Postnoon E-Paper for february 9th 2013 by Scribble Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

AFZAL

HANGED Afzal Guru was executed this morning at Tihar Jail on the outskirts of the capital after his final appeal for mercy was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.

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FEBRUARY 9, 2013 HYDERABAD

YSRC MEMBER ATTACKED

BY ROWDY ‘FRIEND’ A YSRC party member was attacked by a hooligan at Harijan Basthi in Bora Banda on Friday night and has been hospitalised. PG 3

IT’S THE PS4

ony is expected to announce its next generation console PS4 on February 20. Check out five things we know about the console.

WINGSPAN

mong the best kept secrets of the City of Pearls is one that will make nature-lovers sit up and take notice. Gandipet is a hotspot for a vast number of bird species. PG 16&17

PG 12

32 PAGES

ON SATURDAY

PAGE TWO SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

AFTER PARTY REJOICE

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. Where: Iconart Gallery When: February 4-14, 11:30am to 7pm Contact: www.iconart.in

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 When: January 18-February 18 11:30am-7pm Contact: www.iconart.in

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 and will be held on weekends. When: Weekends starting from February 23, 11 am onwards Contact: 94901 00404

Hyderabad 360 Live virtual and visual music by Puce Muse. Where: Qutb Shahi Tombs, Hyderabad When: February 17, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 2355 4486

Valentine’s Day Events Enjoy a sumptuous Valentine’s Day meal with a delectable western and Indian menu at The Dining Room. There is also a special Valentine’s Day menu at Tre-Forni Bar & Restaurant. Where: Park Hyatt When: February 14, 7:30pm onwards Contact: (040) 4949 1200

French Film Festival Six French films will be screened with English subtitles. Where: Prasads IMAX When: February 19-21 Contact: hyderabad.afindia.org

Dawat e Hindustan

Yudh

Orchid is organising a food fest with different flavours and cuisines from all over Hindustan, including Kashmiri Wazwan, Punjabi Tadka, Nawabi Dawat and Rajasthan ki Rasoi, Dilli ka Khana. Where: Orchid, Fortune Park Vallabha, When: Up to February 11, 7pm to 11pm Contact: (040) 3982 1260

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

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, 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

CINEMAS

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

A girl picks up roses from the newly constructed rail over bridge at Lakdikapul on Friday. N SHIVA KUMAR 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

Numaish Numaish is the 73rd All India Industrial Exhibition is an ongoing event in the City. Where: Exhibition Ground, Mukarramjahi Road, Nampally, Hyderabad When: Up to February 15, 4pm to 11pm Contact: (040) 2460 3015

Cookery workshop

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

Oxford Bookstore, Hyderabad, in association with Nestle is organising a cookery workshop for children between 8 and14 years of age. Where: Oxford Bookstore, The Park 22 Rajbhavan Road When: February 9, 2pm to 4pm Contact: 91601 48444

Urban Stampede

Chinese New Year

The Landmark sale

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

Pochampally IKAT Mela Pochampally handloom park is

There is a special menu to celebrate Chinese New Year in the City. Traditional Chinese dishes including dimsums, oriental barbeque and dumpling soup will be served. Where: The Square, Madhapur, Hitec City When: February 8-17 6:30pm onwards Contact: (040) 6682 4422

Big Cinemas, Ameerpet, 30581470; Cinemax, Banjara Hills, 44565555; Cine Planet , Kompally, 61606060; INOX, Banjara Hills, 447677770, Prasads, Tank Bund Rd, 23448888; PVR, Punjagutta, 08800900009; Talkie Town, Miyapur, 40214175; Tivoli, Secunderabad 27844973

CITY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

Burglars loot valuables

Youth commits suicide

ive tolas of gold ornaments, silver articles and some cash were stolen from the house of Sriram Kumar, a resident of Seethaphalmandi, Secunderabad, on Friday. Kumar and his wife were at work when someone broke into their house and stole the valuables. They lodged a complaint with the Chilkalguda police when they returned home at night.

Three-day symposium

ridhar, 28, committed suicide by hanging himself at his house. Sridhar is a resident of Ellareddy Guda Basthi of Sri Nagar area. The police said he has been on the look out for a job and took this extreme step due to unemployment. The police have registered a case and the investigations are going on.

ity based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology is organising a three day national symposium on ‘Catalysis for Sustainable Energy’ from February 11-13. According to the IICT director, the main objective of this symposium is to bring together researchers, R&D institutions and entrepreneurs on one platform to facilitate better interaction.

RGIA employment scam

Failure of our justice system to bring culprits to book is encouraging cheats to fleece unwary youth looking for employment. RGIA is the latest victim of an employment scandal involving insiders. ways taught him the ropes. He began to make money by charging prospective employees a service charge. But after some time, people got suspicious and he was arrested, but he easily got bail and restarted the shady job. Adam had by now seen enough loopholes in the law to gain

Mohd SUBHAN

mohd.s@postnoon.com

he recent arrest of a man, K Adams, by the RGI police unveils an employment scandal involving some insiders. Hundreds of jobless, educated youngsters were cheated by his gang.

The brazen manner of Adam’s gang’s operating system gives clear evidence of the general lack of respect for law. The gang had advertised in newspapers promising jobs in RGIA. That this has aroused no suspicion among airport authorities

The gang, which included RGIA employees, gave advertisements in newspapers, promising them jobs in RGIA.

points to a clear laxity of RGI security and police. Hundreds of unwary youngsters were cheated of their money. The victims were all management or IT graduates. Each

was charged a service charge of `10,000 to `15,000. They were all promised jobs in RGIA within two months, said RGI inspector D Durga Prasad. K Adams, 45, is a resident of

Dilsukhnagar and a native of West Godavari. He came to the City for employment. When he failed to get a job, he thought of opening an employment agency. The City and its wayward

YSRC member attacked by rowdy ‘friend’

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YSRC party member was attacked by a hooligan at Harijan Basthi of Bora Banda on Friday night and has been hospitalised. Rajender was attacked by his friend Ganesh. The former had his own business before joining the YSRC party. He was made the president of Harijan Basthi. He hosted a party on Friday night to celebrate the same. It is said that he did not invite Ganesh, who is said to be a rowdy in Sri Nagar police station area. The latter was infuriated. He came drunk to the party and allegedly created a nuisance.

Rajender was attacked at a party he hosted after being appointed the president of his basthi. He quarrelled with Rajendar and attacked him with a knife. After the incident, local people began beating up Ganesh. He was then saved by some elderly people in the locality and is said to have sustained injuries. Both of them are undergoing treatment. The Sri Nagar police is investigating the case.

more confidence and he began to advertise in the name of well known companies, even using their logo. This infused confidence in the prospective job seekers who willingly shelled out a few thousands with the hope of securing a job in one of the established offices. It was in one of these attempts that he ganged up with some people working in RGIA and advertised for jobs in RGIA. While Adams is in custody, his co-conspirators working with RGI are absconding.

Chain snatching on market road Postnoon News

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wo unidentified youths, said to be around 22-15 years of age, snatched three tolas of gold mangal sutra (chain) form a woman at MJ Market Road, near Care Hospital. Radha Agarwal, 40, is a resident of Moosapet, Kukatpally. She was returning home on a bike with her husband, Anand Agarwal, from a function at her relative’s place. She later lodged a complaint with the Begumbazar police.

CITY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

While Congress and YSRC are not contesting the MLC elections, TRS and TDP are fielding key leaders, hoping to win the elections.

Md INKESHAF AHMED

ahmed.m@postnoon.com

t’s election season for political parties in the State. After the successful conclusion of cooperative elections, the atten-

Election season in AP

tion is shifting towards six-member legislative council (MLC) elections. The polls for these are scheduled to be held on February 21. Among the six MLC seats, three belong to graduate category and remaining three are teachers’ constituencies. According to the final list released by the election authorities on Friday, a total of 84 candidates are in the fray to test their luck. Surprisingly, the ruling Congress party is not contesting for even a single seat in these elections. Despite the fact that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, during a press conference held on Thursday, along with over 20 of his cabinet ministers, proudly announced that the Congress party succeeded in winning the confidence of the people of the State during the co-operative elections, the ruling party could not muster the courage to field its official candidates. The list issued by the elec-

TRS HAS FIELDED THREE OF ITS CANDIDATES IN THE TELANGANA REGION. TDP IS CONTESTING FOR TWO SEATS AND BJP IS TRYING ITS LUCK FOR ONE. tion commission did not have the name of any of the ruling party candidates. The most important reason for this seems to be obvious. Various public problems like severe shortage of power, hike in domestic gas and electricity charges, restrictions on supply of gas cylinders, increase in taxes, including registration charges, and more importantly, the steep rise in the prices of fertilizers used by farmers, have forced the party to abstain from the elections. A senior Congress leader confirmed the news and said that the party does not have

Activists’ woes heard

courage to contest the elections owing to many public problems. “If we contest elections, the people will have inundated us with scores of problems which we are not in a position to solve at this stage. So, the party preferred to avoid this election as a precautionary measure,” he said. Among the other parties, TRS has fielded three of its candidates in the Telangana region. The main opposition TDP is contesting for two seats and the BJP is trying its luck for one seat. Interestingly, YSR Congress Party is also not contesting in the elections. When it comes victory prospects, Telangana champion TRS is likely to win all the three MLC — two teachers’ and one graduate seat. The party has fielded TNGOA’s former president K Swamy Goud from Medak, Nizamabad, Adilabad and Karimnagar regions for graduate seats. Goud, who is playing a crucial role in the ongoing T-agitations, is touted to win with highest majority.

Inspirational Kids Award

The Lokayukta has issued notices to the GHMC, Potti Sreeramulu University and SAAP to appear before it regarding cases of misappropriation of funds. Rahul Ramakrishna rahul.r@postnoon.com

yderabad’s Lokayukta held a hearing on issues raised by RTI activist group It’s Time to Make a Difference (ITMD). As part of the hearing, Justice Subhashan Reddy directed the Lokayukta to probe issues and complaints regarding the case of illegal banners and the forgotten Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) sports towers at Gachibowli stadium. Another issue that has also received the Lokayukta’s attention is the alleged scam involving irregular spending of university funds on transport vehicles at Potti Sreeramulu University. After the inquiry probe was ordered, Justice Subhashan Reddy ordered these cases to be taken up at another hearing dated for April 2013. Meanwhile, notices and representations have been sent to the GHMC, Potti Sreeramulu University and SAAP. Panasa Ramakrishna, RTI activist says, “People should understand the value of the Lokayukta as it is faster and more effective for solving civil issues.” “Complainants need not engage a lawyer and the fee charged by the Lokayukta is only nominal. I am hopeful that the probe will yield effective results,” Ramakrishna says.

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MEANWHILE

SAAP...

The case of the `70 crore scam in the Gachibowli sports stadium under SAAP’s management has not been forgotten. In fact, going by reports from the SAAP department and other sources, the State government plans to build another sports complex for national camps and sports camps, while conveniently forgetting the case of the 13 floor building with 468 rooms.

According to Ramesh, Gachibowli SAAP sports stadium in-charge, “The proposal is still under wraps. As the building was constructed for armed personnel during the military games, not all the rooms and facilities in the building can be used by sportspersons and athletes. Hence, there is a proposal for another building that can be used effectively by all sports and military cadres.”

The proposal has received much criticism from RTI activists who say that not only has the pervious building been forgotten, the new one will only continue as another scam. “There is no point in building another one, when there is such a huge building lying unused, eating up taxpayer’s money,” says Panasa Ramakrishna. The proposal is yet to materialise.

miles — The Pre-School presented 12 children with the “Inspirational Kid Award” at its fourth annual day held recently. Around 15 toddlers and their parents attended the function. Children below eight years of age performed karate stunts, somersaults and formed a human pyramid. They even danced to various songs. Twelve kids who showed drastic improvement and overall development were recognised by the school and given the award. Parents of Ishitha and Surbhi got the first prize in the 'Best out of Waste' contest, in which they took part along with their children. Children who were winners in different games, competitions and extra-curricular activities held at the school were also given prizes. Meritorious students were given prizes for their academic performance. Special children, who are dropped due to various learning difficulties, are welcomed here. Smiles is known for ‘remedial instruction.’

CITY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

S BALAKRISHNA

Waah Ustad Waah!

JYOTSNA NAMBIAR

jyotsna.n@postnoon.com

That the Confluence would be a dream come true, many knew. But when Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer and Bela Fleck actually gave the City a taste of their talent it was a perfect harmony.

dgar Meyer is performing his solo. Bent almost double over his gargantuan instrument, he moves with ease from deep thrumming rhythm to a delicate melody. All’s well with the world. Then a cellphone rings. Turns out that culture-loving Hyderabadis will willingly finish work early on a Friday, dress in their finest, and queue up to buy tickets to watch a concert. But somehow, a few seem most reluctant to even put their phones on silent for a couple of hours. During the one and a half hour concert, at least 15 different phones rang out. Luckily, these were the only minor distractions in what was otherwise a perfect evening. Three stalwarts teamed up to create a confluence of sound that was global in appeal. Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, premier banjoist Bela Fleck and gifted double bassist Edgar Meyer brought the house down at Shilpa Kala Vedika on Friday. The auditorium was nearly packed, and the crowd gave a rousing welcome to them. Rakesh Chaurasia, nephew of flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and himself an excellent player, accompanied the trio on some of the pieces. The trio, who

had earlier collaborated on an album in 2009, started with an original composition titled Bubbles. Edgar Meyer was impressive on the double bass, an instrument that rarely gets its due. He seamlessly alternated between plucking the strings and using a bow, holding the huge instrument steady. He and Zakir had a mock face-off, matching rhythm for rhythm with ease. Also incredible was how well the deep tones of the double bass complemented the flute. Why Bela Fleck is called the best banjo player in the world was apparent. The traditional twang of the banjo turned into the tinkling notes of a sitar and a smoother guitar sound; you could almost mistake him for an entire string section. He and Meyer also played a canon set, where one musician starts and the other follows a line later. When it was time for Zakir Hussain’s solo, the crowd was convinced that the night could not get better. He started slowly, almost experimentally tapping at the tablas. He gained tempo and range gradually, and soon his fingers were moving faster than the eye could follow. At that point, Hussain’s music sounded like the thrum of a shower of heavy raindrops falling on a wooden roof. When the concert ended, it was a rude awakening to trade the perfect harmony of the three stellar musicians for the cacophony of traffic on Hyderabad’s streets. But nights like this serve to remind us of the wealth of culture and beauty the world holds. Now if only people turned off their cellphones, maybe they’d be able to appreciate this.

An eyeful awaits animal lovers in City zoo

One of the best maintained zoos in the country, the Hyderabad zoo is getting ready to welcome a few more denizens brought in from other zoological parks. Aleena Alice aleena.t@postnoon.com

ehru Zoological Park or Hyderabad Zoo, visitors’ most favourite spot in City, will get new arrivals within 10 days. The animals are being brought from inland and overseas parks in an exchange programme. For the first time the Hyderabad zoo will be receiving a pair of Eclectus Parrot from the Mysore zoo. These parrots are rare because of the extreme sexual dimorphism of colours of its plumage. The zoo authorities

will also be bringing in a pair of wolves and a pair of black swans. A team will be visiting the Mysore zoo and bring in the new animals by exchanging a pair of Sloth bear and 2 pairs of Leaf Turtles. Since the zoo has 2 male Marmoset (simian species) to encourage breeding the zoo authorities have decided to exchange one male Marmoset for a female Marmoset from the Mysore Zoo. Presently the Hyderabad zoo has 38 Chevrotains (also known as mouse-deer), however since they all belong to the same blood

line, in order to change the blood line and encourage genetic diversity, the zoo authorities will be getting one female mouse

deer and exchanging it for a male mouse deer. This apart, the zoo has a special treat for all those who are longing for the sight of a giraffe. The zoo will be exchanging two white tigers from the Vizag zoo for one male and two female giraffes from the Malaysian zoo. However a pair of giraffes will be sent to the Vizag zoo and one female giraffe will be kept in the Hyderabad zoo. Apart from that Hyderabad zoo will be also receiving a pair of hyena, a pair of Thamin deer from Kanpur zoo in exchange with a pair of lions and a pair of

Golden Pheasants. Speaking about the exchange programs with other zoo the director of the Nehru Zoological Park P Malika Arjuna Rao said, “There are some species that we do not have and for the first time will be receiving it by exchanging a few of the animals from our zoo. Within a week a team will be going to Mysore and bringing the animals. Right now there is a transportation problem to get the giraffe from Malaysia however very soon it will be decided and by this month end we should receive the new animals.”

NATION SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

5 labourers killed in mishap KISHANGANJ: Five labourers were killed and six others injured when a tractor-trolley in which they were travelling collided with a truck near Lohagada locality in Bihar’s Kishanganj district, police sources said. The mishap took place last night while a group of labourers were returning, they said. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

Opium worth `25 lakh seized

Guru was found guilty of conspiring with and sheltering the militants who attacked the parliament in December 2001. NEW DELHI: India executed a

Chronology of events DEC 13, 2001: Five terrorists enter Parliament and open fire, killing 9 and injuring 15. DEC 15, 2001: Delhi Police pick up Afzal Guru, a member of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM). DEC 29, 2001: Afzal Guru sent to 10-day police remand. JUNE 4, 2002: Charges are framed against four people: Afzal Guru, Geelani, Shaukat Hussain Guru, Afsan Guru. DEC 18, 2002: Death sentence given to Geelani, Shaukat and Afzal Guru. AUG 30, 2003: JeM leader Ghazi Baba, prime accused in the attack, is killed in an encounter with the BSF. OCT 29, 2003: Geelani acquitted in the case. AUG 4, 2005: The SC, while confirming Afzal’s death, commutes Shaukat’s sentence to

10 years of RI.

This picture taken on 13 December 2001 shows police keeping watch for gunmen outside the parliament after militants began AFP PHOTO shooting.

SEP 26, 2006: Delhi court orders Afzal to be hanged. OCT 3, 2006: Afzal’s wife Tabasum Guru files a mercy petition with then President APJ Abdul Kalam. JAN 12, 2007: The SC dismisses Afzal’s plea. MAY 19, 2010: Delhi govt rejects Afzal’s mercy petition. DEC 30, 2010: Shaukat released from Tihar Jail. DEC 10, 2012: Home Minister SK Shinde says he would examine Afzal Guru’s file after Winter session. FEB 3, 2013: President Pranab Mukherjee rejects Afzal Guru’s mercy petition FEB 9, 2013: Afzal Guru hanged in Tihar Jail. PTI

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or SMS “Postnoon” to 56161 In this file photograph Delhi police escort Mohammed Afzal Guru to court. AFP PHOTO highly political and hotly contested. He described his imprisonment as a “gross miscarriage of justice” in his mercy appeal to the president. Afzal Guru’s family has been informed about his hanging by the Tihar authorities through Speed Post and the J&K government was taken into confidence before his execution, the Centre said. Security was beefed up in Delhi to ensure that no untoward incident takes place in the wake of the hanging.

AFP and PTI

Curfew imposed in Kashmir SRINAGAR: Security forces imposed a curfew Saturday in parts of Kashmir while the centre of the main city Srinagar was sealed off by police after the execution of Afzal Guru. Residents in rural areas said police used loud hailers to order them to stay indoors from daybreak as it emerged that Mohammed Afzal Guru, a member of an Islamist group fighting Indian rule in the divided region, was to be hanged. Although there was no formal curfew order in Srinagar, police hastily erected barricades across main entry roads and in the city centre in a bid to prevent any possible

RANCHI: A local court has issued arrest warrants against a former state minister and nine others in connection with the multi-crore rupees seed scam during the Madhu Koda government in 2007. Warrants were issued against the then agriculture minister Nalin Soren and former officials including deputy director Rajesh Kumar Singh, Anjani Kumar Mishra, Arun Kumar and others.

worth `25 lakhs was today seized and two people were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Jodhpur-Nagaur highway, an official said. NCB received a tip off from sources that a huge consignment of opiumwas on its way from Jodhpur to Nagaur today, zonal director (NCB) Neha Champawat said. “We deployed our sleuths near Khedapa of the highway to nab the vehicle.”

AFZAL GURU hanged

Kashmiri separatist on Saturday over his role in a deadly attack on parliament in 2001 after his final mercy plea was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee, officials said. Mohammed Afzal Guru, a former fruit seller, was hanged at Tihar Jail at around 7.30am (0200 GMT), becoming only the second person to be hanged in India in nearly a decade, officials said. “Yes, he has been hanged,” Home Secretary RK Singh said. Guru was found guilty of conspiring with and sheltering the militants who attacked the parliament in December 2001, an incident that brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of war. He was also held guilty of being a member of the banned Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which fights against Indian rule in the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir. Five armed rebels stormed India’s parliament in New Delhi on December 13, 2001, killing eight police officers and a gardener before they were shot dead by security forces. A journalist wounded in the attack died months later. India alleged the militants behind the parliament attack were supported by Pakistani intelligence, leading the nuclear-armed rivals to deploy an estimated one million troops to their borders for eight months. Guru’s conviction, which has been delayed on several occasions, was both

Warrant issued in seed scam

JODHPUR: A huge consignment of opium

demonstrations. Three police helicopters could also be seen hovering overhead in Srinagar, the main city in what is India’s only Muslim majority state. Authorities at the University of Kashmir in Srinagar meanwhile issued a statement announcing that examinations due to take place on Saturday had been cancelled. Guru was executed at a jail near Delhi after being found guilty of conspiring with and sheltering militants who attacked the Indian parliament in December 2001, an incident that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. AFP

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WORLD SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

Masterpiece defiled

Thousands protest in Egypt

housands of protesters clashed with police in several Egyptian provinces in rallies calling on Islamist President Mohamed Morsi to fulfil the goals of the revolt that brought him to power. More than 120 people were injured in the unrest across the country Friday, the health ministry said. Protesters lobbed petrol bombs and set off fireworks.

US mulls Syria options

rench police were holding a mentally “unbalanced” woman after an attack on one of France’s most iconic paintings, Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People”. The incident happened at the recently opened northern satellite of the Louvre museum, in Lens, northern France, when a visitor scrawled on the painting with a black marker.

he United States said Friday it is weighing its next steps to try to end the conflict in Syria, as Islamist rebels there struck back at government troops after having suffered heavy losses. President Bashar al-Assad’s government meanwhile said it was ready for talks with opposition leaders provided there were no preconditions.

Blizzard freezes US northeast The storm was forecast to bring the heaviest snow so far this winter along the New England coast, threatening power and transport links for tens of millions of people.

NEW YORK: Planes, cars and trains came to a standstill across the densely populated US Northeast on Friday in the face of a blizzard raging from New York to Boston. The storm was forecast to bring the heaviest snow so far this winter along the New England coast, threatening power and transport links for tens of millions of people. By late Friday, New York, one of the world’s busiest air travel hubs, was cut off from the skies as snow and wind led airlines to suspend all operations at LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and John F. Kennedy International airports. In Massachusetts alone, more than 255,000 homes and businesses were without power by late evening and the number was expected to rise, the Boston Herald reported. A gust of 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour winds was reported on Nantucket Island. LaGuardia general manager Tom Bosco told NY1 television that the airport was “battling” the storm and would strive to remain open even after the airlines shut down for the night. He estimated that if a foot (30 centimeters) of snow fell -- the worst case scenario forecast for New York -- flights would resume “probably by mid-morning.” The heaviest impact of the storm was expected overnight in and around Boston, and Governor Deval Patrick temporarily ordered all normal traffic off Massachusetts roads, with

nNew York, one of the world’s busiest air travel hubs, was cut off from the skies as snow and wind led airlines to suspend all operations at LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and John F. Kennedy International airports. nIn Massachusetts alone, more than 255,000 homes and businesses were without power by late evening nThe storm came a little over three months after Hurricane Sandy devastated swathes of New York and New Jersey, killing 132 people and causing damage worth some $71.4 billion. nA gust of 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour winds was reported on Nantucket Island. A pedestrian makes his way through driving snow with a broken umbrella in the Back Bay neighborhood on February MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES/AFP 8, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. the threat of up to a year in jail for violators. “There are a number of exemptions for... emergency workers and the like. Please exercise caution and use common sense,” Patrick said at his emergency center in Framingham. In Connecticut, Governor Dannel Malloy issued a “ban on motor vehicle travel on limited access highways” to free up emergency services traffic. Rhode Island, where some of America’s most exclusive summer homes are located, also insti-

tuted driving restrictions. In addition to the road and air snarl-ups, the rail service Amtrak said trains from New York northbound and also southbound to the capital Washington were being suspended. The storm came a little over three months after Hurricane Sandy devastated swathes of New York and New Jersey, killing 132 people and causing damage worth some $71.4 billion. Snow began in light flurries across the region early Friday, but thickened and by Saturday

was expected to leave depths of between half and one foot in New York and as much as two feet in Boston. “In addition to the heavy snowfall, wind gusts of up to hurricane force are possible, especially near the coast,” the National Weather Service warned. “This will result in blizzard conditions with drifting and blowing snow.” Travel at night “will be extremely hazardous, if not impossible,” it added. Among the more glamorous

victims of the travel upsets was designer Marc Jacobs, who said he had to reschedule his two shows at New York Fashion Week due to storm-related “production problems.” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who came under withering criticism for the city’s flat-footed response to a blizzard in 2010, said residents should stock up with vital supplies and prepare for the worst. “Stay off the city streets, stay out of your cars,” he said at a news conference. “Staying off the streets will make it easier for city workers to clear the streets of snow.” New York’s four zoos also announced they were closing for the duration of the storm. “You can’t take nature too lightly. Hopefully it won’t be anything too drastic,” Bloomberg said. The good news was that the storm’s peak was due as the weekend began, meaning far fewer people would be on the roads. Forecasters said the system should blow through on Saturday, with milder temperatures to follow. Locals were comparing the coming storm to the ferocious blizzard of 1978, which killed 100 people and buried Boston in more than 27 inches (69 centimeters) of snow and Providence, Rhode Island in nearly 28 inches. During that storm, people were forced to abandon cars stuck on highways and made their way around Boston on cross country skis and snowshoes.

Iranians for nuke drive: Poll

Mali witnesses its first suicide-bomb hit

Neruda’s remains to be exhumed

WASHINGTON: The vast majority of Iranians feel the pain of sanctions but still support a civilian nuclear program, a poll said, as a study on Friday charged that Western efforts have caused medicine shortages. The US polling firm Gallup, which spoke to 1,000 Iranians by telephone over December and January, found that 83 per cent said that international economic sanctions personally affected their livelihoods. Nearly half of Iranians said the United States was most responsible for the sanctions and only 10 percent blamed their own government, with a smaller number putting the onus on Israel or Europe. Despite the sanctions, 63 per cent of Iranians said the country “should continue to develop its nuclear power capabilities”.

GAO: An Islamist suicide bomber blew himself up in

LONDON: A Chilean judge has ordered the remains

northern Mali Friday, the first such attack in the country, while rival factions of the Malian army clashed in the capital Bamako. The bomber rode a motorcycle up to an army checkpoint in Gao, the largest town in the north and only recently recaptured from the Islamists. He detonated an explosive belt, wounding one soldier, an officer said. It was part of a new guerrilla campaign in response to a French-led offensive that drove the extremists from their northern strongholds into the remote northeast, where troops seized the strategic oasis town of Tessalit on Friday. The young Tuareg, dressed as a paramilitary officer, was also carrying a larger bomb that failed to detonate.

of poet and Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda exhumed in a probe into whether he died of cancer as commonly believed or was killed by agents serving Augusto Pinochet. The exhumation was announced Friday by the foundation that manages his literary legacy. The leftist poet, who died 12 days after the 1973 military coup that ousted socialist president Salvador Allende and brought General Augusto Pinochet to power, was long believed to have died of prostate cancer. But officials in 2011 started looking into the possibility he was poisoned by agents of the Pinochet regime, as claimed by Neruda’s driver and aide. Neruda is best known for his love poems as well as his “Canto General”.

COMMENT SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

Take measures

Not surprising

here are several sham institutes not just offering MBAs, but engineering degress, too. The faculty is bogus and poor students only realise after paying hefty sums in fees that everything is lost: money and future. The state should actively be on the lookout for such frauds. Deepa Kurup via email

hat did the Akbaruddin Owaisi expect if he went about spewing venom and sowing seeds of hatred playing dirty the dirty game of politics he would be allowed to roam free? Let his case be a warning to the rest. Varun Dev via email

EDITORIALS 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.

Adhir must explain

n explanation must be sought from Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary for his goonda behaviour leading a mob to the house of a district magistrate and attempting to bring the place down. Good Lord! How can a Union minister stoop so low and act like a thug! Sarayu Chouhan Gachibowli

EDITORIALS WORDS ARE NOT enough, Modi Narendra Modi has said that the Gujarat riots in 2002 were unfortunate. That’s it? Now that there are chances he may become BJP’s PM candidate he has launched efforts to pacify those who believe he did nothing (there are several who believe he had a hand in it, too) while the bloodbath happened. The riots were more than unfortunate, because it even further polarised and dinned deeper feelings of hatred and distrust among two communities that have never felt safe in each other’s company since this nation took birth which also witnessed death and bloodshed of colossal proportions. Modi’s confession now amounts to nothing and though he may have stats and prosperity to show for his staying in power as good for Gujarat, nothing will undo the harm inflicted on the nation’s psyche. Modi’s rise has been phenomenal, the way he held onto power and did a load of good to his state, while from other states under BJP control came reports of the party’s diminishing record or corruption. Assurances that riots of the nature that occurred in 2002 would not happen, also are not enough, because those who lived through the massacre during the time of attaining independence too thought the nation had its fingers burnt and that they learned their lesson. But apparently it was not so, else the 2002 riots would not have happened.

WHY WE LOVE... Hitchcock Reports have come that the king of horror movies Alfred Hitchcock intended Psycho to be a comedy. Well, imagine what would have been the reception if he intended it as a horror movie?

A positive V-day Soul Curry SUMAA TEKUR

o matter how hard we try, it is difficult to escape the commercial trappings of St Valentine’s Day on 14 February every year. Closer to Valentine’s Day, the radio plays mushy songs all day; reruns of the most soppy romance movies of all time dominate practically every TV channel; cafes and restaurants dress up in passionate reds, soft candle glows and heart-shaped balloons; gift shops stock up on greeting cards and gifts for courting lovers of all ages, both married and unmarried; salons offer age-defying beauty treatments so that their clients can look their charming best when out on a date on V-day; travel companies announce holiday packages for a quick romantic getaway with the loved one…. there’s really no escaping the numerous reminders of this day of love. It can also be nauseating for singles, especially if they’re

uncomfortable with their relationship status. When this western import started making an impact on young couples in love in the land of the Kamasutra, religious fundamentalists saw red (not the shade of the rose). They attacked gift shops and commercial establishments that promoted this day dedicated to love. In the last few years, the Hindu festival of Karva Chauth, in which the wife fasts for her husband to pray for his long life and wellbeing, became romanticised into the Indian version of Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day may have had something to do with it to some extent. Bollywood movies centred around Punjabi characters definitely had a lot to do with it. Teen girls started fasting for their boyfriends. And in a reversal of trends, with the aim of going mainstream, gay couples are reported to have started fasting for each other. However, this hasn’t affected the enthusiasm for Valentine’s Day. It continues to get media airtime and the consuming public’s attention. I’ve seen my single friends frown upon the idea of Valentine’s Day but celebrate it

IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, THE HINDU FESTIVAL OF KARVA CHAUTH, IN WHICH THE WIFE FASTS FOR HER HUSBAND TO PRAY FOR HIS LONG LIFE AND WELLBEING, BECAME ROMANTICISED INTO THE INDIAN VERSION OF VALENTINE’S DAY. with enthusiasm anyway once they find a romantic partner. Resistance to the temptation of this festival lasts only as long as one doesn’t have a reason to celebrate it. Then again, what’s wrong with celebrating love, even knowing very well the commercial forces that guide such a day? We’re a busy people. Either we’re genuinely busy or we pretend to be busy because it’s cooler to tell society that we’re stressed out and have little metime or relationship-time. When we’re constantly trying to balance all the aspects of our lives — career, money, home, relationships, family —

shouldn’t such a day dedicated to the romantic interest come as a relief to force us to take out that time? Why not make it a ceremony? Forget the cards, candlelight dinners, titillating lingerie, aphrodisiacs, perfumes and the long love notes. Use this as a day to say thank-you to your partner for all the wonderful things he/she has done for you till date. Let it be a reminder to you that you need to be grateful. Use it as a day to renew your vows. Think of all the reasons you’re with each other. Send out positive vibes. Think of the fun times you’ve shared, and the goof-ups during your initial days of dating/marriage. There’s nothing more wonderful than getting nostalgic and going back to a time and place when you felt secure and more in love. It’s a stress-reliever like no other. Make V-day your personalised ceremony. Rituals anchor us and remind us of our roots and existence. Celebrate in your own way, even if it’s just sitting in front of the TV to watch an old blackand-white favourite show. Just, let the energy exchange on this day be positive.

COMMENT SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

The world of gadgets My World SHRADDHA JAHAGIRDAR-SAXENA

he world of electronic gizmos has changed and how! When I rewind to when we were growing up, all we had was a TV set and the ubiquitous radio that blared out tunes, songs and commentary in the background as I did my assiduous studies for my examinations. An odd combination it was, Hindi film songs and English post-graduate studies. But they helped me concentrate and the blend worked for me – making Milton, Shakespeare, Anita Desai and Ezekeil go into my grey cells with equal ease. Then – as it was for many years – land lines (private and PCOs) were our only mode of communication and we lived with the fact – never missing the non-connectivity when we were not near a phone. Our parents managed to keep in touch with us and we managed to keep in touch with our friends. There was no FB, no cells…and yet, I do not think we lacked anything as far as reaching out was concerned. We met, we studied, we played and…we stayed connected. Years passed – mobiles and computers invaded our con-

Urban sketches VISWAPRASAD RAJU

sciousness and made all things so different. Today, after a decade of owning a cell – and I remain true to the brand I started off with – I can still be amazed at what phones can do. Or can make us do. I will admit that the fastchanging technology (you blink and you will find something new) is a boon – but perhaps in some ways it is a bane. Instead of picking up the phone and talking to people, we are now conveniently sending texts. Somewhat an impersonal way of

communication but one that seems to work quite well for almost all of us, although sometimes I must confess, I do miss the actual act of calling and speaking. To most of us the phone has become a third arm of sorts. And perhaps I am an anachronism speaking only about phones when Gen Next – Gen X, Y and Zee – have moved on to more ‘qualified’ gizmos and gadgets, the use of which is beyond my comprehension. The numerous ‘apps’ – for me are mindbog-

gling. And yet today, I cannot ‘be’ without my mobile. It goes wherever I go – well, almost. I sleep with it next to my side. My alarm is set on my cell, my favourite songs are on it too – as are a few of the photos that are close to my heart. And, even though I may be a few minutes away from a computer, I do check my mail on the phone. What is it about a gadget that gets us humans to be quickly addicted to it? Is it convenience, is it comfort or is it just

a craze? It perhaps starts as a craze and then graduates to being a convenience we think we cannot live without. No wonder then that our world is now peopled by TVs, cell phones, kindles, laptops, desktops and more. And much as I hate to say it, I cannot envisage a day without my hardy phone. It not only has most of my world on it (personal and professional contacts) but it has slowly gathered a few memories too in its frame. I have lost my phones and panicked, getting a new one almost immediately. I was bullied a few weeks ago to get on to whatsapp – which reluctantly I did and now, apart from the regular texts, I get instant messages on it as well – morning, noon or night! The only way to break out from its grasp is to turn it to silent mode – which I may do at home when I want some peace and quiet. But, alas to my chagrin, I tend to forget where I have kept it when I want it and then it does not ring even when called! So, finally, I have accepted it – with all its pros and cons and am now awaiting the next gadget to invade my life. Hopefully, it will be one that is not all that intrusive or one that will make me a compulsive obsessive owner. After all, there is a world beyond gizmos, or is there? The writer is the Executive Editor, VERVE magazine.

Global edits

Heritage

The Guardian (UK)

Tunisia: killing for political gain

f the name can be applied to any murder, the assassination of Chokri Belaid was political. It was designed to cause social mayhem, split coalitions, stop elections, prevent the passing of the draft constitution. There are a number of groups – on either extreme of the Islamist secular divide – that would ostensibly profit from such an outcome in Tunisia. But Rached Ghannouchi's Ennahda is not one of them. Just as the burning of Sufi shrines was designed to expose the ruling party's inability to deal with the Salafi radical fringe, so political assassination has only one target in its sights – the transition to a lawbased democracy. Mourners at Belaid's funeral called Ghannouchi the assassin. That it should be deemed to be in Ennahda's interests to let this happen, that they should now be accused either of actively or tacitly encouraging such attacks to take place, is a measure of just how partisan this line of attack has become. Many criticisms can be levelled against the Islamist-dominated coalition that has run the country since the

revolution: winning elections is not the same thing as producing competent governments; they have concentrated on appeasing the World Bank; the pace of reform of the police, judiciary and justice ministry has been too slow; and there has been a failure to investigate and prosecute physical assaults and offensive speeches. But political suicide is not one of them – and there is little doubt it would be suicidal for a party on a mission to prove that Islamism can coexist with multi-party democracy to be dabbling in the terror tactics of assassination. The same logic does not apply to former members of RCD, the party that dominated the country under dictatorship and which was dismantled two years ago. On the day Belaid was assassinated, the assembly was due to debate a measure designed to bar former RCD members from office for five years. The assassination crystallised the opposition, which presented a list of demands which would have dissolved the assembly and undone all democratic elections in the last two years. But it also unified those parties – the three in the ruling coalition, as well as Wafa, and two independent groups – totalling 160 seats out of the 217 member body who back the transition.

BUSINESS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

HP tightens worker rules in China

Schmidt to sell shares

oogle’s Chairman Eric Schmidt plans to sell 3.2 million “A” shares, currently worth $2.5 billion, over the next year, Google said Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The sale amounts to 42 per cent of Schmidt’s 7.6 million shares in the company. The sale is part of a pre-arranged trading plan for Schmidt’s “long-term strategy.”

AOL shows signs of revival

S computer maker Hewlett-Packard said Friday it is cracking down on abuses of student workers and temporary labour used by its suppliers in China. The move by HP came as Silicon Valley neighbour and rival Apple continued a programme to improve conditions for employees at facilities in China. HP announced new guidelines for student and temporary workers in China intended to reinforce local labour laws.

OL is showing signs of revival with gains in advertising, a key step toward the reinvention of the former Internet star as a media firm. AOL said Friday profits in the fourth quarter jumped 57 per cent from a year earlier to $35.7 million, led by a rise in ad revenues. Total revenues were up four per cent from a year earlier to $599.5 million.

EU agrees historic cut to budget Pushed by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said the EU could not increase spending in times of austerity, leaders agreed a cut of around three per cent compared with the previous budget. BRUSSELS: European Union leaders agreed to cut back the bloc’s budget for the first time in six decades on Friday after marathon all-night talks driven by sharp differences over priorities for the next seven years. “Deal done!” summit chair and EU President Herman Van Rompuy said on Twitter after more than 24 hours of tough talks between the bloc’s 27 heads of state and government. “There’s a lot in it for everybody,” he said shortly after, adding that the 2014-2020 austerity budget embodied “a sense of collective responsibility from European leaders.” Pushed by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said the EU could not increase spending in times of austerity, leaders agreed a cut of around three per cent compared with the previous budget. It was “a good deal for British taxpayers,” Cameron said. Apparently seeking to reassure a growing eurosceptic audience at home, he added that it “shows that working with allies it is possible to take real steps towards reform in the EU.” The British leader’s stance had put him on a collision course with countries such as France who wanted EU investment to boost growth and tackle

EUROPEAN UNION LEADERS AGREED TO CUT BACK THE BLOC’S BUDGET FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX DECADES ON FRIDAY AFTER MARATHON ALL-NIGHT TALKS.

British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks at a press conference at the EU Headquarters on February 8, on the last day of a two-day European Union leaders summit. After 24 hours of talks lasting through the night, European Union leaders finally clinched a deal on the bloc’s next 2014-2020 budget. AFP PHOTO unemployment. France, along with Italy, fought to protect spending it saw as essential to boost growth and jobs at a time of record unemployment. But French President Francois Hollande deemed the

final figures on the bloc’s budget “a good compromise.” “It was an agreement that as usual was long to produce, but which I believe is a good compromise,” he said. German Chancellor Angela

Merkel said the deal “was worth the effort” and she “was glad that everyone showed the needed willingness to compromise.” A draft worked out overnight set 2014-20 actual spending or “payments” at 908.4 billion euros

($1.2 trillion), with an absolute ceiling of 960 billion euros for spending “commitments” to the budget. That is just one per cent of the bloc’s gross domestic product (GDP). It would represent a 3.0 per cent cut from the 2007-13 budget, below the 973 billion euros Cameron and allies such as the Netherlands rejected at a budget summit in November that collapsed without a deal. In the EU budget process, commitments refer to the maximum amount that can be allocated to programmes while actual spending or “payments” is usually lower as projects are delayed or dropped. Originally, the European Commission had wanted a 5.0 per cent increase in commitments to 1.04 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) — just over one per cent of the EU’s total GDP. AFP

Buyout plan undervalues Dell NEW YORK: An investment firm claiming to be the largest outside shareholder in Dell said Friday the proposal to take the firm private for $24.4 billion “grossly undervalues” the computer maker. Southeastern Asset Management, which claims to hold 8.5 per cent of Dell shares on behalf of clients, said it would fight the proposal and noted its objections to the deal in a letter to the board of directors, also filed with US securities regulators. “We are writing to express our extreme disappointment regarding the proposed go-private transaction, which we believe

grossly undervalues the company,” the letter said. “We will not vote in favor of the proposed transaction as currently structured. We retain and intend to avail ourselves of all

options at our disposal to oppose the proposed transaction, including but not limited to a proxy fight, litigation claims and any available Delaware statutory appraisal rights.” Dell unveiled its plan to go private Tuesday in a $24.4 billion deal, giving founder Michael Dell a chance to reshape the former number one PC maker away from the spotlight of Wall Street. The company said it had signed “a definitive” agreement to give shareholders $13.65 per share in cash — a premium of 25 per cent over Dell’s closing share price on January 11, before reports of the deal circulated.

SOUTHEASTERN SAID THE VALUE OF DELL’S ASSETS AND CASH ON HAND SUGGESTS “A TOTAL CORPORATE VALUE APPROACHING $24 PER SHARE”. The move, which would delist the company from stock markets, could ease some pressure on Dell, which is cash-rich but has seen profits slump, as it tries to reduce dependence on the slumping market for personal computers. The plan is subject to several

conditions, including a vote of unaffiliated stockholders. The letter from Southeastern said the deal “represents an opportunistically timed bid to take the company private at a valuation far below Dell’s intrinsic value.” Southeastern said the value of Dell’s assets and cash on hand suggests “a total corporate value approaching $24 per share” without taking into account Dell’s growth prospects. “By any objective measure, (the buyout offer) is woefully inadequate,” the letter said. The buyout deal calls for a “go shop” period to allow shareholders to seek a better offer. AFP

FOCUS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

Step Up Mumbai style Rachel O’Brien Agence France-Presse

MUMBAI: The youngsters from India’s best-known slum spin, twist and flip their bodies to the hip hop beat — but don’t call them breakdancers. And definitely not slumdogs. These are the SlumGods, who want to show there is more to life in a Mumbai shantytown than poverty, squalor and trying to escape — even if the hit film Slumdog Millionaire suggested otherwise. “When we heard the name we didn’t like it. Why slumdogs?” asked 20-year-old Akash Dhangar, known as B-boy Akku, who co-founded the crew of “breakers”, graffiti artists, DJs and rappers. “I felt very bad about it because after the movie, people started thinking this was just a dirty, unhygienic slum area,” he said of his neighbourhood Dharavi, a sprawling backdrop to the Oscar-winning movie. 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 — better known to laymen as breakdancing. 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 kind of clicked”, he said, and he found the youngsters there were eager to learn. “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 works hand-inhand with Tiny Drops, a nonprofit group founded by HeRa in Dharavi and his Delhi neighbourhood, offering “a space for kids in the hood” to explore hip hop dance and culture. They have inspired hundreds of urban Indian youngsters to try their hands at graffiti, rapping or especially b-boying, a cheap and funky combination of exercise and self-expression.

Indian dancers from the Slumgods, a group of breaking or ‘b-boying’ dancers, takes part in a practice session at the Sion fort in Mumbai. The 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 a Mumbai shantytown than poverty, squalor and trying to escape -- even if the hit film “Slumdog Millionaire” made you think otherwise. AFP PHOTO/ PUNIT PARANJPE “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. “Indian middle-class kids are fat and in malls. These kids are lean and mean and don’t have inhibitions.” Their love of the culture can be seen atop the crumbling Sion Fort, a 17th-century, British-built structure that has become — as a graffitied sign indicates — a very different kind of “Battlefort Mumbai”. Offering more space than the nearby cramped confines of Dharavi, the fort ruins have hosted dance-off contests and regular practices for b-boys and the odd b-girl, who show off their routines to tinny music from a mobile phone.

Pick

As Akku leads the dancing crew, young children who crowd around to watch are shooed away by fort guards with sticks. “It’s a cool space but it’s informal. We want to ask the city of Mumbai if they can give it to the kids, to give them ownership,” said HeRa. The options are otherwise limited. Tall and gangly B-boy Sin, as Pankaj Shivpur is known, almost fills the small room in Dharavi that he shares with several relatives as he backflips to Bollywood tunes on the television. The tiny passageway outside, where a goat, cats and children mingle beneath clothes hanging on tangled cables, offers little space for the 18-year-old student. He snatches a practice whenever he is home alone, but he goes to the fort several times a week. “It’s

at the

spacious and my friends practise here too,” he said. As their quest for open spaces continues, HeRa hopes Tiny Drops will grow to become a self-sustaining business; he remains suspicious of the idea of outside help and wants the communities to support themselves. One profitable sideline for the dancers is to appear in Bollywood films, which can earn them about `2,000 rupees ($37) a day, although parents sometimes moan that their children are neglecting their studies, says Akku. He however sees the hobby as a good way to keep them on the straight and narrow. “Some people who were involved in drinking, bullying or stealing, they left these things when they started breaking,” he said.

airport,

TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK www.fmylife.com ou think your life sucks? Here are thousands of users sharing awful anecdotes and personal venting. How a boyfriend ruined someone's day, or how a teacher crushed someone's esteem. Pitiful? Yes. Addictive to read this stuff? Oh yeah

NT BALANARAYAN

balanarayan.nt@postnoon.com

GOODBYE

CELL PROCESSOR

MOBILE GAME REVIEW

APP OF THE WEEK Herd Absurd

his is a characterful take on those children's books where you flip sections of the page to put different heads, bodies and legs of characters together. It's animals that your kids will be mixing and matching.

What next?

ith the PS3 Sony made a bold push by adding a custom cell processor that could extract great power; theoretically at least. Most developers however, did not develop games with cell architecture in mind, and most of the initial games were lazy ports of Xbox 360 games. Due to this approach PS3 version of multiplatform games were of inferior quality at least for the first couple of years. In the past three years things have improved drastically, but Sony’s decision makes sense as it’ll be cheaper to use off the shelf parts over long term and also most developers will be familiar with them. The final device is expected to have 8GB RAM, 4x dual-core AMD64 ‘Bulldozer’ CPU, AMD R10xx GPU, Blu-Ray player, 160GB HDD and USB 3.0 support.

GAIKAI

INTEGRATION

ony bought game streaming company Gaikai last year and since then there have been rumours of the company rolling out game streaming features to customers. The way it is, the company is expected to open up this feature to customers with PS4. However there may not be a global rollout because of the bandwidth requirements for such a service to function well. The game servers also need to be in a range of 100Kms from the gamer, which means

Sony will have to set up such servers across countries. Instead of offering full game streaming, the company may let users stream game demos instead of waiting to download them.

NEW

CONTROLLER

Temple Run 2 is a logical sequel to the hugely-popular endless runner, bumping up the graphics, adding a mine-cart section and more customisation for the characters.

TEMPLE RUN 2

ony have added some functionality to its controller over the years, but the shape of the device has remained pretty much the same. That is expected to change with PS4 launch. According to developers the controller has a trackpad where the start button normally is. Sony had built in a simi-

Sony is expected to announce its next generation console PS4 on February 20. We take a look at five things we know about the console.

lar trackpad in their PlayStation Vita too, but the device hasn’t sold very well. That said, addition of trackpad can be helpful when using other apps like the browser that come with the console. However, the same function could have been made available using a mobile app like Microsoft did with Xbox Smartglass.

KINECT

LIKE FUNCTIONALITY

efore Kinect and Wii, Sony had this camera called Eye Toy for PlayStation 2. So technically

SONY IS EXPECTED TO COME OUT WITH A BETTER CAMERA IN PS4, BUT IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN IF GAMERS WILL STILL HAVE TO DEPEND ON A MOTION SENSING DEVICE. developers could make games that used motion controls like the Wii, but hardly anyone did. Eye Toy lived on through the PS3 era too, but with the addition of Move controller, which again didn’t catch on as much as the company hoped it would. Meanwhile, Kinect was making a killing and the device has been stated as the reason for the increase in the number of 360s sold worldover in the past two years. Now in PS4, Sony is expected to come out with a better camera, but it needs to be seen if gamers will still have to depend on a motion sensing device like Move controller or if it’ll work like Kinect.

PRICING

emember how much PS3 cost when it first released in India? It was priced at around `35,000 and was unaffordable for most people. You can expect similar prices when the device launches in India in early 2014. According to rumours the device will be priced at $450 and 450 Euro in Europe. India generally follows the European standard as far as Sony is concerned so keeping in account taxes and other factors, PS4 might be slightly costly.

Picture used for representative purposes.

ANIMAL KINGDOM SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

PET NEWS Parrot dies a hero

Acupuncture for pets

pet parrot died a "hero" by saving his teenage owner when fire ripped through his bedroom. Cookie the cockatiel squawked, and repeatedly "dive-bombed" Ben Rees, 17, to alert him about the blaze.

here is a growing movement to treat animals with the best that human medicine has to offer, including physical therapy, hydro-therapy, and even alternative therapies — acupuncture, to be precise.

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Know your dog

he Shih Tzu is a breed which originated in China and means ‘Lion dog’. The Shih Tzu is an alert, lively, little dog. Happy and hardy, packed with character.

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

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

Must love dogs

Let's hear the drum roll please. The Labrador Retriever has been named the most popular breed in the US for the 22nd time, beating the record of the fluffy poodles. Here are the some of the other dogs that the US, and the world, loves to take home. Fleme Varkey

GERMAN SHEPHERD

fleme.v@postnoon.com

POODLE

or hundreds of years the Poodle has been one of the most popular breeds in the world. The Poodle seems to be most associated with France, however, many countries claim the breed. The poodle has a pleasant personality and enjoys constant companionship with its humans. It actually prefers the company of humans rather than other dogs. They do make excellent pets for children and people of all ages. The Poodle has been known to be "gentle" with children.

f Chuck Norris’ Top Dog or Rin Tin Tin is anything to go by, then be sure you have fallen in love with the German Shepherd. Its shaggy mane, innocent eyes and temperament makes it a perfect pet. The dog is also known as the Alsatian and is the second most popular dog in the US. The German Shepherd is known for its courage. Originally, its job was to defend sheep against wolves… and those genes are largely alive and well. They make excellent guard dogs; additionally, they are a favourite with the police.

YORKSHIRE TERRIER

BULLDOG

any a flag and organisation’s emblem has been graced by the face of the bulldog. There are even sport teams across the world which have the bulldog as their mascot. In popular culture Spike and Tyke the father son duo in MGM’s Tom and Jerry makes for mention. However, the breed’s character and personality has often been misunderstood and it is not a lazy couch potato or a dud as made out to be often. In fact, the bulldogs are wonderful with children, senior citizens and are sensitive to their owner’s moods and have a natural protective instinct about them which often misconstrued for ferocity or defensiveness.

BEAGLE

aking it to the sixth spot on M the list is the pint-sized wonder — the Yorkshire Terrier. The Yorkshire Terrier dog breed has a personality and temperament that is high in energy, brave, intelligent, and at times mischievous. Television has often portrayed these dogs as spoilt delicate ones. Seen usually peeking out of some high-society lady’s handbag, this purse dog is a favourite with most women.

he most famous face of this breed is the cartoon character Snoopy from Peanuts. Coming in at number two for famous beagles, is Odie from the Garfield comic strip and third is Gromit from Wallace and Gromit, the silent beagle. Beagles are happy-go-lucky and friendly, making them a wonderful family pet. They are also favoured for their compact size and easy-tocare for coat. They enjoy the company of other dogs and humans. Curious and comedic, they often follow their noses — which can lead to some mischief if they are not provided with daily activity.

GOLDEN RETRIEVER

he Golden Retriever is often considered as one which the rich and lordly like to own. Liberty was one of White House’s biggest stars. She was Gerald Ford’s pet. Then came Air Bud, the Golden Retriever, Buddy, that starred in this 1997 family comedy became one of the decade's biggest canine stars. With its shiny golden coat, sleek black nose, strong gait, and powerful doggie smile, the Golden Retriever has captured the attention and imagination of dog-lovers worldwide. Its sweet disposition and temperament makes it a favourite with most doglovers.

BOXER

oxers are from Germany and descendants of the English Bulldog. They got their name as they like to stand on their hind legs and hit out with their front paws like a boxer. Boxers are a popular pet in Hollywood. Boxer owners include Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Shirley MacLaine, George Clooney, Jodie Foster, and Justin Timberlake. In fact, in the World War I Boxers were used as messenger dogs. Boxers are playful, intelligent, friendly, devoted, loyal and energetic.

LABRADOR RETRIEVER

taying put on the top of the list is the Labrador Retriever. This breed is liked by Presidents for starters. Former US president Bill Clinton had two named Buddy and Seamus, Prince Williams has one named Widgeon and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s one is named Koni. Labradors have also their share of screen space with Old Yeller becoming famous. Marley and Me had Marley played by a yellow Lab and A Dog Named Christmas where a black Lab named Christmas is the protagonist. Labs are gentle, intelligent and make good guide and sniffer dogs. They are good-tempered, easy to be around children, kind, outgoing and agile. Reasons enough why it’s the most loved dog.

BOOKS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

SHORT READS Title: A Week In Winter Author: Maeve Binchy Publisher: Knopf Maeve Binchy brings to life Irish homes like no one else. When Chicky Starr decided to revamp an old mansion and turn it into a hotel, everyone thinks she is crazy. But now, with her first guests arriving, it looks like it’s going to be an interesting week.

Title: The Hidden Life of Wolves Author: Jim Dutcher, Jamie Dutcher Publisher: National Geographic Jim and Jamie Dutcher have spent over six years living, observing and interacting with wild wolves in Idaho. This stunning book, filled with rarely seen photos of wolf life, is a wealth of information.

Title: House of Earth Author: Woody Guthrie Publisher: HarperCollins The only complete novel by Woody Guthrie, the man who inspired Bob Dylan and countless others, House of Earth is a moving novel about a couple in Dust Bowl America. The couple struggles to find love, hope and meaning in a harsh and corrupt world.

Title: See Now Then Author: Jamaica Kincaid Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux In her first novel in 10 years, Jamaica Kincaid examines the lives of a family in New England and the effect of time on their lives. When the man leaves his wife and two children to go live with a younger woman, their lives unravel.

Inspiring you to the summit It takes tremendous courage and strength to swim against the tide. This book teaches you to do just that – on your way to Mastery over your chosen field.

greatest masters in history. These include Leonardo da Vinci, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the poet John Keats, scientists Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein and the likes.

SYED SHOAIB

shoaib.s@postnoon.com

hile introducing chess as a subject to children would help in problem solving and logical thinking, Mastery as a textbook would most certainly inculcate in students focus on a calling and excellence in its pursuit. This isn’t to say that adults have lost their chance and have to live to regret lost opportunity and accept a mediocre life. The book motivates every individual to pursue their dreams, desires and obsessive thoughts, and ascend the pinnacle of their chosen field. Robert Greene makes us understand that creativity and brilliance that we notice in others, or sometimes in ourselves, is not a fruit of talent, or perhaps of a good mood, or an alignment of the stars: they can be manufactured and maintained. A few pages into the book and the reader begins to believe in himself (herself), and the selfconfidence grows into very high respect for oneself as an individual. The author makes us believe/ understand that we have

No, the book doesn’t excuse your putting off doing work. What it does is explore how slowing down can actually work to your benefit in a fast-moving world. Jyotsna Nambiar jyotsna.n@postnoon.com

f you’re planning to give your mom Frank Partnoy’s Wait: The Useful Art of Procrastination and tell her off for nagging you to clean your room all these years, wait. The book isn’t exactly an ode to the fine art of

in each of us the responsibility/ capability of upholding the superiority of the human race.This is possible, he convinces us, because of intuitive power latent in every human brain. This instrument is remarkably plastic, for it can learn, change and adapt to circumstances. At any moment we can choose to shift our relationship to time and work, and with the element of time working of us,

we can reverse the bad habits and passivity, and move up the ladder of intelligence. The book is designed to lead the reader from the lowest levels to the highest. It will help to initiate you into the first step, ie, discovering your life’s task, or vocation, and how to carve out a path that will lead you to its fulfilment. It will reveal timeless strategies for creative problem solving, for keeping your mind

fluid and adaptable. It will spell out the powers that will come to you through mastery, pointing you in the direction of that intuitive, inside feel for your field. It will initiate you into a philosophy, a way of thinking that will make it easier to follow this path. Ideas in the book are based on research in the fields of neuro and cognitive science, studies on creativity, as well as the biographies of the

THE ART OF DELAY putting things off. Partnoy is instead more interested in the science of delay, and how slowing down can actually work to your benefit in a fast-moving world. The author juggles science, business, medicine and sports to explain how a few seconds, or even milliseconds, could mean the difference between good and great. Most part of the book isn’t about putting things off indefinitely — which is what most of us understand procrastination to be — but putting them off to the best possible time. Partnoy uses sport to demonstrate the phenomenon; great tennis players or cricketers process visual infor-

Name Wait Author Frank Partnoy Pages 290 Publisher Hachette India mation just like any one of us, but they are able to stretch their decision-making and reaction times in a way few can. We mortals get a little longer to make a call. From knowing when to apologise and when to panic, delay can help make life more rewarding. Like pausing before the punchline can make a

Name Mastery Author Robert Greene Pages 325 Publisher Viking joke funnier, a delay can make all the difference in your work. And just when you’re beginning to think that the author has put off writing about procrastination, you turn to chapter 10, aptly titled At Last, Procrastination. All his talk about delayed gratification prevented me from flipping directly to the chapter. But the wait was worth it, just as Partnoy promised. The book is written well, filled with interesting case studies and instances of delay. Partnoy navigates the different fields of study with apparent ease, making for a highly engaging book on a topic everyone can relate to. To learn how to delay to make a difference, don’t put off reading this book.

BOOKS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

Kunal Mukherjee’s My Magical Palace delves into the life of a young boy who realises an inconvenient truth about his sexuality. He breaks all shackles and moves away from his orthodox family. Despite its interesting premise, the book is filled with far too many clichés under the pretence of discovering a dangerous world through the eyes of a boy. Hemanth Kumar

hemanth.k@postnoon.com

ahul Chatterjee, a 13-yearold boy who comes to terms that he’s not like other boys in his school and finds his world turned upside down. Gone are the days where he had all the freedom in the world to play in the palace’s garden which is a sight to behold within the four walls of Mint House in Hyderabad. The year is 1973 and we are told that few areas in Hyderabad are grappling with riots between Hindus and Muslims. In the middle of all this chaos Rahul realises that he’s in love with Rajesh Khanna, a fact which makes him quite uneasy every time he thinks about how his family would react when they come to know that he’s a ‘girlie’ boy.

AGAINST THE TIDE

Kunal Mukherjee rekindles a lost era of Hyderabad in his book My Magical Palace, which is a reference to the Mint House where Rahul Chatterjee lives with his sister Rani and his parents. The story begins in San Francisco where Rahul lives with his partner Andrew. One day when Rahul confesses that his parents want him to meet a girl, Andrew is shocked and walks out of the house immediately. In turn, Rahul tells Andrew everything about his adolescent years to explain why it’s such a big taboo to be a homosexual in India and why his parents would never understand. One of the subtexts in the book is Rahul’s unflinching love for Rajesh Khanna and almost all his popular films made in the ’70s like Anand, Aradhana and Kati Patang, among many others. While it’s charming to read about

Name My Magical Palace Author Kunal Mukherjee Pages 380 Publisher Harper Collins India

the young boy’s fascination for his matinee idol, the fact that Kunal Mukherjee chooses to draw an analogy between a Rajesh Khanna’s film and incidents in Rahul’s life far too many times at that turns out to be quite underwhelming. Even the routine which Rahul and his sister Rani follow on most days like playing in the garden seems stretched out after a point in the book. Moreover, the plot takes a cinematic turn when Mallika, the daughter of Rahul’s family friend Binesh, falls in love with a Muslim boy named Salim and the heartburn that follows when Binesh finds out about his daughter’s affair. Since the lead character needs a push to follow his heart, the story has a customary messiah in the form of Colonel Uncle, who lives in the same building as Rahul. He inspires Rahul to break all shackles and do what he

must to live his life on his own terms. What really saves the book from being overtly clichéd is how well Kunal Mukherjee writes about the relationship between Rahul and his parents and the little time he gets to spend with his friends Mallika, Shyamala and his best friend Ranjan. The story also talks a lot about the Bengali community in Hyderabad and the vivid description of their meetings and dinner table conversations are quite refreshing. The storytelling, despite the memories of Rahul Chatterjee’s adolescent years, is far too clichéd or shall we say too cinematic to yearn for a Hyderabad which no longer exists. More than anything else, the book gives a glimpse of the complex society and taboos that are and will continue to be a surprise for an outsider.

WHAT’S SELLING Walden’s best in fiction

Walden’s best in non-fiction

New York Times’ best in fiction

New York Times’ best in non-fiction

n Racketeer by John Grisham

n Durbar by Tavleen Singh

n My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor

n Secret Of The Nagas by Amish Tripati

n Land of the Seven Rivers by Sanjeev Sanyal

n Private Berlin by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan

n Francona by Terry Francona and Dan Shaughnessy

n Accidental Apprentice by Vikas Swarup

n India Grows At Night by Gurcharan Das

n A memory of light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

n 31 by Upendra Namburi

n Return of a King by William Dalrymple

n Fifty Shades Of Grey by EL James

n Our Moon Has Blood Clots by Rahul Pandita

n Suspect by Robert Crais n Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn n Ever After by Kim Harrison

n Going Clear by Lawrence Wright n Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard n Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

WOMEN SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

WEBSITES OF THE WEEK Sharp Skirts: “No pink. No platitudes. Just success for smart women.” This Austin-based site is a network of resources for entrepreneurs looking to break out of the mommy mold.

SheKnows: She knows everything– entertainment, beauty, parenting, shopping, health and more. The entire busy woman’s lifestyle hub wrapped up into a slick, searchable website.

Smitten Kitchen: New Yorker Deb brings us mouthwatering recipes and just-as-delicious photographs. Want to make your own ricotta? It’s possible — this site has turned many a into a foodie.

Shaping a brighter future SUNORY DUTT

feedback@postnoon.com

uwaira heads the Primary School at Indus International School Hyderabad and the Indus Early Learning Centres in Hyderabad and Chennai. Her scope of work involves teacher training, planning and developing curriculum, mentoring, educating parents, monitoring and execution of the schools’ teaching philosophy and curriculum etc. Well aware of her responsibility in moulding the minds of impressionable children, Nuwaira explains, “Ninety per cent of brain development takes place in the early years, between the ages of 0-3. The primary years play a vital role in shaping our adulthood. Building the right foundation and nurturing children in these crucial years has a significant impact in creating confident and successful individuals,” says Nuwaira. In a short span of 18

Nuwaira Pasha believes in leading by example. She shares with Sunory Dutt the trials of being a single parent and yet excelling at her job.

months, Indus Early Learning Centre has been ranked as the top pre-primary school in Hyderabad by the Education World, largely due to the efforts and commitment Nuwaira has displayed. Nuwaira is a single mother who moved to India five years ago with her three-month-old son. She’s been raising him single-handedly ever since. Despite being a member of the illustrious Chennai-based ‘Pasha’ family, Nuwaira opted to move to Hyderabad. “I wanted to get back on my feet and take control of my life instead of wallowing in self pity. Sometimes some relationships are simply not meant to be, I guess! My family was very supportive and perhaps wanted me to live in Chennai close to them but understood it was important for me to be independent. They didn’t let their apprehensions get in my way.” With a Qualified Teacher’s status from the Teaching Council of England and a Diploma in Early years and Preschool Practice from London and many years of teaching at Feltonfleet School, Surrey, England, Nuwaira was readily accepted into Indus. She began as a Prep 2 teacher. Within six months she became the Early years coordinator and went on to work on establishing their Early Learning Centres. Six months after having set up the Early Learning Centre in Hyderabad she was made the Head of Primary School. She reminisces, “My son was 18 months when I started work. I’d take him along with me and taught classes while he was looked after by a hired nurse. I’d keep checking on him during my breaks. Luckily I am blessed with a very accommodating child who has a lovely temperament.” “It’s very difficult living as a single woman/mother in India. The more successful you become, the lonelier it gets, I am beginning to realise. It’s very important to have a positive attitude towards life as even suffering has meaning. Good comes out of every experience. It’s only down to how we perceive and react to them. What keeps me going is my belief and conviction in my work and myself. Commitment, perseverance and resilience are key to living a happy and successful life!”

Shaming India All About Eve

FLEME VARKEY

here is no dearth of fanatics and idiots in this world. Seems like some open their mouths only to spew venom. Take the example of this Egyptian Salafi preacher. According to the man “raping and sexually harassing women protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square is justified, and he calls them “crusaders” who “have no shame, no fear and not even feminism.” Remind me what was Tahrir Square about. “And by the way, 90 per cent of them are crusaders and the remaining 10 per cent are widows who have no one to control them. You see women talking like monsters,” another statement made by this irritating preacher. First, of all his sense of feminism or any kind of activism is skewed, also women are no cattle that anyone has to control them, leave alone widows. The fellow went ahead to even bring religion in saying, “Learn from Muslim women, learn and be Muslims.” That’s his justification. Even the lunatics in a mental asylum know better than to advocate such primitive ways of violence. You are men not cavemen. While Egypt is being subjected to this mad man’s rantings, India too has its demons to battle with. The December gangrape has earned India a bad name as well as the capital Delhi, but that has not stopped some uncouth, uncivilised bozos from raping a Chinese woman in the capital just last week. Now the Chinese government has sent a strongly-worded precaution to their citizens living in India. In a strongly worded report, state-run Xinhua said India is known for “rampant rapes against women and Delhi’s called the rape capital of the world.” The Chinese embassy in India has also urged Chinese citizens in India, especially women, to strongly remain alert about their personal security, avoid going out of house alone, shun insecure places, and report to police and Chinese embassy once they meet any unusual situation,” the report said. Shame on us.

SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013 N SHIVAKUMAR

S BALAKRISHNA

Style guide Southern stalwarts 1

Actor Kamal Hasan was at Taj Banjara on Friday. On stage with him were director Rajamouli, writer Trivikram, actors Prabhas and Nagarjuna, directors Dasari Narayana Rao, K Vishwanath and Raghavendra Rao, and Ramesh Prasad.

Shilpa Reddy and Varun launched The Blue Book, a first-of-its-kind lifestyle information guide, at N Asian on Friday.

RHYTHM DIVINE

S BALAKRISHNA

It seemed like all of Hyderabad turned up to listen to Ustad Zakir Hussain, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer perform at Shilpa Kala Vedika on Friday.

3 10

1 Madhu, Lipsa

4 Vinitha Pitti

8 Jyothi

2 Stuvant, Suhani

5 Prateek, Kamal

9 Kavitha

3 Ashish, Purvi

6 Idmantzi 7 Jaishree

10 Shilpa, Renu

RELATIONSHIPS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

I AM ALL EARS

am 15. I study in a reputed school where no bullying is a policy. However, due to my build and slow reflexes, boys who are senior to me keep bullying me and even my classmates are not far behind. I feel embarrassed and humiliated constantly and feel like committing suicide. Please help.

Dear disturbed kid, Bullying is part of growing up and usually becomes part of life. Having said that, it does not mean that bullying should be encouraged. At this age you are bound to be affected by nasty comments, t would be best if you could approach some teacher with this problem. Make sure you are not tattling, otherwise things might take an ugly turn. Suicide will not end things, it will bring untold misery only. So be brave. Hold on.

five-year study by researchers at three universities has established that providing tangible assistance to others protects our health and lengthens our lives. This, after more than two decades of research failed to establish that the same benefits accrue to the recipients of such help. This is according to the paper "Giving to Others and the Association Between Stress and Mortality”.

When wedding bells echo

If Prince Charming, a white horse and a white flouncy wedding dress have been regulars in your dreams and you have virtually planned your walk down the aisle, then chances are you are wedding-obsessed. AMY ROSE THOMAS

amyrose.t@ postnoon.com

emember an ecstatic Monica Geller pulling out her wedding book right after Chandler Bing popped the question in FRIENDS? To her fiancé’s shock, she had been planning her dream wedding since the fourth grade and in her so-called wedding book she had covered all possible details about the impending D-day. There are many girls who relate to the fictional character of Monica Geller when it comes to planning their wedding. At most times, these wedding-obsessed girls are so psyched about their wedding that they take the fun out of the experience and freak their fiancés in the process. There is no denying the fact that a wedding is when the bride gets to be treated as a princess; the day when she is the cynosure of all eyes as she walks down the aisle in her beautiful white gown and after this particular day she ceases to be a bachelorette and

Find out if you are wedding-obsessed? n You promised no wedding talk, but do it anyway. n You’re checking the weather report for the countries where your exotic flowers are grown. n You check for perfect wedding destinations to get married in different countries and you are not even in a relationship. n You’re telling friends that they can’t choose the same colour palette or style as you. n You feel miserable when your friend announces her engagement.

begins a new life with her beloved as a married woman. So, it is no crime look forward to the day and fantasise about the same. But, how much is too much? And when is it time to tone it down? “I am a self-confessed wedding addict and I am not embarrassed to admit that. I love discussing everything related to weddings like gowns, flowers, music, bridesmaids; the list goes on. All my conversations with my friends inevitably veer towards weddings and white gowns. I have decided everything about my dream wedding including the kind of gown, my

bridesmaids and flowers except the groom. Just because I am obsessed with my wedding doesn’t mean that I will get married to any Tom, Dick or Harry. My dream wedding will not be perfect without my prince charming. So, I am ready to wait for him rather than settling down,” Treesa Daniel, 25, says. It is not just the girls who are bitten by the marriage bug, there are parents of the bride and groom too who look forward to this day, when they can look their best wearing the most glamorous of clothes. “I am not a wedding fanatic

WEDDING-OBSESSED GIRLS ARE SO PSYCHED ABOUT THEIR WEDDING THAT THEY TAKE THE FUN OUT OF THE EXPERIENCE AND FREAK OUT THEIR FIANCÉS IN THE PROCESS. and have been escaping marriage talks from a long time. But my mother and my aunt are obsessed about my wedding. More than getting me settled, this obsession is about them looking good and having a great

time,” Swati Sinha says. Dr Minhaj Nasirabadi, consultant psychiatrist, Apollo Hospital, attributes this obsession to the exposure to media and western culture. “Girls in our society have always fantasised about their weddings but now after the influence of western culture through media, they have become more obsessed about their weddings. Another reason that triggers this behaviour is competition. When a girl sees her best friend having a great wedding, she feels like outdoing her and organising a more splendid wedding than hers,” he says.

CINEMA SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

Sonakshi Sinha to romance Mahesh Babu

Shruti Haasan is not the second lead

rish has finally managed to find the heroine for his upcoming film Shivam which has Mahesh Babu in the lead. Sonakshi Sinha is going to team up with Mahesh Babu in this film which is reportedly set in the 50s. Ashwini Dutt is producing it. Confirming her presence in the film, Sonakshi Sinha tweeted, “Wow! Lots of support from the south

for my telegu debut thanks guys!! Really looking forward to it... Feels like dabangg dejavu debut with superstar, script I couldnt refuse, capable and intelligent director! Shoot starts later this year.. it's going to be a great journey :) (sic).” The film will go on floors later this year. Mahesh Babu is currently busy wrapping up Sukumar’s film.

arish Shankar seems to be quite miffed with rumours that Shruti Haasan is playing the second lead in his upcoming film starring NTR and Samantha. He reiterated his stand that Shruti is doing a special role in the film and that both Shruti and Samantha have their own importance in the film as per the demand of

the script. “People who are jealous of my casting are provoking the fans of both Shruti Haasan and Samantha. Both of them have listened to the script and are very happy with it. I personally thank both my heroines for accepting a multi starer and appreciate their maturity and passion towards cinema,” Harish Shankar posted on Twitter.

MIRCHI IS PRABHAS ALL THE WAY

Koratala Siva makes a promising debut as a director with Mirchi. Despite its lacklustre story, the film works to a large extent, thanks to Prabhas and Anushka. HEMANTH KUMAR

hemanth.k@postnoon.com

irchi is an unabashedly violent film and one among the scores of films where the hero must put an end to the violence. His bravado takes a backseat to make us root for the him. Filmmakers make it a point to showcase the hero’s violent side and highlight the incident which changes the protagonist’s heart. In Mirchi, this life changing event involves his parents. No surprises there. The surprising part, however, is that the violence in the film is its biggest strength, apart from the sizzling chemistry between Prabhas and Anushka. Jai (Prabhas) lives in Milan, Italy and one day he bumps into Manasa (Richa). She falls in love with him but soon she tells him that they can never be together because she comes from a village near Macherla where violence reigns supreme. Soon, Jai goes to Hyderabad and befriends Poorna (Subbaraju), who turns out to be Manasa’s brother. When Jai lands in Manasa’s house, she’s shocked but soon realises that he has come to her house to reform her family and make them shed their violent ways. When all seems to be going well, Jai tells Manasa, a devastating truth about his past, Deva (Sathya Raj) and Vennela (Anushka). Who’s Jai? Why does he come to Manasa’s house? That forms the rest of the story.

Mirchi is a neatly packaged entertainer and Prabhas takes up the onus of carrying the film on his shoulders. The plot has a heavy hangover of several films like Brindavanam, Shankam and Dhammu where rivalry between two warring factions is a major subplot. The film takes off on a positive note and Prabhas looks fantastic in his uber suave avatar in the first half. Despite the predictability of the film’s first half, Koratala Siva, the film’s director, pulls it off with some good dialogues. The film’s best part is a long flashback and Prabhas is on top of his game in this action-packed sequence. The action scenes are indeed gory, yet with Prabhas wielding the sword with great panache, they look splendid. There are plenty of instances in the second half which are written just to elevate Prabhas’ larger than life image and Koratla Siva does a good job here. Anushka is a revelation in the film and her chirpy performance is a delight to watch. The sparkling chemistry between Prabhas and Anushka is remarkable and one of the songs, Idhedo

Movie: Mirchi Cast: Prabhas, Anushka, Richa, Sampath Directed by: Koratala Siva Rating:

Baagundhe, which is shot on the duo, is the best of the lot. Richa is good in her role as well. Sampath Raj, who plays Uma, is menacing as the villain whereas Sathya Raj and Nadiya suit their respective roles quite well. Madhie, the cinematographer, captures the rustic countryside quite well and Devi Sri Prasad makes a big impression with his background score. It’s a big surprise that a writer turned director like Koratala Siva, who has a good grip on the craft, offers no surprises in terms of the story or the screenplay. The lack of imagination or should we say adherence to the template of a mass entertainer takes the sheen away from the film to some extent. There are some loopholes in the script as well. It’s never clear how Uma fails to recognise Jai’s voice when they meet for the first time, after all the two have a history and what happened to Uma’s henchmen who already know the truth about Jai. Films like Mirchi are like a lavish buffet which promises something for everyone. You don’t get the best, yet it’s value for money. Mirchi is exactly like that. A little spicy, a little mundane and a whole lot of action. It makes no pretensions about what it achieves to do and there lies the crux of the film. Go watch it and if nothing else, you’ll end up liking Prabhas and Anushka.

CINEMA SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

Another Robin Hood appears Akshay Kumar goes back to his Khiladi days with Special 26, and this time he does it intelligently. Another cop-caper hits the box office and will probably make it big. the leader of the gang. Ably assisted by Sharmaji (Anupam Kher), Iqbal (Kishore Kadam) and Joginder (Rajesh Sharma), Akshay Kumar goes head to head with Manoj Bajpayee and Jimmy Shergill, who play real CBI inspectors. The feel of the 80s is captured well as the story jumps from city to city deftly. Pandey's attention to detail can be seen in his capturing of the era; nothing seems out of place.

Movie: Special 26 Cast: Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill, Kajal Aggarwal, Divya Dutta Directed by: Neeraj Pandey

xpectations were running high for Neeraj Pandey's Special 26, given the critical acclaim his last movie, A Wednesday, received. And the

thriller seems to have lived up to its hype, with its brilliant cinematography and taut storyline. The film is based on a series of true life crimes in Mumbai in

the 1980s, where a group of conmen used to pose as CBI officers conducting a raid and rob businesses. The story makes the gang out to be almost Robin

Hood-like, as they only target dishonest businessmen and officials. Akshay Kumar goes back to his Khiladi days and plays Ajay,

After a string of loud comedies and obnoxious characters, it is a relief to see a quiet Akshay Kumar make his mark with intelligent humour. Manoj Bajpayee and Jimmy Shergill are dependably good in their roles of good cops. But in the end, it is Anupam Kher who truly steals the show, with his hearty Punjabi character. The movie falters when it comes to romance — the relationship between Ajay and Priya (Kajal Aggarwal) seems quite unnecessary and distracts. A sudden item number too seems out of place in this otherwise gripping story. Special 26 might not match the brilliance of A Wednesday, but it is a good watch.

Remo’s answer to Step Up

Big B named ‘Timeless Style Icon’

ollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan was named Timeless Style Icon in a recent poll while actors Sonam Kapoor and Akshay Kumar were chosen as Reader's Choice Style Icons. The actors won their respective titles through a contest that allowed readers of a leading daily to vote for their favourite style icon. The winners were announced at an event — Mumbai's Most Stylish 2013 — on Thursday night. Bollywood celebrities, including Amitabh, Akshay, Sonam, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonali Bendre, Shahid Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty, Sridevi, Imran Khan and Anil Kapoor were present for the event. IANS

ndia's answer to Step Up is here, and while it doesn't have the same energy as the Hollywood flicks, it is a nice desi twist to dance. Prabhu Deva plays Vishnu,

Movie: ABCD Cast: Prabhu Deva, Ganesh Acharya, Kay Kay Menon, Lauren Gottlieb, Salman Yusuff Khan Directed by: Remo D'Souza a dance instructor (no surprises there), who is demoted to a manager when he questions the unethical and money-minded ways of the dance school owner, Jehangir (Kay Kay Menon). He decides to leave Mumbai and shift to Chennai,

when a chance encounter with a bunch of dancing youngsters from a chawl gives him a reason to stay back. He decides to train the unruly group and ensure that they win the biggest dance competition in town. The story sticks to the oldest cliché in the book — underdogs taking on rich brats. But the dancing is quite incredible, especially when participants from the TV show, Dance India Dance, hit the screen. Lauren Gottlieb, who was a finalist on US dance show So You Think You Can Dance, is a breath of fresh air, and her acting skills are as honed as her dance moves. Prabhu Deva wows with his dance, but his accent is a jarring note. Kay Kay Menon plays the conniving Jehangir to perfection, even though he has strange spiked hair and contact

lenses. The finale dance sequence is quite breathtaking, full of slick moves and unexpected cameos.

The 3D effects are quite effective and the dancers are truly incredible. Worth a watch.

CINEMA SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

The winner takes it all

Powerhouses of talent are pitted against each other for the biggest race of all — the Oscars. Here’s looking at the nominees for the Best Actor Award. DENZEL WASHINGTON

FOR F LIGHT enzel Washington plays William Whitaker, the alcoholic pilot of an ill-fated flight to the hilt. He already has two Oscars to his name and now at 58 he is gunning for his third Oscar statuette.

HUGH JACKMAN

IN L ES M ISÉRABLES ugh Jackman gave the screen performance of his career as the unfairly pursued fugitive Jean Valjean. His Oscar nod did not come as a surprise since he anchored the film with aplomb. Jackman plays Jean Valjean, who is jailed for stealing a loaf of bread in 19th century France.

BEST

SCENE Whit is lolling in bed watching a naked woman gather her belongings in his room, a whiff of crack, and then a confident uniformed pilot walking to the aircraft to the tune of Feelin’ Alright. The coke-fuelled pilot’s life is about to change in a few minutes and that’s where the actor nails it.

BEST

SCENE Jackman is riveting in the scene when he is pacing back and forth in the bishop's chapel during What Have I Done?. You can see Valjean's confused, broken mind reeling as Jackman spits and cries out in song.

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS IN LINCOLN f Day-Lewis could win an Oscar for his portrayal of a corrupt oil man in There Will Be Blood, consider how much stronger his chances are this time: playing a much loved American president with dignity and grace.

BEST SCENE A passionate plea to move forward on a constitutional amendment to ban slavery. "Blood has been spilled to afford us this moment," he rages, pointing his long fingers at the men in the room. "Now, now, now!"

BRADLEY COOPER

radley Cooper most known for his comic roles in The Hangover series, through Silver Linings Playbook shows that he is got the dramatic chops as a man beset by bipolar disorder, exuding both bare-knuckled vulnerability and excess energy. He exhibits a hard blue-eyed stare and a hectoring tone that put us on edge. David O Russell took the biggest risk by putting the actor's performance front and centre in the film and his risk has paid off. He is a delight to watch in the movie stumping Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro in the process.

BEST

SCENE In an early manic episode, Cooper's Pat completely loses it after reading Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, breaking into his parent's bedroom in the middle of the night, and releasing an angry tirade: "I mean, the world's hard enough as it is, guys. Can't someone say, hey let's be positive, let's have a good ending to the story?"

JOAQUIN PHOENIX IN THE M ASTER hoenix's physical transformation into the animalistic alcoholic Freddie Quell is like no other performance this year, as bold and convincing as the work of former Method actor master Marlon Brando.

BEST SCENE After fighting off a dozen cops, Phoenix's Quell ends up in jail, and while still shackled, attacks the inanimate objects inside his prison cell, slamming his head and back into a bunk bed, kicking the metal bars, and ripping off the toilet from the wall.

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

SUDOKU

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

Play & Win

voucher from VENKEY’S VEG Restaurant, Nampally

Kakuro is a popular game similar to sudoku in some ways. But is also suitably different. The key question: ‘How do you play Kakuro?’, well here are the rules of kakuro. The answer: The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers. However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number. Within each collection of cells — called a run — any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once. Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on... So, how do you work out the actual combination? Well, this is done through elimination and cross-referencing. For instance, as you work out the answers for other kakuro clues, this will naturally limit the valid combinations, and hence the answer for this particular run. Note the second cell in row two — it contains two numbers, 30 and 11. The 30 refers to the vertical run underneath the number 30 and the 11 refers to the two cells to the right, horizontally, of the voucher from VENKEY’S VEG Restaurant, Nampally number 11.

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.

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Thin boards under your mattress 6 Word with ‘while’ 10 ‘The ___ of the Cave Bear’ 14 Ancient Roman senate house 15 Seville snack 16 Unaccompanied 17 Adjust, as car wheels 18 Substantial baby shower gift 19 Item in a chop shop 20 Wore the pants in the family, in olden times 23 Cheerleading sound 24 Exclamations of wonderment 25 Black Halloween animal 28 Trademark design 31 Final Four matches 34 Piece of an orchestra? 36 Thumbs-up write-up 38 Lacking luster 40 Venting 43 Part of a tire 44 Certain singing voice 45 Let out, as light 46 Hairy Himalayan humanoids 48 Scandinavian seaport 50 Many SAT takers 51 Itty-bitty bit 53 Roth plan

55 Approaching 212 degrees 61 In a bit, in a poem 63 Pitchfork prong 64 Trunk of the human body 65 Chip’s chipmunk chum 66 1985 movie with three different endings 67 Flattened circles 68 Treasured 69 Name on toy fuel trucks 70 Take in new tenants DOWN 1 ‘The Lion King’

villain 2 ‘To Sir With Love’ singer-actress 3 Seed jacket 4 Big striped cat 5 Beach bum’s shoe 6 Make a lasting impression? 7 Seldom seen 8 Former vice president Agnew 9 Not-to-do list 10 Yearbook signer 11 Cad 12 Tiny tunneler 13 Prefix for ‘ classical’ or ‘conservative’ 21 Androcles pulled one from a lion’s foot

22 Throat-clearing attention-getters 25 Young stud? 26 Clownish miming 27 Homebound student, often 29 Head-over-heels

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

KAKURO

How to play kakuro

– Antoine de Saint-Exupery

30 Architectural ellipse 32 News pieces 33 Step between landings 35 Supplier of office needs 37 Semiaquatic salamanders 39 911 respondents, briefly 41 Figure of speech 42 Leaf in a book 47 Knit or purl 49 Keynoter, eg 52 Like a feeble old woman 54 Beyond’s partner 55 Soda machine option 56 Bearded antelopes 57 Their purpose is to have a ball? 58 Spoken 59 Part of an archipelago 60 Unable to find one’s way 61 Do simple math 62 Dissent in Dumfries

CHAI TIME SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

The Sun

The Hanged Man

Seven of Pentacles

Three of Cups

Queen of Pentacles

Nine of Pentacles

ork – Your hard work is about to pay off through the promotion or hike. Beware of jealous coworkers who try to thwart your efforts. Romance – You review your current relationship status and make changes to either end the relationship or deepen the commitment. Change is on the way. Health – The old ailments are back to haunt you. A migraine, aching joints, skin rashes, etc. Maybe a minor change in your lifestyle can heal you. Money – Take a calculated risk by investing in a new area. Patience will ultimately pay off. Choose your advisors carefully. Tarot message – You find new inspiration from youngsters around you and it urges you on to do more good work.

ork – You’re being recognised and appreciated for your talent and hard work. You use this success as a springboard to other ventures. Romance – You find the perfect balance and harmony with your partner. You know when to give each other space and when to stay close. Health – You listen to your doctor’s advice about maintaining your diet and exercise and it bears good results. Money – You’re offered a raise and a bigger position. You feel ecstatic and want to continue doing what you’re good at. Tarot message – You learn to celebrate life and share all the joys it brings with those around you. You’re also headed to finding inner peace.

ork – Use your position of authority and the trust your colleagues place in you to improve the quality of work your team produces. Romance – Love is in the air. You have settled into a harmonious rhythm where you understand the needs and feelings of your partner. Health – Pay attention to any niggling health problems and do not allow them to grow unchecked. Go to a doctor for sure. Money – All your needs are well taken care of and there is no cause for worry where finances are concerned. Tarot message – You are in a stable position, emotionally and financially. Make use of this time to reflect on your life’s objectives.

ork –An outing with colleagues is going to be fun. It’ll be more useful and creative than you expected it to be. Romance – Powerful emotions are in focus. You and your partner feel for each other very strongly and that sometimes clouds your judgement. Health – Eating right is really half the job done when taking care of your body. But exercise is also a must. See a doctor and carve out a routine for yourself. Money – You’re in good shape and so is your bank balance. Despite the additional expenses in the previous weeks, you’ve managed quite well. Tarot message – You have tremendous positive energy and it’s beaming outward to those around you.

ork – There’s a temporary stalling at work – of both projects and your raise/promotion. Don’t get perturbed and take rash decisions. Wait. Romance – If you’re single and lonely, you won’t be for long. You meet someone interesting and things move forward rapidly. Health – You’re determined to go through a stepby-step process to improve your health. Will power will go a long way in keeping you from that yummy chocolate cake. Money – Your own mental block against a new investment idea is stopping you. Get over it and try something new for a change. Tarot message – Adjust your point of view and reverse your established order of doing things. There’s more to a story than you can see.

SUMAA TEKUR tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

Libra Six of Wands

ork – You’ve been waiting for a long time for the perfect job to come your way. It’s almost here. Don’t be too arrogant about your experience or knowledge. There’s more to learn. Romance – You know when to get closer to your partner and when to back off. You and your partner develop an easy understanding of each other. Health – Smokers need to quit immediately to reduce the risk of major health issues. Diet plans need reworking. Consult an expert. Money – A bonus or an extra payment for a job makes you confident about your finances. You’re okay with EMI payments for some more time. Tarot message – Realise what’s in your control and what isn’t. You need to be more open to change.

Scorpio Seven of Cups

ork – There may be some confusion when it comes to what’s expected of you. You may have misunderstood something. Romance – You and your partner need to set realistic expectations of each other. There are times when you feel it’s not working out. Health – You feel restless and anxious about not knowing what the future holds. You need some time to relax and destress. Meditate. Money – Finances have been your concern for some time now and they are sorted out quite well. Tarot message – Don’t stress about having it all right now and knowing everything there is know. There is joy in not knowing as well and you need to discover that joy.

Sagittarius Knight of Swords

ork – You may be coming across to your colleagues as too aggressive. Watch your tongue and do what it takes to correct your image. Romance – You need some space for yourself to think things through. Explain this to your partner. If you’re single, you feel restless and uneasy. Health – Meditate or get into any alternative therapy that makes you feel more centred and connected to the world around you. Money – There are no major issues with finances with the inflow and outflow staying pretty much the same. You need to take proactive measures if you want to increase your income. Tarot message – Have faith in your abilities and this faith will carry you to new heights.

Capricorn

Date 10-2-2013

Aquarius

The Chariot

The High Priestess

ork – You find intuitive and creative solutions at work. You will be respected and looked up to for advice by your colleagues. Romance – You discover your own self through a special relationship. Singles find their soulmate and those in relationships find new meaning to their partnership. Health – If a health problem has been troubling you, slowing you down, then take a second opinion. You may need to change your doctor. Money – Don’t rush into financial deal. Shop around some more for an investment option that best suits your requirement. Tarot message – Things may seem slow on the surface. But a lot is brewing just beneath the outer layer.

ork – You manage to circumvent your boss’s unreasonable demands at work and still deliver beyond expectation. You do fantastically well. Romance – You’re hardly in the mood for romance with all its trappings of candlelight dinners, flowers and perfumes. You’re open to a fast fling, though. Health – Watch your diet, avoid overexertion, don’t take on more stress than you can handle, and you can manage a healthy balance. Money – You finish paying up the remaining EMIs for a car or bike. You’re saving a lot more now and look out for a new buy. Tarot message – You’re in the middle of a journey of self-discovery. This is an exciting time when you learn new things about yourself.

ork – You’ve worked yourself into a strong position where you can say no to uninteresting projects, especially if you’re self-employed. Romance – If your partner is away, that deepens the bond between you two. Absence indeed makes the heart grow fonder. Health – You need to do things that make you happy – reading, gardening, cooking, taking care of pets, etc. Take some time out alone, if you feel like it. Money – Finances are looking great. You’re on a roll when it comes to investing correctly and putting money away for a rainy day. Tarot message – You’re on the right track when it comes to decisions. You know how much to do and when to hold back and rest.

Pisces The High Priest

ork – You use your instincts to solve work problems. Sometimes it may come across as weird to those around you. Romance – You’re not looking for love at the moment. You’re happy with where you are, emotionally, and are not missing something sorely. Health – Beware of overeating or partying over the top with fried foods and you should be fine. Take a break from work and don’t let the stress get to you. Money – Money flow is stable and there’s nothing to worry about on that front. Take care to protect whatever you’ve earned so far. Tarot message – Strange, occult experiences take you off your feet and you feel powerful and renewed. These experiences happen once in a lifetime.

Vol: 2, No 204 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon.com and for subscription, please call 040-40672222, Fax: 040-40672211

THE SATURDAY QUIZ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

IN THE NEWS

5. What type of food dish is a ‘London Particular’? 6. On the human body, exungulation is the trimming of what? 7. ‘The Girl With a….’what’ is a 17th Century painting by Johannes Vermeer? 8. What type of fish is a Sockeye?

9. The former French Sudan is now known by what name? 10. The ruins of Troy are in which modern-day country? 11. A septcentenary is an anniversary of how many years? 12. Used during World War I, what is a Sopwith Camel?

Answers

3. The famous Mona Lisa is the first painting ever to achieve what remarkable feat? 4. What iconic item, originally purchased in 1965 for just $1, was bought by a Phoenix business owner on Saturday for more than $4.2 million?

1.Algerian hostage crisis 2.The maple leaf used is of the wrong species 3.It was beamed to the moon by laser 4.The Batmobile 5.Soup 6.Nails 7. Pearl Earring 8. Salmon 9. Mali 10. Turkey 11. 700 12. A plane

TEST YOURSELF

IDENTIFY THESE INDIAN CHIEF MINISTERS

CURRENT AFFAIRS

Johnny’s mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child’s name?

Google filled in the blanks in its maps of which country recently? French-backed troops in Mali recaptured which historic city from Islamist militants?

Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?

R&B stars Chris Brown and Frank Ocean got into a fight last week. What were they arguing about?

Over 230 people were killed in a Brazilian nightclub because a band bought a cheap dollar-store variety of what? 4

1 Richard III2. North Korea 3. Timbuktu 4. A parking space 5. Fireworks 6. Chicken Wings 7. Newspapers

Answers

Answers: Manohar Parrikar 2. Narendra Modi 3.Akhilesh Yadav 4. Manik Sarkar

PICTURE PUZZLE 53 with Santosh Ghule One is the epitome of light, the other loves the dark, what are they? Two genders of the human race.

Answer for 52 :

India for the second continuous year reported no fresh cases of polio. How many more years of success with zero fresh cases of polio, would win India a status of polio free nation in 2014?

If you were running a race and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in now?

A farmer has five haystacks in one field and four haystacks in another. How many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in one field?

KNOW YOUR COUNTRY

4 5

San Fransisco animal control agency announced that it is facing a critical shortage of what?

Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) on 8 January, 2013 launched the first fast patrol vessel (FPV), built for the Indian Coast Guard. The vessel is the first in a series of 20 numbers fast patrol vessel (FPVs) contracted by CSL for the Indian Coast Guard. What is the name of the Patrol Vehicle?

What word in English language is always spelled incorrectly?

WHO AM I? Tension prevailed in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, which I was scheduled to visit as a start to my tour on Friday, February 8. Section 144 has been imposed in the town.

Answer : Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa

Two Georgia men were arrested for allegedly stealing 26,000 pounds worth of what from a storage facility in anticipation of Super Bowl Sunday?

Answer these trick questions

Answers:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Bones discovered beneath a city parking lot in England last fall have been confirmed, through DNA testing, to be those of King _____.

1. Johnny 2 Mt Everest, it wasn’t just discovered yet. 3. Incorrectly 4.Second 5.One. If he combines all his haystacks, they all become one big stack.

1. A group calling itself “Those who signed in blood” made headlines recently, for what news event? 2. According to a University of Ottawa professor, what shocking error has been made on Canada's new $20, $50 and $100 bills?

1. Aadesh 2. One year

Answers

SPORTS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

‘Doping awareness needed’

Beckham to begin training

JAMSHEDPUR: A massive awareness

PARIS: David Beckham will train for the

LAUSANNE: FIFA was accused of

was needed to be created among sportspersons, coaches and even doctors to deal with the menace of doping in sports, said Dr PSM Chandran, president of Indian Federation of Sports Medicine here on Friday. "Doping in sports will remain as long as sports remain. We cannot pinpoint any particular sportsperson,” he said.

first time with his new Paris SaintGermain teammates on Wednesday next week, coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday. "He is coming on Wednesday, he will start work with the team and we are going to see what his physical condition is like for possibly the match against Sochaux," said Ancelotti, after his team beat Bastia 3-1.

encouraging a "culture of nepotism" on Friday by an independent body set-up to overhaul the way the world governing body operates. The commission said in its report that FIFA has yet to adopt a few points "of crucial importance for successful reform," which will be subject to approval at its next congress in Mauritius in May.

FIFA blasted for ‘nepotism’

Decathlon could win Million Deshmukh-trained Decathlon, who won race No 169 over a sprint, will garner plenty of support in the Kr Rajendra Singh Memorial Juvenile Million (Grade III), the main attraction of Sunday afternoon races at the racecourse in Malakpet in the City. 2 3 6 4 7 8 5 1

rated up to 75. 3-15pm 1 Montpelier 61.5 (D’Silva) Kuldeep Singh 8 2 Win And Enjoy 57.5 (Deshmukh) AM Tograllu 4 3 Sorbitrate 53.5 (Silvester) J Vikas 6 4 Pacific Star 52.5 (Srinivas R) PS Chouhan 1 5 Robust 52.5 (Srinivas R) Nitin Singh 7 6 Compromise 51.5 (Satheesh) B Dileep 5 7 Mr Glorious 51 (Hassan) Ajit Kumar 3 8 Jaden Gil 50.5 (S’narayan) Khurshad Alam 10 9 Speedtosucceed 50.5 (A Sharma) NS Parmar 2 10 Cannon Ten 50 (Prasad R) N Rawal 9 Selections: 1 Pacific Star 2 Montpelier 3 Mr Glorious

2nd Race: The MCEME Rolling Trophy (Div-I )(about) 1200 metres, Cat-II; A handicap for horses 4-year-old and upward, rated up to 75. 2-15pm 1 Ice Lolly 62 (D’Silva) Kuldeep Singh 9 2 Streeet Magic 60 (S’narayan) Khurshad Alam 6 3 Vijays Best 56 (Deshmukh) PS Chouhan 5 4 Hurricane Dancer 53 (S Abbas) J Vikas 3 5 Shatakshi 52.5 (A Sharma) C Henrique 8 6 True Friend 52.5 (Hassan) M Mark 4 7 Sweet Candy 51.5 (Satheesh) K Anil 1 8 Racing Tycoon 51 (Laxman S) Harinder Singh 10 9 Phenomenal Speed 50.5 (S’suddin) Nitin Singh 2 10 Desert Bloom 50 (Srinivas R) P Venkat 7 Selections: 1 Ice Lolly 2 Vijays Best 3 Shatakshi

5th Race: The Don Micheletto Pate (about) 1600 metres, catIII; A handicap for horses 4-year-old and upward, rated up to 50. 3-45pm 1 Nano Pride 61.5 (Vatsalya) C Henrique 7 2 Fortunate 59 (KV Srinivas) AM Tograllu 2 3 Energetic Lass 54 (A Sharma) G Sai Vamshi 8 4 Foudre Rouge 54 (Prasad R) P Sai Kumar 6 5 Perfect 54 (D’Silva) NS Parmar 4 6 Sweet O Child Mine 54 (S’narayan) S Sreekant 3 7 Silver Cruise 52 (Netto) N Rawal 5 8 Exclusive Lady 51 (S Abbas) Ch K Chary 1 Selections: 1 Perfect 2 Silver Cruise 3 Fortunate

1st Race: The Artistic Tribute Plate (about) 1000 metres, Cat-II; For Maiden horses 3-year-old only. 1-45pm 1 Fair And Squre 55 (Satheesh) Deep Shanker 2 Fairy Boy 55 (Prasad R) N Rawal 3 Jamie 55 (S’narayan) Khurshad Alam 4 Kohinoor Desire 55 (Vatsalya) Ajit Kumar 5 Magical Punch 55 (D’silva) NS Parmar 6 Colorful Trip 53.5 (Satheesh) K Anil 7 Galaxy Princess 53.5 (S’narayan) Nitin Singh 8 Natalia 53.5 (Laxman S) AM Tograllu Selections: 1 Fair And Squre 2 Jamie 3 Natalia

3rd Race: The Kr Rajendra Singh Memorial Golconda Juvenile Million (grade III) (about) 140 metres. Terms for Indian horses 3-year-old only (foaled in 2010) 2-45pm 1 Cristoffe 55 (Jadhriwal) C Henrique 2 Decathlon 55 (Deshmukh) PS Chouhan 3 Looking For Love 53.5 (KV Srinivas) Ravinder Singh 4 Santa Monica 53.5 (D’Silva) NS Parmar Selections: 1 Decathlon 2 Cristoffe

2 3 4 1

4th Race: The MCEME Rolling Trophy (Div-II) (about) 1200 metres, Cat-II; A handicap for horses 4-year-old and upward,

6th Race: The Jockey B.Madhu Kumar Memorial Cup (about) 1000 metres, cat-III; A handicap for horses 5-year-old and upward, rated up to 50. 4-15pm 1 Divine Ganges 61 (KV Srinivas) A Ramana 3 2 Krithiman 61 (A Sharma) C Henrique 7 3 Queen Of Habashe 61 (Hassan) J Vikas 6 4 Victorous Sally 60 (Kassam) S Nayak 10 5 Star Experience 58 5 (Kassam) AM Tograllu 8 6 Queen Of Court 58 (N Rao) GSai Vamshi 5 7 A Horizontal Urge 53.5 (A Sharma) Nitin Singh 4 8 Over Taker 53 (Kassam) K Anil 2 9 Carson Troy 50.5 (N Rao) P Venkat 9 10 Inspiring Tunes 49 (Silvester) N Rawal 1

Selections: 1 Divine Ganges 2 Krithiman 3 Queen Of Habashe 7th Race: The Umraolal Gupta MemorialCup (about) 1400 metres, Cat-I; A handicap for horses 4-year-old and upward. 4-45pm 1 Genius Empress 60 (Fayaz) G Sai Vamshi 1 2 Melody Queen 58.5 (Prasad R) N Rawal 2 3 Blazing Asian 57 (S Abbas) A ImranKhan 5 4 Drayton 57 (Netto) Ravinder Singh 11 5 Garcia Mrquez 57 (D’Silva) NS Parmar 8 6 Indian Epic 56.5 (Prasad R) P Sai Kumar 10 7 Corvette 54 (Sequeria) K Anil 9 8 Da Xia 54 (Vatsalya) Ajit Kumar 4 9 Nano Storm 54 (Vatsalya) C Henrique 6 10 Hard Kingdom 53.5 (S’naryan) Khurshad Alam 3 11 Royal Shaan 53.5 (Kassam) AM Togralu 7 Selections: 1 Blazing Asian 2 Garcia Marquez 3 Drayton 8th Race: The Storm Trooper Plate (about) 1200 metres, CatII; Terms for Maidenhorses 3-year-old only. 5-15pm 1 Aware 55 (S’suddin) M Mark 4 2 Grand Canyon 55 (D’Silva) S Nayak 1 3 Maths Professor 55 (Z Shaikh) A Imran Khan 8 4 Midnight In Paris 55 (S’narayan) Khurshad Alam 5 5 Vijays Triumph 55 (Deshmukh) PS Chouhan 7 6 Graceland 53.5 (D’silva) NS Parmar 3 7 Royal Glory 53.5 (Prasad R) N Rawal 6 8 Shimmering Ice 53.5 (Satheesh) Deep Shanker 2 Selections: 1 Vijays Triumph 2 Shimmering Ice 3 Graceland

Days Best: Vijays Triumph Jackpot Race Nos: 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 1st Treble Race Nos: 1, 2 and 3 2nd Treble Race Nos: 3, 4 and 5 3rd Treble Race Nos: 6, 7 and 8 Tanala Pool Will Operate On all Races Where There Are five Or More Starters. False rails are up.

Baazigar struts his stuff

Baazigar, Riverdale, Winning Tactics and Golden Arrow impressed when horses were exercised this morning (Saturday) at the racecourse in Malakpet in the City. SAND

TRACK

800

METRES

Riverdale (S Nayak) 56, 600/40 Pleased. Handsome Hunk (Dileep) 55, 600/41.5 Moved well. Odalis (rb) 59, 600/45 Easy. Vijays Grandeur (Deep shanker) Flames of Forest (Harider Singh) 57.5, 600/44 They finished together. Rise of Emerald (app) 1-2, 600/46 Easy. Chal Bhai Chal (Imran Khan) 56.5, 600/44 Pleased. Kings Cruise (rb) 58, 600/44 Moved freely. Golconda King (N Rawal) 56.5, 600/43 Moved well. Golden Art (Ajit Kumar) 57.5, 600/42

Moved well. Kohinoor Revanta (rb) 56, 600/42 Urged. Queen of the Star (S Nayak) 1-1, 600/45 Easy. Flip Side (Dileep) 56.5, 600/43 Pushed. Flower Drum (M Mark) Dazzling Empress (rb) 58, 600/44 They moved together. Stamp of Class (Uday Kiran) 58, 600/44 Moved freely. Golden Arrow (app) 56, 600/41.5 Pleased. Specialist (Tograllu) 10, 600/45 Easy. Flying Spur (Imran Khan) 1-1.5, 600/46 Moved freely. Flamboyant Star (Dileep) Ice Barrier (Anil) 55, 600/42 They moved together. Golden Dash (Ajit Kumar) 1-3,

600/46 Moved freely.

SAND

TRACK

1000

METRES

Home Coming (Ravinder Singh) 1-18, 800/1-1, 600/45 Moved freely. Winning Tactics (Joshi) 1-12, 800/56, 600/42 Moved well. Elzaam (Deep Shanker) 1-11.5, 800/56.5, 600/43.5 Moved on the bit. Castle Town (Tograllu) 110.5, 800/55.5, 600/42 Pleased. Staminoized (rb) Lucy Diamond (Ramana) 1-14.5, 800/58, 600/43 Former finished 2 lengths in front. Surya Lakshmi (Ravinder Sigh) 1-12, 800/56, 600/42 Moved well.

SAND

TRACK

1200

METRES

Equalizer (Uday Kiran) Meri Merzi (Chary) 1-28, 1000/1-11, 800/55.5, 600/42 They finshed together. Baazigar (Imran Khan) 1-28, 1000/1-10, 800/54.5, 600/40 Impressed. Sweety Girl (Joshi) 1-30, 1000/1-12.5, 800/57.5, 600/43.5 Moved well.

SAND

TRACK

1400

METRES

Wunderbar (Uday Kiran) Shadow In The Mist (Chary) 143, 1200/1-27, 1000/1-11.5, 800/56.5, 600/43 They moved together.

Williams defends title in 10 rounds SYDNEY: Sonny Bill Williams (in pic) has defended his controversial unanimous points heavyweight victory over veteran Frans Botha in a title bout that ended after 10 rounds in Brisbane on Friday night. The former World Cup-winning All Black star won the points on all three judges’ cards.

SPORTS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

Nadal cruises into semis Results Quarter-finals Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP x7) 6-1, 6-4 Horacio Zeballos (ARG) bt Albert Ramos (ESP x5) 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (8/6) Carlos Berlocq (ARG x8) bt Guillaume Rufin (FRA) — walkover Jeremy Chardy (FRA x3) bt Paolo Lorenzi (ITA x6) 6-2, 6-3

VINA DEL MAR: Rafael Nadal, playing his first event after a seven-month injury layoff, advanced to the semi-finals of the Vina del Mar ATP claycourt event with a straight-sets win Friday. The 11-time Grand Slam champion ousted countryman Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-1, 6-4. Top seed Nadal will face

French third seed Jeremy Chardy — who cruised past sixth seed Paolo Lorenzi of Italy 6-2, 6-3 — for a place in the final. Until this week, Nadal had not played since a shock second-round exit from Wimbledon in June. A torn tendon and inflammation in his left knee kept the

former world number one out of the London Olympics and the 2012 US Open, and a virus delayed his return. “Today, I had more confidence than the other days,” said Nadal, who also entered doubles here in order to gain more match experience. “That is positive. It gives me confidence, and reasons to believe that I’m on the right way. “I’m happy to win in singles against a tough opponent like

Snedeker, Potter share lead PEBBLE BEACH: Ted Potter opened with an eagle on his way to firing a three-under par 67 Friday to share the lead with Brandt Snedeker after the second round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Snedeker, a runner-up the past two weeks, and Potter stood on eight-under 134 after 36 holes at the $6.5 million US PGA event, which is played over three different northern California courses near the Pacific Ocean. Potter, who won his first PGA title last year, fired a fiveunder 67 at par-72 Pebble Beach

and then backed it up with a solid round Friday at the par-70 Monterrey Peninsula Shore course. Starting on the back nine, Potter eagled the par-5 10th hole but took back-to-back bogeys at the 14th and 15th. He answered with two sets of back-to-back birdies, the first brace at the second and third and the other at the par-5 sixth and par-3 seventh. He closed with a bogey at nine. Snedeker opened with a 66 at the Shore on Thursday and followed with a bogey-free 4under 68 on Friday at par-72 Spyglass Hill.

Also starting on the 10th tee, Snedeker birdied the par-3 12th and par-5 14th then added back-to-back birdies at the par5 seventh and par-4 eighth. “I didn’t make a lot of putts today but look forward to going into the weekend, confidence is very high, and after last week, feel like my game is where I want it to be and two good days to go, should be a lot of fun,” Snedeker said. Snedeker’s two runner-up finishes in the past two weeks came behind Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines and Phil MickelsAFP on at the Phoenix Open.

Dani and to reach the semifinals after seven months,” he said. “In this tournament, I had a good feeling. The crowd gave me their support all the time.” Nadal broke GimenoTraver’s first service game of the match for a 2-0 lead and again in the sixth game, and held on to claim the first set after 33 minutes. In the second set, Nadal broke in the ninth game and then fought off four break points, the only ones he faced in the match, before holding serve in the final game to advance after 84 minutes. For the match, Nadal connected on 68 percent of his first serves, winning 29 of 44 points on his first serve and 14 of 20 on his second serve. Nadal, who turns 27 in June, plans to compete in claycourt events in Brazil and Mexico before playing ATP Masters hardcourt events at Indian Wells and Miami and then heading to Europe for clay events in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome ahead of AFP the French Open.

Bolt, Blake to open season at Kingston KINGSTON: Jamaican sprint heroes Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake are set to open their 2013 athletics season racing in the 400 meters on Saturday at the Camperdown Classic outdoor meeting. Bolt achieved legendary status by defending his three gold medals — in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m — at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The 100m and 200m worldrecord holder is among some 30 athletes from Racers Track Club, directed by trainer Glen Mills, slated to compete in the meeting, according to the club’s website. The elite group also includes Jamaica’s Warren Weir, bronze medallist in the 200m at the London Games, along with Blake, a double silver medallist in London who last year established himself as the second-fastest man in histoAFP ry behind Bolt.

Ogier takes charge KARLSTAD: Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, in a Volkswagen, led the way in the Rally of Sweden on Friday after winning five of the day’s eight stages, building up a lead of over 30 seconds. Ogier, bidding to go one better than the second place he managed last month in Monte Carlo’s season-opener, kept world champion Sebastien Loeb of Citroen and Volkswagen’s Finn JariMatti Latvala at bay. “Incredible. It’s a really good feeling. This morning wasn’t perfect but it was enough with a good road position. This afternoon was perfect,” said Ogier. Loeb, who won in Monte Carlo, is racing as part of a

Sebastien Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia steer their vehicle during Vargasen stage of the FIA World Rally Championship on Friday. AFP/JONATHAN NACKSTRAND slimmed down schedule of just four races this season but has only triumphed in Sweden once — in 2004. His only other appearances this season will be in Argentina and home rally in AFP France.

Kimi on top, Massa takes week’s best JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, SPAIN: Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen (left) clocked the best time on the final day of Formula One testing Friday but Ferrari’s Felipe Massa remained the only driver to break 1min 18sec all week. Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, took his Lotus to a time of 1min 18.148sec off 83 laps with Force India’s test driver Jules Bianchi, eager for a fulltime season drive, in second spot on 1:18.175. Triple world champion Sebastian Vettel was third fastest in 1min 18.565sec after completing 96 laps in his Red

Bull. Raikkonen and Bianchi also had the honour of clocking the week’s second and third best times, but neither were able to better Ferrari driver Massa’s time of 1:17.879 set on Thursday. “We continued our work from Thursday and made some good progress,” said Raikkonen, who will attempt to build on his week’s work at the next test session in Barcelona from February 19. “We’re at the top of the timing monitors, but that means nothing in testing. Our focus has been testing parts on the car, but I’ve been able to get the set-up

more to my liking. “For sure there’s more work to be done in this area, but that’s what we’re here for. The car feels strong and we seem to have a good idea of where we’re going with improvements. Let’s see what happens in Barcelona.” Friday’s final day was extended by 30 minutes after repairs were needed to fill in a hole which had appeared in one of the curves at the Jerez track. Vettel, who drove 96 laps, said he had been impressed by the car’s reliability. “I think for the whole team it’s been quite a good test,” said AFP the German.

SPORTS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013

Windies tumble yet again Australia maintained their dominance over the West Indies cruising to a fivewicket victory to lead their one-day international series 4-0 Shane Watson followed up his 122 in Wednesday’s 39-run series-clinching win in Canberra with 76 off 84 balls and skipper Clarke hit 37 off 65 balls before he was out gloving down the legside to express bowler Tino Best with the scores level. Glen Maxwell came in and hit the winning run with Matthew Wade not out 13. Yet despite Australia’s dominance the towering Pollard was named man-of-the-match for preventing his team’s innings from falling apart after it had tottered at 55 for six before a series of late partnerships gave his side something to defend. “It’s unfortunate that we ended up on the losing side but I just tried to keep my team in the game and thanks to Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo for calming me down and encourag-

AFP/WILLIAM WEST

West Indies innings K. Powell c Maxwell b Johnson 9 J. Charles b Johnson 0 D.M. Bravo c Finch b Johnson 4 D.J. Bravo lbw b Maxwell 3 K. Pollard not out 109 N. Deonarine c Finch b Cutting 10 D. Thomas c Finch b Cutting 7 D. Sammy c Clarke b Cutting 25 A. Russell c Maxwell b Faulkner 18 S. Narine c Wade b McKay 23 T. Best run out (Finch/Faulkner) 1 Extras (b1, lb1, w9) 11 Total (all out; 49.4 overs) 220 Bowling: McKay 10-2-41-1, Johnson 10-1-36-3, Maxwell 10-0-34-1, Cutting 10-1-45-3, Faulkner 9.4-1-62-1

Australia innings S. Watson c Thomas b Best 76 A. Finch lbw b Narine 25 P. Hughes c D.J. Bravo b Narine 23 M. Clarke c Thomas b Best 37 A. Voges c Sammy b Russell 28 M. Wade not out 13 G. Maxwell not out 1 Extras (lb8, w8, nb2) 18 Total (5 wkts; 44.5 overs) 221 Bowling: Best 9.5-0-38-2, Russell 60-40-1, Sammy 2-0-16-0, Narine 101-34-2, D.J. Bravo 4-0-25-0, Deonarine 8-0-38-0, Pollard 5-0-22-0

Australia snatch victory from jaws of defeat

RoI take lead despite Tendulkar’s ton

Oz produced a superb bowling effort to stun England with a thrilling two-run win. MUMBAI: Australia produced a match-winning bowling effort to stun defending champions England with a thrilling tworun victory in their first Super Six match of the ICC Women’s World Cup at the Brabourne Stadium on Friday. Chasing Australia’s 147, the English batters lost the plot as half of their side was back in the hut in just over 10 overs with mere 39 runs on board. Despite Australia posting their lowest total against England in a World Cup game, they defended it successfully, thanks to the pace trio of Megan Schutt, Julie Hunter and Holly Ferling, who snapped up two wickets each within 11 overs to leave the holders reeling at 39 for 6. Skipper Charlotte Edwards was unlucky to have been given leg before and was the first to depart, but soon the three-time champions lost a clutch of wickets — keeper batter Sarah Taylor, opener Danielle Wyatt, all-rounder Arran Brindle, Heather Knight and Jennifer Gunn — in just over half an hour’s time.

Pak eves campaign suffered due to security fears: Ashraf ISLAMABAD: PCB chief Za-

Brief Scores The match was not devoid of any drama as Lydia Greenway (49) and Laura Marsh (22) steadied the innings with a 55run stand for the seventh wicket off 155 balls. But once Marsh got out leg before, England needed 52 off 81 balls with two wickets in hand. Greenway faced 113 balls and she was a run shy of her half century when she was PTI caught by Sthalekar.

Hope for Sawai Man Singh stadium JAIPUR: A High Court order which has

VI.

asked Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) and the State Government to sign an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Sawai Man Singh Stadium has raised the hopes that Jaipur might host Rajasthan Royals’ home matches in upcoming IPL

The deadlock between the RCA and the Rajasthan State Sports Council (RSCC) over the MOU regarding the use of the Sawai Man Singh had compelled the BCCI to prepare Ahmadabad and Rajkot as the alternative venues for the home matches of Rajasthan Royals.

Australia: 147 all out in 44.4 overs (Anya Shrubsole 3-24) bt England 145 all out in 47.3 overs (Lydia Greenway 49, Holly Ferling 3-35) Sri Lanka 103 all out in 42 overs (Lea Tahuhu 4-27, Sian Ruck 316) lost to New Zealand 108-2 in 23 overs South Africa: 230-7 in 50 overs lost to West Indies 234-8 in 45.3 overs (Stafanie Taylor 75, Dane van Niekerk 3-47)

SOLUTIONS

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ka Ashraf on Friday claimed that its women’s cricket team finished last place in the World Cup due to the “overwhelming security fears” in India which led to their matches being shifted from Mumbai to Cuttack. Pakistan’s team matches were shifted to Cuutack after threats from the Shiv Sena and Ashraf levelled allegations to the extent of hotels “refusing to provide security” to their cricketers. The ICC decided to house Pakistan at the club house of the Barabati stadium instead of a hotel for security reasons. “The situation was uncertain for the women’s team and players were overwhelmed by fears as no hotel was willing to give them security,” he said.

POLISH FRENCH ENGLISH SPANISH SWEDISH

Suduko

MUMBAI: Sachin Tendulkar tuned up brilliantly for the upcoming Test series against Australia by hitting a record equalling 81st first-class century but couldn’t prevent Mumbai from conceding first-innings lead to Rest of India on the third day of the Irani Cup match here on Friday. Tendulkar looked in fantastic touch as he hit a sparkling unbeaten knock of 140 off 197 balls as he touched Sunil Gavaskar’s Indian record of 81 first-class hundreds. In the process, the 39year-old also completed 25,000 runs in first-class cricket. However, Tendulkar ran out of partners as Mumbai were all out for 409 thereby conceding a sizeable first innings lead of 117 runs. In the second essay, Rest of India were 27 for one at stumps which enhanced their lead to 144 runs with nine wickets in hand. Nightwatchman Sreesanth batting on seven is giving company to Murali Vijay, who is undefeated on 18. Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed for a duck. The day belonged to Tendulkar, who send a strong message to the Australian team about his intent, as he struck 18 boundaries and two sixes during his five hour and 43 minutes of PTI stay at the crease.

West Indies’ Kieron Pollard celebrates scoring his century against Australia in their ODI played at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.

ing me to go forward,” Pollard said. It was Pollard’s third ODI century and his second against Australia and he had to curb his usual aggressive batting style as the West Indies threatened to repeat their total of 70 in the first ODI of the series in Perth. “I saw a lot of balls that (Glen) Maxwell bowled and there were a lot of tempting deliveries to go after but I had to curb that,” Pollard said. Mitchell Johnson ripped into the West Indies top order removing Johnson Charles (0) Kieran Powell (9) and Darren Bravo (4) to have the tourists wobbling at 17 for three. Bravo’s brother, Dwayne, lasted eight balls for his three before he was given out leg before wicket to Maxwell on AFP review.

Number game

their dominance over the West Indies cruising to a five-wicket victory to lead their one-day international series 4-0 at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. Only a belligerent unbeaten century from man-of-the-match Kieron Pollard gave the West Indies a respectable score of 220 after they were 55 for six at one stage. But it was easily run down by the Australians, who secured victory with 31 balls to spare and will now go after a series clean sweep in Melbourne on Sunday. If not for Pollard’s 109 off 136 balls it would have been an even more emphatic victory for Michael Clarke’s team who always had control of the run chase under lights.

Scrabble

SYDNEY: Australia maintained

Scorecard