Cubic firewood measure 71 Makes lace

DOWN

1 Los ___, New Mexico 2 Least foolish 3 Elbowroom 4 Hunted Carroll critter 5 ‘Bummer!’

6 ‘Venus de ___’ 7 ‘___ turn up’ 8 Attempt to be heard 9 Spa soaker 10 Dixieland jazz feature 11 From the beginning 12 George W, to George HW 13 Put hair in rollers 21 Put down the hatch 22 OJ trial judge 26 Potter’s furnace 27 Wet zappers 30 ___ it good (is well-off) 31 Throw out 32 Chess defeats 34 Blender sound 35 Mississippi mud 36 Without value 38 Office transmittal 39 Not quite a circle 40 Clean energy source 41 Lord of the ring, once 42 Metronome measure 46 Bad way to be prepared?

47 Military blockades 49 John’s ‘Grease’ co-star 50 Yield 51 Pool openings 54 Splash and dash 56 Grown up 58 Big or bright thing 59 Romantic bloom 60 Like failed relationships 61 Give up, as rights 62 Succumb to gravity 63 Attys’ group

Chai Time MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 5-3-2013

27

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Work with focus on your priorities as the time is favourable and success will be yours. Plan work properly for early and successful completion. Couples need to be cordial. Avoid minor ego clashes to keep your on the path of smooth happiness.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

Your long-pending wishes and innovative ideas will get implemented and cheer you up. Avoid impractical commitments and maintain a cordial relationship with all. Some will be involved in a romantic affair and will go steady and strong.

Comforts are set to increase.

Creativity will reach greater heights and earn you appreciation.

Charisma is likely to improve, which will be favourable in completing work without putting much effort. Financially, a very strong position is likely.

VIP friendship might materialise and you will benefit by it. Businessmen need to be polite with the staff and get work done by patting them. Employees need to focus on work. Perfection in work will get them recognition.

Postpone important projects.

Delayed work will resume and progress well and get completed successfully. Those in search of a job after graduation will get favourable news soon. Businessmen will come out of the dull phase and brisk business will start taking place now.

Your way of dealing with issues will be appreciated by everyone. Health needs to be taken care of well. Friends will extend wholehearted support but you need to be frank with them.

Employees need to put in their best efforts to complete work.

Obstacles in the way of important works will go. Help and financial assistance will come from all the expected sources.

You attend a gettogether at a VIP friends’ place and feel cheerful on meeting various persons. Influence is set to go up.

You need to get into important work yourself as you may not succeed if you entrust it to others. Change your approach as soon as possible so that you will be able to achieve your goals. Avoid trusting new friends as you might land in trouble.

You feel frustrated at certain unexpected events, which angers you. However, with patience and wise action and unrelenting efforts you will be able to handle them well and complete all work. Postpone realestate transactions for now.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Nine of Cups – You want to set out on a spiritual journey of self discovery. You want to be able to be sensitive to everything around you – to awaken the senses.

LEO:

Four of Wands – Good fortune strikes and you deserve it.

You’ve been working hard of lately and lady luck has been eluding you.

This time, she’ll give all you want.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Five of Swords – Don’t trust anyone who’s volunteering help. Ask yourself what’s in it for them, and find out if you’re a pawn in a larger scheme.

SAGITTARIUS:

The Sun – Some navigation of a difficult problem may require your immediate attention and time. These are the challenges that keep you engaged in your job.

TAURUS:

Ten of Pentacles – Finances are in focus. They’re doing extremely well and you need to figure out ways to protect what you earn. Consult a good tax man.

CANCER:

Page of Wands – You’re in the beginning stages of a fruitful career path. Your inquisitiveness and creativity will put you on the right road. Ask lots of questions.

VIRGO:

Five of Pentacles – This card stands for misery and some form of loss. Keep a positive outlook and don’t give up on your own beliefs. Yet, stay practical.

SCORPIO:

King of Pentacles – Finances will stabilise.

You need to stop worrying. Get a pen and paper and chart out the right course of action at this time.

CAPRICORN:

Three of Wands – Creativity is at its peak. You find solutions to seemingly nonnegotiable problems at work, and your seniors are mighty impressed.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Justice – A hike or a promotion is in the offing. Your bosses recognise your good work and make an offer. It sets you thinking about your future course.

NUMBER GAME

acles – Learn a new skill. Start now and do not procrastinate because you have lots of work to finish. Volunteer work does you a great deal of good.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Eight of Pent-

POOCH CAFE

You encourage subordinates and get all work done smoothly and successfully. Dull period for the businessmen will come to an end and brisk business will start with their efforts. You take bold decisions and complete all work with fine results.

for 5-3-2013

Page of Pentacles – This is an ideal time to launch new projects and start off on ideas you’ve always wanted to. An entrepreneurship project works wonders.

NON SEQUITUR

Businessmen can expand their business as the time is very favourable. Don’t hesitate to take decisions as per your intuition as it will be prudent to believe the same for success.

Tensions and worries are likely but you can get relief soon.

SUDUKO

Professionals will enjoy a good phase and prosper. Take care of health of your spouse as there is a cause for concern. Also avoid unwanted and heated arguments. Avoid taking emotional decisions, which might put you in trouble later.

Boggle CARP TUNA PINK SMELT TROUT SALMON Vol: 2, No 227 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved.

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

28

Entertainment MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

TEENAGE DREAMS

CINE BYTES

I had a crush A on DiCaprio:

ARTERTON

ctress Gemma Arterton says she had a crush on actor Leonardo DiCaprio since she was a teenager. The 27-year-old says she was a fan of him since the release of Titanic, and she is now so embarrassed to meet him as she probably wouldn’t be able to control herself.

“I was never a groupie but I did have my crush — Leonardo DiCaprio. I was 12 or 13 and I had a poster of him on my wall.

Titanic was out then and it was huge. It seems so funny to me now,” contactmusic.com quoted Arterton as saying. Arterton added that she was worried about the reaction of the Django Unchained star after he will get to know about her feelings.

“He probably doesn’t know who I am. It would be awful if he found out and I met him! I’d probably drool,” she said.

IANS

Arnold Schwarzenegger back into bodybuilding

A

rnold Schwarzenegger is going back to where it all began — bodybuilding!

The actor and six-time Mr Olympia has signed on as executive editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines, E! News confirms. “It was in these magazines that I found the spark that inspired me to start lifting weights, and eventually move to America,” he said in a statement.

Madonna to present GLAAD award

C

NN host Anderson Cooper will receive his GLAAD award from none other than Madonna, confirmed organisers. "By sharing his own experiences as a gay man, Anderson has reminded millions of Americans that LGBT people are part of their everyday lives," GLAAD president Herndon Graddick said.

Rihanna wants a baby in next five years

S

inger Rihanna has revealed that she wants to have a baby in the next five years.

The 25-year-old wants to start a family with on-off boyfriend Chris Brown, who is on probation for assaulting her in 2009, reports contactmusic.com.

“I will probably have a kid. And I'm praying I can go on vacation for a good month. I'll have to set some things up, so I don’t have to tour for the rest of my life," she said.

IANS

sports

29

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

WORD OF ADVICE

Jack says Tiger ‘better get with it’ PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA: Jack Nicklaus (right), who has won a record 18 major golf titles, said on Sunday that 14time major champion Tiger Woods (left) “better get with it” if he is going to break his record.

Nicklaus spoke with NBC Sports during its telecast of the final round of the $6 million PGA Honda Classic, speaking with former golf star Johnny Miller about whether or not Woods would ever catch or pass his major win mark.

Tshwane Open

Jeev misses cut in South Africa CENTURION: Five dropped shots in a matter of three holes saw Jeev Milkha Singh (below) plummet from being a contender to missing the cut in the second round of the Tshwane Open at the Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate here on Sunday.

Jeev, who had a five-under 67 in first round, went to four-over 76 and missed the cut by one shot as the cut fell at two-under.

Jeev had four pars for a start before running into a horrible patch with a back to back bogeys followed by a triple bogey from fifth to seventh holes.

PTI

“I still think he will break my record,” Nicklaus said. “Tiger’s talent, at 37 -- it’s not that old. I won four after that. They were spread out. It wasn’t that difficult. “I don’t think for Tiger to get four or five more, or six or seven, is that big a stretch.”

Woods has not won a major title since the 2008 US Open, battling injuries and the aftermath of the infamous sex scandal that led to his divorce in recent seasons as he grows older and faces a new generation of rivals.

“A lot of it depends on the individual,” Nicklaus said. “Tiger has been pretty calm. He has been able to focus on what he wants to do. I still think he can do it. But that said, he has still got to do it. “He hasn’t won one in five years. He had better get with it if he’s going to.”

Woods has won 75 career PGA titles, seven shy of the late Sam Snead’s all-time record, with the most recent of them coming in January at Torrey Pines.

HONDA CLASSIC

Thompson holds off Ogilvy PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA: American Michael Thompson (in pic) birdied the final hole to hold off Australian Geoff Ogilvy and capture his first PGA title, winning the $6 million Honda Classic by two strokes on Sunday.

Thompson, last year’s US Open runnerup, played the back nine at level par on his way to firing a oneunder par 69 in a windy final round to finish on nine-under par 271 with 2006 US Open winner Ogilvy second after a closing 69.

“Really, I just stuck to my game plan,” Thompson said. “All week I’m just trying to

find it in the dirt.

“This week, it was magical. I just tried to keep feeling it, keep believing it.”

Thompson, who began the day with a share of the lead, eagled the par-5 third hole with a putt from nearly 50 feet away and answered a bogey at the fourth with a birdie at the par-3 fifth to move three strokes clear of the field.

He stumbled at the end of the front nine with bogeys at the par-3

seventh and par-4 ninth around a birdie at the par-4 eighth, but his short game saved him when he blasted an approach off the pine straw at the 10th and barely cleared the water at 11, each time rescuing par.

Thompson made bogey at 16 to open the door to Ogilvy, who has not won since 2010 and whose only prior top-10 tour finish in the past 15 months was a share of ninth at last year’s British Open.

Ogilvy opened with 13 pars before a bogey setback but a birdie at the 16th put him in the hunt.

“I played really well,” Ogilvy said.

CONSOLING HER COUNTERPART

Tseng says, it is tough at number one

TALEK HARRIS Agence France-Presse SINGAPORE: Taiwan golf sensation Tseng Yani (right) admitted she would almost be glad to be toppled from the “very lonely” spot of world number one and held out sympathy for her besieged men’s counterpart Rory McIlroy.

Tseng watched on Sunday as her two closest rivals in the rankings, Choi Na-Yeon and Stacy Lewis, finished second and first respectively at the HSBC Women’s Champions in

Singapore, slashing her lead to just 0.68 average points.

But Tseng, 24, who tossed her ball into a lake in disgust as she wound up tied 28th, said she simply did not care about being world number one any more after two increasingly difficult years at the top.

“I don’t care if I lose (world number one). I don’t really care about world number one now -- I just want to have fun,” she said.

“World number one, I know it’s good and people like it, but I want to care about myself more and I just want to enjoy (myself).

Tseng’s candid comments come after McIlroy, under pressure after performing poorly, walked off the course during a second-round blow-out.

If I lose (it), I’ll get back one day too.”

Tseng’s candid comments come after McIlroy, under pressure after performing poorly following a lucrative

switch to Nike clubs, walked off the course during a secondround blow-out at the Honda Classic in Florida.

McIlroy later blamed toothache for his sudden withdrawal, but the issue was clouded by reported comments that he was “not in a good place mentally” as he left the venue.

Tseng backed the 23-year-old Northern Irishman to bounce back, pointing out that he faced difficulties last year before winning his second major title and topping both the American and European money lists.

sports

30

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

NBA

STRENGTHEN SPORTS

30 centres of excellence to be setup

THUNDER SWEEP SEASON SERIES FROM LOS ANGELES: The Oklahoma City Thunder's playoff push gathered steam on Sunday with a 108-104 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers behind a 35-point performance from Kevin Durant (right).

Russell Westbrook finished with 29 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists for the Thunder, who swept the season series against the Clippers.

Forward Serge Ibaka had a strong game for the Thunder as he manhandled Clippers star Blake Griffin several times under the basket and finished with 16 points and two blocks in front of a crowd of 19,371.

Ibaka took his aggressive play too far at one point and was nearly ejected after he delivered a hard slap to Griffin's groin late in the game, a move which earned him a foul.

The Clippers were the hotter of the

The Thunder completed a season sweep over the Clippers that included winning 117-111 in overtime on November 21 in Oklahoma City. teams heading into Sunday's crucial matchup as they had won four in a row and eight of their last nine.

But Westbrook's baseline jumper with 26 seconds left in the fourth quarter gave Oklahoma City some much needed breathing room in a contest that was close to the final buzzer.

"I expect our guys to be able to fight and get us back in the game," said Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro. "We were more aggressive in the second half but turnovers and free throws were the difference.

"We had our opportunities but we didn't convert down the stretch."

The second place Thunder improved to 43-16 on the season and now lead the third place Clippers (4319) by one and a half games in the Western Conference standings.

The Thunder completed a season sweep over the Clippers that included winning 117-111 in over-time on November 21 in Oklahoma City and by 12 points on January 22 in Los Angeles.

CLIPPERS Kevin Durant excelled for the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 35-point feat.

BALATA: Sports Minister Jitendra Singh said the government has decided to formulate a new sports policy and identify talent from rural areas and train them in order to promote sports in the country.

Singh said the country was lagging behind in the field of sports which was unfortunate for a nation that has the second largest population in the world.

He had come to inspect the National Integration Camp which is being conducted by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, here.

The Sports Ministry would setup 30 Centres of Excellence in which sportspersons would be imparted high standard training so that they could prepare for Olympics and other international level competition, he said.

He said that the government has already given its nod to set up a National Institute of Sports Coaching at NIS Patiala with a budget of Rs250 crore.

The government has also decided to setup an institute in New Delhi.

PTI

CAPELLE-LA-GRANDE

Negi ties for top spot

CAPELLE–LE-GRANDE (FRANCE): Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi (above) finished in a tie for the top spot with seven other GMs in the 29th edition of the Capelle-la-Grande tournament here.

Negi settled for a draw with Sergey Fedorchuk in the final round of the event that featured 76 Grandmasters in a field of 563 players.

Negi scored seven out of nine in the event played over a Swiss System.

Interestingly, Negi had tied with fellow Indian P Harikrishna in the same event last year, and lost out the Trophy in a tie-break.

The same happened this time as Negi was placed second on the basis of tie-break points with GM Sugirov Sanan of Russia.

sports

31

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

AUSTRALIA IN INDIA

Pujara scores double ton

Continuing to dominate in the second Test, the Indian batsmen plundered the Australian bowlers at will to run up a massive score in their ongoing first innings.

Scoreboard Australia 1st innings 237/9 Dec India 1st innings (overnight score 311/1) M Vijay c Cowan b Maxwell 167 V Sehwag c †Wade b Siddle 6 CA Pujara c Doherty b Pattinson 204 SR Tendulkar not out 3 V Kohli not out 4 Extras (b 1, lb 13, w 2) 16 Total (3 wickets) 400 Fall of wickets 1-17, 2-387, 3-393 Bowling O M R W JL Pattinson 27 11 71 1 PM Siddle 25 5 74 1 MC Henriques 19 7 38 0 XJ Doherty 35 11 104 0 GJ Maxwell 16 1 85 1 DA Warner 1 0 14 0

G APARNA SAI from Hyderabad HYDERABAD: Cheteshwar Pujara hit a double Test century to take India to a comfortable position against Australia during the morning session of the second Test, here, today.

At the end of the first session, India were on 400 for three with Tendular (3) and Kohli (4) at the crease.

The 25-year-old batsman got his double ton in style when he slammed a four which went between the gap at mid-wicket and mid-on. His double was greeted with a thunderous applause from the spectators.

But the stylish batsman failed to stay much longer as he was soon dismissed when Xavier Doherty pulled off a superb catch to send Pujara back to the pavilion.

This was Pujara’s second Test double century, the first being against England in Ahmedabad when they toured India last year.

The last time he played at Hyderabad, he had scored a century against New Zealand, a game which was completely dominated by the Indians The Saurashtra batsman played an extremely patient yet

Cheteshwar Pujara being congratulated on scoring a double century on the third day of the second Test against Australia at the RGICS at Uppal in the City.

M ANIL KUMAR

well paced knock. He came onto the field after Virender Sehwag was dismissed yesterday and his innings which included 30 fours and a six, lasted for a duration of 450 minutes.

While Pujara’s performance deserved every applause, one

cannot ignore the efforts of opener Murali Vijay.

The Tamil Nadu batsman who also represents Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, played splendidly innings along with Pujara, scoring 167. At one point of time it looked like he would

also score a double ton, but a callous shot from him saw a simple catch being taken at backward short leg.

Vijay’s 167 also happens to be the highest Test score by a Tamil Nadu batsman, having surpassed Sadagopan Ramesh’s 143.

Both Pujara and Vijay kept rotating the strike and held the innings together helping India get a lead of over 150 runs. Their innings also received a standing ovation from the crowd. Both the centurions frustrated the Australian team since yesterday and the visitors might now be breathing easy what with the two danger men being dismissed.

Meanwhile, Australia would look to wrap up the Indian innings soon. With two wickets falling in quick succession in the morning, they would hope to reap better results as the day progresses and look to keep the hosts’ runs under check before any further damage is done.

ZIMBABWE IN WEST INDIES

Pollard, Badree lead Windies to victory NORTH SOUND, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA: A bludgeoning innings from Kieron Pollard (right) and career-best figures from Samuel Badree spearheaded West Indies' 41-run win over Zimbabwe in the second and

final T20 international on Sunday.

Responding to the hosts' total of 158 for seven, the visitors were restricted to 117 for six with only veteran Hamilton Masakadza offering any sort of resistance

Scoreboard West Indies Simmons c Ervine b M'Shangwe 41 J Charles b Chatara 10 Dw Bravo c Taylor b M'Shangwe 24 C Barnwell b Utseya 7 K Pollard not out 45 Sammy c Sibanda b Mutombodzi 19 A Russell c Ervine b Mutombodzi 0 D Ramdin b Mpofu 0 S Narine not out 1 Extras (2lb, 8w, 1nb) 11 Total (20 overs, 7 wickets) 158 Bowling: Mpofu 4-0-28-1, Chatara 40-46-1, Utseya 4-0-22-1, M'Shangwe 40-33-2, Mutombodzi 4-0-28-2

Zimbabwe C Chibhabha b Badree 13 V Sibanda c Bravo b Badree 5 H Masakadza not out 53 B Taylor c Sammy b Badree 4 C Ervine c & b Bravo 15 M Waller run out (Simmons/Ramdin) 7 T Mutombodzi c & b Bravo 1 P Utseya not out 11 Extras (lb4, w4) 8 Total (6 wickets) 117 Bowling: Gabriel 3-0-12-0, Badree 4-017-3, Sammy 2-0-13-0, Narine 4-0-22-0, Dwayne Bravo 3-0-15-2, Russell 2-0-210 (1w), Pollard 1-0-5-0, Barnwell 1-0-8-0

with an unbeaten 53 off 51 deliveries with six fours.

However, the damage was already done with Badree making amends for his comparatively ordinary effort in the first match the previous day, dismissing the top three in the Zimbabwean order to finish with three for 17.

With their second consecutive comprehensive win -- after Saturday's eight-wicket triumph -- the world champions took the series 2-0 following a 3-0 whitewash of the Zimbabweans in the one-day matches in Grenada.

Both sides now turn their attention to the Test matches, the first of two beginning March 12 in Barbados.

Pollard crashed three sixes and three fours in an unbeaten 46

off just 24 deliveries to lift the West Indies to a competitive total, dominating a 56-run fifthwicket partnership with Darren Sammy, the captain contributing 19.

"We've got good depth in our batting and Pollard played the right sort of innings for us today," said Sammy.

"Lendl Simmons (41) also set us up well at the top and that's the sort of contribution all the way down that we want to see."

All the Zimbabwe bowlers had shown greater discipline in limiting the home team's early progress.

Tendai Chatara accounted for Johnson Charles, who lost his middle stump in missing an ugly swipe.

AFP

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

sports

HISTORIC TOTTI INSPIRES ROMA TO 3-1 GENOA WIN Roma captain Francesco Totti became the joint second all-time top scorer in Serie A on Sunday with a 225th career goal in the league during a 3-1 win over Genoa at the Olympic Stadium. "I really wanted this goal and to get it in front of our own fans is special," Totti told Sky Italia.

PREMIER LEAGUE

32

MARATHON MAN

Spurs add to Arsenal's woes Arsene Wenger feels the heat as the Gunners lose 2-1 to Tottenham.

STEVE GRIFFITHS Agence France-Presse

fourth placed Chelsea as they paid the price for a mad two minutes at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

After making a confident start to a crucial north London derby, Arsenal went into meltdown towards the end of the first half, allowing Gareth Bale to continue his purple patch with a clinical finish before Aaron Lennon burst clear to bag Tottenham's second goal moments later.

Arsenal kept in the dark LONDON: Arsenal have had no contact over a potential takeover, sources told the Press Association on Sunday, amid reports of a looming record bid by a Gulf consortium.

Reports in newspapers suggested that an investment group backed by funds from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were preparing a £1.5 billion ($2.25 billion, 1.75 billion euro) bid for the EPL club.

LONDON: Arsene Wenger (right) admits Arsenal are in danger of failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 16 years after the Gunners crashed to a 2-1 defeat at bitter rivals Tottenham.

Wenger's side are languishing seven points behind third placed Spurs and five adrift of

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREVIEW

Real hope to beat United TOM WILLIAMS\ Agence France-Presse

Rooney wary of CR7 but makes United favourites MADRID: Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney (above) says Cristiano Ronaldo is a massive threat for his side's Champions League last 16 return against Real Madrid but insists the Red Devils will have the last laugh over his former teammate and qualify.

Ronaldo will face United at Old Trafford on Tuesday for the first time since his world record 80 million pounds (92 million euros, 120 million dollars) move to the Bernabeu three-and-a-half years ago.

"I think we obtained a good result in the opening leg

in getting a 1-1 draw - the away goal gives us a certain advantage for the home leg," Rooney said, while warning that United would have to keep Ronaldo quiet if they were to reach the last eight.

"Without doubt, Cristiano," said Rooney in an exchange Sunday with Real sponsors bwin when asked who he thought posed the greatest threat.

"He is incredible. I have played with him and I know just how good he is. He is the player I have the most respect for in their team,” he added.

MANCHESTER, UK: Real Madrid's back-to-back victories over Barcelona have given them fresh momentum ahead of the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie at Manchester United on Tuesday.

Prior to the 1-1 draw between the teams three weeks ago, the season had appeared to be ebbing away from the Spanish champions, with Barca having assembled a seemingly unassailable 16-point lead in La Liga.

Madrid's chances of catching their sworn enemies remain slim, but the two victories over Barca in the Copa del Rey and the league have injected belief that Jose Mourinho's side can go to Old Trafford and win. "It's clear that these victories are great for the confidence,” he said.

Man Utd Vs Real Madrid head-to-head MANCHESTER, UK: Man Utd v Real Madrid head-to-head record for Tuesday's Champions League last-16 second leg tie at Old Trafford (year, competition, round, result).

13-02-13 UCL R16 Real Madrid 1 Manchester United 1 23-04-03 UCL QF Manchester United 4 Real Madrid 3 08-04-03 UCL QF Real Madrid 3 Manchester United 1 19-04-00 UCL QF Manchester United 2 Real Madrid 3 04-04-00 UCL QF Real Madrid 0 Manchester United 0 15-05-68 UCL SF Real Madrid 3 Manchester United 3 24-04-68 UCL SF Manchester United 1 Real Madrid 0 25-04-57 UCL SF Manchester United 2 Real Madrid 2 11-04-57 UCL SF Real Madrid 3 Manchester United 1

FOOTBALL BRIEFS Atletico miss chance to close gap on Barça

Dortmund won't underestimate Donetsk

Juve remain top as Serie A battle heats up

Pescara sack Bergodi: official

MADRID: Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone lamented his side's inability to turn possession into goals as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Malaga on Sunday.

Barcelona's 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid on Saturday had meant Atletico could have cut the gap at the top to nine points with a win, but they failed.

Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has insisted his side still face a tough task to see off Shakhtar Donetsk in Tuesday's Champions League last 16 second leg, despite the 2-2 draw in Ukraine. A late goal

by Germany centre-back Mats Hummels rescued the draw three weeks ago at Donetsk.

DORTMUND, GERMANY:

MILAN: Champions League contenders Juventus remained on course for their 29th Serie A title despite a 1-1 draw with closest challengers Napoli and the continued resurgence of AC Milan.

Juventus will host Celtic on Wednesday in the second leg of their last 16 tie having romped to a 3-0 win over Glasgow.

MILAN: Serie A strugglers Pescara confirmed the sacking of coach Cristiano Bergodi late on Sunday after a 1-0 defeat to Udinese sent them to the foot of the table.

Bergodi took over at the helm of the side, promoted from Serie B last season, when Giovanni Stroppa resigned in late November. Bergodi could do little to stop the rot.

Ageless Giggs set for 1,000th senior game Factfile Name: Ryan Joseph Giggs (born Ryan Joseph Wilson) Age: 39 Place of birth: Cardiff, Wales Position: Left-winger/central midfielder Club: Manchester United (1990-date) Appearances: 931 Goals: 168 National team: Wales (1991-2007) Appearances: 64 Goals: 12 Olympic team: Great Britain (2012) Appearances: 4 Goals: 1 Honours — Club Premier League (12), FA Cup (4), League Cup (3), Community Shield (8), UEFA Champions League (2), UEFA Super Cup (1), Intercontinental Cup (1), FIFA Club World Cup (2) Individual PFA Young Player of the Year: 1991-92, 1992-93 PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2008-09 BBC Sports Personality of the Year: 2009 Other OBE (Order of the British Empire, for services to football): 2007

MANCHESTER, UK: Ryan Giggs is poised to reach yet another milestone in his extraordinary career on Tuesday when he is expected to make his 1,000th appearance in senior football.

The Welshman will turn 40 in November but last week he penned a new one-year contract which will keep him at Old Trafford until June 2014.

Team-mateHe is an unbelievable player. Every game you see him, he works hard, scores, makes assists. It is getting boring. He is just such a good player.

Rafael da Silva Team-mate