Postnoon E-Paper for 08 february 2013 by Scribble Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013 HYDERABAD

WEATHER: CLEAR WITH CLOUDY PERIODS; WINDY AT TIMES; 27°C

PIN THE CREEPS!

32 PAGES

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

FASHION IS CONTROVERSY

YEARS TO BUILD

Fashion and controversies go hand in hand. The fashion fraternity never ceases to spark controversies related to age, race and size. Vizag Fashion Week came to an abrupt end when organisations protested against designer James Ferreira’s line that had prints of Lord Ganesh displayed on the clothes. Postnoon lists eight biggest fashion controversies.

ONE DAY TO CREATE A TRAFFIC JAM

Five years in the making, Lakdikapul RoB finally opened and promptly created a huge jam — thanks to the CM.

P22

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M ANIL KUMAR

REPORT ON P5

Nearly 30 cases have so far been booked in one month against the AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi in connection with hate-speeches and anti-national activities in different police stations across the country.

AGAINST AKBAR

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

city events

FILMMAKING WORKSHOP

Yavanika Films is conducting a film appreciation course over two weekends and a filmmaking workshop over four weekends. The workshops are for adults on weekends starting from February 23, from 11am onwards. The details can be found at facebook.com/yavanikafilms.

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

28°C

21°C

Clear with cloudy periods.

Morning

Afternoon

26°C

33°C

Sunny with cloudy periods.

Sunny.

New Delhi Mumbai Max 20 Max 32 Min 8 Min 21 Clear skies.

Clear skies.

Chennai Max 31 Min 21 Mostly sunny.

Bangalore Max 30 Min 18 Mostly sunny.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES Industrial Exhibition is an ongoing event in the City. Where: Exhibition Ground, Mukarramjahi Road, Nampally When: Up to February 15, 4pm to 11pm Contact: (040) 2460 3015

ART For 'HER' A tribute to Victim X, raising the conscience to respect womanhood through art. Exhibition of installations and mixed media art by a variety of artists. The preview is on February 4 at 6:30pm. Where: Iconart Gallery When: February 4-14, 11:30am to 7pm Contact: www.iconart.in

The Landmark sale Landmark announces its sale of Up to 70 per cent off. Bestselling books starting at `49, 3 for 2 on the top 500 new releases are just some of the offers. Where: Landmark, When: January 25-February 25

The River Moving Within The River Moving Within is an exhibition of art work by Koeli Mukherjee Ghose. It is inspired by the works of Rumi and 'Narda Bhakti Sutra' and reflects a love for life. Where: Truffles Cafe, Jubilee Hills When: Up to February 8 Buy Art It is an anniversary art show of affordable art by 30 artists. All artworks are priced between `1,000 to `10,000. Where: Iconart Gallery, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad When: January 18-February 18 11:30am-7pm Contact: www.iconart.in

SHOWS Hyderabad 360 Live virtual and visual music by Puce Muse. Where: Qutb Shahi Tombs

Urban Stampede The run is aimed at encouraging amateurs and seasoned runners alike to take part in a sport that is enjoyable and beneficial. Where: CBIT, Gandipet When: March 3 Contact: urban-stampede.com AT WORK: Women work in the fields Near Chilkur Balaji temple, Moinabad. When: February 17, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 2355 4486 Confluence Perfect Harmony Productions and Cisne for Arts bring together Zakir Hussain, Bela Fleck & Edgar M for a trio concert. Where: Shilpa Kala Vedika, Hitec City When: February 8, 6:30pm onwards Contact: (040) 2311 2707 French Film Festival Six French films will be screened with English subtitles. Where: Prasads IMAX When: February 19-21 Contact: hyderabad.afindia.org Yudh Sai Shree Arts presents Yudh, a

Commissioner & Spl Officer

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

198 155313

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

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

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

Bharathanatyam solo by Savitha Sastry on war. Where: Ravindra Bharathi When: February 19, 7pm to 8:15pm Contact: (040) 2323 1245

DINING Valentine’s Day special There is a candle light dinner and special buffet for Valentine’s day. Where: Seasonal Tastes, Westin Hyderabad Mindspace When: February 14, 7pm to 11pm Contact: (040) 6767 6888 Dakshin Ruchulu GreenPark brings all the South Indian cuisines under one roof. It includes dishes from Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Where: Once Upon A Time,

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

155313 23307328 23313163

27505566 23314095 23390933 24600146 27001134 23607777 30418888 30417777 30419000 30416666 39879999

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

SRINIVAS SETTY

Hotel GreenPark, Greenlands, Begumpet When: February 1-10 7:30pm to 11pm Contact: (040) 6651 5151 Four course meal There is a special meal for Valentine’s Day. The meal combo for two people includes roasted vegetable, goat cheese quesadilla, pot stickers, stuffed nachos, and cottage cheese delight pizza. Where: TGI Friday’s, RK Cineplex, Road no 2,Banjara Hills When: February 14 Contact: (040) 4015 1925

MISCELLANEOUS Numaish Numaish is the 73rd All India

27567892 23559555 23226624 27633087 27035588 27550238 30799999 30418296 30417445

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

Pochampally IKAT Mela Pochampally handloom park is organising 'Pochampally IKAT Mela 2013,’ a nine-day handloom exhibition of products like hand made bed and home linen, dress materials, silk and cotton saris, dupattas , table mats, covers, cotton shirts and kurtis Where: Minerva (Bibesia) Banquet Hall, Ground floor, Amrutha Mall, Somajiguda When: February 3-11 Contact: (040) 2355 8857

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

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

City

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

IS THE MIM’S PETTY POLITICS AFFECTING CITY LIFE? 77% 23%

YES (A) NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

IS THE SCRAMBLE FOR AADHAAR A BOON FOR BRIBE TAKERS? A)

YES

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

CRIME

30 cases and still pouring in Over 30 cases have been booked against Akbaruddin Owaisi and police are finding it hard to file a chargesheet within the stipulated period. Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com

AKBAR’S REMAND EXTENDED TILL FEBRUARY 12

early 30 cases have been booked against the AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi so far in connection with hate speeches and anti-national activities in different police stations in the country within a period of one month. Never before has any Andhra politician faced such a situation. Curiously, complaints are still pouring in, reports say. Just a few days ago, another case of creating communal disharmony was filed against him at Mangalhat at the instance of the TDP corporator Raja Singh. A maximum number of these cases were booked in Andhra Pradesh. But cases have also been filed in Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujrat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh too. Nirmal police have also filed a case of anti-national activity against Owaisi. Police are now struggling to come up with a chargesheet within the stipulated time of 90 days. If the chargesheet is not filed within the period, it will stand annulled.

he Nizamabad district court has extended the remand of MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi, arrested for his hate speech, till February 12. As Akbar's remand expired in the case registered against him for the hate speech on Thursday, he was brought from Adilabad to Nizamabad amid tight security and produced before the district court. It may be recalled that Akbar, against whom a case was registered for his hate speech in Nirmal of Adilabad district, is also facing a similar case for another provocative speech in this district. The judge, who extended his remand till February 12, directed the police to have his voice tested on that day. Police were also directed to produce him on February 12. In Bengaluru, one person filed a case against Akbar for his provocative remarks. The Bengaluru court has also issued summons to him. NSS

CRIME

Gang of 7 cheats arrested POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

he central crime station has caught a gang of seven for cheating financiers and selling vehicles in black with fake number plates. The police have seized eight cars, three auto rikshaws and four bikes from their possession. Ahmed Mohiuddin, the alleged gang leader, used to take new vehicles on finance. He would then plead that the vehicle has been stolen. They would give a touch-up to the vehicle, put a fake number place, make fake documents and sell it.

Friend cheats, loots `70 lakh Here’s a case of how a man blindly believed and financed his friend, and got looted and beaten up while trying to get his money back. POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

t all began in 2010. The police say Narasaraju, 40, a businessman met Soumyarajan Mahapatra, 57, a resident of Teachers Colony in Secunderabad. Both developed a friendship that seemed to be based on a sound footing. Surprisingly, Narasaraju did not think of checking his friend’s claims of being a senior railway official who has good links with bigwigs in the City. Some time ago, Mahapatra had said he had a plan to start a steel rod unit which has good prospects in the City, but is short of funds. He asked Narasaraju if he could

arrange `1 crore. Narasaraju is alleged to have managed to get the money from some sources on his guarantee. Around `70 lakh was provided on a bond paper that promised the financiers return of the sum with interest in one year. When nothing happened after a few days, Narasaraju became panic-stricken. He began to pester Mahapatra to return the money. Narasaraju made enquiries and found out all of Mahapatra’s claims to be false. He began to hanker after Mahapatra for money. After a while, Mahapatra is said to have unleashed roughnecks on Narasaraju. He was beaten up. Narasaraju has lodged a criminal complaint against his ‘friend.’

city FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

CIVIC

LAST YEAR... HERE

City left to stink as unions play games

Ailments in City markets

ast year we had reported on the poor hygiene and sanitation in City markets. Residents and vendors complained that there is no place to walk, as mounds of garbage remain uncleared. The markets were stinking badly, making it difﬁcult for customers to shop. Though they had taken up this issue with the administration, no action had been taken by ofﬁcials.

FEBRUARY 8, 2012

Officials involved with the ‘power from waste’ project say they can’t handle two unions, the bureaucracy, and their woes.

NUMEROLOGY

`9.14

crore was sanctioned by the Andhra Pradesh government and deposited with the railways for the construction of proper bridges over railways.

Each of us has experienced harassment at some level. But one doesn't go to a police station to complain about groping. We wanted those stories to become a narrative.

Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com

t’s a sad saga of democratic freedom misused. The well-meaning work of making wealth from waste contracted with Ramky Engineering Company in 2009 now suffers from union woes. Translated crudely, it means the new TRS-affiliated union wants its cut. The BJP-led union was in power when the pact was inked. “Honestly, we can’t handle two unions and the ossified bureaucracy,” said an official linked to the project. He said that the GHMEU is gunning for its share while BMEU, which was ousted in the recent elections, was the one benefited from the project. Now the workers are not cooperating. And the workers

are controlled by the unions. Currently, Ramky is getting 3,500 to 3,800 tonnes of waste every day, which is converted into Urea (compost). If the deal is completely implemented the GHMC would be paying `1,430 per tonne, but it’s actually paying `570 per tonne. The reason is that Ramky is only collecting waste directly from Jawahar Nagar (40 per cent of the process). If door-to-door collection (40 per cent) and transportation (20 per cent) be included, then Ramky will get complete payment, ie `1,430 per tonne. Environmentalists and scientists have warned that if the City does not take care of its solid wastes, danger of epidemic awaits the citizens. But the officials and unions are least bothered by these bleak prospects.

What’s the pact?

n 2008, Ramky entered into an agreement with the GHMC for taking up the integrated solid waste management project and started pre-construction works at Jawahar Nagar dumping yard. As per the agreement, Ramky would get 2,400 metric tonnes (MTs) of the total 3,800 MTs of garbage generated daily in the City once it starts implementing the project. However, the corporation recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sri Venkateshwara Power Projects and agreed to give 700 MTs daily to generate power as the municipal administration and urban development.

As per the contract of 2009, Ramky will do doorto-door collection of waste from all over the City. Waste will be transported from the transfer stations (Lower Tankbund, Yousufguda and Imlibun) to disposal sites (Jawaharnagar) for processing. According to officials, among the three phases, only treatment (40 per cent) is being done by Ramky (from Jawahar Nagar to treatment plant for converting it into urea). Door-todoor collection (40 per cent) and transportation from disposal sites to Jawahar Nagar (20 per cent) is still being controlled by the GHMC, under pressure from workers.

Saloni, Safecity co-founder See page 8

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

Neither a borrower not a lender be. A man lent `70 lakh to his friend, without verifying his claims. He was later beaten up when he tried to ask for his money back.

Share stories, map harassment online. A trio formed an online platform, safecity.in, where you can mention the exact area in which you faced any form of harassment, so that people can act upon it.

Not so easy to get away with hate speeches. With over 30 cases ﬁled against Akabaruddin Owaisi in different police stations across the country, politicians who try to cause communal disharmony have a reason to fear.

Morning showers surprise citizens

Bike set ablaze outside owner’s house

Bike theft in Secunderabad

Statue of NTR disfigured

Skewed sex ration a reason to worry. Nearly 10 out of 24 districts have lesser females than males, and the increasing gap is worrying.

Meditation centres to resolve family disputes. The High Court has started this initiative to allow settlement of disputes outside the courts.

NEWS BRIEFS ontinuous showers for an hour this morning came as a pleasant surprise for the people of the City. The weather forecast for the day is: Isolated rain or thundershowers in Telanagana and Rayalaseema. It will be mostly sunny during the day. Precipitation is 30 per cent, humidity 33 per cent, and wind speed is 18km/hour.

n yet another incident of similar nature, unidentiﬁed people set the bike of a businessman ablaze. Neeranjan is a resident of Sultanshahi, Moghalpura. He had parked his bike outside his home. Police are investigating the case. They suspect that Neeranja’s neighbours could be involved with the case as the two had a quarrel earlier.

Honda Activa was stolen from the house of Amaravathy, a resident of Sripuri Colony, Secunderabad. She was asleep when unidentiﬁed people tried to break into the house. When they couldn’t they stole the bike parked outside instead. Amaravathy lodged a complaint with the Lalaguda police and a case has been registered.

andals destroyed a statue of NT Ramarao at Balajinagar, Yapral, last night. The stone structure was found dismantled and disﬁgured. The culprits seem to have made an effort to burn it too. The Alwal police have registered a case and have deployed tracking dogs. The result of the investigation is yet to be released.

city FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

INFRASTRUCTURE

5 YEARS TO BUILD RoB!

Work on the Lakdikapul RoB had begun in 2007. But with the GHMC and SCR dragging their feet on the project, it was inaugurated only today. Built to ease traffic snarls, it instead created one this morning thanks to the CM arriving to inaugurate it. POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

Voices

I am glad the bridge has finally been inaugurated. With the number of buses being that used to be parked on either side of the road, this particular stretch was always congested and a nightmare to navigate through. On any given it would take me at least 45 minutes to cross that stretch. Now I am hoping that the congestion will come down. Sunitha, a private firm employee

t has been five years since work on the Lakdikapul RoB began. It had originally been commissioned to ease traffic snarls along the route connecting Lakdikapul to Masab Tank. However, as most infrastructure projects in the State go, this one too crawled at snail’s pace. Thanks to problems pertaining to acquisitions, the actual work on the RoB only began in June 2011. Incidentally, `9.14 crore was sanctioned by the AP government for construction of bridges over railway tracks. But after five long years of dragging their feet on the project, the GHMC and SCR finally completed work on the RoB and it was inaugurated by Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy this morning. Sadly, the RoB which was inaugurated today to ease the traffic congestion at the City’s nerve centre, Lakdikapul, began its service with a huge traffic snarl and ample curses from commuters, thanks to overzealous security forces that stopped traffic to enable the CM to formally inaugurate it. However, the inauguration ceremony has left commuters

furious since the road was blocked as a security measure for the CM and other VIPs who were coming to inaugurate the bridge. The traffic cops had blocked major roads and diverted one way of the traffic through lanes. However, the irony was such that half of the narrow lanes were blocked by the police and other VIP vehicles.

Harshika Gudi, a psychologist who was commuting on the road said, “I am stuck in traffic for the past half an hour. The traffic has come to a standstill and the cops present here are only for the security of the CM and not to solve the traffic problem. Half of the road is blocked with vehicles belonging to the police who seem to be clueless

on how to divert the traffic.” Commuters condemned the unorganised effort of the police who were only focussed on providing security to the VIPs. Meanwhile, commuters who escaped the traffic before the inauguration were happy about the construction of the RoB. (With inputs from Aleena Alice)

This particular stretch is always congested. It is a busy spot and sees a lot of traffic flow on weekdays. But since this stretch was rather narrow it didn’t help matters. It takes us a minimum of half an hour to cross the stretch from the Assembly to Mehdipatanam. This delay in travel time, caused a lot of inconvenience to our customers. Spokesperson, Orange Tours and Travels

GENDER DISCRIMINATION

Alarm bells for AP: Sex ratio goes against female 10 of 24 districts have fewer females as compared to males and the gap is worrying. INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com

he report of the organisation of the first Consultation on Child Sex Ratio (CSR) on Thursday led to startling revelations regarding the State. According to the findings of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, 10 districts of the State have recorded a decline in CSR, which is considered as an indicator of the social response and attitude towards the girl child. Among these districts, Warangal secured the dubious first by registering minus (-43) decline

ANDHRA PRADESH CSR STATUS Place CSR 2001 India 927 Andhra Pradesh 961 Warangal 955 YSR 951 Anantapur 959 Nalgonda 952 Karimnagar 962 in the number of girls. The CSR which stood at 955 in 2001 came down to 912 in 2011 census in Warangal. The figures clearly present a grim picture of the status of girl child in the country and the status of women in general. The other districts

CSR 2011 Change 914 -13 943 -18 912 -43 919 -32 927 -32 921 -31 937 -25 that stood second and third in the order are YSR Kadapa district followed by Anantapur. Both these districts have recorded a CSR of 943, a decline of -32 since 2001. Reacting on the issue, AP women and child welfare minister V Sunitha

Lakshma Reddy agreed that several districts have recorded a decline. According to the minister, one of the prime reasons for the declining CSR is large scale female foeticide. “Large scale killing of girls before birth has led to a serious gender imbalance in the country and the same is the case in our state. The sex ratio in the age group of 0-6 yrs has declined from 975 in 1991 to 943 in 2011 as per the census figures. This calls for strict implementation of PCPNDT ACT to prevent misuse of prenatal diagnostic techniques for sex selection of the offspring,” she said.

city FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

LEGAL

Exclusive mediation centre for City The centre is well equipped with ample facilities for litigants to interact and resolve issues. ALEENA ALICE aleena.t@postnoon.com

t last, Hyderabad will have its own mediation centre. This will take the burden off the regular courts and help mend strained familial relations. The Hyderabad mediation centre (HMC) will be inaugurated on March 2 by the Chief Justice of India TC Gosh at the Legal Service Aid centre next to the City Civil Court Complex near Purani Haveli in Old City. The mediation centre for Hyderabad is an initiative of the High Court. Under Section 89 of the High Court Act the courts can allow settlement of disputes outside court by referring the civil disputes for resolution through alternative mechanismsjudicial settlement. Until now the Nyaya Seva Sadans at the various court premises were used for mediation. However, taking a leaf from

the Bangalore Mediation Centre, the proposed centre will be dedicated to family cases in the district and resolve the disputes within a 90 days. The mediation centre will be headed by the senior judicial officer as the director. Presently the secretary of the AP State

Legal Service Authority S Ravi Kumar (pictured) will head the centre. Kumar says, “There are cases with the lower and high courts where even after seven years litigants are fighting for justice. But through mediation centres, we aim to solve the dispute within days. This way the

DIGGING DEEP

number of pending cases will be brought down to a considerable extent. We will not be charging any fee for the mediation.” It has also got world class infrastructure. With air conditioned visitors’ lounge and six counselling rooms the mediation centre is designed to make the litigants feel at home. “We wanted to provide a very different atmosphere to people who come here. We have provided a separate space for litigants’ children. There are separate women and men mediator rooms too,” said advocate B Shankar. Speaking on how senior

advocates had to undergo vigorous training to become mediators, senior advocate and mediator M Rajender Reddy said, “Sixty senior advocates with more than 15 years of experience have been appointed as mediators. We had to undergo vigorous training by trainers and psychologists in July 2012. The training module was determined by the Supreme Court and the training was a 40 hours programme scheduled for over a week.” Though the mediation centre will entertain all kinds of litigations, family related disputes will be given top priority, says S Ravi Kumar. “Matrimonial issues constitute a major portion of the cases that come to the court. So we will be giving top priority to these family disputes. However, other cases related to partition, property, money suits, possession and any other type of litigation also can be referred to the mediation centre by the High Court.”

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A CID team headed by DIG Shankar Brata Bagchi visited former minister P Shanker Rao’s house for investigations on Thursday. M ANIL KUMAR

/095 Rs.1 9/: e c i 4 r Pr Rs.5 Cove r Price: : 50% g e f n f i O l Sav Tota

POLITICS

Ponnala cross examined M inister for Information Technology Ponnala Laxmaiah on Thursday appeared in the High Court in connection with a case questioning his election to the State Assembly from Jangoan Constituency in the 2009 elections. The minister was declared elected by a thin majority of 236 votes against his nearest TRS opponent K Pratap

Reddy. The late YSR influenced Pratap to drop the idea of contesting the election result in the court. Pratap also moved the HC contesting against the election of Ponnala. The minister then moved the SC for staying any proceedings in the HC. Accordingly, the minister attended the court and he was cross examined on various aspects by the Counsel. NSS

A FRESH NEW POINT OF VIEW You can also call or email us at:

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city

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

REPORTERS’ DIARY

Please, not in the same cell!

SRINIVAS SETTY

POLITICS

Hospitality board’s new member

PK SURENDRAN

ur sources in uniform tell us an amusing story. The AIMIM corporator of Reinbazar, Khaja Bilal Ahmed, who was held for his complicity in a communal trouble case in November last, was to be remanded in judicial custody and lodged in Charlapally jail. Now, the corporator, when he realised that his cell mate is going to be the dreaded Mohammed Pahelwan (the sworn enemy of Owaisis and MIM), he was in tears. He is said to have pleaded with the police and jail warden not to lodge him in the same cell for he fears dire consequences. It is learnt that the corporator’s advocate has sought the magistrate’s help for special treatment for him in jail as he is a corporator. Currently, though, Ahmed is not interested in special treatment. The only favour he seeks of the police and jail authorities is to lodge him in another cell far away from Pahelwan’s reach! MS

COMIC CM?

No, don’t take it in the literal sense. Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy is not known for his humour or his light-hearted banter in public life. Kiran, say his partymen who

are not well disposed to him, is now strutting about with a sense of pride of having cornered a high score in the just-held cooperative elections. It is said that the CM has, in his recent trip to Delhi, submitted a report card of himself, granting him 100/100 marks in the co-operative elections. Those now giving an all-knowing smile at this news say the ruling party always gets an upper hand in the co-operative elections. It’s not to any individual’s credit. Besides, the CM is trying to take credit for work done by others. It is in the by-elections or General Elections that the charisma of a leader is at play, not in the local co-operative elections which are all ruled by local issues and equations. Well, this reporter has no comment. IA

SMILE, PLEASE!

The BJP corporators, who stayed back in the Council hall on February 2 to protest against the mayor adjourning the meeting to February 16 to prevent the BJP corporator taking oath, had a sleepless but pleasant night. After the news spread that the saffron brigade was on a nocturnal protest fast, the media corps descended on the scene. And, they made the BJP corporators pose, show attitude, and

Puzzled, he asked for the reason and he was told to come back after dressing himself ‘properly.’ He was clad in a T-shirt and jeans. RR

A FEVERISH ISSUE

evince emotions — all for the cameras! Some lensmen wanted a couple of corporators to sit with their heads in their palms in a gesture of worry and sadness. Some others wanted them to lie down on the floor. Well, the Lotus worshippers enjoyed it all, witnesses say. MN

COME DECENTLY DRESSED

It is a lesser known fact that the legal sanctum sanctorum demands that visitors be decently dressed when they come to the court. While many on the podium often wink at the lapses, Justice Subhashan Reddy, Lokayukta, is not one of them. He frowns on those who come in casual dress, even if one is there on serious business. Recently, an RTI activist went to the Lokayukta court but found his entry blocked at the gate.

Two years, and the ‘biodiversity capital of the world’ has not been able to complete a drainage work undertaken before Fever Hospital, which thousands visit every day. The road (in pic above) in front of this popular hospital has been dug up since 2010 for purportedly laying a drainage line but it remains in the same state it was in two years ago. Commuters and patients who pass this area routinely shower curses and abuses at the GHMC as a perennial bottleneck afflicts this stretch. SS

WHAT A COCKTAIL!

Only in this enterprising City can one come across such an advertisement that promises to deliver mutton, dog, and liver all in one basket! It is not clear if the advertiser is offering all the three for a special price or any of them as you choose. PK Contributed by Inkeshaf Ahmed, Mohd Subhan, Md Nizamuddin, Rahul Ramakrishna, Srinivas Setty and PK Surendran.

Lakshminarayana, chief consultant of Andhra Pradesh Project Facilitators & Consultancy Services Limited (APPFCS) and project associate, APITCO Limited, has been appointed a member of the Hospitality Development and Promotion Board (HDPB by the ministry of tourism. Minister for tourism Chiranjeevi handed over the formal letter of appointment to Lakshminarayana on February 6 at his camp office in Hyderabad. Lakshminarayana is a market leader in bid process management services, with a successful track record of more than 80 Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects related to tourism, hospitality, leisure, recreation and entertainment. He has worked on projects for government departments, urban development authorities and municipal corporations. He also worked for preparation of DPRs for mobilising Central financial assistance for heritage tourism circuits and destination development projects in AP to the tune of `124 crore. To address the constraints being faced by the hotel industry in obtaining multiple clearances and to streamline the system for speedy clearances of hotel projects, the government has approved the setting up of a Hospitality Development and Promotion Board (HDPB) for hotel projects. The HDPB will meet at intervals to monitor and facilitate the approvals of hotel projects. The Board will be operational at three levels: Clearances that are exclusively the responsibility of Central ministries/ authorities; Central clearance incumbent upon State government clearances; and clearances that are the responsibility of State or other levels of State Government.

city FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

WOMEN’S SAFETY

PIN THE CREEPS

A chance encounter in Stockholm led four young professionals to found a citizen’s initiative to make our cities safer to live in. Meet the team behind safecity.in. FOR REPRESENTATIVE PURPOSES PADMINI C padmini.c@postnoon.com

hey met at a training programme in Sweden to learn about sustainability. It led them to ponder the various issues that needed attention in the country. And before they knew it, they were heading back to India with an idea to found a platform that would map harassment and violence against women in Indian cities. Surya Bansal, Elsa D’silva and Saloni Malhotra knew theirs was an idea whose time had come when they returned to see the massive public furore in the wake of the Delhi rape case. But while the crux of the dialogue in public fora was the failure of the State to protect its women, these women decided to focus on the other side of the story — the scope of community and citizens in keeping women safe. “Collective action is required to make our cities safer. We cannot only depend on the police and the government. We are also responsible and the sooner we realise that, the better. We will need to form our action plans to clean up our neighbourhoods, thus providing a safe environment for all,” explains Elsa of the founding trio. Inspired by the Egyptian project harassmaps, they recruited Vikram Kapoor, the fourth member of their team to create the Indian counterpart, a website called safecity.in. The online platform works on the principle of collective action, with users reporting and ‘pinning’ locations across the country where they experienced or witnessed any type of sexual harassment against women. “Each of us has experienced harassment on some level. But one doesn’t go to a police station to complain about rude comments or groping. They will discuss it with friends and family and then leave it. We wanted those stories to become a narrative that helps bring a change. Safecity is that platform where you can make use of collective knowledge and so it can be acted upon,” says Saloni Malhotra, one of co-founders. But how does clicking on a

website help bring change? It’s just the first step, explain the team members. “The aggregated data from the users will tell us the locations in any given city that are safe or unsafe. It will reveal trends, like say, in one area, if transportation is the problem, whereas in another, it’s bad lighting and so on. This understanding will help in designing relevant solutions,” reveals Surya Bansal, who handles the social media vector of Safecity. In subsequent phases, the team plans to expand by i) developing a mobile app with an SOS feature which will enable other users in the area to reach a victim in a distress; ii) create local volunteer groups/collaborate with NGOs who will track down appropri-

ate authorities and bring about policy change; iii) share their knowledge base with law enforcement agencies and support police action. Talking about the incredi-

It works on the principle of collective action, with users ‘pinning’ locations where they experienced sexual harassment.

ble response received by the site, Safecity's web developer Vikram says, “In the light of the tragic event (the delhi case), I think everyone wanted to help in their own way but didn’t know how. This gave them a platform. Even though we haven’t been studiously following the hits or anything, we can tell it has been well received. In the next month, we’ll be releasing the app which will also help us reach Tier II and Tier III cities.” In the month and half since its launch, the site has already received close to 15,000 unique visitors and over 60,000 hits. As a pilot project, it has already tied up with Goan authorities whereby the reports received on Safecity are also CCed to Goan police

so as to enable swift action. They plan to replicate this model all over the country. Despite their consuming day jobs, the four are determined that Safecity should be a sustained effort. “The project was easy to implement but sustaining it will be the real challenge. The main thing is getting people to overcome their inertia and skepticism to come out and report. And to change the mindset of the people who believe everything is the State’s responsibility. What about our own? Each of us has to do our part. A mass movement is required to bring about a meaningful outcome,” say the team members in unison, now gearing up for Phase II.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

focus

EXCEPTIONS

China’s new leader Xi Jinping and “Gangnam Style” singer Psy, two of the most famous people born in the Year of the Snake, will see success despite entering a year matching their Chinese zodiac, usually considered to be a bad thing.

PREDICTIONS

BEH LIH YI feedback@postnoon.com

stock market slide, escalated conflict between Japan and China and more Gangnamstyled success for South Korean singer Psy will shape the incoming Year of the Snake, say Asian soothsayers. Those who make predictions according to the study of feng shui — or literally “wind-water” — are influential in many parts of Asia where people adjust their lives or renovate houses and offices based on the advice. As they bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon, the fortune tellers warn that the “black water snake” that emerges to replace it on February 10 — the first day of the Lunar New Year — could be a venomous one that brings disaster. Previous Snake years have been marked by the September 11, 2001 terror strikes that killed nearly 3,000 people, the crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen prodemocracy protests and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941. The 1929 stock market plunge that heralded the Great Depression also occurred in a snake year. Hong Kong’s celebrity feng shui master Mak Ling-ling predicts the stock markets will enjoy a smooth first-half before becoming turbulent in the second half of the year, which she links to the characteristics of the reptile. “It’s just like the movement of snakes — fast, aggressive and sharp, but cunning and tricky at the same time,” she tells AFP. Mak warned that despite early market optimism there would be no full recovery in the crisis-hit eurozone, while the economy of the United States would not gather a strong pace until 2014. She added that President Barack Obama needed to “be less conservative” in his attempts to revive the economy. Astrologers say this year’s snake is identified with the element of water — symbolising fear — that sits on top of the fire element, representing joy and

HISS... YEAR OF THE SNAKE IS HERE

optimism. They say conflict between the two will bring turbulence in May. “This is a disaster year... a lot of things will not go smoothly,” said Singapore’s “Grand Master” Tan Khoon Yong of geomancy consultancy Way OnNet Group. “The European Union may split, the euro may be in trouble,” the 59-year-old said, adding that the bloc would be threatened by division in May. Hong Kong astrologer Chow Hon-ming said a disharmonious May would see an ongoing dispute between Japan and China possibly escalate into a “brief” war, as two “snakes” are going to clash according to his reading of the Chinese almanac. “May is known as the ‘snake month’ and it’s the Year of the Snake so between May 5 and June 6, these two snakes will meet. “This is why things will be very intense between Japan and China. Tensions will rise to a peak and they will possibly go to war.”

SNAKE STYLE

Chinese fortune telling is based on ancient philosophy and belief

Previous Snake years have been marked by the 9/11 terror strikes, Tiananmen Square massacre and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.

dating back thousands of years that events are dictated by the different balances in the five elements that make up the universe: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. A person’s fortune can be calculated by using the exact time and date of his birth, with the relationship of each of the elements. The lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and associates each of the 12 years forming a rotating cycle with an animal — with the snake assuming the sixth position out of the 12 animal signs. China’s new leader Xi Jinping and “Gangnam Style” singer Psy, two of the most famous people born in the Year of the Snake, will see success despite entering a year matching their Chinese zodiac, usually considered to be a bad thing. But China’s Xi, born in 1953, and 36-year-old South Korean pop sensation ‘Psy’ Park JaeSang will be spared, due to their favourable birth dates and elements. While the 60-year-old Chinese leader is set to see a smooth leadership transition in

March from predecessor President Hu Jintao, there may however be the odd bump in the road. “He needs to watch out for his health. He might suffer a fall in November if he travels,” Chow said, recommending Xi avoids “Europe or Russia” that month. CLSA, one of Asia’s leading brokerages, creates its own tongue-in-cheek annual “feng shui index”. This year it states that while stock markets will be volatile in the second-half, the presence of the market-driving “fire” element gave reason for optimism. “We’ve got the fire element so we’re pretty hopeful,” CLSA analyst Mariana Kou said, predicting this year markets will have a “decent finish” this year. Past Snake years give little encouragement, with the three most recent ones seeing Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finish down, falling 33.5 percent in 2001. “As befits “skin-shedders”, Snake years are marked by major transformation and change — and sometimes great upheaval,” CLSA said. AFP

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Business DREAMLINER PROBE

Safety panel faults FAA

WASHINGTON: The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday criticised the government’s certification process for the troubled Boeing 787 and said it had pinpointed how a battery fire occurred on one of the planes. NTSB chairwoman Deborah Hersman said investigators probing the January 7 incident on a Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner found evidence pointing to a single cell on the battery that caught fire on the plane parked in Boston. There were multiple signs of short-circuiting in the cell, one of eight on the lithium-ion battery, which led to an uncontrollable rise in temperatures, or thermal runaway, to adjacent cells, she said. As the groundings entered a fourth week, Hersman said NTSB investigators were examining the design, manufacturing and charging of the batteries. She meanwhile faulted the battery’s certification by the FAA, which cleared the all-new 787 as a safe aircraft more than two years ago. AFP

TELMEX HIT WITH $52 MN ANTI-TRUST FINE

Mexico’s competition regulator slapped a $52 million fine Thursday on billionaire tycoon Carlos Slim’s Telmex telecommunications company for monopolistic practices. Slim, considered the world’s richest man, dominates the telecom market in Mexico.

EU BUDGET

GREENLIGHT SUES APPLE

Brussels battle rages BRUSSELS: EU leaders clashed on the bloc’s future budget at an all-night summit as Britain led a campaign for massive spending cuts and France and Italy argued for a budget driving jobs and growth. The talks to decide the European Union’s budget for the remainder of the decade began more than six hours late Thursday as leaders met in groups to try to reach a compromise, battling it out until the small hours of Friday morning. German Chancellor Angela Merkel remained largely above the fray, with the dispute narrowing to a handful of billions of euros — and how to spend them. Before Friday dawned, EU president Herman Van Rompuy said an agreement was within touching distance. “But we are not there yet,” he underlined. Britain and France — whose leaders failed to gather face-toface at a planned pre-summit huddle — were the main protagonists in a battle over spending priorities for 2014-2020 that turned on whether proposals for a budget initially above one trillion euros would fall to around 900 billion. That would be somewhat less than the previous seven-year budget. There is a North-South split on the point of the EU budget, Mediterranean leaders tending to want Brussels to offer added

TREND Readers power NYT profit

NEW YORK: The New York Times Company said Thursday that its revenue from readers and subscribers overtook that of advertising for the first time in 2012, as the media group reported a boost in profits. The company, which is shifting focus from print to digital, said its fourth quarter profit more than tripled to $176.9 million, though most of that

came from a $164 million gain on the sale of its stake in an online jobs website. Mark Thompson, the former BBC chief who became president and chief executive at the Times last November, claimed progress, noting that the number of digital subscribers grew 13 percent in the quarter to 668,000. AFP

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny (left) and French President Francois Hollande chat during a roundtable meeting at the EU Headquarters.

value in long-term moves to stimulate economic growth and so bring down record unemployment currently above 26 million. The 27 heads of state broke off their discussions at midnight with no obvious deal in sight, but after several hours of meetings in smaller groups, a compromise began to emerge. Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo told reporters a deal was expected by noon. EU sources said the starting point was for cuts down to 960 billion for “commitments” and 913 billion for straight “payments” — the actual spending limit favoured by British Prime

AFP

Minister David Cameron. These were targets agreed this week by French President Francois Hollande and Merkel, according to one negotiator. Cameron, for all he has isolated himself in the view of many diplomats with a decision to try to claw back powers from Brussels that would be put ultimately to a 2017 referendum, placed his cards on the table immediately. He said: “When we were last here in November, the numbers that were put forward were much too high. They need to come down — and if they don’t come down, there won’t be a deal.” AFP

STRATEGY BB to exit Japan: Report

TOKYO: Troubled smartphone maker BlackBerry will not launch its new models in Japan, reports said Friday, effectively heralding a pull-out from a booming smartphone market where it is being beaten by Apple. The Canada-based company, which is hoping its longdelayed BlackBerry 10 series will turn around flagging glob-

al fortunes, will not sell the handsets in the country, the Nikkei business daily said. Domestic shipments of smartphones soared 40 percent on-year to hit an estimated 14 million in April-September but BlackBerry sales were believed to be only several tens of thousands, the paper said, without naming its sources. AFP

10g GOLD`31,093 10g GOLD`31,100 1kg `60,100 1kg SILVER `58,472

24C

for for

DOLLAR `53.50 `53.79 `85.15 POUND `84.16

Apple said it is weighing ways to give shareholders more of its huge cash stockpile, after hedge fund Greenlight Capital ﬁled suit in an effort to press it in that direction. Greenlight sued the maker of iPhones and iPads to block a shareholder vote that includes a management-backed proposal to make it impossible for the Apple board to issue preferred stock without shareholder approval. Greenlight said in a letter to shareholders that it wants Apple to issue “perpetual preferred stock” to distribute a bounty from the $137 billion in cash the company is holding. Greenlight’s suit alleged that Apple violated US securities policies by “bundling” the proposal on preferred stock with two other shareholder-friendly measures. Doing so forces shareholders to accept or reject all three measures together, rather than separately, which Greenlight says violates a Securities and Exchange Commission rule. Greenlight founder David Einhorn, a prominent activist shareholder, wrote to shareholders that his company "is dissatisﬁed with Apple's capital allocation strategy."

NUMEROLOGY

29.2

is China’s trade surplus in January — powered by exports worth $187.4 billion.

MS WINS PATENTS CASE A federal judge on Thursday tossed out more than a dozen patent infringement claims ﬁled against Microsoft by Google-owned Motorola Mobility. US District Court Judge James Robart, in Microsoft’s home state of Washington, sided with the software colossus, dismissing 13 claims of infringement on a trio of Motorola patents involving digital video encoding and decoding, according to court records. The Motorola patents were evidently not speciﬁc enough regarding the computer code involved, according to the documents.

BSE 5,948.40 6,057.70 NSE

20,025.67 19,627.75 44.10 47.43 9.20 9.60

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

nation

IROM SHARMILA SEEKS SUPPORT FOR AFSPA REMOVAL

Reiterating her decision to not accept awards till the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is withdrawn, Manipur’s “Iron Lady” Irom Sharmila Chanu said people of the state must strengthen the movement against the “inhuman law”.

HALL OF SHAME

NEWS BRIEFS

MP in dock for rape ‘help’ NEW DELHI: Fresh summons were today issued by a fasttrack court against Congress MP Mahabal Mishra and his family members for their alleged role in the kidnapping and rape of a minor girl in 2006, after they failed to appear before it. The fast-track court, set up to try cases of sexual offences against women, directed Mishra, his wife Urmila, daughter Kiran and brother Hira Mishra to “positively” appear before it on February 18, the next date of hearing. The court granted exemption to Mishra and his family members from personal appearance for the day after their coun-

The victim alleged she was confined at Mishra’s office at Mahavir Enclave in West Delhi and his brother’s house for some days after being kidnapped. sel submitted that they have not been served with the summons issued earlier as they are not in Delhi. The counsel told the court that their absence was not

“intentional or deliberate” as they came to know of the earlier summons only through the media since Mishra, his wife and daughter had gone to the Maha Kumbh mela while Hira Mishra had gone to Patna to perform some rituals. Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat allowed the plea saying, “In view of the facts and circumstances, the exemption is granted to the four accused for today. The accused should appear in this court positively on the next date on February 18.” The court had on February 4 asked them to appear before it after going through the case in

TRIBUTE

which they have been accused of wrongfully confining a minor girl. The victim and her father had alleged she was confined at Mishra’s office at Mahavir Enclave in West Delhi and his brother’s house for some days after being kidnapped and that his family members told her to marry the prime accused Pradeep Sehrawat who faces the rape charge. The case relates to an incident in November 2006 when Sehrawat had allegedly kidnapped the 16-year-old when she was on her way to tuition in a West Delhi locality. PTI

Sabarimala got `178 cr T he Sabarimala hill shrine has received a record revenue of `178.53 crore in 2012-13, Kerala devaswom (temple affairs) minister VS Sivakumar told the Assembly today. Though the exact number of pilgrims who visited the Lord Ayyappa temple this year are not available, it is generally estimated that about three crore

Google paid tribute to late ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh through a doodle on his 72nd birth anniversary Friday. The Google doodle showed Jagjit Singh playing a harmonium. He died Oct 10, 2011, following brain haemorrhage.

devotees offer worship at the shrine in a year, the Minister said in a written reply. The revenue received last year stood at Rs 174.46 crore The temple, located in the buffer zone of Periyar Tiger Reserve in Pathanamthitta district, is managed by the Travancore Devaswom Board. PT

CRIME

Woman held for defence supply graft KOCHI: A Mumbai-based businesswoman, who allegedly mediated in a deal between Thrissur-based Steel and Industrial Forgings Ltd (SIFL) and various ordnance factories for supplying components of battle tanks, has been arrested, CBI sources said today. The arrest last night, the first in the case, followed after Subi Malli, who was being interrogated,

allegedly refused to cooperate, CBI sources said. She was being questioned by CBI during the past few days. Malli has been charged with conspiracy, corruption and causing loss to the exchequer. She had allegedly received `18 lakh as commission from SIFL for mediating in the deal, the sources said. CBI had registered FIR

against three persons — M Shahnavaz, Managing director of SIFL, the company senior manager, Valsan and Malli for allegedly colluding with some officials of Heavy Vehicles factory at Avadi and bagging contracts at highly inflated rates, causing loss to the state exchequer. Some unknown persons of the Avadi unit have also been mentioned in the case.

Pick

The allegation against the accused is that SIFL officials conspired with Malli to influence the public servants of Defence establishment at Avadi and bagged some contracts at highly inflated rates and cheated the exchequer. The case was registered after searches were conducted on January 15 and 16 at the residences and premises of the suspects. PTI

at the

Posco land takeover suspended BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Friday decided to temporarily suspend land acquisition for Posco’s $12 billion steel project in its Jagatsinghpur district due to protests at the site, an official said. “We have decided to halt the work to avoid any further trouble at the site,” a senior official told IANS. Posco’s proposed 12 million tonnes per annum steel plant, the largest foreign investment in India, is to come up near the port town of Paradip. The administration, which had earlier acquired 2,000 acres of land for the project, now wants to acquire 700 acres more . Although it acquired about 200 acres this week, the work suffered a setback when hundreds of villagers, including women and children, obstructed the officials Wednesday and did not allow them to proceed.

Tamil groups enter Tirupati HYDERABAD: A large number of activists of Tamil groups from neighbouring Tamil Nadu Friday entered the temple town of Tirupati to stall the visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is scheduled to arrive there in the evening. Police arrested over 100 protestors, who sneaked into the town from Tamil Nadu. Security has been tightened across the town following intelligence reports that hundreds of protestors had already reached Tirupati. PTI

airport,

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

World UNITED STATES

Hunt on for cop killer in mountains LOS ANGELES: Police vowed Thursday to keep searching for an ex-cop accused of killing three people, including another officer, as night fell over a California ski resort where his burnt-out truck was found. Some 125 officers were deployed in and around Big Bear, east of Los Angeles, where police found the Nissan pickup truck belonging to Christopher Dorner, 33, who had posted a chilling online manifesto. “We’ll keep working on it until we’re able to either locate the suspect, or determine that he’s no longer in the Big Bear Valley,” said San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon, as schools and ski lifts were put on lockdown. It also emerged that Dorner had sent a package a week ago to CNN host Anderson Cooper, with a note saying “I never lied,” a DVD and a coin shot through with bullet holes, the news anchor said. Dorner was wanted over Sunday’s suspected revenge killing of a couple, Keith Lawrence and Monica Quan. The woman was the daughter of Randy Quan, a retired police officer Dorner blamed for his firing five years ago. The suspect then allegedly attacked two other officers overnight Wednesday in Riverside, killing one and injuring the other. Another officer was injured in a separate incident in nearby Corona. AFP

FUKUSHIMA SURVIVORS TO SUE JAPAN GOVT People whose homes or farms were hit by radiation from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant will file class-action lawsuits next month to seek damages from the Japanese government, lawyers said on Friday.

MALI CONFLICT

Troops near rebels’ mountain bases The insurgents are believed to be holding seven French hostages at these hideouts.

GAO: French and Chadian troops have pushed to the far northeast of Mali, up to the mountain range where Islamist fighters are thought to be holed up with seven French hostages. The joint force arrived late Thursday at the town of Aguelhok, 160 kilometres north of the town of Kidal, near Mali’s border with Algeria, Malian sources said. Nearly a month after France sent in the first fighter jets and attack helicopters, it has largely driven the rebels into remote mountains in the far northeast. But the threat from the rebels is still real. “French and Chadian soldiers have left Kidal and are currently patrolling in Aguelhok,” Malian Captain Aliou Toure told AFP. “The French and Chadian soldiers left in strength by road,” said an official with the administration in Kidal. “They arrived at Aguelhok and are then heading for Tessalit.” Tessalit lies even closer to the Algerian border. Both towns had been targeted with repeated French air strikes over the past few days aimed at knocking out Islamist bases, French military spokesman Colonel Thierry Burkhard said. The two towns lie in the Adrar des Ifoghas massif, in the far northeast, a craggy mountain landscape honeycombed with caves, where the insurgents are believed to have fled with seven French hostages.

FLYING SQUID

The oceanic squid can ﬂy more than 30 metres through the air at speeds faster than Usain Bolt if it wants to escape predators, Japanese researchers said Friday. The mollusc propels itself out of the ocean by shooting a jet of water at high pressure, before opening its ﬁns to glide at up to 11.2 metres per second, Jun Yamamoto of Hokkaido University said. Olympic Gold medallist Bolt averaged 10.31 metres in London last year.

NUMEROLOGY

106

is the number of firearms, including rifles and submachine guns, recovered by Venezuelan forces from a prison where a January 25 riot killed at least 58 people.

BLIZZARD HITS US

One of the Islamist groups, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, said in a message to AFP Thursday that it had “created a new combat zone” by organising attacks on military convoys and placing

landmines.A landmine blast on Wednesday between the northern towns of Douentza and Gao killed four civilians returning from market, an officer with Mali’s paramilitary police said. AFP

NEWS BRIEFS Scores missing in Bangla ferry capsize

China denies Japan radar incident

S Korean activists jailed UN probes Iran link to for visit to North Yemen arms seizure

NEW YORK: Scores of people are missing after a ferry carrying around 100 passengers sank in Meghna river in Bangladesh on Friday, ofﬁcials said. District administrator Saifuddin Badal said that more than 50 people were still unaccounted for. It was not immediately clear what caused the accident.

BEIJING: China’s defence ministry on Friday denied Japanese allegations that a Chinese warship’s radar system had locked onto one of Japan’s vessels, and accused Tokyo of hyping the “China threat”. The incident, which Japan said happened last week, marked the ﬁrst time the two nations’ navies have locked horns in a territorial dispute.

SEOUL: A South Korean court jailed an elderly left-wing activist for four years Friday for making an unauthorised trip across the border to North Korea. Ro Su-Hui, 69, was convicted of violating a strict security law that penalises pro-Pyongyang activity and bans citizens from going to the North without prior permission.

UNITED NATIONS: UN sanctions experts are investigating the Yemeni claims that Iran supplied rockets and explosives seized from a ship last month, diplomats said. The case was raised at a Security Council meeting where UN special envoy Jamal Benomar called on the body to end “acts of obstruction” to the country’s democratic transition.

A possibly “historic” storm bore down on the northeastern United States Friday, with heavy snow, blizzard conditions and freezing temperatures forecast from New York through Maine as well as densely populated inland areas. The National Weather Service predicted a “major winter storm” for Friday into Saturday and said New York City was in the mix for blizzard conditions, which will combine sustained strong winds and snowfall. Roughly 900 ﬂights were canceled and thousands more were delayed.

If they conduct this nuclear test, it may be the case that they are effectively tying the hands of the new president of Korea. It would be going in the wrong direction. Ban Ki-moon UN Secretary General

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Technology INNOVATION

3-D printed prosthetic hand has changed the life of a 5year-old South African boy who was born without fingers on his right hand, and may be a model for people seeking a low-cost prosthesis. The boy, named Liam, benefited from work done by Ivan Owen, a parttime mechanical special effects artist in Washington. He was collaborating online with Rich Van As, a woodworker from South Africa, who lost four fingers in a workshop accident. Liam’s mother came across their blog posts about the “robohand” they were developing. “I had never connected the dots between what I was doing and that it had a practical application,” Owen said. The men decided to make Liam his own “robohand” and the result has been life-changing. He can now throw a basketball, push a shopping cart and even pick up a coin using his prosthetic hand. The hand is powered by cables and return bungees. The fingers and wrist hinge were made using a 3D printer — a computerized device that, given the dimensions of an object, can create copies of it by adding layers of resin or other material. Owen and Van As, who both have day jobs, met for the first time in November in South Africa. Most of the collaboration was done online, Owen said. After seeing how well their invention worked for Liam, Owen said their dream is to form a nonprofit to educate people on how to create and assemble robohands. “We want to provide materials, parts and knowledge, and then someone in the community can assist them with assembly and fitting,” Owen said. “We see that as most realistic way to get this idea to the people who need it, and at the largest scale possible.”

SCALING NEW

DIMENSIONS South African boy gets robotic hand made with 3D printer

WHY 3D PRINTING IS THE FUTURE

ue to the infinite flexibility of digital designs, almost any kind of physical product could find wide new style, aesthetics, and custom models because of the machines, which can quickly, cheaply, and efficiently produce almost anything that can be imagined and crafted in a 3D modeler. With 3D printing, it has now become possible to make just about any kind of item with amazing complexity — and produce just one unit. However, massive 3D printers that can spit out copies of digital designs on a wide range of

WHEN FACEBOOK FAILED On Thursday, many major websites were taken down by an error that stemmed from Facebook, as Internet mainstays like MSNBC.com, CNN, Yelp and New York Magazine all sent users to redirect pages almost immediately upon loading. Upon visiting the sites, users were redirected to an error page inside of the Facebook website, which seems to suggest that the error lies in Facebook Connect, the software platform that snakes Facebook’s reach. Connect is seen on many third-party-publisher websites in the form of the “Like” button — especially BuzzFeed, which relies on social media to spread throughout the Web.

QUIT!

materials, from polymers to recyclable plastics to metals, still have its limitations — the machines can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and often turn out misprinted copies. With 3D printing, however, the custom nature of products has gone further than ever before. The print-

ers can produce models based on nearly any 3D model fed into them, almost regardless of complexity, meaning that what comes out of the machines is limited mainly by the imagination of those using them.

Flipkart's CFO Karandeep Singh has quit citing ''personal reasons''. He joined Flipkart just over a year ago and his departure at a time when the company is under investigation over FDI has raised many questions. However, the company maintains that the reason for resignation has nothing to do with the ongoing probe. Flipkart was initially funded by the Indian founders. The company has raised funding from venture capital funds Accel India in 2009 and Tiger Global ($10 million in 2010 and $20 million in June 2011).

NO VINE FOR KIDS After a dustup over pornography showing up on Vine, the Twitterowned video-sharing app has added an age rating for possible adult content. The app for iPhone and iPod Touch, which lets anyone create and share six-second clips, quickly became a popular venue for pornography after its release last month. Twitter responded by trying to make it harder for users to ﬁnd the adult videos, blocking a number of porn-related search terms such as "#porn." Twitter released a new version today that requires users to conﬁrm that they are at least 17 years of age; the previous version described itself as suitable for users 12 and older.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Comment You have enemies? Good. That means you have stood up for something, sometime in your life. Winston Churchill Former British PM

Age of the SlumGods THE X FACTOR Rachel O'Brien

he youngsters from India's best-known slum spin, twist and flip their bodies to the hip hop beat — but don't call them break-dancers. And definitely not slumdogs. These are the SlumGods, who want to show there is more to life in Dharavi slums than poverty, squalor and trying to escape. "I felt very bad because after the movie [Slumdog Millionaire] , people started thinking this was just a dirty, unhygienic slum area," he said of his neighbourhood. When the film came out in India in 2009, Akku was newly hooked on b-boying or breaking, the hip hop street dance that was born in the ghettos of the Bronx in the 1970s and has since spread across the globe. Akku's mentor was B-boy HeRa, now 30 and living in New Delhi, who honed his moves growing up in New York's Queens before his Indian family moved back to the subcontinent in the early 2000s. Visiting Dharavi with a friend, HeRa found a spiritual home for b-boying. "It's a community thing that people learn off each other. You've been given something and you pass it on," he told AFP. That philosophy led him and Akku to set up SlumGods, which now has 40 to 50 core members across the cities of Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore. The crew have inspired hundreds of urban Indian youngsters. "Dancing is in us. It's part of our culture," HeRa said, although it seems breaking has struck a particular chord with the children of Dharavi. "Middle-class kids are fat and in malls. These kids are lean and don't have inhibitions."

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS

Kerala, often termed God’s Own Country, seems to be a haven for those who indulge in heinous crimes — especially against women. Politicians from the state who are allegedly involved in rape and other forms of sexual abuse are always acquitted. Hand of God... it must be.

EDUCATION

BEWARE OF SHAM MBAS ANONYMOUS ALIEN

his paper recently ran an article documenting how only 10 per cent of MBA graduates are employable. From my own experience hiring hundreds of people in India, I would say this figure is being generous. Given that that’s the case…given that MBA students are spending lakhs and lakhs to get MBAs that land them in jobs that pay `10,000 a month, or worse — land them at home, jobless, bumming off mom and dad — one wonders… Why on earth are parents spending so much money to get their sons and daughters MBAs? Back in the eighties, in the West, seemingly overnight, dozens of organizations popped up offering to — yes I’m being serious — sell you a degree. For a few thousand rupees, you could have your very own PhD from The University of Nobody’s Ever Heard of Us. And people did it. They shelled out their money and accumulated degrees, then went out hunting for a job with that handy-dandy PhD or MBA title on their CVs. Of course, the trouble was, prospective employers aren’t (always) complete idiots. When they hadn’t heard of “The University of Nobody’s Ever Heard of Us”, they got suspicious, and instead hired somebody from a known

university, say, a Harvard, or a Stanford. Once people realised that the store-bought degrees were valueless, they stopped buying them. Which takes us back to 2013, and India. For years now, parents have been able to buy their sons and daughters MBAs. It’s not quite as obvious as it used to be in the West — the student has to actually apply to a school, (the school accepts anyone with an IQ higher than a monkey’s), show up occasionally for classes, maybe take a test or two — but, if their parents’ are willing to pay the tuition, students are pretty much guaranteed that at the end of two years, they can write “MBA” on their CV. Trouble is, just like in the West in the eighties, (most) Indian employers have wizened up to this scam. My company, for example, gives a basic grammar, general knowledge and logical reasoning test to all prospective employees. Virtually all fail it. Other companies are starting to realise that while there are a few legitimate MBA programs in India — that turn out educated students — the other 99 per cent of the programs are garbage. So the MBA from the nonname programs means less and less to them. In short, if you don’t come from one of the elite schools, your CV goes in the garbage. Which comes back to the question of why Indian parents are willing to bankroll their kids’ MBA? And I think the answer is…branding. The three simple letters — M B A — have a “wow” factor to many in

classes. Do they start on time? Does the faculty seem prepared, and professional? Are they engaging? Are they imparting real knowledge? Are the other students inquisitive? If you and your child are bored in a sample class, imagine how bad it will be for your kid taking two years of classes, and how little they’ll learn. Third, do your research. There are all sorts of rankings of business schools published in various newspapers. They are not a perfect indicator of quality, but they help. Finally, talk to the placement office. Get names of companies at which the school claims to have placed students. Then use LinkedIn or Facebook to find a connection at some of those companies. Call them. See if they really have hired students from the program you’re targeting, and see what they think of that school’s graduates. In short, use logic and common sense to determine if a school offers quality, and ignore the “wow” factor of those three little letters “MBA.”

India. Parents love to tell friends and relatives, “My son is getting his MBA.” Students like to say to friends, “I’m getting my MBA.” Unfortunately, that “wow” factor wears off quickly when the student can’t get a job making more than `10,000 a month. What then? What parents and prospective students need is a solid dose of common sense. Once they realise that “MBA” has lost some of its glean, they need to start looking beyond those fancy three letters at the quality of the education. Before you write the check for your kid’s MBA admission fees, here are a few suggestions. First, meet with the school administrators. Do they seem bright? Committed? Ask them what percentage of the faculty is full-time: A program that brings in part-time business people 90 per cent of the time to teach classes cannot possibly maintain quality. At least 40-50 per cent of the faculty should be full time. Second, sit in on several

EDITORIALS Rowdy Chowdhary Bull over Ayodhya

dhir Ranjan Chowdhary is the Union Minister of State for railways. But the figure he cut the other day, leading a mob to the house of the district magistrate at Murshidabad in West Bengal and inciting them to inflict violence was that of a commonplace rabble-rouser. Hair dishevelled, and his shirt ill-kempt, with aggressive gestures, Chowdhary could be seen egging the men as they went about the premises and shattered plant pots and caused considerable damage. Yes, they were protesting over an issue that is grave: custodial death of a Congress worker. They have every right to feel outraged, but what does their actions of vandalism mean? They marched to the DM’s residence and since they did not find him, they tried to bring down the place. And would they have taken the DM to task had he been there? And the whole episode is infamous for the impropriety of a Union minister leading a mob of vandals when he is supposed to keep things in order and deal with issues peacefully, when he is supposed to help maintain law and order and uphold the system existing in the country. On top of all this, despite video clips being aired on news channels, which clearly show him in action, he has denied everything. What gall!

READERS’ VIEWS

he BJP is back to its game over Ayodhya. While Rajnath Singh says a temple will come up at Ayodhya if voted to power with simple majority on its own (not likely to happen), Jaswant Singh says it is not a political issue for the party. Now come on Jaswant, don’t you see the new party chief has to say something proHindutva at Kumbh Mela. Please don’t make him sound stupid.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Music

BRITNEY SPEARS CONFIRMED FOR LAS VEGAS RESIDENCY

Britney Spears has agreed to a residency at Las Vegas, according to her manager. The ‘Toxic’ singer has been linked with a spot at Caesars Palace in Sin City in recent weeks, but was recently said to have denied the reports.

REMEMBERING THE LEGEND

PROTESTS GALORE

A FITTING

TRIBUTE

Beyoncé wore python skin at Super Bowl

Drummer and singer Levon Helm’s presence is sorely missed in the musical world. As a tribute Elton John will join Mumford and Sons to a give a glowing Grammy tribute to the star.

DID YOU KNOW...

lton John will join fellow British stars Mumford and Sons in a Grammys tribute to Levon Helm, the late drummer and singer with The Band, organisers announced on Wednesday. Announcing the latest details of music’s biggest awards show on Sunday, they said Zac Brown, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, and Mavis Staples will also perform in honour of Helm, who died in April 2012. Grammy nominee TBone Burnett will serve as musical director for the tribute, part of the annual In Memoriam segment of the Grammys, honouring music stars who have died over the past year. Helm, whose gruff vocals and razor-sharp drumming underpinned the late-1960s US-Canadian rock group The Band, died of throat cancer, according to Rolling Stone magazine. One of the very few drummers who also sang

Beyoncé has been criticised for wearing animal skins during her half-time performance at the Super Bowl on Sunday (February 3). The singer’s black and laced leather outﬁt - made by designer Rubin Singer - included python skin, panelled iguana and leather elements. It comes shortly after Beyoncé was criticised for wearing a coat made out of mink fur to President Barack Obama’s inauguration last month.

Helm, whose gruff vocals and razorsharp drumming underpinned the late1960s US-Canadian rock group The Band, died of throat cancer.

lead vocals, Helm is best known for such Band tracks as The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Rag Mama Rag, Up on Cripple Creek and The Weight. Elton John had already been announced as appearing at the Grammys, along with acts including Justin

iTUNES Top 10 songs 1 MY SONGS 6 HO HEY Fall Out Boy The Lumineers

7 DON’T YOU WORRY 2 I KNEW YOU WERE CHILD TROUBLE Swedish House Mafia Taylor Swift 8 DAYLIGHT 3 WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN Maroon 5 Bruno Mars

9 LOCKED OUT OF 4 HIGHWAY DON’T CARE HEAVEN Tim McGraw Bruno Mars

5 HIGHWAY DON’T CARE 10 SUIT & TI Tim McGraw Justin Timberlake

Timberlake, Taylor Swift, Jack White, Rihanna, Miranda Lambert, The Black Keys, fun., The Lumineers and Carrie Underwood. New York indie pop band fun. is shortlisted in the most categories this year with six nominations, including

Top 10 albums 1 SET YOU FREE 6 BABEL Gary Allan Mumford & Sons

2 THE LUMINEERS 7 LONG.LIVE.A$AP The Lumineers A$AP Rocky

3 PITCH PERFECT 8 UNORTHODOX Soundtrack JUKEBOX 4 2013 GRAMMY Bruno Mars NOMINEES Various Artists 9.RED Taylor Swift

5 KIDZ BOP 23 10. LES MISERABLES Kidz Bop Kids Soundtrack

for best album (Some Nights) and best record (We Are Young). Rap artist Frank Ocean has four nominations: for best album (the critically-acclaimed Channel Orange), record of the year (Thinkin Bout You), best new artiste and best urban contemporary album. Also vying for best album are three-time Grammy winners The Black Keys for El Camino, British rock-folk group Mumford & Sons for Babel and rocker White for Blunderbuss. AFP

Bollywood Top 10 1. JEE LE ZARA MANDOLA

Talaash Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola

2. PARTY ON MY MIND

Race 2

3. HOOKAH BAR Khiladi 786

4.LAT LAG GAYEE Race 2

5 TERI JHUKI NAZAR Murder 3

6. MATRU KI BIJLEE KA

7. FEVICOL SE Dabangg 2

8. ISHQ WALA LOVE Student of the Year

9. BALMA Khiladi 786

10. BE INTEHAAN Race 2

Sting

will head to the deserts of Jodhpur to perform at the gardens of Umaid Bhawan Palace. Sting’s performance will be a part of the Jodhpur One World Retreat 2013, a fundraising event organised by Maharaja of Jodhpur at his residence from March 8 to 10 to bring together “greatest minds and talents to enlighten, energise, celebrate and transform lives.”

TRENDING...

Ke$ha is coming to television with a new reality series that promises to document the “drama, madness and euphoria” of her professional and personal life. “Ke$ha: My Crazy Beautiful Life,” will premiere on MTV. The show was shot over two years by the singer’s brother Lagan Sebert, giving an unﬁltered, “real and raw” look at her life.

Justin Timberlake, making his pop music comeback with a new single and album, will perform at next month’s Grammy Awards for the ﬁrst time in four years, Grammy organisers said. Timberlake will take the stage at the music industry’s biggest night in Los Angeles ahead of the scheduled March release of his ﬁrst album.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

spotlight

MEETING OF MUSIC

Try not to miss the Confluence of Zakir Hussain, Bela Fleck & Edgar M at Shilpa Kala Vedika tonight. The artists will be performing from 6.30 onwards.

EXPANDING HORIZONS

Sai Silks (Kalamandir) Limited, the retailer of womens, kids and menswear has ﬁled a Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) with SEBI / ROC for an initial public offer (IPO) to raise `89 crore.

ADVANCING HEALTHCARE

Apollo Cancer Hospital, Hyderabad and CURE Foundation are hosting the 5th Biennial Conference CANCER CI – 2013 at Hotel Taj Krishna, from February 8-10. The announcement was made on Thursday.

DIFFERENT SHADES 1

When dance clicks Ranjit Sinha wowed visitors with his photography exhibition on dance titled My breath on Canvas. The exhibition is being held at Goethe Zentrum. 3

1 Ananda Shanker Jayanth

3 Nirmal, Damayanthi Kunad

5 Geeta, Bhargavi, Jyothi

2 Sonal

4 Anisha, Shiv

6 Bhumika, Sunny

TAMING THE ABSTRACT

Visitors were all in awe of the paintings by Tarab Khan which were on display at the Muse Art Gallery. The closing ceremony of the exhibition was held on Thursday.

SHOPPING FOR WEDDINGS Tollywood actor Sonali of Aahana Prema Anta fame inaugurated the Parinaya Wedding Fair being held at the Sri Venkateswara Kalayana Mandapam, from February 7- 10.On display will be over 1,50,000 designs from 90 designers.

7 Ranjit Sinha

S BALAKRISHNA

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

health

A CAPSULE THAT SUPPRESSES CANCER CELLS

A tiny capsule designed by US researchers could suppress cancers without damaging healthy cells, shows a study. The protein cargo accumulates in the nucleus of cancer cells and signals to the cell to undergo programmed self-destruction.

CONDOM AWARENESS WEEK

What is so embarrassing? Common STDs n Chlamydia Symptoms: (in men) Burning sensation during urination, discharge from the penis or rectum, testicular tenderness or pain, rectal discharge or pain. (in women) burning sensation during urination, painful sexual intercourse, rectal pain or discharge, symptoms of PID, salpingitis, liver inflammation similar to hepatitis and vaginal discharge. n Gonorrhoea Symptoms: (in men) Greenish yellow or whitish discharge from the penis, burning when urinating, burning in the throat (due to oral sex), painful or swollen testicles, swollen glands in the throat (due to oral sex). (in women) Greenish yellow or whitish discharge from the vagina, lower abdominal or pelvic pain, burning when urinating, conjunctivitis (red, itchy eyes), bleeding between periods, spotting after intercourse, swelling of the vulva (vulvitis), burning in the throat (due to oral sex) and swollen glands in the throat (due to oral sex). n HPV Symptoms: Genital warts, rarely, warts in the throat -- a condition called recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, cervical cancer and other, less common but serious cancers, including cancers of the vulva, vagina, penis, anus, and oropharynx (back of throat including base of tongue and tonsils). n PID Symptoms: Dull pain or tenderness in the stomach or lower abdominal area, or pain in the right upper abdomen, abnormal vaginal discharge that is yellow or green in colour or that has an unusual odour, painful urination, chills or high fever, nausea and vomiting and pain during sex.

Why do most of us still talk in hushed tones when we discuss the condom? Why do educational institutions and nightclubs still shy away from promoting a product that can prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancies? RANJANI RAJENDRA

ranjani.r@postnoon.com

tarting February 9 is Condom Awareness Week. But mention the ‘C’ word and you’re bound to be met with a startled look. After all, how can you so openly talk about things that indicate sex? Given all the progress we’ve made it is about time we shed the taboo surrounding the need to protect oneself from STDs. As one contestant at a slogan contest put it, “Don’t condemn sex, condom it.”

NIGHTCLUBS

The problem that we, as a society, still face is the hushed tones in which sex is still talked about. While everyone wants to experiment with it, nobody will admit it nor take precautions. Almost every nightclub abroad has a condom vending machine in its restrooms. However, these machines are conspicuous by their absence in nightclubs here. “Placing these machines might offend some. I

don’t think any nightclub in India has one. It has a lot to do with the fact that we respect women a lot and in fact, we have more security in nightclubs than anywhere else,” defends Sanjeev Mehta of Over the Moon lounge. Others blame lack of space. “We did try installing one in our men’s room some years ago. However, the condom vending machines are too bulky and the washrooms too small. It didn’t work out. However, if there are any smaller ones now, we could try doing it again,” says Vinod Reddy, partner at 10 Downing Street.

MEDICAL FRATERNITY

“Condoms in India are like mathematics. Everybody thinks they are good, but very few use it. There is still a lot of sheepishness surrounding the whole issue. In fact, a lot of men are too embarrassed to buy them and surveys have shown that it is the women who shop for condoms at supermarkets,” says Dr Divya T Sudarshan, gynaecologist and obstetrician at Happy Women Clinic. Another major problem is that people still associate condoms with protection against pregnancy. “Very few think about it as a means to prevent

STDs. Everybody likes to think that STDs will never happen to them. The first thing we need to change this is begin talking about condoms. They should be made easily available,” she says.

AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS

In the meantime, the State AIDS Cell has been working extensively towards increasing awareness about condoms and preventing STDs. “Five years ago the stock of condoms in the State would get expired. Today, with our scaled up targeted intervention programmes and awareness campaigns, we have seen a change in mindsets to a large extent. Last year NACO provided AP with 75 million condoms, this year it has gone up to 109 million. This shows, how people are beginning to change their perceptions,” says T Kailash Ditya, joint director, targeted intervention, APSACS. They have placed condom vending machines at hot spots. This change is seen in the decreased incidence of HIV in the State. “In 2008 HIV prevalence in ANCs was 1.22 per cent. In 2010 it had come down to 0.77 per cent. With our awareness programmes we are slowly getting to a stage where people are more careful,” he says.

Common STDs n

HIV/AIDS Symptoms: Lack of energy, weight loss, frequent fevers and sweats, persistent or frequent yeast infections, persistent skin rashes or flaky skin, short-term memory loss and mouth, genital, or anal sores from herpes infections. n Syphilis Symptoms: In men, a chancre often appears in the genital area. These sores are often painless. In women, chancres can develop on the outer genitals or on the inner part of the vagina. A rash often develops over the body and commonly includes the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. n Herpes Symptoms: Cracked, raw, or red areas around your genitals without pain, itching, or tingling, itching or tingling around your genitals or your anal region, small blisters that break open and cause painful sores. Pain from urine passing over the sores — this is especially a problem in women, headaches, backaches and flu-like symptoms. n Hepatitis Symptoms: Extreme tiredness, loss of appetite, muscle aches and pains, nausea and vomiting, low-grade fever, dark urine, yellow skin (jaundice) and itchy skin.

health FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

RESEARCH

STUDY

FISH OIL PREVENTS SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH?

Lightning could trigger migraine, headaches

Researchers say dialysis patients with higher Omega-3 fatty acid levels in blood are at a lower risk of cardiac death. WASHINGTON: Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oils could protect dialysis patients from sudden cardiac deaths, says a study. “We found that higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood of patients who were just starting (haemo) dialysis were very strongly associated with a lower risk of sudden cardiac death over the first year of their treatment,” says Allon N Friedman, associate professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and study co-author. “This study is a first step toward identifying a possible treatment for sudden cardiac death in dialysis patients,” adds Friedman. Sudden cardiac death is an unexpected death due to cardiac causes occurring in a short period (generally within one hour of symptom onset) in a person with known or unknown cardiac disease. The study is based on 100 patients who died of such causes during their first year of haemodialysis, and 300 patients who survived, according to an Indiana statement. “The risk of sudden cardiac death in haemodialysis patients is highest during the first year of treatment. The annual rate of such deaths is about six to seven

percent, which may even exceed the rate in patients with heart failure,” Friedman said. “Because omega-3 fatty acids can be obtained from certain foods, such as fish oil, our findings also have important implications for the type of diet we recommend to patients on dialysis,” Friedman said. The five-year survival rate

CINCINNATI: Headache and episodes of migraines could also be triggered by lightning, reports a study by American scientists. These results, published in the online edition of the journal Cephalalgia, are the first tying lightning to headache and migraine and could help chronic sufferers more efficiently anticipate it and begin the preventive treatment. According to Science Daily, there was a 31 percent increased risk of headache and 28 percent increased risk of migraine for chronic headache sufferers on days lighting struck within 25 miles of study participants’ homes. In addition, new-onset headache and migraine increased by 24 percent and 23 percent respectively in participants. “Many studies show conflicting findings on how weather, including elements like barometric pressure and humidity, affect the onset of headaches,” said Geoffrey Martin of the research team at University of Cincinnati (UC), Ohio, US. “However, this study very clearly shows a correlation between lightning, associated meteorological factors and headaches,” he added. IANS

for patients on haemodialysis is 35 percent, with the risk of death highest in the first few months of starting treatment. The most common cause of death in these patients is sudden cardiac death, which accounts for about one out of every four deaths. IANS

ANEWS PP-LYBRIEFS YOURSELF

HOUSECALL

DID YOU KNOW?

PIONEERS

GoMeals

Mucopolysaccharide

7 miles of blood vessels

Joseph Lister

If you have a health condition like diabetes, information about what you eat can be important. GoMeals was developed to help you make healthy lifestyle choices. It includes tools for eating healthy, staying active, and tracking your blood glucose levels. The new version has an activity tracker for workouts.

MPS, also known as lysosomal storage diseases, are rare, life-threatening, progressive metabolic conditions each caused by a shortage of a particular enzyme. The enzyme deﬁciency that results from mucopolysaccharide diseases means the body can’t break down (metabolise) certain molecules called GAGs (glycosaminoglycans). This leads to dysfunction the cells, resulting in dysfunction of tissues and organs.

When you gain a pound of fat, your body makes seven new miles of blood vessels. So your body must work harder to pump blood through these extra vessels, which may put a strain on your heart and reduce nutrient replenishment in other tissues. But if you lose a pound, your body will reabsorb the now unnecessary vessels.

Joseph Lister was born April 5, 1827 in Upton, England. In 1861 he observed that 45–50 per cent of amputation patients died from sepsis. In 1865 he learned of Louis Pasteur’s theory that microorganisms cause infection. Using phenol as an antiseptic, he reduced mortality in his ward to 15 per cent within four years. He is regarded as the founder of antiseptic medicine. He promoted the idea of sterile surgery.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Entertainment CINE BYTES

Singeetham Srinivasa Rao is back!

eteran director Singeetham Srinivasa Rao is going to direct a comedy film titled Welcome Obama. The film was launched a few days ago in Korumamidi, a small village in West Godavari and it’ll soon be shot in Hyderabad and Mumbai. Rachel, Urmila, Sanjeev and Niranjani are playing the lead roles in this film.

NTR's new film to be launched soon

TR is a busy bee these days. He’s currently busy wrapping up Sreenu Vaitla’s Baadshah and another film under Harish Shankar’s direction is already under production. His next film, a Santosh Srinivas direction, is going to be launched on February 13.

Shadow's audio launch on March 7

enkatesh, Taapsee starrer Shadow is currently in the post-production stage. Directed by Meher Ramesh, this action entertainer also stars Srikanth in a crucial role. The film’s music has been scored by SS Thaman and the audio is going to be launched on March 7 at Shilpa Kala Vedika.

BATTLE OF THE TITANS

The curious case of Telugu cinema in the US The market for Telugu films in US has been expanding over the years, but when it comes to who's the most popular Telugu actor, the choice is almost unanimous. HEMANTH KUMAR hemanth.k@postnoon.com

elugu films have made a big splash in the US market and the collections registered by films like Dookudu, Eega, Gabbar Singh and Seethamma Vaakitlo Sirimalle Chettu have stumped the trade pundits in Bollywood. A decade ago, the market for Telugu films was nearly negligible, but today, films starring Mahesh Babu have been raking in close to $1.5 million at the box office in the US despite releasing in less than 100 screens. So what has led to this change? Praveen

Siddavarapu, a USbased film distributor, says, “Earlier distributors used to screen films only in major locations like California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Dallas

and then screen the film in other areas in the second or third week for a cheaper price. Over the years, the number of local exhibitors increased dramatically which led to screening of Telugu films in every location on the same day, which led to a hike in the market price of Telugu films.” Today, films starring Mahesh Babu, Pawan Kalyan, Ram Charan and NTR are sold for a whopping price in the range of anything between `3-6 crore. Mahesh

Mahesh Babu starrer Dookudu was a gamechanger for Telugu films in the US. The film stunned everyone after it grossed more than $1 million within the first three days of its release. Babu starrer Dookudu was a gamechanger for Telugu films in the US. The film stunned everyone after it grossed more than $1 million within the first three days of its release. Post the success of Dookudu, three more Telugu films have breached the $1 million mark including SS Rajamouli’s Eega, Pawan Kalyan starrer Gabbar Singh and Mahesh Babu, Venkatesh starrer Seethamma Vaakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (SVSC). This year, Ram Charan starrer Nayak and SVSC, which released with a gap of two days, were two of the most awaited

films of the year. Although the competition between the two films was neck-to-neck in Andhra Pradesh, it was a completely different story in the US. According to some reports, SVSC grossed nearly `8.7 crore from reported screens, after its fourth weekend, and the overall figure is expected to be higher than that. Compared to that, Ram Charan’s Naayak could only manage `2.6 crore from reported screens. Mahesh Babu’s brand, combination of Mahesh Babu and Venkatesh and the fact that SVSC was a family entertainer clearly helped the film to register such massive collections. Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam has also managed to gross close to $250,000 in the US, whereas Mani Ratnam’s Kadali and Ongole Githa failed to click. So what does it take to crack the US box office? “Reviews matter a lot. Unless a movie gets more than 3.25/5 rating from top websites, Telugu films rarely do well at the box office. Moreover, presence of big names like Mahesh Babu, Pawan Kalyan, Ram Charan, NTR, Trivikram Srinivas, Sreenu Vaitla, S S Rajamouli and Sekhar Kammula is more likely to help a film’s chances to be a hit in the US compared to other films,” Praveen adds. It’s going to be quite an interesting year at the US BO with a Mahesh Babu-Sukumar’s film, Trivikram-Pawan Kalyan’s film, NTR’s Baadshah, NTR-Harish Shankar’s film, Ram Charan’s Yevadu and Allu Arjun’s Iddarammayilatho lined up.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

fashion

MARCHESA TO LAUNCH NEW CONTEMPORARY LINE

MARCHESA is launching a secondary, more-affordable line. The contemporary collection will feature the brand’s signature mainline aesthetic, but at lower price points.

FASHION IS CONTROVERSY 1

The world was in an uproar over 15-year-old Brooke Shield’s provocative pose and partially unbuttoned shirt in a Calvin Klein TV advertisement. The slogan was, “Nothing comes between me and my Calvins.”

Azealia Banks’ risqué Dazed and Confused cover featured the Harlem songstress pictured amid a teenage bedroom blowing up a raspberry-coloured condom. It was banned in Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Malta, Switzerland, India and Thailand.

Vogue Italia’s fashion website altered a trend feature titled “Slave earrings” from its website amid claims of racism. The feature, based on large, gold-hooped earrings featured a short burst of copy describing the trend.

Vogue Paris’ December 2010 issue featured an elaborate Christmas gift guide guest-edited by designer Tom Ford. The shoot showed young girls reclining on tigerskins or sprawled on beds in full make-up and designer gowns.

Fashion and controversies go hand in hand. Fashion fraternity never ceases to spark controversies related to age, race and size. Vizag Fashion Week came to an abrupt end when organisations protested against designer James Ferreira’s line that had prints of Lord Ganesha displayed on the clothes. Postnoon lists eight biggest fashion controversies.

50-year-old Galliano swiftly nosedived from being at the helm of French fashion house Christian Dior, to rehab in America, in under two weeks. The British designer was arrested in February after allegations that he hurled anti-Semitic abuse to a couple in a café in Paris.

British model Kate Moss’s personal life imploded after the Daily Mirror published pictures of her snorting what looked like cocaine in 2005. Fashion giants Chanel, H&M and Burberry all dropped the campaigns in which she starred.

French Vogue ran this image of Dutch model Lara Stone in October 2009. Famous for being preternaturally pale, Lara’s fair skin was transformed into dark with layers of makeup and body paint.

The September issue of Vogue Italia featured model Stella Tennant on the cover with her waist corseted into an unbelievable 13 inches. Eyebrows were quickly raised over what many saw as a glorification of the skinny myth.

Entertainment FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

SCRIPTS FOR THE FUTURE

CINE BYTES

STILL TOO FEW

VICKY DONORS AND KAHAANIS, SAYS TIGMANSHU DHULIA

t is a good time for Indian cinema with films like Vicky Donor and Kahaani striking a chord but such successes are still few and not enough to transform the economics of filmmaking, says writer-director Tigmanshu Dhulia. And change is still some way away. “It’s a good time, but how many Vicky Donors and how many Kahaanis are there? The ratio is still very low. It’s not going to change,” Dhulia said. According to Dhulia, one can experiment with cinema, “but it’s not like writing poetry because a certain amount of money is involved; people’s reputations are at stake.” “So, it’s a very complicated form of art where you want to express yourself but keeping in mind the logistics of economy,” said the maker of the critically acclaimed Paan Singh Tomar. “I have never been an indulgent filmmaker; my films have been audiencefriendly. But when they watch my film, they understand that film; it doesn’t go over their head.” While experimenting, Dhulia suggests, use technology and avoid inflated budgets. “Technology has grown so much now that you can make a film in `10 lakh; so experiment with that,” added the 45-year-old. His Paan Singh Tomar was made on a shoestring budget of `4.5 crore and earned `20 crore. His initial works Haasil, Charas and Shagird failed to make it big, but Dhulia got his due with Paan Singh Tomar and Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster. His acting stint in Gangs of Wasseypur won him many fans too. “I would say every dog has its day, so now it’s my time,” he said with a smile.

“I will continue doing stories that I want to do. In seven years, none of my films were released, though I was working. At that time I was writing scripts and now those scripts are close to my heart and I want to direct those films.” Thanks to his recent successes, he is working with a star for the first time in Bullet Raja, which has Saif Ali Khan in the lead. “Now, if stars want to work with me fine, or else I will continue making films the way I was making before,” he said. “Filmmaking is all about cheating. To make a big film look big, you don’t really have to spend money, you just have to put wider lenses,” he added. Dhulia, who worked as a casting director for Bandit Queen, would like to work with stars provided they are ready to enter his zone. “It is great that today the industry has a few stars who can command respect at the box office. Yes, of course, I want to work with stars. If they are ready to come into my space, then why not? But if they want me to go into their space, I will not work with them,” he said. He is impressed with Saif and said: “Saif is one of the finest actors we have. He is very chilled out and I would say every director should work with him.” Currently busy promoting his directorial venture Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns, Dhulia has picked up unusual titles for his next films - Bullet Raja and Revolver Rani, which stars Kangna Ranaut. Why such titles? “I like guns. I like action. I like to make macho films. I couldn’t do that before because that was the time for love stories, now it’s my turn. Yes, there will be action but in proportion.” IANS

‘Satyagraha’ for Kareena on Valentine’s Day ctress Kareena Kapoor, who A tied the knot with actor Saif Ali Khan four months ago, will be busy shooting for Prakash Jha’s film Satyagraha in Bhopal on Valentine’s Day. “This year, my Valentine’s Day will be with Amit-ji (Amitabh Bachchan), Ajay Devgn and Prakash Jha. So it’s not bad,” Kareena said. IANS

Sridevi looking to watch Broadway shows

ctress Sridevi is waiting for Broadway shows Cirque de Glace and Snow White on Ice to take place this April. “I have seen Broadway shows abroad and they are perfect. I am sure this one will be even greater. We learn a lot through these shows. The dedication, hard work, the way they dance... they are so professional. So it’s not only entertainment, it is a lot of things,” she added. PTI

‘Dedh Ishqiya’ shooting to start in February

ctress Madhuri Dixit says that Vishal Bhardwaj’s Dedh Ishqiya shooting will start from mid-February. “Shooting for Gulabi Gang has already started and Dedh Ishqiya will start from mid-February,” the 46-year-old said. Dedh Ishqiya was initially supposed to go on the floors in September 2011, but it was postponed till November and then it was shifted to February. IANS

Entertainment FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Chai Time

Play & Win

Please send in your filled-in entries to Postnoon, #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033. The winners will be announced on this page in Sunday’s edition.

KAKURO 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 refer-

QUICK CROSSWORD enced 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.

Play & Win

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ACROSS

SCRIBBLING PAD

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SUDOKU

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

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1 Voodoo spell 5 Title for von Trapp 10 Take it on the lam 14 ___ Bator 15 Kick out 16 Be lazy 17 Bastes or hems 18 After-meal tools 20 Reggae artist Peter 21 Don’t just stand there 22 Bid the bed adieu 23 Reacted with awe 25 Sibilant ‘Over here!’ 27 Noisy brawl 29 Like a decorated Yule tree 33 Cunning ways 34 Prefix with ‘focus’ 35 Flintstones’ pet 36 Self proclaimed ‘greatest’ of boxing 37 Pasta shape 38 Drug book for MDs 39 Sports officials, briefly 41 Family group 42 Sealy alternative 44 Soaks 46 Small parts for big people 47 High-seas greeting 48 Cuban dance 49 Grown-up bug

52 A pop 53 Being No 1? 56 Unable to speak 59 Hardly scarce 60 Adjective for babies and puppies 61 Crestless wave 62 Annoying buzzer 63 Follow the advice of 64 Break down a sentence 65 Shrek, for one

DOWN 1 Is compelled to 2 Muffin spread 3 Emergency extrication device 4 Landlubber’s locale 5 Fashion designer Johnson 6 Stay clear of 7 Word with ‘act’ or ‘gear’ 8 Six mos from Apr 9 Unspecific degree 10 Was coquettish 11 Mathematical sets of points 12 Many wapiti 13 ‘What,’ ‘who,’ ‘how’ or ‘where’ follower 19 Make the grade? 24 Possesses 25 Mountain climber’s

aid 26 Winter blanket 27 Clio, Edgar, Hugo, Oscar or Tony 28 April form submitter 29 Heavy horns 30 Hearing visually? 31 Put an ___ (stop) 32 ‘The Explorer’ of kid shows, and a Freud subject 34 Narrow lane between buildings 37 Rebounded sound 40 Acquired by acting quickly 42 All of America’s uncle 43 Economic warfare tactic 45 ___ En-lai 46 Turn bad, as milk 48 Staggers 49 Scratch cue 50 Expression of distaste 51 Predeal chip 52 Wharf 54 Way off yonder 55 Apportion (with ‘out’) 57 Psychic’s claim to fame 58 Erstwhile airline

Chai Time FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 9-2-2013

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Long-time problems and hurdles will come to an end. Employees need to put in hard work on a continuous basis to get recognition. Happy events likely to take place at home. Fulfill your responsibilities without neglecting any of them.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

Mother’s health is needed to be taken care of. Some might have a chance to be affected by a skin ailment; take good care. Separated couples might get together and lead a happy life. Be careful, read the parent documents before a purchase.

Be careful in food habits as food poisoning is likely. Businessmen need to adopt new and innovative schemes to attract more customers. Written-off dues will get collected making you comfortable. Employees will see a good growth.

Marriage talk will be successful. Employees will be recognised. Their wishes and demands will get fulfilled. Comforts likely to increase. Those without a job will get favourable news. Businessmen need to focus well to achieve planned growth.

Employees of private sector might struggle to keep their job. Avoid arguments and taking controversial stand at workplace. A debt will get cleared and make you happy. A deficit financial position should be avoided by refusing a financial help.

Those jealous of your growth will realise their mistake and support you. Dull period experienced by businessmen will be over and a good phase will begin. Politicians and social volunteers will get support from public for good work they do.

Artists will get name and fame with a fine performance in a recent project. Financial position will be very comfortable and hence you will be able to fulfill wishes of the entire family. New efforts will be successful. Govt sops likely for some.

Employees will be entrusted with more responsibilities but they will discharge them successfully. They are also favoured with an expected transfer. Those deprived of a child for long will get favourable news. Entrepreneurs have a favourable time.

Minor misunderstanding likely within the family member but will be resolved soon. Artists bag new and promising opportunities with hard work. Students need to focus on studies. Employees will be entrusted with more responsibilities.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Death – A new world is opening up and you realise that your age-old belief systems may have no place in this new world. Go with the flow; don’t disturb it.

LEO:

The World – Everything’s going very well. The investments are clicking and the money’s looking good. Don’t be afraid to make major changes to your lifestyle.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Two of Swords – Your mood swings will get you in trouble. Extremes in emotions are causing you to feel restless and impatient. You get over-emotional.

SAGITTARIUS:

Page of Swords – A combination of youthful energy yet sharp focus is what will achieve desired results for you, whether it is at work or in your love life.

TAURUS:

The Wheel of Fortune – Bad times eventually give way to good times. Bosses change; the projects you work on change. Learn from experience and move on.

CANCER:

The Tower – You perceive the world differently, stop judging people for who they are. If you don’t change, life will force you to by pushing you to a corner.

VIRGO:

The Magician – Your intuition is taking you places. You don’t know how, but ideas are just popping up and you’re doing a swell job of making them work.

SCORPIO:

Ten of Wands – You’re probably taking on too much work and need to relax a bit. Delegate as much as you can and plan your time well.

CAPRICORN:

Three of Wands – Try a different exercise routine if the current one is boring you. Why not try a Bollywood dance, salsa, hip hop or bhangra classes?

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Eight of Wands – Finances look good, your forethought and planning have paid off. Expect a windfall. Saving for a rainy day is good but also learn to live a little.

NUMBER GAME

– Avoid conflict and confrontation. It’ll only confuse matters. There’s competition for your position, and it may have nothing to do with you, really.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Five of Swords

POOCH CAFE

Those without a job will be favoured with one soon. Transfer and promotion on the cards for employees. Students will continue to study well with focus and score good marks. You will be benefitted by womenfolk or spouse. Court verdict is good.

for 9-2-2013

Two of Pentacles – Only a balancing act will save your life from getting out of control this week. Family and work need you equally. You will have to manage.

NON SEQUITUR

Purchase of new immovable property likely. Delays in selling the old assets will be over and deal will go through successfully. Transfer and promotion on the cards for employees. Businessmen might have to undertake journey for expansion.

SUDUKO

Minor tensions likely; but keep your cool and proceed with your work with a determination. Some have a bright chance to buy a new house or land. Chances of transfer for some and they have to stay away from their family for a short period.

Boggle MOUSE HYENA TIGER HORSE ZEBRA Vol: 2, No 203 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

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Staking her claim This year some lovely ladies have been nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Award. While some have won Oscars before, we have a few newbies too. Who will claim ol’ baldie? We’ll see. ANNE HATHAWAY IN LES MISÉRABLES

It's impossible not to be affected by Hathaway's turn as the picked-upon Fantine. She was wowing audiences long before the film was even released — many called her performance astonishing based solely on the trailer for her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream. As with Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls, the role's stage pedigree preceded the performance. Best scene: Hathaway's is one of those rare campaigns built on a single scene. She may disappear from proceedings by the end of the third act, but her gutsy, tear-streaked performance of the aforementioned ballad, sung live and shot in unforgiving close-up, remains the film's dramatic peak. Awards: Screen Actors Guild – nominated , Las Vegas Film Criticswinner.

AMY ADAMS IN THE MASTER

With four nominations in eight years, Adams has become something of an Oscar perennial, but she's still awaiting her first win. In The Master, she is no longer the endearing heroine we have come to know and love, but behind her doll-like features hides a steely personality. Adams, a previous nominee —for Doubt — will be back again on the Oscar stage. Maybe it’s just not this year. Best scene: Giving her cult-leader husband (Philip Seymour Hoffman) a brisk pep talk while helping him masturbate in the bathroom mirror, Adams reveals vast reserves of power behind her kewpie-doll features. She may yet be the master of the title. Awards: Winner of Los Angeles Film Critics and Hollywood Film Festival.

SALLY FIELD IN LINCOLN Sally Field, is a double Oscar-winner who's impersonating a famous historical figure, Mary Todd Lincoln. She has the difficult task of playing a mentally disturbed woman who can appear to be a nagging albatross dragging a great man down rather than a valuable support to him in a time of crisis. Field makes Mary a complex, sympathetic, heartbreaking figure and deserves an Oscar. Best scene: Greeting her husband's political fellows at a party, Mrs. Lincoln conjures up the requisite charm while

engaging in passive-aggressive politicking on her husband's behalf. It's a demonstration of great wit and cunning from a character frequently portrayed merely as a doughty battle-axe. Awards: Winner of New York Film Critics Circle and Boston Society of Film Critics award.

HELEN HUNT IN THE SESSIONS

Hunt benefits from having the most screen time of all the nominees: her warm, lived-in turn as an unorthodox sex therapist is arguably a leading performance. She hasn't had a role this substantial since winning the Oscar for As Good as It Gets 15 years ago, and voters love a comeback kid. Best Scene: Discovering and reading the love letter written to her by her polio-stricken patient (John Hawkes), Hunt's face subtly registers her split personal and professional impulses. It's typical of a performance that balances brisk pragmatism with empathetic tenderness. Awards: Winner of San Francisco Film Critics and St Louis Film Critics

JACKI WEAVER IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Weaver's nomination is one of the year's most surprising, demonstrating both the extent of the film's popularity in the Academy and the high standing the Australian character actress has gained among her peers since scoring her first nod for Animal Kingdom two years ago. In a field heavy on stars and star turns, she gives perhaps the most authentically supporting performance of the lot. Best Scene: Her pacifying skills fail in a particularly unruly fight between her husband (Robert De Niro) and son (Bradley Cooper) and she gets caught in the fracas, her panicked despair cuts through the jazzy chaos of the scene. Awards: None SOURCE: THE OBSERVER

sports

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

DRUG-ENHANCED SHOW

FOOTBALL FIXED

Oz battles The slow pursuit of doping fallout top ‘match-fixer’

An inquiry, which revealed use of prohibited substances was common, has sent shockwaves through Australia. We’ve been talking to sports about peptides, so we’re conscious about that being a new generation of drug that people are looking to use to improve performance. Aurora Andruska ASADA chief MARTIN PARRY Agence France-Presse SYDNEY: Doping agencies urged Australian cheats to come clean on Friday as concern mounted that everyone has been tarred with the same brush after a probe pointed to widespread drug use in professional sport. “Blackest day in sport”, ran the Sydney Morning Herald headline while the tabloid Sydney Daily Telegraph screamed: “Sport on Trial.” The broadsheet The Australian said doping threatened the sporting culture of a nation that has long had a reputation as being predominantly drugs-free. The official report indicated that sports scientists, coaches and support staff as well as doctors and pharmacists were involved

in the provision of drugs, which were often supplied by organised criminal gangs. World Anti-Doping Agency president John Fahey said tougher penalties were expected to be adopted by his organisation in response to the growing use of new-generation, performance-enhancing drugs such as peptides. ASADA chief Aurora Andruska said peptides, which increase levels of human growth hormone, were the “new generation” of drugs but only two labs in the world could test for them, in Cologne and Montreal. “We’ve been talking to sports about peptides, so we’re conscious about that being a new generation of drug that people are looking to use to improve their performance,” she said.

Interpol complains, while the integrity of the sport is under threat, the alleged ringleaders are living freely.

TALEK HARRIS Agence France-Presse SINGAPORE: It’s a conventional life for a well-to-do Singaporean businessman: he lives in a condo, drives a BMW and enjoys trips to the casino, according to people familiar with his routine. The difference is that Tan Seet Eng (right) — better known in global law-enforcement circles as Dan Tan — is the key suspect in what could be the biggest match-fixing scandal in football history. When news broke this week that nearly 700 games, mainly in Europe, had been targeted by Singaporean-linked fixers, questions were immediately raised about Tan, who has been in the spotlight for the past 18 months. His name has cropped up in multiple investigations. In the latest probe revealed by Europol, hundreds of players and officials are under suspicion, 14 people have been sentenced and more than 100 prosecutions are expected. But the head of Interpol among others complains that, while the integrity of the world’s most popular sport is under threat, the alleged ringleaders are living freely. Tan, in an interview in 2011, vigorously protested his innocence and said he was mystified

Tan Seet Eng (above) — better known as Dan Tan — is the key suspect in what could be the biggest matchfixing scandal in football history. as to why he had been accused. “Why I’m suddenly described as a match-fixer, I don’t know. I’m innocent,” he told Singapore’s The New Paper. “If there’s anything against me, I can take it to court and fight it,” he added. Tan, an ethnic Chinese man in his forties, first reached public attention in 2011, when his alleged partner and fellow Singaporean Wilson Raj Perumal was arrested in Finland, convicted of match-

fixing and jailed. Perumal, believed to be a key source for blowing open the “calcioscommesse” scandal in Italy, as well as this week’s Europol revelations, maintains he was double-crossed by Tan and named him as a key figure in his fixing syndicate. Italian police have issued an arrest warrant for Tan, and court papers quoted by The New Paper called him the “leader” of an international fixing ring.

HYDERABAD TRACK WORK

Golden Phantom pleases

Golden Phantom, Jamie, Aphrodisiac, Dusty Lady and Dandelion impressed when horses were exercised this morning (Friday) at the racecourse in Malakpet. Sand track 800 metres Alberton Star (N Rawal) Grigori (rb) 59.5, 600/44 They finished together. Aerosmith (rb) Dandelion (N Rawal) 57, 600/42 They moved well and finished together. Royal Shaan (rb) 57, 600/43 Easy. Golden Phantom (Imran Khan) 56, 600/42 Pleased. Star Sensation (N Rawal) Foudre Rouge (app) 58, 600/44 They finished together. Jamie (K Alam) 57, 60/43 Moved well. Home Coming (Nitin Singh) Blue Diamond (rb) 12, 600/45 They moved freely. Our Mascot (Imran Khan) 58, 600/44

Easy. Vijaysheel (Joshi) 58, 600/42 Speedy. Aphrodisiac (rb) 56, 600/42 Retains form. Young Sapper (rb) 12.5, 600/47 Easy. Romantic Champ (rb) 1-1.5, 600/45 Easy. Khabza (rb) 59, 600/44 Moved well. Dusty Lady (rb) 53, 600/40 Caught the eye. Sweet O Child Mine (K.Alam) 57, 60/41.5 Pushed . Lucy Diamond (rb) 58 600/43 Moved freely. Amazing Power (M Mark) Sugar Deal (rb) 1-0, 600/43 They moved together. Dream Deal (M Mark) 1-0, 600/43.5 Moved freely. Smashing Beauty (Ravinder Singh) 1-3.5, 60/48 Easy.

Enrapture (app) 1-3, 600/48 Moved freely. Royal Glory (N Rawal) Rock Heights (Sai Kumar) 1-0, 600/45 Former finished a length in front. Sand track 1000 metres Black Bolt (Deep Shanker) Natalia (Harinder Singh) 57, 600/43 They finished together. True Friend (M Mark) 1-13, 800/56.5, 600/43.5 Urged. Devils Advocate (app) Sushen (rb) 1-13, 800/58, 600/43 Former finished well in front. Sand track 1200 metres Baazigar (app) 1-32.5, 1000/1-16.5,

800/1-1.5, 600/47 Easy. Sand track 1400 metres Looking For Love (rb) 1-46, 1200/1-30, 1000/1-15, 800/58, 600/44 Pushed in the last part. Sand track 1600 metres Saravagnya (rb) 2-5, 1400/1-49, 1200/1-34, 1000/1-17, 800/1-1.5, 600/46.5 Moved freely. Gate practice (Winter outer race grass) 1000 metres Lips Locking (Ravinder Singh)

Nano Star (Ajit Kumar) Splendid Knock (S Nayak) 1-8, 800/53, 600/40 They jumped out well. Sun Bird (Ravinder Singh) Roma Rouge (app) Kohinoor Desire (app) Shatakshi (rb) Chocolate Soldier (app) Staminoized (Nitin Singh) 14, 800/50, 600/38 Sun Bird missed the jump and finished in the above order. Icelandic (appa) El Paso (Kuldeep Singh) 1-17.5, 800/59.5, 600/45 They took a level jump. Caladium (app) Gospel of Bernaba (rb) Balajah (app) 1-8, 800/51, 600/37 Off slowly.

sports

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

FED CUP PREVIEW

IOC-PAK CLASH

No Serena, Sharapova Serena and Maria will not take part in the upcoming Fed Cup. PARIS: The 2013 Fed Cup World Group gets underway Saturday with the tournament missing marquee names Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova and with a late format tweak aimed at boosting the event’s appeal. Both Williams and Sharapova featured in the 2012 Fed Cup, partly to meet Olympic Games qualifying criteria, but will not be involved when the United States tackle Italy and Russia welcome Japan this weekend. Williams, who has played just six ties since 1999, has a back injury while Sharapova, whose Fed Cup record stretches to a meagre three appearances since her 2008 debut, was left out of the Russian squad. Their absences have cut the number of players from the top 10 competing in the four World Group One ties to just three — number seven Sara Errani of

Fixtures PARIS: The Fed Cup World Group ﬁrst round matches to be held on Saturday and Sunday: World Group I: At Ostrava: Czech Republic v Australia At Rimini: Italy v USA At Moscow: Russia v Japan

Italy, eighth-ranked Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic and number nine Samantha Stosur of Australia. Wary of the growing demands placed on time and physical endurance by the professional tour, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced on Thursday changes concerning dead rubbers in the tournament.

PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AM

Scotland’s Knox shares lead

PEBBLE BEACH: Russell Knox matched his career low on the PGA Tour on Thursday by firing a six-under par 64 to seize a share of the first-round lead at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Knox, who birdied four of his final eight holes on the Shore Course on Thursday, shares the lead at six-under with American Hunter Mahan, who played the Pebble Beach Golf Links course. The 156-player field rotates between three courses in the first three rounds, comprising Spyglass Hill, Shore and Pebble Beach, while playing with amateurs. Pebble Beach will host the final round. Knox played the back nine first on Thursday, making birdie at 11 and 12. AFP

At Nis: Serbia v Slovakia World Group II At Berne: Switzerland v Belgium At Buenos Aires: Argentina v Sweden At Alicante: Spain v Ukraine At Limoges: France v Germany

IOC warns on Pakistan meddling claims LAUSANNE: The International Olympic Committee on Thursday said it had issued a warning over alleged political interference in Pakistan’s national organisation. “The IOC will continue to support the Pakistan Olympic Association, whose office-bearers were duly and democratically elected last year,” a spokesman for the body told AFP in an emailed statement. “The IOC condemns the current attempts of a number of individuals and bodies to destabilise the POA as it threatens the interests of the Olympic Movement and its athletes in Pakistan.” The POA and the Pakistan Sports Board are at loggerheads because of alleged political meddling. The IOC has called talks from POA and Pakistan government officials at its Swiss headquarters on February 15. The goal is to “review the situation and find a reasonable solution that will fully respect the autonomy of the POA and the national sports organisations belonging to the Olympic Movement in Pakistan.”

FORMULA ONE

Massa gets test boost

Massa topped the charts on day three of pre-season F1 testing. JEREZ: Brazil’s Felipe Massa topped the time charts on the third day of pre-season Formula One testing Thursday as world champion Sebastian Vettel marked his first appearance of the winter with third place. Massa, whose future at Ferrari had been the subject of much speculation after his disappointing eighth place finish last season, clocked 1min 17.879sec as he thrived in the absence of teammate Fernando Alonso, who is sitting out the four-day session. His time just edged the week’s previous best set by Lotus driver Romain Grosjean on Wednesday. “I didn’t even try to work for the laptime, but I think it

was impressive,” Massa told autosport.com. “But we can’t say what we’re going to have at the beginning of the championship.” Massa was the only driver

on Thursday to dip below the 1min 18sec mark with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg setting the second fastest time of 1:18.766 and Vettel, in the new Red Bull RB9, clocking 1:19.052. Rosberg’s performance was a welcome relief after the German had managed just 15 laps on Tuesday, his track time limited by mechanical trouble. His Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton’s car had suffered a brake failure on its first outing on Wednesday. “I’m very happy and I think it was probably a personal record for me to do almost 150 laps,” said Rosberg, whose 148 laps beat the Mercedes record of 132 in a day set by Michael Schumacher last year. AFP

ARMSTRONG DOPING SCANDAL

Lance hit with lawsuit over bonus payouts

CHANTAL VALERY Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON: Lance Armstrong could be forced to testify under oath about his doping after a US insurance firm filed a lawsuit Thursday demanding the disgraced US cyclist return $12 million in bonus money payments. Texas-based SCA Promotions paid the now admitted dope cheat bonus

money for his Tour de France triumphs after insuring his victories and wants him to repay it because he was stripped of his record seven Tour titles last year. “It is time now for Mr Armstrong to face the consequences of his actions. This includes returning all of the funds paid to him by SCA, which totals more than $12 million,” the lawsuit said. “Mr Armstrong has no legal

right to retain any prize money paid to him by SCA because he is not the official winner of any Tour de France titles.” The 35-page state court filing in Dallas would deliver a financial blow as well as put Armstrong under oath about the doping scandal that ruined his cancer-comeback story and tainted his Livestrong Foundation charity work. “Lance Armstrong perpetuated what may well be the most

outrageous, cold-hearted and elaborate lie in the history of sports,” the lawsuit said. Armstrong was banned for life when the US Anti-Doping Agency found overwhelming evidence that he was at the heart of a sophisticated doping scheme when his US Postal Service team dominated the Tour de France. “Even Lance could not cycle up the mountain of evidence gathered by USADA,” the lawsuit said.

sports

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

WEST INDIES IN AUSTRALIA

Oz ring in changes

SPOT-FIXING Mohammad Asif hopeful after CAS ban appeal

Selectors were forced to bring in new players with five T20 team regulars in India preparing for Oz’s Test series. SYDNEY: Australia on Friday made five changes for next week’s one-off T20 against the West Indies in Brisbane. Selectors were forced to bring in new players with five T20 team regulars in India preparing for Australia’s four-Test series. Ben Rohrer, Nathan CoulterNile and Josh Hazlewood were chosen for the first time, while wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and paceman Clint McKay have previously played for Australia in the T20 format. David Warner, recovering from an injured thumb, along with Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell and Xavier Doherty will be in India at the time of next Wednesday’s match

IRANI CUP

at the Gabba. “Ben Rohrer had an outstanding season in the Big Bash League with the Melbourne Renegades in the middle order and Nathan Coulter-Nile has shown very good form in all three formats throughout the summer,” chairman of selectors John Inverarity said. “Brad Haddin and Clint McKay are experienced campaigners and Josh Hazlewood is one of our very promising young pace bowlers who has recently regained full fitness.” Inverarity said with the Test squad in India the T20 international on February 13 would provide more players with international experience. AFP

LAUSANNE: Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif is hopeful the Court of Arbitration for Sport will overturn his ban for spot-fixing in one of the biggest cricket scandals in years, he said on Thursday. “Today was quite busy,” Asif told AFP after the end of a

day-long hearing behind closed doors at the CAS’s Swiss headquarters. “They will give us their decision in the next three weeks.” He added: “Hopefully I am going to win this case. I’d like to play cricket again.” On Friday, Pakistan captain Salman Butt is due to attend a CAS appeal hearing on his own ban. Butt, Asif and fellow fast bowler Mohammad Aamer were banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for contriving to bowl deliberate no-balls during the Lord’s Test between Pakistan and England in August 2010. Butt was banned for 10 years, with five suspended, Asif for seven years, with two suspended, and the then teenager Aamer for five years.

ICC WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

Raina slams century

Raj’s ton sees hosts through

MUMBAI: Suresh Raina today sent a timely reminder to the selectors for his Test recall with a brilliant century to help Rest of India post a huge first innings total of 526 but the hosts replied strongly reaching 155-2 on day two of the Irani Cup match here. Left-handed Raina, ignored for the entire fourTest rubber against England by the selectors in November-December last year, notched up 134 — his 11th first class century — in eight minutes under five hours. In-form Mumbai opener Wasim Jaffer, also seeking a return to the Test team after four years, and one-down batsman Ajinkya Rahane led the home team’s reply with individual half centuries. PTI

CUTTACK: Skipper Mithali Raj finally came good with an unbeaten century as Indian women beat arch-rivals Pakistan by six wickets in a seventh place play-off encounter in the ICC Women’s World Cup. Already out of contention after being hammered by Sri Lanka, the ‘Women in Blue’ came up with a much improved performance as they first restricted Pakistan to 192 for seven in 50 overs and then reached the target in 46 overs at the Barabati Stadium. Skipper Mithali, who had been in woefully out of form, helped herself back into form with an unbeaten 103 off 141 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and a six. The only regret she would have is that her best came when it mattered the least. Mithali added 87 runs for the unbroken fifth-wicket stand with Reema Malhotra, who remained undefeated on 25. The Indian women were in a spot of bother

Exciting contest on cards CUTTACK: All eyes will be on South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp and West Indies’ Stefanie Taylor when the two sides square off in a Super Six tie of the ICC Women’s World Cup. Both teams entered the Super Six phase having ended third in their respective groups. On paper, there is not much to choose between the sides as both are on even keel.

at 108 for four but the Indian captain found an able ally in Malhotra as they comfortably won their last game of the tournament with consumate ease. Mithali also enjoyed couple of useful stands of 43 and 49 with opener Thirush Kamini (26) and Harmanpreet Kaur (16). Earlier, the decision to bat first after winning the toss didn’t quite work for Pakistan, who were saved to a large extent due to half-centuries from Nain Abidi (58) and Nida Dar (68 not out). The Indians bowlers, led by pace duo of Jhulan Goswami (2/17) and Nagarajan Niranjana (3/35), kept it tight for most part of the 50 overs. The hosts, who were knocked out of the event after being stunned by minnows Sri Lanka in a must-win group match, were off to a perfect start when they sent back the Pakistani openers with just 28 runs on the board in 11 overs. PTI

Playing at Brabourne give us edge: Brindle MUMBAI: England allrounder Arran Brindle said that her team, which has played some of its league matches at the Brabourne Stadium, would have a slight edge over Australia during their Super Six game. “I think any advantage obviously that we have had from playing here, we know the lines and lengths that we need to bowl to perform well, so yeah we are very fortunate to play a few games at CCI. So we are just looking to make sure that we execute our plans,” said Brindle. While Australia played their group matches at Cuttack, England played two out of three games at Brabourne stadium. PTI

CRICKET BRIEFS India retain No. 3 spot in ICC T20 rankings

Squad for Oz series to be named on Sunday Praveen abuses rival player

DUBAI: India managed to retain their third rank among T20

MUMBAI: India is all set to announce its squad for the upcoming Test series against Australia when the All-India Senior Selection Committee meets at the Cricket Centre here on Sunday. “The All-India Senior Selection Committee will meet on Sunday, 10 February 2013, at the Cricket Centre, Mumbai, to pick the team for the AIRTEL Test series against Australia,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a release. “The team will undergo a preparatory camp at the NCA, Bengaluru, from 15 February 2013 to 18 February 2013.” The preparatory camp will also be a huge opportunity for the budding pacers as a selected few will get a chance to bowl to the Indian batsmen as part of Team India’s preparation for the Tests.

teams, while Virat Kohli has held on to his sixth spot in the ICC rankings for Twenty20 batsmen issued. India placed at third with 119 points in the ICC T20 Championship table, is headed by Sri Lanka followed by the West Indies. Sri Lanka are the clear leaders with 131 ratings points, nine ratings points ahead of second-placed ICC World Twenty20 2012 champion West Indies. Meanwhile, even the Indian batsmen ﬁguring in top-20 list have also managed to cling on to their respective positions. India batsman Kohli has retained 731 points, while Suresh Raina remains at ninth place with 719 points.

RAIPUR: India paceman Praveen Kumar found himself in a fresh controversy after he reportedly abused an opposition player during a match of the BCCI’s Corporate Trophy here. The incident happened after Praveen bowled a short-pitched delivery at Ajitesh Argal during the match between ONGC and Income Tax on Monday. When Argal, who represented Income Tax team, checked with the umpire whether it was a no ball an angry Praveen started abusing the batsman prompting the on-ﬁeld umpires to report the incident to match referee Dhananjay Singh. It was learnt that the match referee has described Praveen as “mentally unﬁt” in his report to the BCCI.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

sports

MESSI EXTENDS BARCELONA DEAL TILL 2018 Lionel Messi has signed a new contract that will tie him to Barcelona until 2018, the club announced on Thursday. The contract retains the same 335 million dollars buy-out clause as his previous deal and Messi will reportedly earn a net salary of 14.75 million dollars.

PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW

United distractions give Man City hope

Top10 (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points) Man Utd 25 20 2 3 60 31 62 Man City 25 15 8 2 47 21 53

TOM WILLIAMS Agence France-Presse LONDON: Manchester City hope to capitalise on Manchester United’s Champions League distractions by re-launching the defence of their Premier League title, starting with Saturday’s trip to Southampton. City’s 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool last weekend enabled United to stretch their advantage at the top of the table to nine points, with only 13 games of the sea-

son remaining. However, while United will have half an eye on Wednesday’s trip to Real Madrid when they host Everton on Sunday, City’s own failure in the Champions League means their agenda is free of European commitments. Aside from a home game against second-tier Leeds United in the FA Cup on February 17, City can therefore channel all their resources into the pursuit of United. Ivory Coast’s quarter-final exit at the Africa Cup of Nations means that City manager Roberto Mancini will have both Yaya and Kolo Toure at his disposal for Saturday’s visit to the English south coast. Yaya Toure (left) played a key role in last season’s drive to the title, when City came from eight points behind to pip United on the final day, and he says the experience of the 2011-12 campaign proves it is too early to abandon hope. “We are further behind than we’d like, of course, but all we need to do is think about last season to know what is possible,” the midfielder told the club’s offical website. Saturday fixtures (1500GMT unless otherwise stated) Chelsea Vs Wigan Athletic, Norwich City Vs Fulham, Stoke City Vs Reading, Sunderland Vs Arsenal, Swansea City Vs Queens Park Rangers, Southampton Vs Manchester City (1730GMT), Tottenham Hotspur Vs Newcastle United (1245GMT)

SERIE A PREVIEW

Juve cover flaws for clash JUSTIN DAVIS Agence France-Presse

MILAN: Juventus striker Alessandro Matri (right) is confident the leaders can see off the challenge of an impressive Fiorentina side to extend their lead over Napoli this weekend. Fiorentina held Juventus to a goalless draw in Florence at the end of September and Matri told Juventus.com: “We’ll prepare for Fiorentina by looking back at our first meeting this season, in which they did very well and gave us some trouble. “They’re enjoying a great league campaign, but we’ll be meticulous in preparing for this game and then relax in the lead-up to the match.” Already considered title favourites,

Juve’s claim on the scudetto has been kept in check by the goalscoring feats of Napoli’s Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani. Napoli are on an unbeaten run of six games during which Cavani, recently linked with cash-rich Paris Saint Germain and Manchester City, has taken his league-topping goals tally to 18. In normal circumstances Lazio would hope for at least a share of the points at home to Walter Mazzarri’s side. Saturday fixtures (time in GMT) Juventus v Fiorentina (1600), Lazio v Napoli (1845)

Chelsea

25 13 7 5 51 27 46

Tottenham 25 13 6 6 42 29 45 Everton

25 10 12 3 40 30 42

Arsenal

25 11 8 6 49 29 41

Liverpool 25 9 9 7 44 32 36 Swansea 25 8 10 7 34 28 34 West Brom 25 10 4 1134 35 34 Stoke

25 6 12 7 24 30 30