Epaper 5 june 2013

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013 HYDERABAD

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

WEATHER: A MIX OF CLOUDY AND CLEAR SKIES; 34°C

32 PAGES

`3

TWIST IN THE TAIL

Recently five tornadoes tore through Oklahoma City in the US killing scores of people and causing widespread damage. The sheer unpredictability about the formation of tornadoes makes them all the more deadly.

P16&17

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

MEDICAL CENTRE

CHEATS

Yearning to have a baby, a couple did everything they could, only to be cheated by the fertility centre.

CHILDLESS COUPLE REPORT ON P3

In a world where one in seven goes to bed hungry, wasting food is criminal.

On World Environment Day, Postnoon takes a look at how the City’s star hotels are leading the way in preventing food wastage.

CITY’S STAR HOTELS LEAD THE WAY P8

NIGHT FALLS

The sudden rise and steady decline of M Night Shyamalan, who once seemed like the next big thing in Hollywood, is shocking. And with his new sci-fi action film After Earth, he’s stumbled again.

P15

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

city events

SOUTHERN SPICE

Kuzhi Paniyaram, Meen Varuval, Muttai Appam, Adai Dosai,Kori Gassi, Gongura Mamsam are some of the dishes you can avail at The Square, Novotel Hotel.

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

34°C

27°C

28°C

30°C

Cloudy with showers likely.

Cloudy with chances of rain.

A mix of cloud and sun with rain.

Cloudy with thunderstorms.

New Delhi Mumbai Max 42 Max 33 Min 30 Min 28 Clear

Mostly cloudy

Chennai Max 36 Min 26

Bangalore Max 27 Min 21

Cloudy with chances of rain.

Cloudy with chances of thunderstorms.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES WORKSHPS

When: June 8, 6 pm Live performance Live performance by Grey Shack.

Where: Hard Rock Cafe Hyderabad, Banjara Hills When: June 6, 9 pm Biscuits making A workshop on business making will be held.

Where: Colorama Printers, Begumpet When: Till June 8, 10 am to 1 pm Robo camp Robo camp 2013 will be held.

Where: IIT Hyderabad, Gachibowli When: Till June 8, 10 am to 5.30 pm Fountain of youth Make-up workshop will be organised.

Where: Ushodaya Enterprises Private Limited, Moosapet When: From June 5 to June 7, 10 am to 1 pm

Movie mania It’s A Jungle out There, a film by Hans-Christian Schmidt.

Where: Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad, Banjara Hills When: June 6, 6 pm UP IN ARMS: Cops stop the media crew from getting too close to Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma and AP Balala Hakkula Sangham President Achyut Reddy as they addressed the media about fish medicine at Lokayukta on Tuesday.

N SHIVA KUMAR Presentation To Performance A children’s theatre workshop by AS Devendranath.

Where: Kaleidoscope, Gachibowli When: Till June 7, 10 am to 12 pm

Where: Jay Robotix Private Limited, Patancheru When: June 5, 10 am

Career counselling Career counselling for engineering students will be held.

Where: Indira Priyadarshini, Nampally When: June 6, 10 am to 1 pm

Movie time Beyond, a film By Pernilla August will be screened.

Where: Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad, Banjara Hills

SHOWS

Summer camp Summer camp for kids is on.

Where: Jawahar Bal Bhavan, Nampally When: Till June 5, 10.30 am to 5 pm

Commissioner & Spl Officer

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

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

Movie mania Eccentricities Of A Blonde-Haired Girl, film by Manoel De Oliveira will be screened.

Where: Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad, Banjara Hills.

When: June 5, 4 pm Movie fest Maja Weiss’ Installation of Love will be screened.

Where: International School For Film + Media, Banjara Hills When: June 8, 2 pm Heavy metal festival Heavy metal festival Deccan Rock Edition III will be held.

Where: 10 Lounge & Night Club, Secunderabad

Robokid Robokid 2013, robotics competition for school students will be held.

Helpline

When: June 7, 4 pm

DINING Singaporean food festival Enjoy the finest of Asian flavours at Singaporean food festival.

Where: Oriental Kitchen, Park Hyatt.

When: 19:00 to 23:30 hours (weekdays), 12:00 to 15:30 hours and 19:00 to 23:30 hours (weekends)

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

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

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

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

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

24523211 232431300/7641 24521029

Readers’ views

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

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

news

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT SUPPORT THE FISH THERAPY? 56% 44%

YES (A) NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

WILL CHIRU-BOTSA AXIS EMERGE TO CHECK KIRAN’S POWER? A)

YES

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

CRIME

B)

NO

3

Med centre cheats childless couple Desiring to have a baby, a couple did everything they could, only to be cheated by the centre.

Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: A City couple, Chandarshekhar and Jyoti who had paid a City medical centre for a test tube baby found themselves stranded without any results, while their pocket got lighter by `12 lakh. The dejected couple lodged a complaint against the medical centre with the Banjara Hills police.

The victim Chandrashekhar is a businessman and a resident of Banjara Hills. The couple got married 10 years ago and desired to have a child through modern medical method. Some of their friends had advised them to go for a biological child through the test tube method, after which they approached a medical cen-

tre located in Banjara Hills two years ago.

The centre said the test tube baby would cost them `12 lakh and they could pay the amount in two to three convenient instalments. The eager couple agreed and the wife underwent medical treatment at the centre.

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When the couple felt there was no progress, they questioned the medical centre. The centre then allegedly demanded `5 lakh more.

It was after this incident that they decided to notify the police.

But they were alarmed at the behaviour of the cops who did

not evoke any hope of action.

Vexed at the cheating and the mental agony, the couple on Monday went to the Lokayukta, along with a can of kerosene to immolate themselves if justice was denied to them. Later, the Saifabad police took details and planned to move the case to the Human Rights Commission. The couple have all the records of the bills paid and the tests underwent. Seeing the suffering of the unfortunate couple, an official at the Lokayukta office said that the Banjara Hills police who refused to help them should be arraigned.

The couple have also written to the chief minister detailing the behaviour of the cops and the inhuman treatment of the centre.

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News WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013 LAST YEAR... HERE Temples for votes

L

ast year we had reported how the voters, instead of accepting the usual inducements like liquor, sarees and cash on the sly, had come up with the innovative demand to construct places of worship in exchange for votes for the last year bypolls in June, making these valuable voters dictate their terms and demands to political parties.

JUNE 5, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

870 mn people in the world are undernourished. On World Environment Day, the UNEP has exhorted people to think, eat and save in an effort to highlight rampant food wastage.

This incident distracts from the most serious problems we face today, the socioeconomic problems, the violence. Frankly, the Femen (demands) are the last thing I’m worried about.

Tunisia MP Nadia Chaabane See page 9

5

THINGS WE LEARNT TODAY

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

1

Fish therapy venue may be shifted.

The Lokayukta is yet to pass judgement on the fish therapy petition, but the organisers say that the venue for the treatment will most likely be shifted from Nampally to Doothbowli.

2

Congress targets KCR on treatment of Dalit leaders.

Congress T-leaders today took potshots at TRS chief KCR for his alleged insult of two Dalit leaders, who have left the Congress to join the pink brigade.

3

Cold comfort for Syrian refugees in Jordan.

What Syrians in Jordan miss is the taste of booza, a Middle Eastern ice-cream. With an outlet now opened in Amman, Syrians head there for a taste of home.

4

Recreating a 100-year-old Antarctic expedition.

Australian scientists will see just how much has changed since Sir Douglas Mawson’s 1911 expedition.

5

Mayor calls upon societies, citizens to harvest rainwater.

As the monsoons approach, rainwater harvesting is in the spotlight.

ANIMAL CARE

80 lakh people, 8 lakh pets, 446 licences!

People blame public apathy but NGOs blame the GHMC for inaction towards getting pet dogs registered, which is an essential requirement in any city.

Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Only `50 is the registration fee for a pet dog but the number of registrations do not cross a few hundred in the GHMC limits. Admitting the tardy nature of pet registration, civic officials dump the blame at the doorsteps of pet owners. But animal rights activists blame the authorities for lack of awareness.

The registration process, which should have been strictly followed by the corporation, does not have a proper enforcement mechanism. Some of the veterinary officials claim the owners of pet dogs take refuge in the provisions under IPC 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which dissuade officials from taking stern action.

“As stray dogs can’t be harmed under the provisions, the pet owners have no qualms,” says one of the officials.

The zonal offices do not coordinate with the head office over the issue. When Postnoon sought statistics about the number of pet dogs registered this year and the previous year, chief veterinary officer Venkateswar Reddy directed to reach out to the individual zonal officials for details. According to the chief veterinary official, the registration process is implemented since 2009, but acknowledged the deficiency of awareness and enforcement. “We could only generate awareness, but enforcement is not possible because of various factors. I do not know why people are not willing to spend even `50 on their pets. Not only government veterinary clinics, but also private clinics indulge in registration process,” he clarified.

Even NGOs like People for Animals do not know much

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about the process. Vadi Vasanti, founder-secretary of the organisation, has three pet dogs in her house, which are not registered.

According to her, there is ‘no awareness’ among the public about the registration process and enforcement is zero.

She believes that the City could be having one pet dog for every ten households, which means the registration should be in several thousands or lakhs each year, but the numbers by veterinary wing of GHMC clears the fog of doubt.

“Have you ever seen any advertisement in newspapers about this? These things never appear in public, so how should people know the process? Things should be made widely known, and made simple,” she says.

According to Vadi, few decades ago, veterinary officials used to visit each household with pets. But now, people hardly know that such a wing exists in the municipality.

However, the officials of central zone refute that there is no awareness generation. Dr JD Wilson, assistant director, claimed that they are engaged in wide publicity by circulating materials and pasting wall posters at public places.

“Each year, we get to register only a few hundred pet dogs but this year I hope to find at least four to five thousand pet dogs registered from our zone,” he hoped.

For information on licences of pet dogs or for issues related to stray animals, people can contact these GHMC officials of veterinary section Name of Official

Zone

Circle No

Designation

Mobile

Dr Abdul Wakil

West Zone

11,12,13 & 14

Asst Dir

90009 01937

Dr Radha Krishnaiah

West Zone

11,12,13 & 14

Vet Off

99890 94470

Dr C Sukunandan Reddy

East Zone

1,2 & 3

Asst Dir

99899 30359

Dr P Rama Krishna Rao

East Zone

1&3

Vet Off

99899 30357

V Pavan Kumar

East Zone

2

Vet Off

90005 54767

Dr JD Wilson

Central Zone

7,8,9 & 10

Asst Dir

97044 56521

Dr MA Sajid

Central Zone

7,8,9 & 10

Vet Off

99899 30356

Dr L Goverdhan Reddy

North Zone

15,16,17&18

Asst Dir

97044 456520

Dr T Srinivas Reddy

North Zone

15,16,17&18

Vet Off

99899 30397

Dr C Sukunandan Reddy

South Zone

4,5 & 6

Asst Dir

99899 30359

Dr K Chakrapani Reddy

South Zone

4,5 & 6

Vet Off

99899 30358

CITY BRIEFS Employer thrashed for payment default on loan

AP govt gives green signal to fill vacancies

Week-long campaign against child labour

Immediate action for mining pits by HMWSSB

An employer working in a private firm, Sadanand, 29, was allegedly beaten black and blue by a financier on Tuesday for defaulting on payment of interests for the loan taken, said Begumpet police. He was accosted on the road, taken to a room and thrashed. Sadanand is in the hospital and has lodged a police complaint.

Government of AP has given the green signal for filling up 33,738 vacancies through AP Public Service Commission, AP State Level Police Recruitment Board, and District Selection Committee. The vacancies included Group-I, Group-II, GroupIV and Non-Gazetted posts. Earlier all 52,000 vacancies were filled against 1.2 lakh vacant posts.

MV Foundation, in collaboration with United Federation on Residents Welfare Associations (UFERWAS) and Network for Protection of Child Rights (NCPR), is organising a weeklong awareness campaign against child labour and to spread the message of “Say no to domestic child labour” on the eve of ‘World Day against Child Labour’ on June 12.

Water Board officials were stunned by the huge pits dug by miners to extract sand at the Prodatoor channel in the Musi river course, about 8 km from Osmansagar. HMWSSB Managing Director J Syamala Rao has decided to take up the matter with the Ranga Reddy collector and also present photographic evidence to press for immediate action.

5

News WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013 EDUCATION

State to sign MoU with MIT: Ponnala NEW YORK: Andhra Pradesh is set to sign an MOU with the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology to tap its vast resources to help give the state’s educational system a face lift, the state’s information technology and communications minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah said here today.

The minister said the finer details are being worked out and the memorandum of understanding (MOU) will be signed within a few months.

The MOU will help tap the edX platform and open courseware of the prestigious institute located in Boston, to develop alternative learning mechanisms in the wake of serious dearth of qualified teaching professionals, Lakshmaiah said.

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The proposed partnership will help Andhra’s small and rural colleges to have access to the expensive labs using the iLabs technology of the MIT. The proposed partnership will help Andhra’s small and rural colleges to have access to the expensive labs using the iLabs technology of the MIT. The tie-up will also help in the development of utilisation of Open Software Interface Definitions.

Lakshmaiah said the global potential of electronic hardware industry is estimated at $2.4 Trillion by 2020 and the demand for the Indian market that stood at USD 45 Billion is expected to touch USD 400 Billion by 2020.

To explore this market, India’s first electronic manufacturing cluster is to be set up in Hyderabad, the minister said.

PTI

POLITICS

KCR insulted Dalits, cry Cong leaders T-Congress leaders have kicked up a new storm alleging KCR of TRS insulted dalit Congress leaders at the induction ceremony itself.

INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Emboldened at AICC AP in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad’s stance that the UPA would take a positive move on Telangana issue by the monthend, T-Congress leaders have upped their ante at the TRS and its leader K Chandrasekhar Rao. While Azad’s statement on Telangana is taken as another joke, Congress leaders from Telangana said the government would indeed take a decision on T. Accordingly, minister for major industries Dr J Geeta Reddy alleged that TRS chief KCR has already insulted the two Dalit Congress leaders who recently joined the TRS. Congress MPs G Vivek, M Jagannath and senior party leader K Keshav Rao, who had quit

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K Chandrasekhar Rao

the ruling party over Telangana issue, formally joined TRS in the presence of its president K Chandrasekhar Rao at a public meeting.

“KCR always said that he would make a dalit as the first CM of Telangana State. But what did he do with the dalit Congress leaders who joined the party the

Dr J Geeta Reddy

other day? They were denied an opportunity to even address the gathering at the public meeting organised by the TRS. So much for his commitment to dalits,” she sneered.

Another congress leader P Ramesh also expressed similar views. He said that the attitude of KCR is clear indication of his

feudal nature. He asked KCR to stop insulting dalits of Telangana region.

Minister for women development and child welfare V Sunitha Lakshma Reddy alleged that the TRS was actually meant for the growth of KCR’s family and not for the development of all sections of leaders of Telangana region.

The tirade of Congress leaders seems to continue with the sole objective of cornering TRS in the region.

The T-Congress MLAs and MPs who have been bearing the brunt of T-issue are living in a difficult world where they can neither justify their party leadership nor defy the party.

RAPE ‘PLAGUE’

Chiefs face tough questions DAN DE LUCE Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON: .US military chiefs came under fire from lawmakers Tuesday over a “plague” of sexual assaults in the ranks, but the top brass argued against plans to strip commanders of authority over criminal cases.

A rise in rapes — along with a wave of high-profile scandals in recent weeks — has put military leaders on the defensive.

“You need to do more and you need to do it much faster," Senator Mark Udall told the chiefs at a packed hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The top officers, who made an unusual joint appearance before the panel, seemed intent on heading off proposals in Congress that would alter legal traditions the military holds dear, including rules that allow commanders to decide if a case should go to trial.

While vowing to stamp out

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the “cancer” of sexual assaults, the generals cautioned against taking sexual assaults and other cases out of the hands of commanders.

“I understand the credibility of the armed forces, the credibility of the army are at stake," said General Ray Odierno, the Army’s chief of staff. “But we cannot simply legislate our way

out of this problem."

Several lawmakers rejected the chiefs’ stance, saying fundamental changes were needed to open the way to more prosecutions of sexual predators.

Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri sharply criticized the four-star generals, saying the military misunderstood the problem — lumping together rape and other crimes with sexual harassment at the work place.

“This isn’t about sex. It’s about assaultive domination and violence," she said.

NATION BRIEFS Jayalalithaa, Mamata skip CMs’ meet

Lightning kills 13 in Uttar Pradesh

Man shot dead over property dispute

Powerful grenade defused in Manipur

10 wounded in clash between rival factions

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa and West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee Wednesday skipped the chief ministers’ conference on internal security that is likely to chalk out a new strategy to check the growing violence by Maoist guerrillas. The meeting will deliberate on the activities of Pakistan-based terrorist groups.

LUCKNOW: Thirteen people were killed and over a dozen injured after being struck by lightning in eastern Uttar Pradesh, officials said Wednesday. While five people, including an elderly woman, were killed in Sant Kabeernagar, three died in Siddharthnagar, one in Basti and four in Campariyaganj at Gorakhpur district.

FIROZABAD: A man was shot dead by two unidentified assailants over a property dispute in Sirsaganj area, police said today. 48-year-old Raju was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne persons when he was sitting in front of his house in Vankhandeshwar area last evening, superintendent of police Rakesh Singh said.

IMPHAL: A powerful grenade was found near the Imphal Sewerage Project office at Lamphel in Imphal West district of Manipur, police said today. The grenade was spotted by passers-by yesterday.

Bomb experts later defused it.

Security experts say militants are likely to step up activities before the onset of monsson.

MIDNAPORE: Ten persons were injured in a clash between rival Trinamool Congress factions in West Midnapore district. Police said that the clash in Hatiolka village broke out over the issue of filing of nomination papers for the upcoming panchayat elections. The houses of some CPI(M) supporters were also allegedly torched during the clash.

6

News WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

RAIN WATER HARVESTING

PIC CREDITED TO EDAL ANTON LEFTEROV/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

ECONOMY

Islamic banks can fund Asia infra needs

GHMC aims for 10K pits in City The mayor and the deputy mayor inaugurated an awareness campaign at the Institute of Engineers, Khairatabad, today.

Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: Addressing a gathering of central zone corporators, colony welfare associations, residential welfare associations, non-governmental organisations, Mayor Mohd Majid Hussain said it is the time for every citizen to take up responsibility of rain water harvesting in their colonies, apartment or

GHMC to fund citizens

T

he mayor said the purpose of conducting this awareness campaign is to increase ground water levels for a clean, green and healthier atmosphere for citizens.

The GHMC has come forward to join hands with residential welfare associations and colony welfare associations.

Individual houses will receive 50 per cent funding and residential welfare associations and others will get 70 per cent funding.

He further requested the association members to come forward and to avail this opportunity to increase ground water levels in the entire GHMC limits.

He said that he will be personally visiting the colonies and interact with the members to take this innovative scheme for the well being of the citizens of Twin Cities.

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individual houses.

Hussain said ground water is being exploited unabatedly and water table level dropping every year without much replenishment even when there is good rainfall.

The GHMC has set a target of 10,000 harvesting pits this year and hopes that it will achieve it with the co-operation of the associations.

Hussain also said that the GHMC is the only corporation to take up this type of scheme in the entire country.

G Raj Kumar, deputy mayor, said that the City has developed a lot over the last 10 years and almost all of the roads have been laid with cement, drastically reducing the flow of water to the underground has drastically.

D Ronald Rose, IAS, zonal commissioner (central zone) welcomed the dignitaries and briefed them about the need for taking up rain water harvesting pits.

The Hyderabad Metro Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) officials gave a presentation on the procedures and measures to be adopted for construction of rain water harvesting pits for getting good results.

An information brochure was released by the mayor, highlighting the methodology to be adopted for constructing the pits. It was distributed among the participants.

Corporators Kaleru Venkatesh, A Mahesh Yadav, Gyaneshwar Goud, M Shyam Rao, Ayub Khan, Mohd Ali Jameel, cop-option member, deputy commissioners and executive engineers of circle no 7,8,9 and 10, and senior officials of HMWS&SB and GHMC were present at the event.

SINGAPORE: Islamic banks can help finance Asia’s burgeoning infrastructure investment needs while continuing to adhere to fundamental Sharia tenets.The banks emerged relatively unscathed from the global economic crisis in 2008 and saw total assets top $1.6 trillion in 2012, a 20.4 percent rise from 2011.

Asian nations hold 13 percent of global Islamic banking assets, the highest outside of the Middle East, speakers said at the World Islamic Banking Conference in Singapore.

Mohammad Y. AlHashel, governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait, says, “Since Islamic finance dictates that lending should be backed by tangible real assets, it has the potential to offer the much needed funding for infrastructure building to meet the growing

populations and mass urbanisation within Asia and the Middle East.”

The Asian Development Bank in 2012 estimated that fast-growing Asia needs to invest a total of $8.0 trillion to fund national infrastructure needs such as rail networks, airports, power networks and water treatment plants in the current decade to 2020.

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WORLD Ranjit Ajit Singh, chairman of the Securities Commission of Malaysia, said the region’s “staggering and substantial” infrastructure capital needs could be a key driver for Islamic finance to gain a foothold in more Asian economies.

Officials also reiterated the need for Islamic banks to avoid the excesses of their

Growing affluence of middle-class Asian consumers might spur an increased demand for Sharia-compliant investments and savings. mainstream counterparts that led to the global economic crisis, and to invest in “socially responsible” industries.

Al-Hashel cautioned against the creation of financial products that were against the ‘true essence of Islamic banking’. “Given the need for a clear link between financial transactions and the real economy, innovations in Islamic finance are considered useful only if they generate genuine economic activity,” he said. AFP

7

News WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

FISH THERAPY MESS

BAN IN CHINA

Venue may be shifted Officials say the Lokayukta is likely to ask the government to dissociate itself from the private function. But the order is not expected till evening.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com HYDERABAD: District officials and City police are waiting with bated breath for the verdict of the Lokayukta on the fish therapy event slated for June 8.

Lokayukta B Subhashan Reddy had completed yesterday the hearing on the petition challenging governmental help rendered to the traditional fish therapy festival organised every year by the Bathini family to cure chronic asthma patients with medicated fish.

Postnoon learnt from Bathini Goud’s family this morning that they may shift the venue from the Nampally Exhibition Grounds to another location, preferably Doothbowli.

One of the Bathini brothers termed the Lokayukta’s stand as “sad and unfortunate”.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Unorganised sector benefits

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The collector, the GHMC commissioner and the City police commissioner had made their stance clear before the Lokayukta.

The nub of the official argument was that the grounds and police security are arranged on

humanitarian grounds and as per the governmental directive.

However, Lokayukta was reportedly not content with the stance and wanted to know why the government spends about `15 crore of public money for a private function which has no

scientific base.

Lakhs would turn up by Saturday from different parts of India and from abroad to try out this cure.

Lokayukta office was devoid of any indication till noon that could give a hint to the possible verdict. Officials say the Lokayukta is likely to ask the government to dissociate itself from the private function. But the order is not expected till evening.

BEIJING: A popular Chinese microblogging service banned searches for “yellow duck” after users circulated a mocked-up image of a famous 1989 Tiananmen square tank protest with the military vehicles replaced by plastic ducks, results on Wednesday showed.

The picture, a parody of the iconic “Tank Man” photograph of a civilian staring down a long row of tanks, circulated Tuesday, the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen protests’ suppression.

A large yellow duck artwork is currently on display in Hong Kong, and imitations have been put up in several mainland cities.

Sina Weibo, China’s most popular microblogging site, blocked searches for “yellow duck” with attempts to do so returning a message reading: “Due to relevant laws and regulations... the search AROUND THE

WORLD

MAID OF MIST

result is not displayed”.

Other search terms banned by the service include “1989” and numerical formulae such as “63 + 1”, used to refer to the date of the crackdown — “6.4” in US-style date order, which is also blocked.

Discussion of the Tiananmen crackdown, in which at least several hundred people died, is strictly controlled by China’s ruling Communist party, which is wary of challenges to its authority.

Reports say that Sina, the company which runs Sina Weibo, employs teams of censors to delete posts, generally exercising self-censorship.

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NATION

NEW DELHI: Rickshawpullers, rag pickers, sanitation workers and taxi drivers are among a host of unorganised sector workers who have been brought under the ambit of the national health insurance scheme by the Union cabinet Tuesday.

A total of 13.68 lakh rickshaw-pullers, 11.63 lakh rag pickers, 17.79 lakh mine workers, 10.08 lakh sanitation workers and 35.39 lakh autorickshaw drivers would be covered under the scheme, finance minister P Chidambaram said.

Chinese website bans searches for 'yellow duck'

A “Maid of the Mist” tourist boat rides through the mist of Niagara Falls. The falls are a major destination for American and international tourists alike.

JOHN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES/AFP

WORLD BRIEFS US soldier to plead guilty over massacre

Kerry begins first Latin America trip

Syrian army 'totally controls' Qusayr region

6.1-magnitude quake strikes off Solomons

Briton, 74, gets death penalty for smuggling

SEATTLE: A US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers is expected to plead guilty in return for escaping the death penalty, when he appears before a military tribunal Wednesday. Sergeant Robert Bales faces charges including 16 counts of murder, six of attempted murder and seven of assault.

ANTIGUA: US Secretary of State John Kerry began his first trip to Latin America Tuesday to participate in top-level talks with his regional counterparts on drugs and security.

Kerry will likely say that there has been no change in the US anti-drug policy, even as the Organisation of American States weighs whether to begin legalising marijuana.

DAMASCUS: Syria's army "totally controls" the strategic region of Qusayr after an offensive against rebel fighters that lasted almost three weeks, state television said on Wednesday. "The Syrian army totally controls the Qusayr region in Homs province after killing a large number of terrorists and capturing others," the report said.

SYDNEY: A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the Solomon Islands on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no immediate tsunami warning issued. The tremor, at a depth of 64 kilometres, hit in the Santa Cruz Islands, some 89 kilometres south of Lata, where a tsunami left at least 10 people dead in February.

LONDON: A 74-year-old Briton has been sentenced to death after being caught trying to smuggle 3 million pounds (about $45,88,000) worth of cannabis into Egypt. He now faces death by firing squad or hanging. Charles Raymond Ferndale was arrested with the three-tonne haul on his yacht in the Red Sea, Daily Express reported.

8

News WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT: Star hotels show the way

In a world where one in seven goes to bed hungry, Postnoon takes a look at how star hotels in the City are trying to reduce their food wastage.

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POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

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hink. Eat. Save is the UNEP theme for the World Environment Day 2013. In face of a looming global food crisis, sustainable consumption and prevention of food waste are now among the most pressing issues in the world.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that “roughly onethird of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted”.

India, in particular, with one of the largest malnutrition populations in the world, sees an estimated 40 per cent of all food produce becoming unfit for consumption before it even reaches the market.

In the urban set-up, however, it’s the F&B industry that was considered a majority stak-

eholder in the production of food wastage. But over the years, City hotels say they have risen to the challenge, implementing tight measures to ensure that there’s little wastage of food.

Where once left-over food was given away to charities, old-age homes and orphanages, now hotels say they have a ‘wewon’t-give-away-anythingt h a t - w e - w o u l d n ’ t - e a t - o u rselves’ policy.

So instead, they’re keeping close checks on the quantities produced. “After it leaves our premises, there’s no control over the quality of the food and

The Dabbawala project

I

n an ingenious move to reduce wastage of food in Mumbai, the Dabbawala Foundation got together with an NGO called The Happy Life Welfare Society and launched a unique initiative called ‘Share my Dabba’ to ensure that no child in the city goes hungry.

The crux of the campaign is simple. Those with plenty

when it’s served. What we try and do is plan our menus carefully so there are negligible excesses,” say officials from Marriott, Hyderabad. What Marriott does instead as part of its CSR activities is provide free freshly-made mid-day meals for school children in Bowenpally.

The Taj Hotels group, which has five properties in Hyderabad, shares a similar sentiment.

While they do have tie-ups with NGOs and schools, where they donate food occasionally, the thrust of their sustainable consumption campaign is really on minimising the wastes.

“Over a period of time, we have become increasingly conscious. We have learnt to estimate our requirements and design our inventory so as to ensure that our food does not go waste. We ask for a minimum guest guarantee and provide accordingly,” says HR manager Rajeev Kumar.

But it is ITC Grand Kakatiya that has a truly unique approach to dealing with food waste.

While they also strictly control the quantity of food they produce, mass catering events inevitably lead to 10-15 per cent leftovers. “First, we segregate

Facts

will share with those who have nothing. All they need to do is put a ‘’share’’ sticker on their half-full tiffin box, which will be collected by volunteers and distributed to slum children. The pilot project is currently underway and if successful, could be replicated in cities like Hyderabad too, which need it the most.

1 in 7 Over 20,000 870 million 30% 200 million

our waste. Food that’s not fit for consumption is processed in our in-house treatment plant and turned into organic manure, which is then given to our landscapers or put up for sale,” explains executive chef, Sekhar.

While these baby steps towards sustainable consumption are welcome, they are not enough. Not while every year the amount of food wasted or lost amounts up to half of the world’s annual cereals crop.

Because, as Ban Ki Moon once said, “In a world of plenty, no one, not a single person, should go hungry.”

Green Walk people in the world go to bed hungry. children under the age of five die daily from hunger. people are undernourished. of all food in the US is thrown away each year. people can be fed with the amount of food wasted in Europe every year.

C

orporates entered the fray to celebrate World Environment Day with Ascendas mobilising IT professionals to participate in a four-km ‘Green Walk Marathon’ on June 7, 2013. The event comes as part of their ‘Green Month’ campaign to create awareness about sustainable consumption and food wastage and encourage participation from the 18,000 working professionals in the Hitec City area.

9

News WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013 CRIME

Soldiers fling 6 men out of moving train LUCKNOW: Six young men who had, by mistake, occupied a coach reserved for army personnel were thrown off a moving train by soldiers in UP. The incident occurred on board the Avadh Assam Express near Moradabad late Tuesday.

While five of the young men sustained minor injuries, one suffered severe head injuries.

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The youngsters told police that they rushed into the train as it was about to leave and unknowingly boarded a coach meant exclusively for army soldiers. By the time they realised they were in the wrong coach, the train had pulled out of the station.

The injured youth said the soldiers refused to heed their pleas that they would get off at the next station, and thew them out of the moving train, one by one.

No case has yet been registered against the errant soldiers.

A police official said the injured youth did not want to press further action, fearing even more trouble.

IANS

POLITICS

GRAFT PROBE

BJP leads in Gujarat bypolls BJP is leading in all the six seats — two Lok Sabha and four assembly — which were previously occupied by the Congress.

AHMEDABAD: Early trends show that the ruling BJP is leading in all the six seats — two Lok Sabha and four assembly — which were previously occupied by the Congress party in the by-elections held in Gujarat.

“After two hours of counting of votes for two the Lok AROUND THE

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Sabha seats of Porbandar and Banaskantha, BJP candidates are far ahead of their nearest Congress rivals," Election authorities said.

The saffron party is also leading in the four assembly constituencies of Jetpur, Limbadi, Dhoraji and Morva Hadaf, where the bypolls were held, along with the two Lok Sabha seats, on Sunday, officials said. On Porbandar seat BJP’s Vitthal Radadia, who was

caught brandishing his gun at a toll booth last year when he was a Congress MP and later crossed over BJP, is ahead of his Congress rival Vinu Amipara by over 50,000 votes.

Similarly, in Banaskantha, Haribhai Chaudhary of BJP is also leading with more then 55,000 votes against Krishna Gadhvi. Krishna’s husband Mukesh Gadhvi’s death had made the seat vacant.

After the 12th round of

counting for Limbadi Assembly seat, former state minister and BJP candidate Kiritsinh Rana is leading with 21,917 votes against his Congress rival Satish Patel. On Jetpur Assembly seat BJP’s Jayesh Radadia has gained the lead of 2,610 votes after the tenth round of counting Jagdish Pambhar of Congress.

In Morva Hadaf, Nimisha Suthar of BJP is leading with 6,943 votes against Bhupendrasinh Khant of Congress.

In Dhoraji, the seat which fell vacant after former Congress leader Vithhal Radadia resigned as MLA and defected to BJP, Pravin Mankadia of BJP is leading with 2,515 over Haribhai Patel of Congress. In the Assembly of 182 members, at present BJP has 115 MLAs, Congress 57, NCP 2, Gujarat Parivartan Party 2 and Independent and JD(U) has one member each.

PTI

Lokayukta summons SP minister LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta Justice NK Mehrotra has issued summons to four legislators of the ruling Samajwadi Party, including a state minister, with regard to allottment of work to a defunct non-government organisation.

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The Lokayukta has asked the minister of state for agriculture Manoj Kumar Pandey to present himself before it June 10, and explain why work was allotted to an NGO from his legislator’s fund when the NGO ceased to exist in 2011.

Notices have also been issued to SP legislators Ram Lal Akela, Devendra Pratap Singh and Surendra Vikram Singh. This is the first time that members of the ruling dispensation have come under the radar of the Lokayukta. In his previous tenure, the ombundsman had given adverse reports on many ministers of the Mayawati government, after which the BSP supremo was forced to sack several ministers.

IANS

TUNISIA

Little sympathy at ‘topless’ trial Three Femen activists have been charged with public indecency after staging a topless protest last week outside the main courthouse in Tunis. If convicted, they face upto a year in jail.

ANTOINE LAMBROSCHINI Agence France-Presse TUNIS: While some Tunisians believe Femen activist Amina Sboui is being harshly treated for her anti-Islamist protest, there is little public sympathy for three European women who bared their breasts in support of her.

The three women, two French and one German, face jail terms of up to a year when they go on trial in Tunis on Wednesday, although their lawyer is confident of a lighter sentence.

They are charged with public indecency after staging a topless protest last week outside the main courthouse in Tunis in support of Sboui, who was arrested after painting the word “Femen” on a wall near a cemetery in an act of protest against hardline Islamists.

Also Wednesday, Sboui, a

One of the lawyers of the three women, said his clients had staged their protest to draw attention to the plight of Amina Sboui, who before her arrest had received threats from Islamists for having published topless pictures of herself on the Internet in March. young Tunisian with the same “sextremist” Femen movement as the Europeans, is to appear in a separate court on charges of indecency and desecrating a cemetery.

Sboui, who has been held in detention since May 19, faces

between six months and two years in jail, although the judge has indicated that she could be accused of acting as part of an organised gang and therefore attract a heavier sentence.

But while the ruling Islamist party Ennahda is often accused

by its secular opponents of seeking to Islamise society, the May 29 topless protest did nothing to win the opposition’s support in socially conservative Tunisia, or renew the debate about women’s rights.

Even if Tunisia’s secular and

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feminist groups sympathise with the young Tunisian’s plight, few of them are rushing to support her European comrades.

The press has also chafed at their protest. “Crudely provoking... is not an ideal way to challenge," Tunisian daily Le Temps said on Sunday.

The three young women were identified by the Femen movement in Paris as Pauline Hillier and Marguerite Stern, both French, and Josephine Markmann from Germany.

France said it hopes the Tunis court will not be too harsh.

“The Tunisian judiciary is independent, but in the end I still hope it will be lenient," said Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

10

News WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013 IS THIS A JOKE?

MESSAGE IN THE SAND

Prankster is ‘Top Jock’

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and artist Sudersan Pattnaik gives the final touch to his sand sculpture on the eve of World Environment Day at Puri sea beach, about 65 kilometres away from Bhubaneswar onTuesday India’s cities are becoming more polluted and unhealthy, according to a new survey published on Monday showing rising concern about the impact of high economic growth on the environment. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) asked 4,039 people living in India’s six biggest cities about their opinions and awareness of the environment.

AFP/ ASIT KUMAR

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SYDNEY: An Australian DJ whose prank-called a London hospital in a stunt which drove a nurse to suicide has been named a “Top Jock” by his bosses. Michael Christian’s employer Southern Cross Austereo said it was “thrilled” to crown the DJ, who now works on Melbourne’s Fox FM mornings slot, as one of its top presenters.

Christian endured a global backlash, along with his then co-host Mel Greig, in December for their prank call to a hospital caring for the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge.

TURKISH TURMOIL

‘Vandals’ refuse to accept apology Angry protesters continued to protest defying a government plea to end days of deadly unrest and chaos.

ROLAND LLOYD PARRY feedback@postnoon.com ISTANBUL: Fresh violence erupted early on Wednesday as protesters defied a government plea to end days of deadly unrest, the biggest challenge yet to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decade-long rule.

Police used tear gas and water cannon on hundreds of protesters, who ignored warnings to disperse in Istanbul, Ankara and the southeastern city of Hatay, where a young protester died a day earlier.

The violence came after a second major trade union confederation announced it would join protests against the government, calling a strike for Wednesday.

In the western city of Izmir, police detained at least 25 people early Wednesday for tweeting “misleading and libellous information”, state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc apologised to legitimate demonstrators

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The grievances n The wave of protests broke out on Friday after police teargassed demonstrators at a peaceful rally against plans to build on an Istanbul park.

Protestors clash with Turkish riot policemen on the way to Taksim Square in Istanbul on June 5, 2013, as part of ongoing protests against the ruling party, police brutality, and the destruction of Taksim park for a development project.

AFP/BULENT KILIC

injured by the security forces, a gesture welcomed by the United States.

But that did not appease outraged protestors.

Thousands gathered at Istanbul’s Taksim Square for a sixth day Wednesday, yelling defiance at Erdogan, who earlier had dismissed the protesters as

“extremists” and “vandals”. He was in Algeria on the second day of a four-day official visit to north Africa.

“The vandals are here! Where is Tayyip?” yelled the crowd.

They accuse Erdogan, who has won three successive national elections, of imposing conserva-

n Protesters accuse Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s, who has won three successive national elections, of imposing conservative Islamic reforms on the predominantly Muslim but constitutionally secular nation. This is the biggest challenge that he has faced yet.

tive Islamic reforms on the predominantly Muslim but constitutionally secular nation.

But the festive atmosphere in the square was a change from the tense rallies of the previous five days. Turkish pipe music and singing blared over speakers as the crowd clapped along.

Even fans from rival football

teams Galatasaray, Besiktas and Fenerbahce linked arms, united in protest.

The wave of protests broke out on Friday after police teargassed demonstrators at a peaceful rally against plans to build on an Istanbul park.

On Tuesday, Arinc said sorry to those who had been caught up in that initial violence.

“I apologise to those who were subject to violence because of their sensitivity for the environment,” he said, though he added that his apology excluded “the rioters”.

“The government has learnt its lesson from what happened,” he added. “We do not have the right and cannot afford to ignore people. Democracies cannot exist without opposition.”

He called on “responsible citizens” to stop the protests.

Two people have been killed in the clashes, officials and medics say, and rights groups say thousands have been injured. The government puts the figure at around 300.

DEAD PEOPLE WALKING

41on ‘84 riots death claims list are alive

NEW DELHI: A criminal case was registered Tuesday against unknown people who tried to fraudulently claim compensation for 41 people by getting their names added to the list of the dead during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, a police source said.

The Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police registered the case almost 10 days after the fraud came to light in a screening committee meeting of the police antiriot cell and the Delhi government’s revenue department, the source informed.

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The government had planned to give compensation to the residents of north Delhi’s

Sultanpuri and Mangolpuri area who were killed during 1984 Sikh riots. The anti-riot cell was instructed to check on the 41 names enlisted among those who were killed in the riots, sources said.

“During investigation, it was

found that all the 41 mentioned people were alive. The list of names of these people was submitted after a forged verification letter of anti-riot cell,” said the source. The families of those killed in the riots were given `7 lakh each.

News WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

ICE CREAM NOSTALGIA

The taste of home

What Syrian refugees in Jordan are missing is Bakdash’s “booza”, a uniquely Middle Eastern type of ice cream that is elastic in texture.

AFP PHOTO KHALIL MAZRAAWI

RANA EL MOUSSAOUI Agence France-Presse AMMAN: An enticing aroma of boiled milk, vanilla, gum Arabic and pistachios; the rhythmic pounding of wooden mallets deep into stainless steel vats; the clink of spoons on glass accompanying cheerful conversation.

These are the sights, sounds and smells of Bakdash, billed as one of the oldest shops in the world selling Arabic ice cream and located in Al-Hamidiyeh bazaar in warrattled Damascus.

These sensual delights make people’s mouths water in Jordan’s capital Amman, but memories of them are also bringing tears to the eyes of Syrians who have fled the conflict in their country and are nostalgic for a taste of home.

What they are missing is Bakdash’s “booza”, a uniquely Middle Eastern type of ice cream that is elastic in texture, like taffy or chewy candy. Adding to its flavour and texture is salep, a flour made from tubers of the mascula orchid.

Mohammad Hamdi Bakdash opened his shop in Al-Hamidiyeh in 1895, and it is still going strong despite the civil war that has killed more than 94,000 and is increasingly threatening the capital.

Earlier this month, a Bakdash franchise opened in Amman on Madina Munawwara Street. The decor is identical to the fast-food ambience of Bakdash itself, with its glaring neon lights, large mirrors, long rows of tables and waiters squeezing past customers ordering cones to take away.

INDUSTRIAL THREAT

Scientists tell Oz to save Great Barrier Reef

SYDNEY: Leading marine scientists warned the Australian government Wednesday of the growing threat to the Great Barrier Reef from unchecked industrial development.

More than 150 scientists from 33 institutions signed a statement saying that the mining and gas boom along the Queens-

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“I am so moved,” said Sleiman Muhanna, a Syrian professor who teaches in both the Syrian and Jordanian capitals. “They have recreated the spirit of Damascus.”

Janoub, the 25-year-old Jordanian who runs the Amman shop, said 60 to 70 per cent of his customers are Syrian, many of them among the nearly half a million of their countrymen who have fled home and are now living in Jordan.

He also speaks of the emotional impact of the place.

“I have seen elderly ladies weep” when they come in, he said.

Janoub speaks as two young men, white bandanas wrapped

around their heads, pound the booza with long wooden clubs to soften it and make it more elastic.

What is pulled out of the containers could look to the untrained eye like pizza dough or even chewing gum.

As he works, 24-year-old Mohammed tells of how he came here to work from the mother store just a few weeks ago. Damascus “is not like it was before. The situation is getting steadily worse. Here it’s like being at home, but it’s not really Damascus.”

For now, Madina Munawwara Street has become a sort of Little Syria, full of shops and restaurants that speak of home.

But the thoughts in so many hearts are the same: “As soon as the regime falls, I’m going back to Syria.”

land state coast was hastening the decline of the World Heritage area.

The UN’s educational, scientific and cultural body meets later this month to discuss proposals to list the giant reef as a site “in danger”.

A UNESCO report in March found 43 development proposals in the vicinity of the huge reef were under assessment

and that the federal and state governments had failed to improve water quality in the area.

In the declaration, the scientists voiced concern about “the additional pressures that will be exerted by expansion of coastal ports and industrial development accompanied by a projected near-doubling in shipping, major coastal reclamation works, largescale seabed dredging and dredge spoil disposal all either immediately adjacent to, or within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area”.

“We are calling on the Queensland and Australian governments to ensure that the outstanding universal value ... of the ...

World Heritage property is protected.”

Ecologist Hugh Possingham said over the last 27 years half of the reef's coral has been degraded.

AFP

POLITICS

I resigned, why was I sacked?

DL Ravindra, who got the boot for his criticism of the CM, speaks his mind.

HYDERABAD: Dismissed minister DL Ravindra Reddy has alleged that Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy was only appropriating schemes of late YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

“Kiran has nothing of his own.”

DL Ravindra was talking to the media after his overseas trip.

Ravindra claimed that he had not indulged in any anti-party activity and wanted to know why he was dismissed.

Reminding the government that he had already submitted his resignation, the former minister said the CM has to explain why he chose to dismiss him instead of accepting his resignation. He asked whether the CM expected to scare

off PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana and deputy chief minister Damodara Raja Narasimha by sacking him. He clarified that despite being sacked, he would remain loyal to the party.

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Stating that the present government was giving more importance to publicity than welfare schemes, he said he had told Congress president Sonia Gandhi the same.

Ravindra asked to what extent Dalits were benefited from the sub plan. He said as Damodara was a

Dalit, the CM was doing all the publicity in his own name for the sub-plan, sidelining Damodara.

Stating that no new scheme was introduced by Kiran, DL said he only renamed YSR’s schemes and was campaigning that they were his own. He said Bangaru Talli, Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu and other schemes were there in YSR’s time.

He has reminded the CM that YSR had introduced the Lakpati scheme to make every woman a millionaire and the scheme was not publicised.

Stating that the Chief Minister had named the Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu after him, DL said he was the first Chief Minister to name a scheme after him.

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News WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013 POPULARITY DIPS

Al-Jazeera vies to keep audience

MONEY MATTERS

` flirts with lifetime low

The weaker rupee makes imports costlier, especially of foreign oil on which India relies on heavily, and will stoke already high consumer inflation.

AP

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ACIL TABBARA Agence France-Presse DUBAI: After its coverage of Arab Spring uprisings sent its popularity rocketing, Qatar’s AlJazeera is vying to keep its audience despite competition from mushrooming local channels and accusations it supports new Islamist governments.

The Doha-based network claims it remains at the top among Arab news channels, citing compiled results from two surveys done by two polling agencies — Ipsos in 11 Arab countries, and Sigma in 10 others.

“We have decided to publish those results in response to a campaign facing us after the Arab revolutions,” Al-Jazeera director-general, Ahmed bin Jassim al-Thani, told AFP. “Many sides have attempted to... spread rumours claiming that our level of audience has dropped,” he said.

Controversy’s child

A

l-Jazeera is now accused by the opposition of supporting new governments formed by Islamists. Al-Jazeera’s chief dismisses accusations of supporting Islamists as “unfounded accusations”, insisting that his channel vies to uphold objectivity at any price.

Critics of the first-ever panArab news channel claim it has certainly lost audience in Arab states where Islamists have climbed to power, like Egypt.

“Although it remains at the top among Arab channels, the way Al-Jazeera covered developments in the Arab world during the past two years has greatly affected its credibility,” said Egyptian media expert, Yasser Abdel Aziz. In Egypt, Al-Jazeera “has become involved in the political conflict” because it is “the media instrument of Qatar,” which is backing the Muslim Brotherhood, he said.

Founded in 1996 by oil-rich Qatar, Al-Jazeera became a tribune for opponents of entrenched authoritarian Arab regimes, and boasts of inspiring protests by raising rights awareness.

Al-Jazeera’s chief is also confident that local competition will not jeopardise the network’s popularity.

AFP

PENELOPE MACRAE Agence France-Presse NEW DELHI: India’s rupee is flirting with lifetime lows against the dollar as risk-wary investors favour the greenback over Asia’s third-largest economy which is beset by sharply slower growth, worsening public finances and political turmoil.

The so-called “India story” has faded with the shortfall in the current account — the broadest trade measure — ballooning to just under five per cent of gross domestic product in the last financial year from 4.2 per cent the previous year, and growth at a decade-low of five per cent, analysts say.

“I don’t see anything that can turn the rupee around for a while,” Mitul Kotecha, Credit Agricole global foreign exchange strategy chief, told AFP. “The currency is generally suffering from higher risk aversion which has sent people into US assets and a slew of domestic concerns like politics.”

The currency, Asia’s worst performer in May after falling five per cent, was trading at 56.66 against the dollar Tuesday — less than a rupee above its all-

time low of 57.32 rupees reached last June.

The currency’s woes all add up to bad news for the left-leaning Congress government, which is struggling to rein in subsidies and overspending under pressure from international ratings agencies.

The weaker rupee makes imports costlier, especially of foreign oil on which India relies on heavily, and will stoke already high consumer inflation.

The country is now heavily reliant on fickle portfolio AROUND THE

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inflows — foreign purchases of shares and bonds — to cover its current account gap.

Particularly worrying are figures showing a 38-per cent drop in foreign direct investment (FDI) — seen as long-term investment in infrastructure and other projects — as overseas investors have given India a wide berth.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors or FIIs last year chasing short-term returns pou-

red a record $26 billion into Indian shares and bonds markets.

This makes India vulnerable to a balance of payments crisis in the event of a financial crisis or an economic recovery in which better returns are offered in the developed world.

The rupee could face “an unpleasant shock”, noted CLSA economist Rajeev Malik, adding India “appeared to be ill-prepared” for a reversal in fund flows.

Memories are still sharp of India’s humiliating 1991 balance of payments crisis when it rapidly depleted its reserves, resulting in a currency devaluation. Singh’s administration is

EXPLORATION

INVESTIGATION

Retracing a 100-year-old Antarctic expedition The team of 46 researchers aim to discover just how much has changed since Sir Douglas Mawson’s 1911-1914 trip.

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SYDNEY: Scientists will retrace Sir Douglas Mawson’s 191114 expedition to the Antarctica in November, the University of New South Wales (UNSW) announced Tuesday.

A team of 46 researchers and would-be explorers will set out from Hobart, the capital of Australia’s southern Tasmania island state, for a six-week journey to repeat measurements made by Mawson’s team 100 years ago, including observations of the ocean, wildlife, weather, geology and ice cover, reported Xinhua.

“Antarctica remains one of the last, great unexplored

battling a host of graft scandals that have stalled politically contentious steps to spur domestic demand before elections due by May 2014. “It’s going to be tough to get much done (legislatively) with the elections coming,” said Kotecha.

The central bank has maintained a “hands-off” approach toward the currency with the Reserve Bank of India’s chief saying this week that he was not targeting any particular level.

Analysts say the bank can not intervene heavily to buttress the currency as it must retain enough foreign reserves pay for imports.

AFP

regions on the Earth. It is a unique place to monitor the health of our planet.

We want to discover just how much has changed since Mawson’s time,” said Chris Turney, professor at UNSW

Climate Change Research Centre. The 1.5 million AU dollars ($1.46 million) privatelyfunded expedition also aims to recapture and share the excitement of scientific exploration and discovery.

IANS

Search on for two ships lost in 1615 AROUND THE

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LIMA: A group of researchers headed by maritime historian Jorge Ortiz Sotelo is continuing the search for two Spanish vessels that went missing along the coast south of Lima in 1615.

Sotelo presented a preliminary summary of his work so far, a project he began in 2010 and for which he has the support of the National Geographic Society and the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.

Ortiz consulted Peruvian and Spanish archives to identify the possible locations of the ships and established a search area.

Eleven magnetic anomalies were found that could be the remains of one or both ships, and although a visual inspection of the ocean floor has been conducted, no visible evidence was found, he said.

IANS

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

Business

CHRYSLER REJECTS JEEP RECALL

WASHINGTON: Chrysler rejected on Tuesday a US safety agency's request to recall up to 2.7 million Jeep sport utility vehicles to fix a risk of engine fires that have left dozens dead.

MOBILE APPLICATIONS

‘Free apps will hurt biz’ PRUDHVI RAJU K prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

M

obile apps industry is booming in the country, driven by business applications. Consumer applications have not taken the momentum despite the huge number of smartphone sales. Indians are more inclined to free mobile apps than pay for quality apps.

“Mobile apps industry is set to grow. The usability, accessibility and mobility are driving the growth of mobile phones and tablets. For instance, an elder may find it hard to use laptop. But, he or she can easily operate a tablet if you show it once or twice. The growth in the smartphone sales will continue even in the coming years. On app front, the mobile app development here is at par with its global counterparts. Developers here are targeting global mobile customers,” says Vijay Kallepalli, MD, AppThoughtz.

The only challenge for the industry is making Indians understand the value of paid apps and make them pay for it.

“Westerns are more adaptable to paid apps. However, the Indians are hesitant in this front. The only option for the developers here is to rely on advertisement revenues. These revenues are not enough for the sustenance.

In addition, Indian mobile users

The challenge for the industry is making Indians understand the value of paid apps and make them pay for it.

do not have the Internet connectivity to their mobiles. Some has a habit of disconnecting with the data connection and play the game or use the app offline. This will further weaken the revenues of the developers who provide these free apps. On the whole, the advertising revenues are minimal, “ he says.

About infrastructure, he

says, “It is not supportive for the app downloads. Each mobile users has to have an internationally acceptable credit/debit card to access Google play store.

There is a large section that may not have these. Some of the people may be suspicious in giving these details on the mobile.”

“Hopefully, this will change in the future. For instance, peo-

ple were hesitant to buy online few years ago. Many e-commerce players with sufficient financial backing from investors have removed the fears of online buying. The same has to happen for mobile apps industry. When businesses see the potential of making revenues, they would definitely jump in this segment and educate customers. As and when the market sees one or two companies successful, the rest will follow and create a healthy industry,” he says.

In terms of operating systems, “The iOS, Google Android, Windows are the popular among the crowd. Earlier, iOS was the market leader.

However, today in terms of device sales, Android has overtaken it. There is also tough competition between the iOS and Windows for the second place. In terms of revenues, iOS is still the leader and Android is trying to catch up. Indians fancy brands like Samsung and Sony, who mostly use Android. This also pushed the Android market growth to an extent,” he adds.

About the availability of human resource, he says, “There is huge demand for mobile app developers. It has become difficult to find talent. With the ample amount of opportunities students can build a successful career in this field.”

Tab for intermediate students

A

ppThoughtz, a Hyderabad-based start-up company, has launched an innovation tablet “iTopper” for the Intermediate students (MPC and BiPC) which helps students develop deep insights into various subjects like mathematics, biology, physics and chemistry. iTopper comes with bundle of in-built apps that not only enables students to access quality content from top class pub-

lishers but evaluate their own performance through self-test method. The content has been curated and aligned specifically to the teaching curriculum and approved by Cambridge University Press, VGS and other content providers. Students can also prepare and take unlimited mock tests and perform better in the real time environment while preparing for intermediate, JEE, EAMCET and NEET with out having internet

Specifications n Dimensions - 195x118x11 MM n Touch Screen - Capacitive n Camera - 2.0 Mega Pixels n Internal Memory - 24 GB Flash, 1 GB DDR3 RAM n External Memory - Up to 32 GB n Operating System - Android OS, v4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) n Resolution - 480X800 n Wifi, Bluetooth, USB Port n Call Log (Sim Card Model), n SMS (Sim Card Model)

The tablet is priced at `9,000 with a 3G-dongle connectivity and `10,500 for a sim card option.

GOLD `27,225 10g SILVER `44,156 1kg

24C

for

for

DOLLAR `56.34 POUND `86.35

13

ABE’S ‘THIRD ARROW’

TOKYO: Japan's PM Shinzo Abe will outline the "third arrow" of his economic growth plan on Wednesday, which will include plans to boost per-capita income by more than a third in 10 years, media said.

Abe is expected to unveil his target of increasing per-capita gross national income (GNI) by more than 1.5 million yen (about $15,000) over the next decade, major papers reported.

Abe has pledged to revive the economy with a plan dubbed "Abenomics", that he says involves the firing of three "arrows".

The first two — huge government spending and a flood of easy money from the central bank — have already been fired, sending the yen plunging and the stock market soaring.

The third — structural reforms — is more tricky and remains to be fully fleshed out, but is intended to trigger an "explosion of private sector vigor", Jiji Press said. It will include tax reforms for a new economic zone that his government plans to create, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily said.

NUMEROLOGY

`8,013

cr

in penalties have been imposed by the Competition Commission of India inthe last four years. However, a majority of this is yet to be realised as the companies have approached the judiciary, said former CCI chief Vinod Dhall.

FARMER SUES MONSANTO A Kansas wheat farmer has sued Monsanto after news of the discovery of unapproved genetically modified wheat on an Oregon farm, alleging harm from falling wheat prices. The farmer, Ernest Barnes, lodged a civil lawsuit in a US federal court against Monsanto on Monday, alleging "gross negligence" and seeking $1,00,000 compensation for damages.

BSE 5,919.65 NSE

19,557.83 12.05 0.20

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

Comment I'm not smart, but I like to observe. Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.

William Hazlitt English essayist

Save cricket from BCCI THE STATE OF AFFAIRS PK Surendran

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ho would have thought that we, Indians, would turn a gentleman’s game to a roughneck-andbookies’ game? Nothing is left to imagination about a game that delighted people for five centuries. And, the (dis)credit is solely ours, nay, of the avuncular body called the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). With so much of muck and slime coming out of the BCCI building, one wonders if anyone could be so cruel to a lively game. The game of cricket today lay stripped and raped to such an extent by the BCCI and its players that India looks a sorry caricature before the world of nations. It is mysterious and sad that the bigwigs of the country who waggle their tongues often unnecessarily are tongue-tied when it comes to the giant BCCI. Its chairman owns a team, India XI’s captain has stakes in a team, bookies are allowed to run free in hotels where players are staying and arrange them parties and girls besides easy money.

Why can’t a nation of 1.2 billion form its team constituted of nationally selected players? Why is it that millions who give cricket a pride of place are treated like Guinea Pigs? Why is that the Board are unable to clarify this: could a private club claim national jersey? The legal aspects are clear. BCCI can't claim monopoly over Indian cricket. It is neither a State as defined under Article-12 of Indian constitution nor its monopoly is protected by the state. When a clash ensued between Govt of India and BCCI regarding the broadcast of Indian cricket BCCI claimed it an autonomous body. Save Cricket from BCCI.

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS

And so the curtain has fallen on Advaniji’s hopes to sit in the top chair of the nation. As the majority of his party leaders favour Modi, he too will have to give his blessing, though however unwillingly it will be.

TURKISH TURMOIL

14

The West’s silent hope

THE INSIDE STORY Claire Rosemberg

C

aught off-guard by the massive protests erupting in Turkey, the country's Western partners have roundly condemned the use of excessive violence while prudently insisting on the need for calm and dialogue in a nation deemed a key regional ally.

"The silent hope is that all this will mean a return to commonsense and to a more liberal path in Turkey," said Jan Techau, director of the Carnegie Europe think tank. "The question is whether this can happen under (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip) Erdogan."

A member of the 28-nation NATO alliance and longtime EU hopeful, Turkey is a pivotal player in the region at any given time, but currently holds a trump due to its proximity with the conflict tearing Syria apart.

So it is hardly surprising that days after simmering anger vented against Erdogan spilled onto the streets, Europe's governments continue to tread a cautious line, as does Washington.

"We are confident that Turkey will overcome this difficult moment, proving itself to be a mature democracy," said Italy's Foreign Minister Emma Bonino on Tuesday.

"Italy continues to firmly believe in Turkey's European

prospects," she added, referring to Turkey's stalled bid to join the European Union.

Such comments have echoed across EU capitals in the last days.

The bloc's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton this week voiced "deep concern" over police violence but pleaded for "a peaceful solution" while Germany urged "de-escalation" reminding Erdogan that freedom of expression and assembly were "a basic right" in a democratic society.

Telling the authorities in Ankara to take an honest look at the reasons behind the protests, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius nonetheless brushed aside all talk of a "Turkish Spring" on the model of the revolutions that swept the Arab world.

"This is a government that was democratically elected," he said.

That was a view also held by visiting Turkish analyst Sinan Ulgen of the EDAM think tank, who discounted comparisons being made with the protests on Cairo's Tahrir square that swept away Egypt's Mubarak regime as simply "not correct".

"Turkey is a democracy and there is no call for regime change like in Egypt. The only overlap with Tahrir remains this immense sense of empowerment and emancipation by ordinary citizens who have seen the impact they can have on the political system," he added.

Protesters accuse Erdogan of imposing conservative Islamic reforms on the predominantly

Muslim but constitutionally secular nation.

Turkey's leadership, from Erdogan to the opposition, needs to readjust their sights to strive for a more consensual style of decision-making in a country of assertive educated people aware of what open societies are about, analysts said.

In power since 2002 and often dubbed the most influential leader since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey, Erdogan has won three successive elections, increasing his share of the vote each time.

But in the process "he's lost touch with planet Earth" -- dixit Techau -- until "it now seems that his style of governance has reached the limit of Turkish society's tolerance" -- dixit Ulgen.

Slammed by protesters as a strongman, Erdogan has remained defiant, dismissing accusations he is a "dictator".

"He wants to be the next Attaturk," Techau said.

But within his own camp, moderates have pressed home their differences and even President Abdullah Gul -- once the target of criticism because his wife wore an Islamic headscarf -- has said the protesters' message had been "received".

"The government has learnt its lesson from what happened," said Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc on Tuesday. "We do not have the right and cannot afford to ignore people.

Democracies cannot exist without opposition." "The hope is there that Erdogan will soften and that that will enable the West to find a more constructive partner in Turkey," Techau said.

Turkey's efforts to join the EU formally started in 2005 but have stalled in recent years due to reticence over its human rights record and the row over Cyprus, divided between its Greek and Turkish communities since Ankara invaded the island in 1974 after a Greece-led coup.

EDITORIALS Is this a ‘jock’?

M

ichael Christian, co-host of prank phone call linked to suicide of British nurse, is named 'best in the land' by Austereo network. This news cannot be received with nothing but with a sense of shock. Because till some months ago he along with his co-worker who was with him when they made call were the most hated personalities on earth. It is grand on his part to put what happened behind and get on with his life, for no one expects him to live the life of a martyr; his statement in reaction to the award reflects that: … regardless of all that's happened in the past few months I'm still at the top of my game.” It’s a bit hazy what the intentions of the Southern Cross Austereo network who named him Top Jock, but they ought to have thought a bit more before they acted. It might be remarkable how Christian made a comeback after coming under fire from all around the world for the insensitiveness and his cavalier attitude that caused the death of Jacintha Saldanha, but this “honour” comes a bit too soon.

READERS’ VIEWS

The other side of Bollywod

B

eyond the glitter and glamour of Bollywood, there is a side that is dark and mostly not much pried into. We only get to see that side of Bollywood through instances of tragedy, such as Jiah Khan’s suicide. As more reports emerge unravelling the mystery behind her death, we see that Bollywood is not just about smiles, songs and success, but there lurks in the shadows those whose dreams have been shattered, and with it the will to endure and prevail.

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

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

Cinema FALLING DOWN

SCREEN POOPERS

Signs of downfall

Why dance?

So, Salman Khan is doing an item number in Atul Agnihotri’s next titled O Teri. Doesn’t an item number depend on good dancing, and if that’s not an option then Katrina Kaif. Just when we begun to hope that item songs will see stunners like Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan came along and burst our bubble. The 48year-old actor can hardly twitch his eyebrows, so asking him to shake a leg is a bit much. Anyway, he’ll most probably show his standard vibrating moves. Thanks for the warning, Atul, We’ll keep our distance!

The sudden rise and steady decline of a Manoj Night Shyamalan, who once seemed like the next big thing in Hollywood, is shocking. After a long hiatus, he’s back with sci-fi action film After Earth.

EA ABHISHEK feedback@postnoon.com

Did you know? n

T

his Friday will see Will Smith and Jaden Smith starrer After Earth hit the Indian screens. The film is M Night Shyamalan’s 10th feature film as a director.

M Night Shyamalan is a director of Indian origin who was born in Mahe, a French colony in Kerala, now a part of Puducherry.

Shyamalan’s family moved to America a few months after he was born, he graduated from the New York University.

Shyamalan who took to filmmaking at a very young age and found widespread recognition in 1999 when he wrote and directed the film The Sixth Sense starring Bruce Willis along with Haley Joel Osment.

The film received huge commercial success and critical acclaim. It also went on to be nominated for 6 Academy Awards that year, Shyamalan himself getting nominated for

n

M Night Shyamalan was awarded the Padma Shri by the Indian Government in 2008.

Shyamalan won five Golden Raspberry Awards for The Last Airbender in 2010.

These are awards given to the worst films of that particular year.

Best Director, he was one of the youngest ever to be nominated for this award . Post the success of the film, Shyamalan was being called a cinematic prodigy. He was being compared to the likes of Steven Spielberg.

Today, more than a decade after the release of The Sixth Sense, all we can talk about is the fall of a director who could never keep up to the expectations of his audiences.

Unbreakable (2000) was Shyamalan’s second feature film, again starring Bruce Willis.

Unbreakable generally received positive reviews from the critics and was also a financial success.

The only problem with

this film was that it was not as good as the previous one.

In 2002, Shyamalan released Signs. This film, starring Mel Gibson in the lead was a huge commercial draw for the director. It was after Signs that the actual decline of Shyamalan as a director began. Roger Ebert, a renowned critic of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote about his next film “The Village is a colossal miscalculation.” what Ebert said holds true even for the rest of the films Shyamalan made since then.

Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008), The Last Airbender (2010) were all cinematic disasters.

Shyamalan’s films now seemed to have a certain monotony, the twist in the climax that once shocked audiences was now a trick he was playing too many times.

After Earth has been touted as Shymalan’s comeback film because he seems to have moved away from his regular formula of supernatural thrillers.

However, going by international reviews until now that does not seem to be the case. Shyamalan recently said in an interview for After Earth “I offer originality.”

The problem now is that this originality is not backed by good writing or execution, which seems to be the only difference between his early success and consequent fall.

Stop it already!

Dharmendra and his sons get the cake for being the most annoying on-screen celebrities. With their beefed-up bodies and curls that put Maggi to shame, Sunny and Bobby Deol have made us more cynical about Bollywood. Why would anybody in the world make a sequel of a mind-numbing movie like Yamla Pagla Deewana?

We don’t know. If there is one way to make them stop, it is to stop watching their movies.

TRENDING...

Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan who were last seen together in Karan Johar’s Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham will be sharing screen space once again if Bollywood buzz is anything to go by. It is rumoured that director R Balki wants to cast them together.

After making guest appearances in Om Shanti Om and Luck By Chance, Karan Johar is all set to play a fullfledged negative role opposite Ranbir Kapoor in Bombay Velvet.

KJo was last seen acting in a small role in SRK-Kajol starrer DDLJ.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

spotlight

KISMET NIGHTS

Kismet is hosting Wild, Wicked & Wacky Night at the pub tonight and DJ Jay will be belting out the rollicking numbers. So, head to the pub and have a blast.

GLAMOROUS SOIREE 1

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FLAIR FOR FASHION

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Joyful night

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A new branch of Lakhotia Institute of Design studio was launched at MPM Abids on Tuesday.

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Friends and family of Alok and Sashi Nahata trooped in at Taj Deccan to partake in the couple’s anniversary celebration. Guests were seen bonding over snacks and drinks.

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1 Aarti

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2 Laila 3 Ajita Reddy 4 Alok, Sashi Nahata 5 Anju Nanda 6 Bina, Vikram Mehta 7 Kirti, Shivani Shroff

IN THE LAP OF LUXURY

8 Sudhakar, Shobhna 9 Esha 10 Manjula Narsa 11 Honey, Rehan 12 Mourya, Ravi Raj

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Darpan furnishings launched an exclusive wabi sabi luxury interior collection on the occasion of its first anniversary at Gachibowli store on Tuesday. Actress Disha Pandey was present at the do.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

health

HIGH HEELS MAY CAUSE PERMANENT INJURY

High heels may cause permanent injury, with most women suffering pain in just over an hour of wearing height-enhancing footwear, a new study has found. Wearing ill-fitted shoes can cause long-term damage including arthritis, stress fractures, and trapped nerves.

UNDERSTANDING THE BRAIN: PART III

19

Challenge your brain An idle brain often rusts. Here are some ways to keep your brain active, engaged and healthy. These will help you concentrate, respond quickly and think better.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

PHYSICAL EXERCISE

E

xercising increases blood flow and oxygen supply to the brain. According to researchers at the University of California, voluntary exercise increases growth potential and generates new neuronal connections. According to posit-

science.com, exercises that are good for the heart — like aerobics and dance — are good for the brain as well, and early morning exercises boost information retention, relieve stress and allow you to react bet-

BRAIN WORKOUT

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rosswords are a brain workout. Experts say allotting 15 to 20 minutes a day to solve puzzles, crosswords or playing Sudoku can increase concentration capacity of the brain. This is especially helpful for senior citizens who have trouble remembering and will give their brain some exercise. Brainteasers, spellings, and math problems help stimulate the left side of the brain. They help us reason better and think better.

Several studies have suggested that music and other listening activities stimulate the brain. According to an article published in livescience.com, music improves brain function. It discusses a research project which found that music can “modify the brain’s auditory cortex” and strengthen the perception skills of children with dyslexia.

Apart from this, various listening exercises improve concentration.

Some require you to listen to a speech and then answer questions solely based on what you heard.

ter to complex situations.

Going for a swim or taking your dog for a walk can be refreshing. The benefits of yoga and breathing exercises are numerous.

Our food intake affects our overall health. Some of the foods that are good for your brain are: n Whole grains n Berries n Nuts n Salmon n Pomegranate juice n Avocados n Dark chocolate n Beans n Freshly brewed tea (Source: WebMd) Some things to do for a healthy brain n Meditate n Learn new things n Get good sleep

n Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption affect the brain and should be avoided. n If you are excessively stressed because of your job, take regular breaks and do activities that help you relax. n Environmental pollution can have a toxic effect on the health and brain.

Heavy metals like mercury found in certain foods (like fish) or job sites can prove very difficult to flush out from the body.

Avoid places like these or consider relocating. (Open Education Database)

20

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

Technology SETBACKS

US panel backs Samsung, bans older Apple devices ROB LEVER Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON: Samsung won a round in its long-running patent battle with Apple on Tuesday when a US trade panel banned the import and sale of some older models of the iPhone and iPad. The quasi-judicial International Trade Commission said it issued a “limited exclusion order” for certain devices made by Apple, in a victory for the South Korean firm after a huge loss in a court fight with its US rival last year.

The loss dealt to Apple by the ITC could make the Cupertino, California-based company more amenable to negotiating settlements on some of the many legal fronts where it is waging patent war with Samsung.

“Up to now, Apple has been winning the big judgments, which means there was no reason to come to the table,” said independent Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle.

“It looked like Apple held all the cards,” he said. “But if this holds up and both companies have something to lose, you can get negotiation.”

Tuesday’s victory could be largely symbolic because the ban covers devices that are no longer actively sold in the US market — the AT&T iPhone 4 and iPhone 3 and 3GS, as well as the iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G. But it is likely that Samsung will explore

The victory could be largely symbolic because the ban covers devices that are no longer sold in the US market.

Apple called ‘facilitator’ of ebook pricing shift NEW YORK: Apple was accused of being a “facilitator” and “go-between” of a publishing industry shift that led to higher ebook prices, in testimony in a US anti-trust trial against the firm. David Shanks, chief executive of Penguin USA, confirmed his characterisation of Apple during the first full day of testimony. The government says Apple was a ringleader of the major publishing houses in a conspiracy to lift the price of bestselling ebooks from $9.99 charged by Amazon, which dominated the sector before Apple’s entry. The case centers on an intense month-and-a-half of negotiations between Apple and the six largest US publishers ahead of Apple’s January 2010 launch of its iPad and announcement of its ebookstore. Prior to then, publishers sold books to online booksellers through a “retail” model in which the retailer set the price. AFP

the feasibility of launching similar legal attacks at newer products from the company.

“Typically, once you win something like this, you try to apply it to the new products,” the analyst said. “This may put enough risk on Apple to get them more open to talking with Samsung.”

“We believe the ITC’s final determination has confirmed Apple’s history of free-riding on Samsung’s technological innovations,” a Samsung statement said.

“Our decades of research and development in mobile technologies will continue, and we will continue to offer innovative products to consumers in the US.” Apple did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

The case was filed in August 2011 amid a flurry of litigation between the two rivals over patents in the hot market for tablets and smartphones.

In a separate patent fight in US federal court, Samsung was

ordered last August to pay more than $1 billion for patent infringement, which also opens the door to a ban on some Samsung devices. A judge later slashed the award to $598.9 million.

Apple has been seeking to ban some of the newer 4G phones from Samsung’s Galaxy line, as well as the Droid Charge sold through Verizon in that case, which is being appealed.

The news came on the same day the White House moved to crack down on abuses of the patent system, responding to mounting concern among technology companies over a flood of litigation that some say stifles innovation.

The White House said new action is needed in the face of a flood of recent patent litigation, particularly in the smartphone sector, and because “several major companies spend more on patent litigation and defensive acquisition than on research and development”.

The latest moves target so-called “patent trolls” which, according to the White House, “hijack” ideas and take other companies to court with an eye to collecting licence or royalty fees.

Meanwhile, Apple has asked a federal judge in Silicon Valley to add Samsung’s new flagship Galaxy smartphone to the list of devices targeted in a patent lawsuit involving Siri personal assistant software.

The trial is not expected to begin until early next year.

CUBANS GET PUBLIC NET Cubans barred from logging on to the Internet at home on Tuesday flocked to newly opened public access spots to surf an uncensored Internet — if they could afford the high prices. Cuba has one of the lowest Internet use rates in all of Latin America: 2.6 million in 2011 out of a population of 11.1 million. Only doctors, journalists and certain other professionals are allowed to connect to the Web from home.

Dissidents have said the government’s goal has been to control access to information and that restricting Internet access is just another form of censorship in a country where all media outlets are state-controlled.

SMARTPHONE WATERSHED

Smartphone sales will eclipse those of basic mobile phones this year for the first time as desire for handheld computing power grows, a market tracker said Tuesday. International Data Corporation expected smartphone shipments worldwide to reach 958.8 million units, topping last year’s total by 32.7 per cent to account for 52.2 per cent of the mobile phone market. Shipments of smartphones topped those of basic mobile phones for the first time ever in the first three months of this year, according to IDC.

HURDLES FOR GLASS PORN The makers of a porn app for Google’s Internet-linked eyewear were modifying the software Tuesday in response to a move by the company to keep sex off the new devices. Google evidently updated its Glass developer rules over the weekend, ahead of the release of an application on Monday by California-based MiKandi. MiKandi portrayed itself as one of the first, and perhaps the only, porn shop creating applications for Glass. However, Google guidelines posted online for Glass application developers contained a clause stating: “We don’t allow Glassware content that contains nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material.”

21

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

Entertainment CINE BYTES

IN THEIR GENES

LET THE MAGIC BEGIN! Balakrishna’s new film launched

B

alakrishna’s new film in Boyapati Srinu’s direction was officially launched earlier this week in Hyderabad. The principal shooting of this untitled film is expected to begin in August and the heroine is yet to be finalised.

The film will be produced under 14 Reels Entertainment banner and Sai Korrapati, the producer of Eega, is presenting the film.

Vakkantham Vamsi to direct NTR

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opular writer Vakkantham Vamsi is all set to don a new hat. In a recent interview, he revealed that he’s going to direct a film in which NTR is going to play the lead role. “NTR had given his green signal two years ago and for the past year and a half, I have been working on the script,” Vamsi said.

Meenakshi Dixit’s next is a thriller

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eenakshi Dixit, who was last seen in an item number in Baadshah, has been signed up to play the lead role in a thriller film titled Adavi Kaachina Vennela.

Arvind Krishna is playing the lead role and newcomer Akki Vishwanadha Reddy has directed the film. Most part of the film has already been wrapped up and it’s expected to hit the screens soon.

M

anam, one of the anticipated films of the year, was formally launched couple of days ago in a low key ceremony at Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad. For the first time ever, three generation of stars from Akkineni family – ANR, Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya are coming together for a film and it’ll be directed

by Vikram Kumar, who had earlier made Ishq. Although the film’s pre-production was completed few weeks

ago, the team decided to begin the shoot in June since Nagarjuna didn’t want ANR to feel uncomfortable due to the scorching heat in May. Soon after the official launch of the film, Nagarjuna posted on Twitter, “We did a small puja to mark the beginning of our film manam/an emotional day for all of us/wish mother was there..(sic).” Shriya Saran is paired up with Nagarjuna whereas Samantha will play Naga Chaitanya’s romantic interest. Few days ago, while addressing the media, Nagarjuna

revealed, “Manam is going to be a laugh riot but more than that, it’s a magical film.

I am quite impressed by how Vikram

Kumar has conceived the scenes. The conversations and relationship between the characters have been etched out beautifully.” He further clarified that Akhil won’t be acting in the film and added, “There’s still a long way to go before Akhil makes his debut.

For now, it’s only three of us.” Anup Rubens will be scoring the music and Harshavardhan has been roped in to write the dialogues. The film’s shooting is expected to be wrapped up by October.

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Entertainment WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013 CINE BYTES

‘TV actors work in unhygienic conditions’

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he shockingly sudden death of television actor Abir Goswami of a heart attack has raised the perennial issue of unearthly hours and dreadful work conditions afforded to television actors. “We have to work almost non-stop for 14-16 hours in the most unhygienic conditions. I was once shooting for my serial Adaalat on a set erected right next to a garbage dump...day and night!” he said.

IANS

Zaalim Dilli has no critical agenda

MUM’S THE WORD

My mother is my hero: Sonali Bendre W

ho is Sonali Bendre’s real life hero? The actress calls her mother her hero for raising three daughters with very limited resources and giving them wings despite being not so educated. She admits this kind of heroism is not so uncommon in the country.

“My mother has done a great job with her kids,” the 38-year-old actress said. “The daily struggle of raising three daughters with a very limited income, yet seeing to it that they get a good upbringing, giving her daughters the wings even after not being so educated — that person is my hero.”

Having said that, she feels that “this kind of heroism is in most of the women in India because they all are doing that”.

Hailing from a middle-class family,

B

ollywood actress Ira Dubey says Japinder Kaur Baweja directed Zaalim Dilli is a light-hearted film and has no social message. Although Zaalim Dilli is based in Delhi, which is in the news for rising crime against women, the film has romance, heart break and action. “It is a light-hearted film. It has no critical agenda or angle,” Ira said.

IANS

Shashi Kapoor too watched YJHD

Y

esteryears’ actor Shashi Kapoor watched grandnephew Ranbir Kapoor’s latest film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.

The 75-year-old even greeted fans outside PVR Juhu Monday.

Milap Zaveri posted on Twitter: “Saw the legend Shashi Kapoorji at PVR Juhu last night being wheeled out on a wheelchair after seeing ‘YJHD’. He sweetly greeted people too.”

IANS

It would be good if companies could let a woman have maternity leave for the first couple of years so that she can take care of her child.

Sonali Bendre Bollywood actress

Bendre entered filmdom through ads and later rose on the firmament with her work in Sarfarosh, Zakhm, and Duplicate.

After playing a successful innings, she tied the knot with filmmaker Goldie Behl and settled down. Mother of a seven-and-a-half-yearold son, she has immense respect for women who balance family and work.

“I had the luxury of making a choice (whether to work or not). All the women don’t have this luxury and I really don’t know how they do it. If I had to do everything on my own, I would have fallen apart,” she confessed.

“I have an immense amount of respect for women who leave their kids and go to work, because they have to. They don’t have a choice. I couldn’t have done that,” she added.

After becoming a mother, Sonali cut down on her work as her priority was to be a hands-on mother. Off and on, she appears on the small screen as a judge of reality shows.

“From what I know and what I have read, the first seven years of a child’s life are very important be it for their emotional quotient, body type, IQ or habits,” she said and added that much of a child’s personality evolves in the first seven years.

“So for me, it was very clear that the first seven years of my son’s life should be good,” said the actress who recently judged India’s Best Dramebaaz.

Sonali wishes for longish maternity leaves than the prevailing one for new moms.

“It would be good if companies could let a woman have maternity leave for the first couple of years, so that she can take care of her child, because what a mother can give during that period nobody else can,” she said.

IANS

Entertainment WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

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Entertainment WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

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Entertainment WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

KICKING IT OFF

CINE BYTES

‘Wife attractive in many ways’

A

ctor Matthew McConaughey finds his wife Camila Alves sexy in many different ways. The couple, who got married in 2012, have three children - sons Levi, five, Livingston, six-month-old and daughter Vida, three. “There are ways she is sexy as a woman.

There are ways she is sexy as a human. There are ways she is sexy as a mother. There are many angles,” eonline.com quoted McConaughey as saying.

IANS

Kim feels blessed after baby shower

S

Brad Pitt wants David Beckham to teach kids football

LOS ANGELES: Actor Brad Pitt says he wants footballer David Beckham to teach his six children how to play the sport.

The 49-year-old actor has six children with fiancee Angelina Jolie - Maddox, 11, Pax, nine, Zahara, eight, Shiloh, six, and fouryear-old twins Knox and Vivienne.

“I want him to teach my kids soccer,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted Pitt as saying.

The 49-year-old also believes the retired football star could make it in Hollywood if he decides to pursue a career in acting.

“I think he’s got what it takes,” he said.

IANS

ocialite Kim Kardashian says she feels blessed after getting a lavish baby shower. “Wow! An amazing baby shower! So much love there. Thank you Kris Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian, Shelli and Allison Azoff for the magical day,” Kim posted on Twitter. “Truly such a special day.”

IANS

Tom Cruise misses Katie Holmes?

A

ctor Tom Cruise reportedly misses his ex-wife Katie Holmes, especially when he sees her happy and carefree. The duo was married for six years before parting ways in 2012. “Katie hasn’t looked this happy and carefree in years. It reminds him of the girl he fell in love with,” OK magazine quoted a source. Cruise, 50, is still in love with Holmes, who is rumoured to be dating actor Luke Kirby.

IANS

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.

Norman Vincent Peale

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 Salesman, briefly 4 What opponents take 9 Group of key personnel 14 ‘Oklahoma!’ Annie 15 Travel in neutral 16 Bubbling on the stove 17 Memoir that details intimate matters, eg 20 Certain construction girder 21 Lighter in color 22 Counterfeit quarter, eg 23 Banded venomous snakes 26 A degree of success?

29 That lady’s pronoun 30 Pine for 31 Swine with tusks 32 Mends argyles, say 33 Rash and impetuous 35 They’re scored by sycophants 38 Nods off 39 Performance averages 40 Elephant-carrying birds, in myth 41 Equine features 42 Feminine pronoun 45 Champion skater Midori 46 More like day-old bread 48 Alternative to Aspen 49 Switching device 51 A bit ludicrous 52 Be almost truthful 57 Mountain nymph of Greek myth 58 Davy Crockett’s last stand 59 Bridal bio word 60 Hitchcock film (with ‘The’) 61 Calendar model, perhaps 62 Pub drink

DOWN

1 Jauntily dashing 2 Fit for eating

3 One who affects a false attitude 4 Unethical way to make money 5 It comes with a small charge 6 Christmas gift recipient, often 7 Attendance fig, often 8 Act as a substitute 9 They may be screened 10 Monastery resident 11 Lintel supporter 12 Carnival city, casually 13 Yellowstone herd member 18 Be in need of a lift 19 Back muscle, in gym lingo 23 ‘Growing Pains’ star Joanna 24 Rajah’s mate 25 Weapons cache 27 Cries of derision 28 Prohibition promoter 30 Utter a loud, harsh cry 31 Blackballs 32 Fawns’ mums 33 Auger or destructive bug 34 Custom auto accessories 35 Clean, as with paper towels 36 Simple wind instrument 37 Indian corn bread 38 Respectful Bombay title 41 By chance, old-style 42 Central Kansas city 43 Jewish campus group 44 French ‘White House’ 46 They’re dragged up hills 47 ‘I tawt I taw a puddy ___’ 48 Word on Italian street maps 50 ‘Good heavens!’

51 What to do ‘in the name of love’ 52 Pocket watch attachment 53 Geller of mind games 54 Manning of the Giants 55 Former vice president Quayle 56 Australian big bird

Chai Time WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 6-6-2013

27

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Your influence is set to increase.

Politicians advised to be cordial with everyone. Those in love will be happy as support from both families likely. Businessmen face hurdles and minor tension but will come out of them with timely, wise action.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

Professionals like doctors, lawyers and CAs prosper. Govt officials likely to be punished for irregularities; be careful.

Deficit financial situation likely to put you under pressure.

Working women face internal issues at office.

Financial fortune likely for some. Debts issues will be managed wisely. Women keep their spouse happy by fulfilling their wishes. Avoid new friendship as you might land in trouble due to bad ones. Success is certain in all work undertaken.

Marriage of son or daughter to be finalised. Those in search of job get favourable news. Promotion and pay hike on cards for employees. Unexpected financial fortune likely which cheer you. Businessmen likely to get new and promising chances.

Self-confidence level is at its peak. Expenses will increase but good flow of income will take care of them. You complete even difficult tasks that others could not. You will be a straightforward person and never allow anyone to go wrong.

The jobless will get a new job soon. Children co-operate with you and make you very happy.

You attend celebrations at a relative’s place and feel happy to meet close friends and relatives. Benefits through spouse and heavy shopping likely.

Businessmen likely to grow steadily; profits too will jump beyond expectation due to their efforts. Leave problems at workplace and home in their respective places. Misunderstanding with family members needs to be avoided totally.

Health needs attention. With determination, you complete even challenging tasks successfully. A court verdict goes in your favour. Foreign trip pending since long will now be a reality. Also, purpose of the trip will be successful.

Those awaiting marriage to get good news soon. Employees might be entrusted with new responsibilities and recognition if they complete work as per management’s expectations. Businessmen will smash competitors and march ahead.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Two of Wands – You are a torchbearer of change and need to have the confidence within to be able to see your ideas through.

You have some great ideas.

LEO:

Queen of Swords – Hope springs and you feel more optimistic about how things work, and what your role is in the grander scheme of things. Keep your chin up.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Three of Pentacles – You are a tough person – almost like a warrior who will not give up till the end. But your current circumstances may need more diplomacy.

SAGITTARIUS:

King of Cups – You have recently had a dramatic escape from a situation that may have chained you to something you particularly hate.

TAURUS:

Page of Swords – You may be treating only the symptom and not the cause. Find the root of the problem and get rid of it once and for all.

CANCER:

Two of Cups – Don’t get into the habit of drawing conclusions without knowing the entire truth. Collect sufficient knowledge before you blame someone.

VIRGO:

King of Wands – You think you can get away without working very hard. But you soon realize that’s not possible. You have to work doubly hard.

SCORPIO:

Four of Wands – it is impossible to recreate the joys of yesterday – especially the simplicity of life and the way things would magically fall in place.

CAPRICORN:

Knight of Swords – The impact of your words and actions in the past is being felt now. You look back and wish you hadn’t said those things.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Three of Swords – You need to be open to challenge yourself and once again learn the rules of the game. Not everything stays the same throughout.

NUMBER GAME

Wands – The biggest value you have is simplicity. Make use of this to further your career. Use simple ideas and easy and convenient ways to work.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Knight of

POOCH CAFE

Father’s could be a cause for concern; good care is needed.

Problems faced by employees at workplace will come to an end. A journey within a short notice likely. Newlyweds have reason to cheer since their offspring could come soon.

for 6-6-2013

The Chariot – You are in the mood to be innocent and playful. Good thing, because it has become quite infectious. People around you are also loosening up.

NON SEQUITUR

Newlyweds to be blessed with an offspring soon. Avoid interfering in anyone’s personal issue and also mediation of a third person in your personal one. Unwanted anger and emotional outbursts might spell trouble for you.

SUDUKO

Employees complete challenging tasks without difficulties.

Relatives might seek help in critical issues that might irk you. Businessmen face tough competition and succeed. They attract customers with attractive and wise schemes.

Boggle SPAIN POLAND GERMANY PORTUGAL Vol: 2, No 320 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved.

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

28

Entertainment WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

IN LOW SPIRITS

CINE BYTES

Demi Moore seeking spiritual help?

LOS ANGELES ctress Demi Moore is reportedly seeking spiritual help to move on from the dilemma of her failed marriage with estranged husband Ashton Kutcher.

Moore and Kutcher ended their relation in 2011 when the latter was caught cheating in their six-year-old marriage. The actors filed for a divorce in 2012.

Moore is taking the help of Paddi Moore, a Mexico-based astrologer and counsellor, to help her cleanse her soul of the negative energy and restore her karma, reports nypost.com.

“Demi's been getting spiritual instruction. Paddi's helping Demi clear the negative energy out of her life. Demi's been focusing on strengthening her interpersonal relationship and trying to cleanse her karma of all the nastiness of the past,” a source said.

“Demi has told those close to her that her sessions with the astrologer have been life-changing and they're helping her keep her demons in check,” the source added.

While Moore is struggling to get over her part, Kutcher is dating actress Mila Kunis.

A

IANS

Milano to host Project Runway season 3

P

repare to be charmed by Project Runway All Stars' new host! Alyssa Milano is set to host the upcoming third season of the series. “I'm so excited about doing the show,” Milano said of her new gig. Milano, whose new series Mistressesdebuts tonight on ABC, replaced Carolyn Murphy as the series' host, who took over for Angela Lindvall after season one.

IANS

LeAnn Rimes was afraid to be alone

S

inger-songwriter LeAnn Rimes says she was afraid to be alone before she went to rehab last year.

The country singer, who checked into a treatment centre for anxiety and depression last August, admits she cried every day and couldn't get out of bed. She has said her problems stemmed from growing up in the spotlight. IANS

Benicio del Toro joins Guardians of the Galaxy

M

arvel continues to add some interesting acting clout to its space-set superhero fantasy Guardians of the Galaxy, with Benicio Del Toro the latest thesp to join the growing cast. The character Del Toro would play has not been revealed yet. Like most actors that sign up to star in Marvel’s films, Del Toro’s deal will involve multiple films.

IANS

sports

29

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

ROAD TO WORLD CUP 2014

Japan seals place in WC

Keisuke Honda was elevated to national hero with banner front pages hailing his last gasp equaliser against Australia that secured Japan’s berth to the World Cup. TOKYO: Keisuke Honda was elevated to national hero Wednesday with banner front pages hailing his last gasp equaliser against Australia that secured Japan’s berth to the World Cup. The midfielder banged home a stoppage time penalty at Saitama Stadium near Tokyo to give the Asian champions the draw they needed to propel them to Brazil as the first team to qualify.

“Japan qualifies for World Cup,” screamed the mass-selling Yomiuri Shimbun, in a headline echoed by most newspapers.

“Honda World Cup. Grandpa, I did it,” said the Sports Nippon on a wraparound front page that showed the goal-scorer on his knees looking up to the

Mexico edge Jamaica, grab qualifying lead

Japan players spray water at coach Alberto Zaccheroni (C) during a jublation after defeating Australia in the Asian final qualyfying round for the 2014 World Cup in Saitama, suburban Tokyo on Tuesday.

AFP/KAZUHIRO NOGI

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: Aldo de Nigris scored in the 48th minute to give Mexico a 1-0 victory over Jamaica on Tuesday in a North American qualifying match for the 2014 World Cup. De Nigris headed home a crossing pass from defender Carlos Salcido for the only goal to lift the Mexicans atop the six-team CONCACAF regional qualifying group. Jamaican goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts denied Man United striker Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez in the 62nd minute, and deflected a 1-on1 effort by the English Premier League star with a right hand in the 84th minute.

AFP

NBA

LeBron sparks Heat against Spurs MIAMI: LeBron James (right) has the chance for revenge against the team that spoiled his first trip to the NBA Finals when the Miami Heat meet the San Antonio Spurs in this year’s championship series starting Thursday.

James, a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, will lead defending champion Miami into the best-ofseven showdown with the veteran Spurs, who won four titles from 1999 through 2007 but have not returned to the NBA Finals since.

“They have got a bunch of Hall of Famers, so I look forward to the challenge,” James said.

“This is an opportunity for us again to be able to win a

TENNIS

championship. I have a lot of work to still do, but it’s a great thing to be in this position.”

James, likely destined for the Basketball Hall of Fame himself, first reached the NBA Finals with Cleveland in 2007, when the Spurs swept the Cavaliers to claim the crown.

Three years later, James took his talents to Miami to play alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and the Heat have reached the NBA Finals ever since, losing to Dallas in 2011 before beating Oklahoma City last year to give “King” James his first NBA crown.

“Our team is more experienced,” James said. “My Cleveland team, we were very young and we went up against a very experienced, well-coached team. And they took advantage of everything that we did.

“This is our third year advancing to the finals, so we’re very experienced as well. We’re not young. We’re not inexperienced. We understand the opportunity that we have.

“And I’m a much better player. I’m 20, 40, 50 times better than I was in the ‘07 Finals.

We’re all better.”

The Spurs have not sat on their laurels either, although they will have been off 10 days before the opener since sweeping Memphis in the Western Conference final while Indiana took the Heat to seven games in the East final.

“They are going to be more in a rhythm than us, but hopefully we’ll be rusty (only) in the first quarter, first half,” Spurs guard Tony Parker said.

“Hopefully we’ll be better in the second half.”

AFP

AP teams surge ahead

NEW DELHI: The Andhra Pradesh boys and girls team defeated their respective opponents in the AITA U-14 Inter State Nationals being held at the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium here on Tuesday.

While the girls team beat the Madhya Pradesh side 3-0, the

AP boys side got the better of Haryana when they defeated them 2-1.

Both the teams from AP play against Uttar Pradesh in the next round. Both the boys’ and the girls’ sides will have to win their respectives clashes in order to cement a place int he

semifinals.

Results: Girls: AP bt Madhya Pradesh 3-0 S.Ravina Reddy bt Prakriti Banwani 4-2, 4-2; Peddada Sivanuja bt Tuhina Chopra 4-0, 4-2; S Ravina Reddy/Sivanuja Peddada bt Aadhya

Tiwari/Prakriti Banwani 4-2, 4-2.

Boys: AP bt Haryana 2-1 AK Rohit lost to Arnav Bharadwaj 0-4, 2-4; Kosaraju Sivadeep bt Ankit Rao 4-0, 4-0; Srivatsa Ratakonda/Sivadeep Kosaraju bt Arnav Bharadwaj/Ankit Rao 4-2, 4-2.

sky. The player’s grandfather died last month. Wednesday morning television devoted a large chunk of broadcast time to the dramatic equaliser off a penalty won after an apparently unwitting handball in the area by Australia’s Matthew McKay. The 1-1 result left the Asian champions seven points clear and uncatchable in Group B, putting them through to their fifth straight World Cup. It was the first time they have sealed qualification on home soil. More than 15,000 fans watching the game on screens at the National Stadium in Tokyo erupted on the final whistle into chants of “Nippon!

Nippon!” while 2,500 supporters at the Nagai stadium in Osaka shouted the scorer’s name. AFP

CYCLING

Cookson launches plan to unseat Pat McQuaid MILAN: Dragging cycling from the “mire” of the Lance Armstrong affair will be Brian Cookson’s objective if the British Cycling chief succeeds in unseating International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid later this year.

McQuaid’s bid for a third term as president of cycling’s ruling body is set to be decided at a UCI congress at the world championships in Florence in September. However the Irishman’s tenure is under threat for the first time as the sport battles to rid itself of allegations of collusion in the biggest scandal in its history.

During his tenure McQuaid is credited with introducing measures to boost the fight against doping and taking top level events to new countries in a bid to globalise the sport. Yet questions remain over the UCI’s role in allegedly helping Armstrong, the Tour winner in 1999-2005, by covering up tests previously failed by the American. McQuaid was still only a UCI member when Armstrong retired the first time, in 2005. However the governing body is under the microscope. As well as fingering Armstrong, the publication of a damning report by the USADA report in October last year also left a shadow over UCI following accusations the body had been complicit in covering up previous positive tests.

AFP

sports

30

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

FIXING SAGA

Vindoo, Meiyappan get bail MUMBAI/ NEW DELHI/ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Mumbai court Tuesday granted bail to CSK team principal Gurunath Meiyappan, Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh Randhawa and two others while in Delhi, bail was denied to Test cricketer S. Sreesanth after police said it had invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against him in the IPL betting and spot fixing scam.

Meiyappan and Vindoo, hawala operator Alpesh Patel and bookie Prem Taneja walked out of the police lock-up in the evening after their conditional bail formalities were completed, including furnishing bail bonds of Rs.25,000 each.

As Meyappan, son-in-law of N. Srinivasan, who had stepped aside as Indian cricket board president and Vindoo came out, they were mobbed by a waiting media contingent but they declined to speak.

Granting them bail in the morning, Additional Metropolitan Magistrate M.N.Saleem imposed conditions like preventing them from leaving the country and reporting to the police station every alternate day.

The bail order came a day after they were sent to judicial custody Monday which the accused followed up with bail applications. However, the court had reserved its orders in the

matter and posted them for hearing Tuesday.

Their lawyers argued that their clients’ offences were of a b’ilable nature and they had already spent sufficient time in police custody.

Delhi Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Lokesh Kumar Sharma extended the judicial custody of Sreesanth and 16 other accused, who applied for bail, till June 18.

The court was told that MCOCA has been invoked against the 25 accused as they were allegedly facilitating the illegal acts of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aide

BIG SUPPORT

CRITERIUM DU DAUPHINE

Vaughan rounds on Trott critics LONDON: Michael Vaughan believes all those who criticise England batsman Jonathan Trott for slow scoring are talking “nonsense”.

Trott top-scored for England with 109 not out off 104 balls but could not prevent an 86-run defeat against New Zealand at Southampton on Sunday that saw the tourists take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in a three-match one-day series. South Africaborn Trott, 32, has often been accused of slow-scoring.

But former England captain Vaughan said the real batting issue for England’s one-day side was the form of the rest of the top order, not Trott’s method.

Asked if the criticism might get to Trott, Vaughan — who led England to Ashes glory in 2005 said: “I hope not, because I think

Chhota Shakeel.

Rajasthan Royals players Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan and 22 others were arrested after Delhi Police intercepted telephone calls of those linked to the Mumbai underworld.

Of the 26 accused, Chavan and Sreesanth’s friend Abhishek Shukla have been given bail. Coaccused Ashwani Aggarwal was sent to Mumbai on a production warrant issued by a court there.

Now that MCOCA has been invoked against accused, Additional Sessions Judge Sanjeev Jain will hear the bail applications of the 16 accused.

it is nonsense, I really do.

“The Trott debate was a debate maybe two years ago, but it is null and void now because he has scored 2,500 runs.

“He has a strike rate of 75. I know that if everyone strikes at 75, the average score will be 225.

What is important are the other players around him — they are the ones I would be looking at rather than Jonathan Trott.” AFP

Boasson Hagen takes 3rd stage TARARE: Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen on Tuesday saluted his teammates for helping him secure victory in the Tour de France warm-up the Criterium du Dauphine in a sprint finish.

“The team worked well for me in the final straight, the last climb and descent,” the 26-year-old told reporters in Tarare, near Lyon.

“Geraint (Thomas) worked hard to catch those in front and they carried me along well.”

Boasson Hagen beat Australia’s Michael Matthews and Belgium’s Gianni Meersman to the line at the end of the 167km ride.

AFP

Apart from the three Rajasthan players, the other accused include former IPL player Amit Kumar Singh and former Ranji players Manoj Guddewar and Babu Rao Yadav.

Bookies Jiju Janardhan, Deepak Kumar, Manan Bhat, Chandresh Patel, Ramakant Aggarwal, Rakesh, Sunil Bhatia, Kiran Dole, Ashwani Aggarwal, Mohd Yahya, Ajay Goel, Love Garg, Amit Gupta, Bhupender Nagar, Sunil Saxena, Sayed Durez Ahmed, bouncer Vikash Chowdhury and businessmen Vinod Sharma and Nitin Jain are also accused in the case.

The court was earlier informed that police were investigating the angle of Dawood Ibrahim and that interception of calls suggested several big names may be involved in the spot fixing.

Police said they were working on missing links.

Meanwhile, Sreesanth confided with two Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) officials that he is innocent and is baffled by the rejection of his bail plea.

“Sreesanth was taken aback to hear that his bail application has been rejected and the Delhi Police have invoked Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against him,” Sreejith Nair, one of the two KCA officials and a noted criminal lawyer, told IANS after meeting the cricketer at Delhi’s Tihar jail.

IANS

Wonder boy falls from grace DHAKA: It has been a devastating fall from grace for Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful, known as international cricket’s boy wonder and a national sporting hero.

Ashraful, suspended Tuesday by Bangladesh authorities after confessing to match-fixing, was Test cricket’s youngest ever century-maker.

“I should have not done this injustice to the nation. I feel guilty,” he said in a televised interview, appealing to countrymen to “Please all forgive me, my conduct was improper.”

Ashraful burst onto the international cricket scene just a year after Bangladesh was controversially drafted into the game’s elite Test club, and was seen as the country’s biggest hope when he cracked a century against Sri Lanka at the debut.

That century made him an instant star at the age of 16 and earned him a rare record in Test cricket’s nearly 150-year history.

He was catapulted to demigod status at home after steering the nation to a string of stunning victories in one-day international matches.

AFP

ROME GOLDEN GALA

Bolt: ready steady go ROME: Six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt said he is ready to put his injury woes behind him when he lines up at the Rome Golden Gala for his first appearance of the year in Europe on Thursday.

Bolt’s start to the season has been hampered by hamstring problems and, a month ago, American rival Justin Gatlin posted an impressive time of 9.97sec at the opening Diamond League event of the season in Doha. Meanwhile, Bolt was clocking a comparatively mediocre time of 10.09sec for the 100 metres at the Cayman Invitational, way behind his world record time of 9.58.

But, ahead of his European debut at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on Thursday, the 26-year-old Jamaican said he is now up to competition speed.

“I’m feeling great, (I’ve) been doing a lot of work, working on

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt gestures as he poses during a press conference.

AFP

my speed and endurance for the past couple of weeks,” Bolt told reporters in Rome on Tuesday.

“I’ve done a few starts, so everything is coming together.”

He added: “I’m happy with where I’m at, the coach is happy, I’m in good shape so I’m just looking forward to going out there and competing at my best.”

The Rome Golden Gala is the fifth meet in the 14-leg Diamond League seaso.

AFP

sports

31

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

CHAMPIONS TROPHY

Familiar foes for Kirsten

Gary Kirsten begins his final stint as South Africa’s coach against former team India in the Champions Trophy opener in Cardiff tomorrow.

KULDIP LAL Agence France-Presse CARDIFF, UNITED KINGDOM: Gary Kirsten begins his final stint as South Africa’s (right) coach against former team India in the Champions Trophy opener in Cardiff on Thursday.

The last time the two teams played an ODI, during the 2011 World Cup, Kirsten was on the other side as India’s coach, plotting their eventual title triumph on home soil.

Kirsten left India after the World Cup to take up the job with his home country, leading the Proteas side to the top of the world rankings in Test cricket.

This edition of the Champions Trophy will be the popular 45year-old’s last assignment with South Africa, before he makes away for his deputy Russell Domingo in order to devote time to his family.

South Africa’s one-day captain, AB de Villiers, hoped his side, often ridiculed as chokers for their failure to win major

ASHES

Warne backs ‘heroic’ Ahmed

LONDON: Shane Warne believes “heroic” and “courageous” Pakistani-born leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed can become an unlikely Ashes hero for Australia in England later this year.

Former refugee Ahmed, 31, will be eligible if minor changes to Australia’s citizenship legislation pass through parliament in the next few weeks, having fled his native Pakistan in 2010.

Australia currently have only one spinner in their 16-man squad in Nathan Lyon but there are many who believe Ahmed could be of more use to Michael Clarke’s men when they try to regain the Ashes from England in a series starting in July.

“I think for him the whole story of his is a very courageous one,” Australia great Warne told BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday.

“He’s come to Australia for a better life. What he has done is an interesting story,” added legendary leg-spinner Warne, who took 708 Test wickets.

“I wish him all the best and I really hope all the documentation goes through because I think he could be a real surprise element for Australia.”

AFP

titles, will give the coach a fitting farewell by winning tournament.

“It would be nice to give him a good farewell,” said de Villiers.

“He’s been a great coach to us.

We’ve learnt a lot from him in the few years that he’s been with us.

“He’s more like a mentor on the team. I find it funny calling him coach because no one calls him coach. He’s almost like one of our friends and a mentor kind of guy.”

Kirsten will be up against an almost new-look Indian squad with just three players — skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina — having played in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka in Mumbai two years ago.

India go into the tournament as the top-ranked one-day side, but have lost five of their last seven internationals against South Africa.

The Proteas are often regarded as the best side never to have won cricket’s showpiece, the 50over World Cup, or the World Twenty20, and de Villiers was desperate to set the record straight.

“We represent a very proud cricketing nation, and we’d like to make them proud in this tournament.”

But South Africa’s prospects of making a winning start could be hampered if star fast bowler Dale Steyn is ruled out with the side strain that meant he only bowled five overs in a warm-up match against Pakistan.

The Proteas have misfired so often in major events that few can recall their victory in the inaugural ICC knockout tournament in Bangladesh in 1998, an event that later became the Champions Trophy.

Dhoni’s men, meanwhile, will look to draw millions of their fans back to on-field cricket issues following the unsavoury spot-fixing scandal in the IPL that has hogged the media spotlight for the past fortnight.

Steyn injury a big worry LONDON: South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn is a doubt for the opening match of the Champions Trophy, against India in Cardiff on Thursday, because of a side strain.

Steyn felt discomfort in the Proteas’ warm-up match against Pakistan and bowled only five overs.

South Africa team manager Dr Mohammed Moosajee said Tuesday: “Dale complained of some discomfort during the warm-up match against Pakistan on Monday and, because of the sensitive nature of the affected area, he was subsequently taken for an MRI scan which revealed mild swelling in a left intercostal muscle, in the region of the 11th and 12th rib.

“At this stage we are unable to determine whether he will be available for the first match against India in Cardiff, however, we will be assessing and treating intensively on a daily basis.”

However, there was more encouraging news for allrounder Robin Peterson, hit on the left foot in the same match.

AFP

India thrash Australia in warm-up tie CARDIFF, UNITED KINGDOM: India hammered Australia by 243 runs in a Champions Trophy warm-up match after skittling out the defending champions for just 65 in Cardiff on Tuesday.

Umesh Yadav, who joined the squad late following his recent marriage, took the first five wickets to fall in a stunning return of five for 18 in just five overs.

Meanwhile fellow paceman Ishant Sharma bagged three for 11, including Shane Watson, who scored a hundred for

India’s Dinesh Karthik plays a shot during the warm-up cricket match ahead of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy between India and Australia at The Cardiff Wales Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on Tuesday.

AFP/PAUL ELLIS

Australia in their warm-up match against the West Indies.

Only two Australia batsmen Adam Voges (23) and Phil Hughes (14) made it into double figures, with the innings all wrapped up in the 24th over.

Earlier, the current world champions India had collapsed to a paltry 55 for five before Dinesh Karthik revived the innings with a superb 146 not out, adding 211 for the fifth wicket with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (91) to get the side to a formidable total of 308 for six.

AFP

TWIST IN THE TALE

May quits as players’ chief, slams ICC

SYDNEY: Tim May on Wednesday quit as head of cricket’s international players’ union after eight years, lashing out at the sport’s powerbrokers and their alleged “threats, intimidation and backroom deals”.

May, who was last month controversially ousted from an International Cricket Council players’ committee amid allegations of pressure from India, said he was tired of battling the governing body.

“More and more we see allegations of corruption and malpractice on and off the

A file photo shows Tim May (C) and Chris Tetley(R) with a Gujarat Cricket Association’s official at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium.

AFP

field dominating headlines,” he said, stepping down as the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) chief.

“As stakeholders in the game we look to leadership from the ICC to address these and other issues.

“A vital ingredient of any organisation is the ability of its leaders to set the moral and principled example to others, and to police its organisation from top to bottom to ensure adherence to those principles.

AFP

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

sports

PHELPS ENJOYING RETIREMENT

Olympic swimming great Michael Phelps said Tuesday he was enjoying his retirement from the sport and had no future plans for a return to competition. “I’m very happy with my life right now. I’m enjoying my retirement,” the record 18-time Olympic champion said.

FRENCH OPEN

DJOKOVIC, NADAL TAKE CENTRE STAGE If Djoker gets past Haas, he could meet Rafa in the semis should he beat Stanislas today.

DAVE JAMES Agence France-Presse PARIS: World Number 1 Novak Djokovic (right) believes destiny can help fire him past German veteran Tommy Haas and into the French Open semifinals on Wednesday.

The top-seeded Serb needs a Roland Garros title to complete a career Grand Slam.

If he gets past 35-year-old Haas, he could meet seven-time champion Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals should the Spaniard beat Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka in Wednesday’s other last-eight match.

Djokovic is determined to make the final for a second year to honour the memory of Jelena Gencic, his first coach, who passed away at the weekend.

“She was like my second mother,” said the top seed.

“I feel even more responsible now to go all the way in this tournament. I want to do it for her because she was a very special person in my life.”

Djokovic has a 4-3 winning record over Haas, including their only meeting on clay in Paris seven years ago.

But Haas, the oldest man since 1971 to get this far, also believes fate is on his side.

He has endured an injuryhit career and in his marathon third-round win over John Isner, he needed a record 13 match points to secure victory.

Nadal has a 9-0 career lead over 28-year-old Wawrinka who is playing in his first Roland

Garros quarter-final.

Wawrinka is also playing for the honour of Switzerland following the shock exit of Roger Federer at the hands of JoWilfried Tsonga on Tuesday.

Nadal, bidding to become the first man to win the same

Grand Slam title eight times, arrived in Paris with six titles from eight finals after returning from a seven-month knee injury lay-off.

Nadal, who turned 27 on Monday, said he is now being bothered by an elbow problem.

“Little by little I’m gaining greater power in my serve. My elbow has improved throughout the week. I feel much better,” said Nadal. In the women’s quarter-finals, defending champion Maria Sharapova faces Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic.

The winner of that tie will take on either Maria Kirilenko or Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka for a place in the final. Sharapova has an imposing 7-1 career lead over Jankovic but this will be their first meeting on clay.

Both women were juniors at Nick Bollettieri’s academy in Florida with Sharapova arriving from Russia as a nine-year-old while Jankovic was 12 when she pitched up from Belgrade to work with the renowned US coach. But they are understood to have a strained relationship.

Azarenka is in her third French Open quarter-final but, unlike the other majors, she has never got beyond the last-eight stage.

Tsonga shocks Federer Tsonga sent Federer crashing out of the French Open quarter finals.

PARIS: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sent Roger Federer crashing out of the French Open quarter-finals Tuesday to take a step closer to ending France’s 30-year wait for a men’s champion at Roland Garros.

Sixth-seed Tsonga swept to a 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 triumph to reach his first semi-final in Paris and first by a home player since Gael Monfils in 2008. The 28-year-old will tackle Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer for a place in Sunday’s final.

Victory also helped wipe out the misery of his quarter-final in Paris last year where he had four match points over Novak Djokovic and lost in five sets.

“It’s extraordinary to be here and to have won,” said Tsonga, who hopes to follow in the footsteps of Yannick Noah, France’s last men’s champion in Paris in 1983. “I never dreamt of this moment. Today was my moment against a champion who has won everything. “I didn’t think I would get this far without losing

a set. But Ferrer has not lost a set as well, he’s in great form.”

Federer, in his 36th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final, was bidding to win a record 58th career match at Roland Garros and reach his 34th semi-final at a major.

Tsonga had reached the quarter-finals without dropping a set, while 31-year-old Federer had struggled in his fourth round win over Gilles Simon where he had to come back from two sets to one down.

AFP

Roger Federer gestures as he leaves the court after being defeated by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga during their French Open quarter final match on Tuesday. AFP/THOMAS COEX

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Errani next up for Serena show ALLAN KELLY Agence France-Presse PARIS: It’s raw power and 15 Grand Slam titles against consistency and one Grand Slam final defeat in the French Open semifinals on Thursday when Serena Williams goes up against Sara Errani.

On the face of it there should be only one winner - which would put the 31-year-old American into Saturday’s championship match, with Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka looming in the other

It’s 15 Grand Slam titles against consistency and one Grand Slam final defeat in the French Open semis when Serena goes up against Sara Errani. half of the draw.

Four rounds for the loss of just 10 games, under the watchful eye of new French coach Patrick Mouratoglou, brought her career best winning streak to 28 and she opened her quarterfinal against Svetlana Kuznetsova in similar fashion with a 6-1 first set romp.

But, out of the blue, Williams got the Paris blues again as she surrendered the second set and looked in a panic as she faced break points on her serve to fall 0-3 down in the third.

AFP