Postnoon E-Paper for 31 January 2013

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 HYDERABAD

THE JOURNEY TO THE RIVER

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

WEATHER: CLEAR; 24°C

32 PAGES

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The Maha Kumbh Mela, held every 12 years in Allahabad, is a demonstration of the power of faith that drives millions of people from all over the globe to come and participate in this gathering. A multitude of pilgrims and visitors come together for a holy bath at the confluence of the three holy rivers — Sangam. We bring you snapshots of this journey that started earlier this month.

P16&17

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

TELANGANA’S

BEWARE! YOUR HAIR DYE COULD KILL YOU

`1.75 LAKH CRORE

HURDLE

P19

POSTNOON

EXCLUSIVE

According to one estimate, the current debt burden of the State government stands at `1.75 lakh crore. The big question hounding the powers-that-be is who will take on the lion’s share of the debt if the state is carved up.

REPORT ON P5 TECHIES PRESS CTRL + ALT + DEL ON MARRIAGE Of some 1,500 cases coming up at the City family court annually, nearly 75 per cent are filed by young couples employed in the IT industry. This fact alone is startling, say judicial functionaries.

P7

With thousands of chemicals mixed to make these dyes, are the side effects restricted to the condition of your hair alone?

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

city events

JAI- A SHORT FEATURE FILM PREVIEW

JAI (Rahul Premchander), the long lost love of Rati's comes to her and asks her for forgiveness for not being there for her. In order to her help her out and win her back, he decides to solve all her problems. The film will be screened at Lamakaan on January 31, from 7:30pm.

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

24°C

17°C

22°C

30°C

Clear.

Clear.

Sunny.

Sunny with cloudy periods.

New Delhi Mumbai Max 23 Max 32 Min 13 Min 19 Mostly sunny.

Chennai Max 29 Min 20

Mostly sunny.

Mostly sunny.

Bangalore Max 28 Min 15 Mostly sunny.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES Where: Exhibition Ground, Mukarramjahi Road, Nampally, When: Up to February 15, 4pm to 11pm Contact: (040) 2460 3015

SHOWS Yudh 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

Titan sale Titan is offering its customers up to 40 per cent off on a wide range of its watches at all titan outlerts.

Where: Titan outlets When: Ongoing

Confluence Perfect Harmony Productions and Cisne for Arts bring together Zakir Hussain, Bela Fleck & Edgar M for a trio concert.

Where: Shilpa Kala Vedika, Hitec City When: February 8, 6:30pm onwards Contact: (040) 2311 2707

Big Hyper Sale HyperCITY, is having its Hyper Sale at all its stores across India. Customers can get discounts and deals across categories, including fresh produce, home & furniture, electronics, toys and apparels.

Where: Inorbit mall, Madhapur When: Up to January 31

DINING Snack Like a King Delicious varieties of snacks and beverages inspired by the Spanish tradition.

Where: La Cantina, Hitec City When: Up to January 31 Contact: 9pm onwards

ILLEGAL? Birds are caged and put up for sale at the horticulture show at People’s Plaza, near Necklace Road.

N SHIVA KUMAR

Begumpet When: February 1-10 7:30pm to 11pm Contact: (040) 6651 5151

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,

Kailash Parbat food fest Kailash Parbat, a vegetarian multicuisine restaurant, is organising a Gujarati and Rajasthani food fest, which includes dishes like Ram Khichdi, Dhokla, Angoori Basundi, and Barfi Choorma.

Where: Kailash Parbat, Road No. 36, Jubilee Hills When: Up to February 3 Contact: (040) 2355 8857 Cafe Classics Month Truffles cafe pays tribute to some selective cafes and restaurants in India and the world. The cafe will be serving some of their special dishes.

This weekend started with Britannia

Commissioner & Spl Officer

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

198 155313

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

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

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

restaurant & cafe located in Bombay, with delicious Parsi dishes.

Where: Truffles cafe Plot no. 376, Road no. 10, Jubilee Hills, When: Up to February 10 Contact: (040) 2355 0105

ART Rural Excerpts An exhibition of paintings and sculptures, of village depictions and life in rural areas, by Narsimlu Kandi. The preview is on January 19.

Where: Aalankritha Art Gallery When: Up to January 30, 11am to 7pm Contact: www.alankritha.in The River Moving Within The River Moving Within is an exhibition of art work by Koeli Mukherjee Ghose. It is inspired by the works of

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

155313 23307328 23313163

27505566 23314095 23390933 24600146 27001134 23607777 30418888 30417777 30419000 30416666 39879999

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

Rumi and 'Narda Bhakti Sutra' and reflects a love for life.

Where: Truffles Cafe, Jubilee Hills When: Up to February 8 Buy Art It is an anniversary art show of affordable art by 30 artists. All artworks are priced between `1,000 to `10,000.

Where: Iconart Gallery, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad When: January 18-February 18 11:30am-7pm Contact: www.iconart.in

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

Where: Landmark, Hyderabad When: January 25-February 25

MISCELLANEOUS Numaish Numaish is the 73rd All India Industrial Exhibition is an ongoing event in the City.

27567892 23559555 23226624 27633087 27035588 27550238 30799999 30418296 30417445

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

Shoppers Stop sale Sale up to 51 per cent off on international and Indian brands across categories at Shoppers Stop, HomeStop and Mothercare outlets with Shoppers Stop.

Where: Shoppers Stop outlets, Hyderabad

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

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

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

24523211 232431300/7641 24521029

Readers’ views

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

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

City

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

WILL ADVERSITY OVER TELANGANA FINALLY UNITE KIRAN MINISTRY? 71%

YES (A)

29%

NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

WILL CONGRESS ANNOUNCEMENT ON TELANGANA PUT KIRAN ON THE BACK FOOT? A)

YES

B)

NO

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

CRIME

CRIME

City kidnappers let off?

Police are in denial that four women who were caught abducting a child are not involved in other crimes. But locals swear they are a syndicate.

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Man kicks pregnant wife, foetus dies POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

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Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com

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mother and her two daughters who had allegedly kidnapped a two-and-a-half year old boy and sold him to a childless couple for `1,000 have been arrested.

Santosh Nagar police said Masarath Begum, her two daughters, Tabassum Begum,

LEGAL

Akbar sent to police custody

NIZAMABAD: MIM floor leader in the Assembly Akbaruddin Owaisi was sent to police custody for two days in another case relating to his hate speech. The court allowed police to quiz Owaisi on February 1 and 2.

Owaisi is lodged in a jail in Adilabad district in a hate speech case. A court in Nizamabad on January 24 remanded him to judicial custody till February 7 for delivering a hate speech in the town on Dec 8 last. Owaisi was arrested on January 8 for making a hate speech at a public meeting at Nirmal town on Dec 22.

NSS

Farhana Begum and Reshma Devi are charged with kidnapping and selling a child.

The kidnapping took place on Tuesday. The boy was returning home from Anganwadi situated near the Dargah DB Shah area when the mother and her daughters lured him with chocolates and took him away. When the child did not return home, his parents went looking for him.

Eyewitnesses told him an older woman and two young women had been seen with the boy. The police were informed.

With the eyewitness accounts the police managed to trace the culprits within six hours and the boy was restored to the parents-Aliya and Abdullah.

It turned out that the mother and daughter had sold the boy to Reshma Devi, 40, for `1,000. Reshma has also been

taken into custody.

Police said Reshma had a child which died a few years ago and she yearned for a child.

ACP Sai Krishna denied that the woman and her daughters were habitual offenders. But residents of Santosh Nagar claim that the gang had earlier been accused of a similar offence and the police are trying to protect them for obvious reasons.

n a crime most heinous a man kicked his pregnant wife leading to bleeding and ultimate death of the foetus. The cruelty was committed as he wanted more dowry and the woman was helpless since her poor parents could no longer afford to meet his demands. The woman, H Vijaya, 26, is in the ICU of a hospital where her condition is said to be critical. The Punjagutta police have arrested the husband H Ramana.

It happened at Ellareddy Gudabasti of Ameerpet on Monday night.

Police inquiry revealed that despite being poor, parents of Vijaya, had given to her in-laws `80,000 in cash, six tolas of gold and a bike besides some household articles at the wedding three years ago. Despite this the greedy man continued to harass the woman even after she conceived.

The hapless parents are keeping a vigil at hospital and in-laws have not turned up to look after her, it is said.

CRIME

Cops solve businessman’s murder Pan card and driving license helped police to nail the culprit. Business associate accused of the murder.

POSTNOON NEWS

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he Kottapally police of Mahbubnagar have solved the murder mystery of a businessman K Karunakar Reddy, 43, and arrested four people: Anjenyulu, K Ramu, M Sudhakar and Mohd Moinuddin and recovered `10.18 lakh, a cell phone, and a car looted from the victim.

Karunakar Reddy, is a resident of Peddapally.

He had a business rival-

ry with Anjenyulu. It is alleged that Anjenulu hatched a plan to do away with his rival and with the help of three hired men Reddy was killed on January 21.

Reddy was waylaid while he was driving to Guntur. His body was found in the bushes. It was charred beyond recognition but the pan card and license helped the police to identify the victim. Killers had omitted to remove the documents.

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city THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 LAST YEAR... HERE No room for the different

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ast year we had reported how several malls in the City had no special facilities for the differently-abled.

Except a few shopping centres, most others turned a blind eye to the needs of their other clients. Only the newer malls had reserved parking and special restrooms and ramps for the physically handicapped. But owing to the crowds it was still difficult.

JANUARY 31, 2012

CIVIC

GHMC

GHMC panel attacks commissioner for delays Members of both Congress and MIM protested against what they said was official indifference towards the proposals they had submitted.

NUMEROLOGY

`1.75L cr is the current debt burden of the state government stands according to rough estimates.

The reason for divorce can be anything like misunderstandings. If a couple feel that they can’t continue they decide to mutually appeal for divorce.

Meenakshi, sr advocate See page 7

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

1

Check the groom’s credentials before marriage.

Parents of a woman learnt things the hard way when their son-inlaw kicked their pregnant daughter, killing the foetus. All because they couldn’t meet his endless dowry demands.

2

Akbaruddin seems to be caught in a sticky net.

He seems to be making endless rounds of district courts, thanks to the numerous cases slapped against his for his hate speech. He should’ve just thought better.

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Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com

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rotesting against what they said was official indifference to their proposals, the Standing Committee members yesterday stopped the mayor from discussing listed items in the agenda.

The committee meeting, which should have been held more than two weeks ago, was a ‘damp squib’, as members from both the parties — Congress and MIM — denounced the way proposals were screened at the office of the commissioner. “When most of the works proposed by corporators do not reach for discussion, how can there be any development in our areas?” asked a standing committee member representing Congress.

According to him, there are scores of works in almost all

The committee meeting, which should have been held more than two weeks ago, was a ‘damp squib’. the wards that needed to be approved but they are never listed. “We have asked the mayor to take some steps in ensuring that at least a few proposals are tabled in the meeting,” he explained.

Considering the seriousness of the issue, the mayor reportedly asked the officials to clarify. They will submit a detailed report on why proposals are given low priority.

Sources disclosed that it was MIM that raised the issue and later it became the issue for debate, resulting in stopping short of discussing any of the agenda items.

DISCUSSIONS AND RESOLUTIONS During the meeting, the summer action plan was discussed.

The mayor has summoned the chief engineer to the next meeting for discussing a detailed action plan. Each corporator will be spending `20 lakh as part of this plan from their individual budget of `1 crore, apart from `30 crore earmarked for the season.

Apart from asking the officials to take cognizance of corporators for the works, the mayor endorsed and passed the resolution that 20 per cent of the maintanence works should come from the General Ward Committee.

The Congress pointed out that the list of nalas proposed for development should include four more important nalas. “What we have proposed is important, which are unfortunately are not listed,” pointed out a member.

Now GIS to assess property POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

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he GHMC will be availing the Geographic Information System (GIS) for assessment of properties, whose proposal would be put forward for approval in the General Body Meeting on February 2.

According to officials, as there were discrepancies from the data obtained while employing older methodologies and engaging resources, mostly manual. Even after all kinds of efforts GHMC could be able to enhance current year demand to `800 crore, which was insufficient to cater to GHMC’s development projects and better services.

To increase property tax, AP State Property tax board in its plan for FY 2012-13 has recommended GIS for mapping properties in the City.

In order to increase the property tax, AP State Property tax board in its work plan for the financial year 2012 and 2013 has recommended GIS for mapping properties in the City, which has more than 1 lakh population.

Vayam Technologies and Vensoft India Pvt Ltd have been served work orders during bidding. The Vensoft India Pvt Ltd has developed GIS-based assessment of property tax in Circle 1.

The results were surprising, as per the report of the Company there are 4,705 assessments in Docket No 101 of Kapra Circle.

But as per the GHMC data there are only 3,252 assessments. There was also a huge variation of 1,453, after the assessment was done using GIS. When property tax was calculated using the technology, the amount of property tax from the survey was `2,31,80,049, while the existing amount of property tax by GHMC was `98,81,089.

NEWS BRIEFS

Corporators are finally putting their foot down.

With their proposals being ignored repeatedly, corporators decided to force the mayor to take cognizance.

Woman robbed by 2 unidentified people

Police arrest fake Railway ticket collector

North zone police arrest notorious burglar

Collector asks govt schools to improve

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T

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What’s stopping T formation? State’s economy.

With the State in huge debt, the Centre has no choice but to hold bifurcation of the State.

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Going to change your hair colour? Watch out!

With the numerous chemicals in hair dyes, allergic reactions are likely to land you in hospital.

Gaytri, 24, a resident of Padmarao Nagar in Secunderabad was robbed by two unidentified people on Wednesday night while she was returning home after a medical check-up at a local hospital. The duo wearing helmets stopped the woman, snatched her gold chain and fled. Chilkalguda police are investigating.

ailway police of Secunderabad have arrested a fake TC, K Srikanth, 25, a resident of Jeedimetla. A native of Srikakulam, he came to the City a few years ago and was working in a drug factory.

He began to don the role of TC and collected ‘fines’ from passengers. It is not clear how he managed to escape being detected all this while.

he North Zone police have arrested a notorious house burglar by name G Shiva, 26, a native of Ananthapur district and recovered 26 tolas of stolen gold articles, one bike and one laptop from his possession. He has been remanded to judicial custody. Police believe he is involved in some two dozen cases of burglary.

he Hyderabad district collector has asked headmasters to upload the Aadhar Card details of all students for ensuring scholarships.

Syed Murtuza Ali Razvi, while asking them to improve results, assured them that shortage of teachers will be resolved soon. Collector’s direct reference could be taken for zero balance accounts for students.

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city THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

POSTNOON EXCLUSIVE

`1.75 lakh crore stands between T-State and Rayala-Andhra

The ‘roadblock’ in the creation of the separate state has nothing to do with politics, but a lot to do with economics. `1.75 lakh crore is the current debt burden of the State government, say sources.

Md INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com

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s home minister SK Shinde is looking for a place to hide from the party and crowd after his deadline for creation of Telangana state was missed by the Centre, most leaders are talking among themselves about what caused the sudden hitch.

Postnoon has stumbled upon the ‘roadblock’. It has nothing to do with politics but economics.

Highly placed sources in the government said the financial position of the State and the huge disparity of revenue generation among the three regions are delaying the decision. The AP government is saddled with huge debts from market borrowings which are to be apportioned. And then, the question of Hyderabad, the biggest income generator for the State comes in.

The State has been borrowing left, right, and centre without a thought about tomorrow. Former chief ministers are mainly responsible for this but the public hardly know this.

“The Andhra and

Rayalaseema leaders have succeeded in convincing the party high command that they would not be able to bear the gigantic burden by themselves and the question was would a fledgling state bear it? The Rayala-Andhra leaders also informed the Centre

that the State was running on the income generated by Hyderabad district, an integral part of Telangana,” the source said.

According to a rough estimate the current debt burden of the state government stands at `1.75 lakh crore. The State gov-

The State has been borrowing left, right, and centre and former chief ministers are mainly responsible for this. ernment, while presenting its annual budget last year pegged its budget estimates for public debt for the ongoing fiscal (2012-13) at `1,60,191,12 crores calculated the debt burden of the state government for the current fiscal.

TOP INCOME GROSSER

The other factor behind delaying the decision is the huge disparity

PUBLIC DEBT OUTSTANDING (IN CRORES) Years

Open Market Loans

Loans Loans from Special Securities Total From Central bodies, Auton- (Small Savings) Govt. omous etc. & PF, etc.

2010-11 61,983.88 15,494.41 2011-12 R.E. 79,457.56 17,123.90 2012-13 B.E. 99,220.02 18,507.69

6,785.82 5,453.56 4,768.93

37,479.73 37,632.80 37,694.48

Percentage of GSDP

1,21,743.84 20.67 1,39,667.82 20.65 1,60,191.12 20.69 (Source Budget AP 2012)

CO-OPERATIVE ELECTIONS

POLITICS

Amid clashes voting begins POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

In phase 1, polls are being held for 958 primary Agricultural Cooperative societies.

Over 12,000 directors’ positions are up for grabs.

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fter a series of bitter agitations in favour or against the division of Andhra Pradesh, the State went into election mode today. The first phase of elections for scores of co-operative societies kicked off this morning across the State amid reports of violence at many places.

Enthusiastic voters were seen actively participating in the voting process. At many places the activists of ruling Congress and opposition TDP and YSR Congress parties clashed citing irregularities in the polling.

In Narasaraopeta Assembly constituency of Guntur district TDP activists clashed with the Congress party workers alleging that the ruling party is not

among the three regions. While the Telangana region including State capital Hyderabad topped the list of top revenue generating regions of the state during the last fiscal despite the severe agitations for a separate state the other two regions, Andhra and Rayalaseema came second and third.

TRS president during his recent speech in Samara Deeksha also acknowledged this fact and said that it is because of the Telangana region the State government could be able to implement its welfare programmes.

According to KCR, the Telangana region alone earned about `39,000 crore during the last fiscal, which is three times higher than the other two regions.

allowing the TDP supporters to vote during polling.

In Warangal district, Congress and YSR Congress

Party workers clashed with each other. As a precautionary measure the police have taken YSR Congress leaders and activists

into preventive custody.

In the first phase, the elections are being held for 958 primary Agricultural Cooperative societies. A total of over 12,000 directors’ positions are up for grabs in the first phase.

As many as 32,794 candidates are testing their luck for over 12,000 directors’ positions.

In the second phase a total of 1,309 co-operative will go for elections. The second is scheduled to be held on February 4.

‘No more deadlines’ U

nion Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Wednesday made it clear that there would be no more deadlines in resolving the T issue.

Speaking to the media, he reiterated that the Centre was working out a solution to the separate Telangana issue. He reminded that this was a very sensitive issue and hence the Centre was treading cautiously by continuing the consultation process. Therefore, there would be no more new deadlines to resolve the problem, he added.

When reminded that he himself had fixed one month deadline after the all-party meeting held on December 28 and yet the problem continues to remain the same, Shinde observed that the issue was very sensitive and all efforts were being made to find a solution.

NSS

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city THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

AGRICULTURE

Where are organic food stalls?

While the whole world is going organic, here is a government that does very little to promote it. Organic farmers who exhibited at the horti-expo expressed their displeasure.

N SHIVA KUMAR

ANUBHA K SINGH anubha.k@postnoon.com

T

he horticulture show at Necklace Road that ended yesterday provides evidence of the governmental ignorance over the increasing relevance of organic food. Shockingly, there were only four stalls selling organic food.

The farmers at these stalls claimed that they were losing many customers as they can’t ensure regular supply, owing to lack of outlets and patronage.

These stalls were put up by farmers from Kadappa.

“There is a lot of demand for organic products here, but one thing that stops people from buying these products is that they can’t get regular supply.

Nor does the government give any incentive,” said Dr S Mazeed Ahmed, assistant director of agriculture training department, Kadappa. “Many customers

come to us to inquire where our products will be available if they need it later on. And our answer is ‘We have no idea.’ This way, we lose our customers. We are from Kadappa and a customer can’t come there just to purchase organic products. Though many people are becoming increasing-

ly health conscious, organic products are yet to make a place in the market and this is only because of lack of promotion by the government.”

“Organic products are costly because of the hard work (manual labour) farmers need to put in to grow them. They don’t even

BUSINESS

Gameloft closes shop in City, throws out 250

get any subsidies as compared to other farmers who grow vegetables using chemicals and pesticides,” he said.

The consumer’s opinion is overwhelmingly in favour of organic food products.

“It is not just the health factor that drives us to opt for organic food but the taste, flavour and odour altogether makes the difference. But the major problem is availability of these products in the market. I came here to buy organic BPT rice here, but the problem is, once my stock is finished, there is no place in the City where I can get the same product. I need to forcibly switch to the non-organic products.

What’s the use of one time purchase? If you need to maintain your health you need to completely shift to organic food,” said Radha Kumari, a consumer at one of the stalls.

“The demand for the organic products, especially for rice and

vegetables, has increased tremendously. But unfortunately, the supply is less as there is no proper channel or medium available to the farmers for distribution.

It’s high time the State government starts promoting organic products. In every city, a particular place should be allotted by the government, where farmers can sell their products directly to customers with no middleman,” said Rammaiah, a farmer from Nellore.

“The organic food sold by private retailers costs more because of the nice packaging and branding. But that’s giving a wrong impression to customers.

The price difference between organic and non-organic food is very minimal” he said.

The farmers claim that the price difference of 35-40 per cent is due to the scarcity of organic products in local market and poor marketing strategies adopted by the State government.

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The game development company forced its employees to submit their resignation letters.

NT BALANARAYAN Balanarayan.nt@postnoon.com

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G

ameloft, one of the leading mobile game developers in the world, shut down its Hyderabad studio and asked its employees to submit papers stating that they had resigned. The studio primarily deals with porting iOS games developed by the company to android and testing of these games.

According to Gamasutra, “Affected sources tell Gamasutra that it had been business-as-usual at Gameloft’s Hyderabad office this morning, until rumors started spreading around noon, local time, that the studio was in trouble. At 2pm, all employees were informed of a company-wide meeting 45 minutes later, where HR and studio manager Sarang Nafdey broke the bad news.”

Employees were then asked to sign two letters before leaving — one form saying they were leaving for personal reasons rather than being laid off (dated January 28) and an acceptance of resignation from Gameloft dated January 29.

Most employees, however, have not signed the letter yet.

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

Immediately after the news broke out, the Indian game development community started expressing their support on Nasscom’s gaming forum on Facebook. Members of the page also started compiling a list of job openings in various game studios in the country.

The company has been doing well financially and registered a 23 per cent increase in earnings in the last quarter.

Gameloft has an office in Delhi, which is primarily an administrative one. The move has shocked the community in the country because mobile game development has been picking up here. The one question everyone has is why the company decided to shut down the studio without stating any particular reason.

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

040 - 4067 2222 subscription@postnoon.com

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classifieds THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

SOCIETY

Young techies flood family court Is something the matter with the marital life of the young techies? If the rising number of complaints and divorce cases coming to the family court is any indication, there is.

ALEENA ALICE aleena.t@postnoon.com

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f around 1,500 cases coming annually to the City family court, nearly 75 per cent are from young couples employed in the IT industries. This fact alone is startling, say judicial functionaries.

It goes without saying that the IT litigants are well educated and come from middle class and upper middle class. “That way they are a privileged class and yet the marriage is rocky,’ said a senior lawyer. “What makes it

sadder still is the fact that many of them are in their 20s.”

At least 50 per cent, if not more are failed love marriages.

Either the partner turned out to be different after marriage, or the two expected too much from each other.

“IT apart, most of the cases that have been coming to family courts are from the educated working couples who are opting for a mutual divorce. Instead of staying trapped in marriage, they would love to start afresh with the hope of finally finding their true partners. There are cases where couples who have

been married for just six months have appealed for a divorce.

However, the law does not permit granting divorce before the couple completes one year,” said a family court advocate T Dharma Rao. According to veteran lawyers handling such cases, the cases filed by the white collar workforce has been increasing by nearly 10 per cent every year.

Commenting on why the trend seems to be increasing, senior advocate Meenakshi said, “Earlier, divorce was a taboo in our country. It was a dreaded fate, especially for women.

Education and having jobs have made women more financially independent and they see no reason to continue with an unhappy married life. Today, India is more modernised and along with modernisation, people’s thinking also has changed.

“The reason for divorce can be anything from bad food to other misunderstandings. If a couple feel that they are having misunderstandings and are not able to go on with their married life, they decide to mutually appeal for a divorce,” she said.

Though the whole process of

“It is a common myth that empowerment in women has brought about divorces between couples. That is not the case. There are many men who feel supported and proud with their wives’ independence. I think the problem with today’s couples is the lack of time they spend with each other and poor communication from both sides.”

“One of the primary reasons for young couples ending their marriage is the life style change.

Young couples do not see adjustment as a part of coping with their lives, which leads to hasty decisions. The main reasons for failure of marriages today can be related to equal income between sexes and also high stress levels.”

Namratha P, psychologist

Dr Meera Nair, psychologist

The number of divorce cases has been increasing in our country every year at an alarming rate.

Most of the cases are high among those who are IT employees. The factors could be mental stress, extra-marital affairs, emotional incompatibility, adjustment problems, and so on.

“IT professionals, owing to the nature of their work, undergo a lot of stress. This not only affects their physical and psychological health, but also their relationships and interactions. We witness this in cases where both the partners are in the same profession (IT).”

Chitra P, family counselor

Dr Bhanu, Psychologist

going through the divorce is not a cake walk, couples are not bitter about it, said Meenakshi.

“Most of the clients who approach us for a mutual divorce

have already made plans for their future. There seems no reason to hold back their happiness and we prefer untying the nuptial knot for a better future.”

SOCIETY

Finding their voice through films I am a woman is a video on women’s rights, made by Yellow Studio Works, which was uploaded on YouTube.

KANCHAN AGARWAL kanchan.a@postnoon.com

“I

refuse to behave myself. I refuse to stay at home,” said a few women on behalf of many others in the nation. These are lines from a short video up on Facebook and YouTube, that is an attempt at making the voice of millions of women heard. The video is called I am a woman and has been conceived, produced and directed by Yellow Studio Works, a local filmmaking group with 24year-old Faiz Rai, Jawad Ali and Umair Hasan in the core. With all the resources and skills at their disposal, Faiz Rai scripted, directed and edited, while Kishore Krishnamoorthi cinematographed this video with the help of their female friends, who believed it was high time they spoke out. Faiz Rai tells us about the journey.

Although it was the ridiculous responses, opinions and excuses, the horror and length of inhumanity attached to the recent gang rape in Delhi, that provoked the immediate making of I am a woman, it does

not address only this one incident.

“Women every day are eve-teased. After this incident, many women are afraid to go out even with their male friends. Women go through this struggle everyday. This affects them psychologically. This is to voice that struggle”, explains Faiz.

Victim X’s misfortune shook the nation. Media was obsessed with it .

Everyone had a piece of information they were eager to share. There was much mourning at its gruesomeness, and fear, of course, had swamped the minds of men and women alike. “But no one was asking the right questions. I wanted people to think, to introspect.”

Of approximately 9,000 YouTube viewers, most seemed to agree, while others called it a gimmick. There were a few who brushed it aside as feminist crap and misuse of Victim X’s tragedy to make money on social media. They seemed angry and exuded a sense of fear and mistrust in the government and men hovering about. There were many whose frustrations at being ill treated also emerged.

“Many women said they had to be treated

with respect. The idea that someone has to ask for respect says that something is wrong. Men who were reacting negatively to the video indirectly showed that the video did its job.”

While a picture of a Tollywood star gets 30,000 likes in a day, a video of such relevance managed to find 8,000 viewers in a week. But Faiz is not complaining.

“When Shashi Tharoor retweeted it, it brought the video a larger audience.”

Within 10 minutes, 50 other people retweeted the link. With absolute faith in films being a medium that transcend over regions and languages, which when used properly can change people’s lives, Yellow studio Works says the video was merely an expression.

“The spunk of the video is in your face. People live in a shell where they would rather talk about how hot Deepika Padukone is. If a video can’t get people to talk about issues they choose to be oblivious to, then it has met with little success.

On a larger scale, this video can’t change everything. It cannot happen unless we all collectively want it to,” he said.

8

city THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

MUSIC

It’s just them, and their passion for music

Though their friends doubted them initially, Gergana Stefanova and Biserka Angelova went right ahead and formed the music band Just Us. They perform every evening in the City at Seasons Lounge, Taj Krishna.

Gergana Stefanova (left) and Biserka Angelova, members of the band Just Us.

RAJESH RAVINDRAN rajesh.r@postnoon.com

T

here is a time for everything.

In Gergana Stefanova’s case, there was a time when she learnt to paint in an art school in Bulgaria, there was a time when she worked as a bartender, a time when she worked as a waitress and there was a time when she had to paint walls. There was a time when she felt she had to do something more, a time she felt she must pursue her greatest passion — music — and she did, which took her to at least half a dozen countries in the last four years since she started performing.

Gergana’s friend Biserka Angelova’s case wasn’t as eventful as hers. The Bulgarian’s days involved travelling to various cities across her country and meeting new people as part of her marketing job, which required selling furniture. She was not unhappy, but at times a sense of dissatisfaction kept gnawing at her heart as unful-

filled desires always do. Her grandmother was a top-class Bulgarian folklore singer and she herself was the best singer in her school. And she always wanted to pursue a career in music, and that was what her family wished for her.

The friends — who were at school together — would jam now and then even after they left school and got busy with their own lives. Gergana sang and Bisy was on the keyboard. About a year back, it so came to pass that Gergana’s band mate told her that they needed to part ways, as he wanted to form a team with his girlfriend. About the same time, Bisy, unable to ignore her dream further, quit her safe, well-paying job. The idea was to team up with Gergana, who was in India then, though she made the plunge without telling her friend of her plan. Gergana was surprised when she knew what Bisy had done. But Gergana understood; she herself had taken the plunge some years ago with only her faith and desire to back her.

So the two friends became a team… just them…. Just Us. “Oh, we had thought of a thousand names,” Gergana said , laughing, and added, “Two muffins was one of them.”

The duo performs at Seasons Lounge at Taj Krishna every evening.

Gergana and Bisy leave out no genre while performing — pop, blues, jazz and latino. They are great fans of Adele and Norah Jones.

Gergana is loquacious and Bisy reticent. It’s understandable, as Gergana has had the experience of seeing the world: Dubai, Norway, South Korea (it was here about four years ago that she decided she “must do something more”), India, Morocco, Abu Dhabi, Turkey and Iraq.

S BALAKRISHNA

Bisy started learning English a couple of months ago and so needs Gergana’s help here and there. But when she warmed up, she responded with strings of exited “Yes yes yes… “ when asked if that’s what she meant; and an emphatic “No no no…“ to coriander in her food.

But there’s no reticence in Bisy when it comes to music.

Asked if she could sing for us a Belgian song, she asked meekly if she could do it standing, stood up and, in a powerful voice, sang. To give you an idea of how it sounded, I can only think of the opening track of The English Patient. That’s a Hungarian lullaby, but the renditions of both matched here and there.

When the song was over, Bisy explained that the song was about a pretty girl who is sad and lonely when all her friends find husbands. She finally finds love, but to her misfortune, he turns out to be a drunkard.

“And then?”I asked.

“And she is still sad!” Bisy set off another round of laughter.

Bisy writes poems. “You

know, she even has one about plastic bags,” said Gergana.

Gergana is learning the guitar on her own. “I can play the chords. I am at it all day.” As proof, she showed her fingertips where tiny calluses had formed. I noticed her prettily painted nails and noticed the same pattern on Bisy’s nails too. There was a time when Gergana painted nails, she admitted.

At Seasons Lounge in Taj Krishna, Gergana and Bisy leave out no genre — pop, blues, jazz and latino. They are great fans of Adele and Norah Jones.

The Just Us idea was not well received among their friends in the beginning. “No one believed in us, you see,” recounted Gergana. “Two girls. Just us. It did not make sense to them. And now they are like ‘Wow! Good.

Great….ooh,’ and when we tell them that we are lounging in the sun, sipping something cool, we know we make them jealous.”

“This is exactly my dream,” interposed Bisy. “Now I firmly believe that dreams can come true.”

9

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

focus

BEATING BOLT

Prince Harry won praise for a mature yet playful performance during a tour of the Caribbean last year representing his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, in which he “beat” the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt in a mock race.

THE NOT-SO-HAPPY PRINCE Britain’s Prince Harry (third from left) walks down the steps of a British Royal Air Force A-330 transport aircraft as he arrives home at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on January 23 after completing his 20-week tour of duty in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter pilot/gunner with 662 Squadron of the Army Air Corps. Harry, third in line to the throne, said he killed Taliban fighters during his 20week posting in the restive southern Helmand Province it was reported at the end of his tour of duty on January 21.

AFP/POOL/ JOHN STILLWELL

CAPTAIN WALES BACK FOR MORE ‘ROYAL DUTY’ Prince Harry has said he does not know what lies ahead, though he would like to take on ‘more royal stuff’. it works.”

WHAT NEXT FOR THE WARRIOR PRINCE?

KATY LEE feedback@postnoon.com

B

ritain’s Prince Harry may be home safely from Afghanistan after five months as an army helicopter gunner — but he has swapped the crackle of gunfire for the clicking of countless paparazzi cameras.

In a series of surprisingly candid interviews before he left Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan, the third-in-line to the throne spoke not just of his passion for army life, but of the escape it offered from Britain’s hungry press.

With a hint of sadness, the 28year-old said that for him, life in Afghanistan — sleeping in a shipping container when he wasn’t targeting Taliban insurgents from his Apache attack chopper — was “as normal as it’s going to get”.

“He felt he could be private at Camp Bastion in a way he could never be on the streets of London,” royal author Kate Williams told AFP. “He felt he could do his job in peace.”

Captain Wales, as he is known at work, spoke to reporters just three times during his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, on the condition that the interviews were only released once he left the war zone.

But the media assault restarted in earnest this week as the famously fun-loving prince returned to more familiar terrain — London’s swanky Fulham district — and was snapped, blearyeyed, leaving a party long after dawn.

The images will not have pleased the prince, who surprised reporters in Afghanistan by peppering his interviews with digs at them. “I never wanted you guys to be here,” he told them flatly.

Flame-haired Harry has struggled to shake off a “playboy prince” reputation, especially after images of him partying naked in a Las Vegas hotel were splashed around the world last August.

But public relations experts say footage of the prince in Afghanistan — performing weapons checks in his helicopter cockpit, queuing in the army canteen and making tea for fellow pilots — has helped to rehabilitate his image.

“He came across as a hardworking royal who has been putting his life on the line,” said Danny Rogers, editor-in-chief of the Brand Republic group of marketing magazines.

“It’s a nice counter to last summer, when he was caught out in Vegas. He’s positioned himself as one of the lads and as a gritty soldier. Generally I think

Harry is unlikely to return to Afghanistan as Britain prepares to withdraw its troops in 2014.

And along with an uncertain future, he faces more intense scrutiny than ever, even though it is his older brother William who is set to become king one day.

“It’s tough for Harry — William has a much more formal and established role,” said Rogers.

Harry has said he does not know what lies ahead, though he would like to take on “more royal stuff”.

He won praise for a mature yet playful performance during a tour of the Caribbean last year representing his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, in which he “beat” the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt in a mock race.

“I will always be here for my

grandmother, and whoever needs to send me abroad for whatever reason,” Harry told journalists in Afghanistan.

“As to how long I’m going to spend in the army, who knows?”

Royal-watchers expect him to

Flame-haired Harry has struggled to shake off a “playboy prince” reputation, especially after images of him partying naked in a Las Vegas hotel were splashed around the world last August. take on more charity work in the coming years. “But he’s not going to give up his interest in the army,” said Kate Williams.

“Possibly he’s going to work with some military charities.”

While Harry has had made

his fair share of gaffes — from the 2005 costume party which he attended dressed as a Nazi to the video that emerged of him using the derogatory term “Paki” — he remains one of the most popular members of the royal family.

Williams said the public’s fascination with the prince was balanced with sympathy for his loathing of the media.

“He is very resentful of the press, but I think people forgive him for that — because they know he blames the media, fairly or unfairly, for the death of his mother,” she said.

Princess Diana was killed in 1997 when her car crashed in a Paris road tunnel as it was being pursued by paparazzi.

In addition, Williams noted, Harry was furious with foreign media outlets when they broke a carefully arranged blackout on his first tour in Afghanistan in 2008, forcing the army to hastily pull him out.

AFP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

Business

TIME INC TO SLASH HUNDREDS OF JOBS

Time Inc. said it was cutting several hundred jobs as the US publishing giant streamlines to adapt to a “multi-platform” media landscape.

Laura Lang, chief executive at the media unit of Time Warner, said the group will shed about six per cent of its global workforce.

INNOVATION

10

SYED IN SBH BOARD

Mapping a cloud atlas The market size of enterprise software applications is around $120 billion, and it has grown 4 per cent compared to last year.

PRUDHVI RAJU K prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

data sources, which gives the holistic understanding of the company,” he said.

On security concerns, Anurag said, “Today everything is on cloud from email to wealth and there is no need of any security concerns. For instance, we can offer and create highly secure environment, which is otherwise to difficult to medium company to afford.

“Today, the market size of enterprise software applications is around $120 billion, and has a 4 per cent growth compared to last year. However, the cloudbased software (SaaS) is growing at whooping 18 per cent and the market size is around $17 billion,” he added.

T

he evolution of enterprise software brought humongous benefits to businesses.

Be it from understanding the needs or behaviour of the customer to efficient management of human resources, customers and financials of the company. However, advancements in cloud based model (SaaS) made it affordable for many small and medium companies to join the bandwagon of the enterprise software growth.

“Today, there is a range of software tools available for a business to analyse data and effectively use it to change the strategies and decision-making.

These applications can be useful to any industry,” said Anurag Garg, GM, Host Analytics (pictured).

About the EPM software, he said, “Businesses are largely relying on Enterprise performance Management to efficiently manage the financial data.

The segment, which is at a nascent stage, is all set for definite growth. For instance, with EPM, the financial data like Capex, Opex, revenues are extracted and analysed by the

Enterprise softwares enable a company to collate massive amounts of complex data and generate analytical outputs with ease. application along with macroeconomic trends like economy or currencies. This output analysis will help the companies to finetune strategies. It also provides CEO performance dashboard,

which gives frequent notifications and updates for decisionmaking.

“It will be very useful for medium to large companies as they have lot of data from subsidiaries and business units in different countries with different currencies. If a company has to announce quarterly results, the parent company has to integrate all this data, which is a complex process. With the use of this application, this can be achieved in a matter of few hours. There are also third party applications to analyse data from multiple

Types of Enterprise Software

“There are a lot of our content creators that think they would benefit from subscriptions, so we’re looking at that.”

Talk of the Google-owned video sharing service one day charging for content surfaced in December of 2011 when YouTube unveiled a major redesign that showcases television-style channels.

The new layout set the stage for film or television studios to create pay channels at YouTube.

“We are trying hard to marry the best of TV and the best of online,” YouTube vice president of product development Shishir Mehrotra said when the re-design was introduced.

While YouTube is the most

n Business intelligence n Business process management n Content management system (CMS) n Customer relationship management (CRM) n Master data management n Enterprise resource planning

popular application on Google TV, the service is intent on being available on the full array of platforms and hardware including videogame consoles, tablets, smartphones, and Internet-linked televisions.

YouTube in the year 2010 began letting viewers pay to “rent” streaming movies or television shows.

AFP

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forfor

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NUMEROLOGY

$47.5

bn

is what a controversial financial transactions tax to be levied by 11 eurozone nations could raise per year.

n Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)

YouTube eyes subscription ‘channels’ SAN FRANCISCO: YouTube confirmed on Wednesday that its evolution as an Internet stage for video may include subscriptions to content that creators believe people will pay to see. “We have long maintained that different content requires different types of payment models,” a YouTube spokesman told AFP.

The Government of India has nominated Syed Mazher Hussain as Director on the Board of Directors of State bank of Hyderabad for a period of three years with effect from 16th January 2013 to 15th January 2016.

Syed Mazher Hussain, Doctorate in Philosophy, started his career in the field of computers and education and is now involved full time in social activism since 1997. He also started COVA — a network of around 750 organisations working on the issues of communal harmony and empowerment in different states of the country and also for peace in the subcontinent.

TCC TAKES OVER F&N A Thai business tycoon has clinched majority control of Singapore conglomerate Fraser and Neave (F&N), making his offer to fully takeover the company unconditional.

TCC Assets, owned by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, said in a statement late Wednesday that its stake in F&N stands at 50.92 per cent after further purchases in the stock market and more shareholders accepting its offer. With majority control now in the hands of the Thai parties, “accordingly, the F&N offer has become unconditional in all respects,” the statement added.

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11

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

nation

ANTONY RUBBISHES PAK BEHEADING CHARGES Defence minister AK Antony rubbished Pakistani claims that several of its soldiers were beheaded by Indian troops in the last couple of decades. he termed the Pakistani charges as “totally baseless”.

VISHWAROOPAM BAN

NEWS BRIEFS

‘Need to revisit Cinematograph Act’ Information and broadcasting minister tweets against states refusing to honour Censor Board clearance.

THANE: Against the backdrop of controversy surrounding Kamal Haasan’s film ‘Vishwaroopam’, information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari today said there was a need to “revisit” the Cinematograph Act to ensure decisions of the Censor Board are implemented.

“Time-cinematographic act revisited to ensure implementational integrity (of) certification decisions, otherwise each state would be its own censor (board),” Tewari posted on the social networking website Twitter.

Tewari had said yesterday that states should implement the decisions of the Censor Board regarding screening of films but refrained from commenting on ‘Vishwaroopam’, saying the matter was in court.

“Since the High Court has once again taken the matter within its purview, it would be inappropriate to comment on it.

We would allow the High Court to take cognisance of the matter holistically and come to whatever conclusion it considers appro-

priate. Because it’s been a tradition that we do not comment on matters which are sub-judice,” Tewari had said.

Meanwhile, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairperson Leela Samson said that the ban is “an infringement on freedom of expression”.

“This is hounding of an artist, a man who is an icon of Tamil Nadu. We are sensitive to issues.

The group objecting to Vishwaroopam have the freedom not to view it. We will object to the language used by the lawyer representing the Tamil Nadu government against the censor board,” Samson said.

The Madras High Court on Tuesday ruled in favour of

Vishwaroopam and revoked the ban by the state government. It, however, said the administrative step was to be taken by the government. However, a two-judge bench of the High Court upheld and re-imposed the ban on the film on Wednesday.

Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde too came out in support of Kamal Haasan, saying all have “freedom of expression”.

“We are a free society. There is freedom of expression. There is liberty for artists. We have a Constitution,” Shinde said, in response to a question on the ban. “We will see. We will inquire into what has happened,” he said.

An emotional Kamal Hassan yesterday threatened to quit India if the ban wasn’t lifted. As controversy swirled over the `95 crore thriller, the actor said he had agreed to make cuts in the movie that some Muslim groups found objectionable.

Sources close to Kamal said the filmstar was likely to approach the Supreme Court today.

PTI/IANS

Contempt plea against Odisha speaker BHUBANESWAR: The NCP has filed a contempt petition in the High Court against the Odisha Speaker for not complying with its directions on four legislators who defected to the state’s ruling BJD last year.

Utkala Parida, state president of the NCP, said he had filed the petition against Speaker Pradip Amat for disobeying the order of the High Court as well as the Supreme Court.

All four NCP members in the State Assembly joined the BJD along with several other party office bearers on June 5 last year. Parida had moved the speaker seeking disqualification of defected legislators. The speaker rejected his petition and he moved the High Court.

The High Court in its September 27, 2012 order said any person could invoke the anti-defection law to seek disqualification of a legislator for switching political loyalties, Parida said. The court had directed the speaker to decide on the petition earlier this month. Instead of acting on it, the speaker had moved the Supreme Court, Parida said.

Didi’s GJM honeymoon over: Left KOLKATA: In the wake of the pro-Gorkhaland GJM threatening for a “bloodied” agitation, West Bengal’s opposition parties have asked the state government to tread cautiously and sought an all party meeting on the issue. Expressing concern over the developments, leader of the opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra Wednesday appealed both to the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha and the Mamata government to “exercise restraint” so that the situation does not take an unfortunate turn.

Mishra also said the “honeymoon” between Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and the GJM is over. “It is surprising that the state government is firm on issues on which it should remain soft, while it had been soft in dealing with issues it should have dealt firmly,” Mishra said, referring to the “hurried setting up” of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) - a hill council armed with more powers than its predecessor, the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, formed in the late 1980s.

Parrikar justifies Lokayukta Bill amendments PANAJI: Amid protests over the move, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Wednesday said his amendments to the Lokayukta bill in Goa were to keep “hostile” governors like HR Bharadwaj at bay, who act at the “behest” of the central government. He also told reporters that Anna Hazare had misled the country into thinking that the office of the public ombudsman was like a judge itself.

The amended Lokayukta Bill, tabled by Parrikar last week in the assembly, does not make it mandatory for a minister to resign even if indicted by the ombudsman. It also allows a Lokayukta verdict to lapse, if the chief minister’s office does not sanction prosecution within three months.

Justifying his amendments, Parrikar said: “That has been put what if we get a governor like Bharadwaj in Karnataka or the governor of Gujarat, they will use ever deemed acceptance to act against the chief minister.”

INDIAN ANGLE

TB research breakthrough WASHINGTON: An Arunachal sub-tribe has helped US scientists make a major breakthrough in tuberculosis research, giving them new insight on how TB remains a global epidemic causing 1.9 million deaths every year. Studies carried on the Idu-Mishmis tribe, suffering from TB, have discovered a possible reason for the resistance of tuberculosis, said the scientists from the Stanford University and Forsyth Institute.

According to results of the study published in the Science Translational Medicine, this is because of the ability of the tuberculosis bacteria to infiltrate and settle down in a particular class of stem cell in the bone marrow.

By doing so, the bacteria take advantage of the body’s own mechanisms of self-renewal.

Studies carried on the people of Arunachal’s Idu-Mishmis tribe, suffering from this dreaded disease, have discovered a possible reason for the resistance of tuberculosis “Cancer scientists have noted that self-renewing stem cells like these in the bone marrow have properties that make them resistant to many types of treatment,” said Dean Felsher, MD, PhD, professor of oncology and of pathology.

Not only did the scientists find genetic material from the bacteria

inside the stem cells, they were also able to isolate active bacteria from the cells of human patients with tuberculosis who had undergone extensive treatment for the disease.

“We now need to learn how the bacteria find and infect this tiny population of stem cells, and what triggers it to reactivate years or decades after successful treatment of the disease,” said postdoctoral scholar Bikul Das, from the Stanford University, and lead author of the study.

The researchers and doctors conducted free general medical camps in five villages and gave free medicines to all patients belonging to the IduMishmis sub tribe. This effort led to identification of individuals who had TB, and successfully completed drug treatment.

PTI

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

World

STORMS LEAVE TWO DEAD IN GEORGIA AND TENNESSEE A sprawling storm system has brought havoc to a swathe of the US, leaving two people dead and thousands of households without electricity. One person died when an apparent twister hit the state of Georgia, overturning cars on a motorway.

CONFLICT IN MALI

French blitzkrieg takes Mali’s last rebel bastion French troops arrived at the Kidal airport just days after the capture of Gao and Timbuktu and after lightning push north, which Paris hopes now to wind down with a handover to African forces.

SERGE DANIEL Agence France-Presse BAMAKO: French troops took up positions at Kidal, the last Islamist bastion in Mali’s north, as Paris called for peace talks between the government and “legitimate representatives” from the north.

French troops arrived at the Kidal airport just days after the capture of Gao and Timbuktu and after lightning push north, which Paris hopes now to wind down with a handover to African forces. Now, said France, the talking had to start.

“This political process now has to advance concretely,” French foreign ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said Wednesday.

He called for talks with the legitimate representatives of the northern peoples and “non-terrorist armed groups” that recognise the integrity of Mali.

“Only a north-south dialogue will prepare the ground for the Malian state to return to the north of the country,” he said.

The United States also called for Malians to refrain from revenge attacks on Tuaregs or other ethnic minorities.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Wednesday the troops at Kidal had been unable to leave the airport there because of a sandstorm.

12

SYRIA SLAMS ISRAEL

DAMASCUS: Syria accused Israel of staging an air raid on a military research centre on Wednesday, a day after a peace envoy issued a fresh warning of the 22-month conflict spilling over into neighbouring states.

The strike came as an opposition chief laid down conditions for talks with President Bashar alAssad’s regime, and as world outrage at a massacre piled pressure on all parties to halt their bloodletting.

NUMEROLOGY

5,000

Is the number of African troops that are scheduled to arrive in Mali in coming weeks and these could make up the core of any UN force once France declares its offensive is over, diplomats said.

WARNING SHOT

UN peacekeepers

Cameron in Algeria

Niger to host drones

The United Nations is speeding up planning for a peacekeeping force in Mali as French and Malian troops steamroller into territory seized by Islamists, diplomats and officials said. The UN could start talks within days on moves that would probably incorporate African troops now gathering in Mali into a formal blue helmet force.

British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Algeria to strike an new security partnership between the two countries following the deadly hostage crisis at a Sahara Desert gas plant. His visit comes less than two weeks after 37 foreign hostages including six Britons were killed.

Niger said it was ready to host a base for US drones monitoring movements by Al-Qaeda-linked groups currently based in northern Mali.

“If Niger can receive support in the shape of drones to monitor suspicious movements from Mali, we will not turn our nose up at it,” Defence Minister Karidjo Mahamadou told AFP.

NEWS BRIEFS Japan PM to change post-war constitution?

Polluted Beijing air sends many to hosiptal

Oz’s Tasmanian Tiger killed by man: study

Music stars to turn out for the Grammys

TOKYO: Japan’s hawkish PM Shinzo Abe told parliament Tthat he intends to change the country’s post-World War II constitution, lowering the bar for further amendments. “I will start with amending Article 96,” Abe told upper house lawmakers, referring to the clause stipulating amendments require a two-thirds majority in parliament.

BEIJING: Doctors in Beijing said that hospital admissions for respiratory complaints rose in recent days during the latest bout of pollution, as air quality in the city began to improve. The US embassy’s air quality index stood at 233 on Thursday morning, or “very unhealthy”, after it peaked at more than 500 on Tuesday.

SYDNEY: Australian researchers investigating the extinction of the country’s Tasmanian Tiger put the fault solely with humans, saying they had debunked a long-held theory that disease was to blame. The last known tiger, or thylacine, died in Hobart Zoo in September 1936 and though there have been numerous unconfirmed sightings.

LOS ANGELES: Justin Timberlake will join Elton John, Taylor Swift, Jack White, Rihanna and other stars performing at the 2013 Grammy awards show next week, organizers announced. Other artists already lined up for the music industry’s biggest awards show include Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and Jack White.

SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak held an emergency security meeting Thursday that warned North Korea of “serious consequences” if it went through with an expected nuclear test. The meeting at the presidential Blue House included the defence minister, National Intelligence Service chief and the national security advisor. A statement issued afterwards said Lee had insisted on a strengthened defence posture, given Pyongyang’s apparent desire to take advantage of the ongoing leadership transition in the South.

I am both happy and sad; on the one hand, I have my documents to be able to travel, but many of my friends are not going to be allowed.

Yoani Sanchez Cuban dissident

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

Technology BLACKBERRY

Rebranded BlackBerry launches comeback effort Canadian-based Research in Motion changed its name to BlackBerry as it launched the BlackBerry 10, the new platform aimed at helping the firm regain traction in a market now dominated by rivals.

BAN STAYS PUT

BlackBerry President and Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins speaks at the BlackBerry 10 launch event at Pier 36 in Manhattan on January 30 in New MARIO TAMA/AFP York City. The new smartphone and mobile operating system is being launched simultaneously in six cities.

JOHN BIERS Agence France-Presse NEW YORK: BlackBerry launched its comeback effort Wednesday with a revamped operating system and a pair of sleek new handsets, plus a company name change as the smartphone maker moves to reinvent itself.

Canadian-based Research in Motion changed its name to BlackBerry as it launched the BlackBerry 10, the new platform aimed at helping the firm regain traction in a market now dominated by rivals.

“From this point forward, RIM becomes BlackBerry,” chief executive Thorsten Heins told a glitzy unveiling in New York, one of six global events for the product launch. “It is one brand. It is one promise.”

The new BlackBerry “will transform mobile communications into true mobile computing,” Heins said.

Heins presented two devices, the touchscreen-only Z10 and the Q10 model, which contains BlackBerry’s trademark keyboard.

The release of the new handsets will be staggered over the next couple of months. One of the phones will be available in Britain from Thursday, and Canadians will be able to buy one February 5.

In the critical US market, the device will not be available until March, although leading carriers like AT&T and Verizon are unveiling plans now, Heins said. The company also introduced recording star Alicia Keys as its new global creative director. Heins said the new BlackBerry is not just about new platforms and products, but “engaging with successful entrepreneurs and working moms,” and that Keys would play a role in that effort.

Keys, who said she had returned to BlackBerry after flirting with other devices, said her job would allow her to “work with people in the entertainment and music business” to help enhance the BlackBerry experience.

The launch is seen as critical to BlackBerry, which had been the dominant smartphone maker before Apple launched its iPhone and others began using the Android operating system.

“This is the

THAT’S PRICEY HTC just blew things out of proportion by launching Butterfly, the costliest Android phone in the county. The device sells for a little less than `45,000. The device has a 5-inch device has a 441 pixel display, and can shoot full HD video. It’s powered by a 1.5Ghz quad-core processor, 2GB RAM apart from the usual shenanigans. The price tag however has left tech-enthusiasts baffled. The company is directly competing with Galaxy Note 2 that is priced at less than `38,000.

By selling this device at such a hiked up price the company seems to have shot itself in the foot... again.

first step in BlackBerry’s recovery and I think they did a good job so far, but there are still so many more steps,” independent analyst Jeff Kagan said.

Kagan said the new BlackBerry “will be a strong competitor for the number three position. They won’t come close to number one or two where Google and Apple are, but the market wants more choices.”

BlackBerry has traditionally scored best with corporate clients who have been partial to the device’s reputation for network security. However, the smartphone market has been changing radically as more companies shift to a “bring your own device,” or BYOD, model in which companies let workers choose their smartphone.

Heins’ pitch appeared geared to both corporate and rankand-file consumers. He

emphasised the ease with which users can, with the flick of a finger, switch between emails and applications.

Other features include the capacity for users to share in real-time screens and complex data from two different locales on a messaging system. The phone also features an efficient writing device in which writers can flick a single character and generate an entire word in English, French, German or other languages.

Heins said the device was geared for “people who are hyper connected socially” and “people who like to get things done.” RIM’s recent performance on Wall Street suggests the market is open to BlackBerry 10. Shares have risen more than 30 per cent since the start of the year, although they dropped back.

Carolina Milanesi, an analyst for Gartner, said a successful launch will at least give them a shot to get into the game” but that BB has little room for error, after a launch delayed for several months.

According to research firm IDC, BlackBerry’s share of the global smartphone market slipped to 4.7 per cent in 2012, compared to 68 per cent for Android and 18.8 per cent for Apple’s iOS.

So much for talks of China stopping their decade-long ban on gaming consoles. A source at the Ministry of Culture told China Daily that they never thought of lifting the ban. So if you’re a Metal Gear Solid or Halo fan living in China, you still don’t have an option. However China’s Culture Ministry is known to state something and do just the opposite. Sony representatives also told the paper that there was no confirmed news to report. This means that PC gaming will continue to be the sole option for gamers there.

That should do Apple’s $1.05 billion damages award against Samsung from its patent- infringement trial in San Jose, California, was left intact after a judge denied Apple’s bid to increase the award. US District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose yesterday declined to increase the award after she found Samsung’s infringement wasn’t wilful. The ruling was one of many post-trial decisions Koh issued yesterday denying both companies’ bids for a new trial and leaving largely untouched the jury’s finding in August that Samsung infringed six mobile-device patents. Jurors decided on Aug 24 at the end of a trial that Samsung should pay the $1.05 billion.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

Comment Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS

Mm.. the junior Thackerays are getting closer and closer... So will they shake hands and embrace and join hands for a new start? But how does it benefit Mumbai? There’s no benefit: this will be a clear case of two to tango.

BEATING MONDAY BLUES

I’M EXCITED, CAN’T YOU TELL!

ing you have a test that you didn’t study for, and the test is not on video games.

Fast forward 20 years. You have a job now. Nothing ruins a good life like a job. So you spent all the time in school trying to get out and into the working world only to find out five minutes after entering that you want to go right back to school.

The first thing you realize about the work week is that there are five days between each weekend but only two days between each work week; seems unfair if you ask me.

Monday morning is a cold heartless biscuit that spends the entire weekend reminding you that the fun will be over soon, real soon.

What’s bad is when it’s not even 9am Monday morning and you are already asking around “Is it Friday yet?” By the time Wednesday afternoon comes around you feel like someone should give you an award for making it this far without dying.

The absolute worse feeling in the world is when it’s Thursday afternoon and you start getting really excited thinking its Friday afternoon only to have your spirits crushed by the reminder that it’s only Thursday and you have one more day of dealing with humanity before it’s the weekend.

Anticlimactic – you walk out of your office Friday afternoon knowing that Monday will be here faster than it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Monday is already here and the vicious cycle of self loathing and pity commences again. It’s like a reoccurring nightmare that never ends.

BUT... SERIOUSLY

Ajay Hotchandani

Abraham Lincoln Fomer US president

Remembering Stalingrad THE HUMAN CONDITION Dean Williams

O

n Saturday, the Russians are planning massive celebrations to com memorate the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. To military buffs there are a number of battles that changed the course of history but almost all agree that without the German defeat at Stalingrad, the outcome of World War could possibly have been quite different.

Stalingrad was a battle of attrition that epitomised the bloody slugfest that was the Eastern Front. The Germans, and their Axis allies, threw over a million men into the capture of a city that bore the name of Adolf Hitler’s nemesis. The swift incursions made by the Germans early on in the battle led them to believe it would be a clinical victory. But the Russians, led by the brilliant Georgy Zhukov launched a counteroffensive that would trap hundreds of thousands of Germans in the city. With food, ammunition and medical supplies running low, Stalingrad became hell on Earth. And when Field Marshall Erich von Manstein’s heroic effort to break through to the besieged forces failed, the writing was on the wall. Hitler could have saved a multitude of lives if he had allowed his commander of the Sixth Army in Stalingrad, General Friedrich Paulus, to surrender.

But he ordered him to fight till the bitter end, even after all hope was lost. In the end Paulus did surrender, but only after the Germans lost over 800,000 men (the Russians lost 478,000). Only 6,000 of the million Axis soldiers who fought in Stalingrad ever returned home. The Russians may celebrate, but humanity should weep.

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onday morning, oh no you have arrived yet again to ruin a perfectly good weekend. Friday was nice to me, Saturday treated me like a King and Sunday let me relax in peace. But Monday, you just showed up, uninvited I might add, to be a major buzzkill.

As a kid, Friday afternoon’s meant no more school and unrestricted access to playing video games, because Mario wasn’t going to collect coins and jump on turtles by himself. But that was child’s play compared to Saturday morning. As a kid you have a difficult choice to make, either wake up really early and get a head start on playing video games OR wake up late and forgo couple of hours of video games.

After three hours of playing there was a quick 15 minute break, in which you had to shower and eat lunch.

Sunday was a bit different. Given that you were up late Saturday night, you could barely get out of bed before lunch.

Right after lunch you do your homework – the same homework you lied about earlier and said you finished already. Before you know it, Sunday night is here and you are in bed wondering where the weekend went.

Monday morning, oh good lord I don’t want to get out of bed. Once a year you can pretend to be sick to avoid going to school and get away with it, but if you abuse it they will catch on. Nothing wakes up quicker than the panic of realiz-

EDITORIALS The land of the easily-offended

T

his is the age of taking offence at anything and everything. Even after Kamal Haasan agreed to remove the content in his movie that were objectionable to certain sections of the society, the veteran’s latest movie, Vishwaroopam, is yet to get the nod to be run in theatres. We make tall claims everyday over tolerance and secularism, yet deep down in us there remains vestiges of doubt and mistrust which pop up and cause trouble at some point or another. The trailer of the movie hints at terrorism. And Kamal Haasan has not purposely portrayed anyone as perpetrators of terrorism. What is around he has just reflected in the movie. We have the horrible infamy of driving out one of the finest artists of our era from our land accusing him of perversion and disrespect to gods: MF Hussain. And when he died a man in exile, many had written about the injustice done to him, who was always proud to be an Indian. Now Kamal Haasan too has said he would leave India if his movie is not cleared for release, he will leave the country. If that happens, then the equation will be balanced and the scores even.

READERS’ VIEWS

What the devil!

M

an! What cheek! Lance Armstrong has hit out at the 'petty bullshit' surrounding cycling's doping scandal and claims he has been victimised.

Leave the rest, fellah! Think on your sins: what phony records you set, the fraud you perpetrated and the lies you said. No one does something wrong because someone else did and does… at least that’s how it’s supposed to be.

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

Editor: Dean Williams

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

tELEVISION

ERIC IN BLUE BLOODS Ugly Betty star Eric Mabius is to appear on cop drama Blue Bloods. Mabius will play a guest role in a forthcoming episode of the CBS series, TVLine reports.

SET APART

Memorable breaks

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MOVIE ON THE CARDS

Most TV commercials that ‘break’ your favourite serial or a movie that you’d been waiting for are a test of your patience. Postnoon gives you a list of ads that weren't.

POSTNOON TEAM feedback@postnoon.com

ing 'Jalebi?!', with all his innocence and cuteness and sheer joy in his eyes, the nation fell in complete awe. For many of us, it is one of the favourite childhood memories of television.

THE ‘DIRTY’ PICTURE

A GENIUS CAMPAIGN amazement, she devours each food item. Tagline — Curves Are Back. What a way to sell the ever so curvy Beetle.

ON A STICKY NOTE Never before has a detergent ad been so refreshingly cute.

The Daag Achche Hain series by Surf Excel is a pleasure to watch on TV even between the most-engaging movies. Among the ads that were part of the series, our favourite is the one that shows brother-sister bonding. Watching a little boy ‘beat up’ a puddle to please his younger sister because she fell into it and getting dirty himself in the ‘brawl’ was a delight. It made us all wish for a brother like that too. So yes, ‘daag achche hain.’

36” 24” 36” Vidya Balan may have been the Bollywood diva to break the size zero frenzy on the silver screen, but it was Volkswagen’s Beetle that actually brought the curves back on the roads. The 30-second ad shows a skinny, pretty young thing walk into a restaurant and order everything on the menu. While waiters watch in

memories for long, thanks to the hilarious Naukri.com ad that showed an employee take on his abusive boss. The very nonchalant employee calling out 'H for Hitler, A for arrogant' over the phone while his boss seethed struck a chord with everyone who ever had to work for a terrible boss.

LITTLE JOYS

Fevikwik ads have always been funny, but our favourite, hands down, is the fishing rod ad. A perfectly dressed uncle with a hi-tech fishing rod has no luck in the waters, but a man dressed in a dhoti and armed only with a stick and Fevikwik catches a whole bunch of fish in minutes! The tongue-in-cheek message really 'stuck' with Indian audiences.

WHO'S THE BOSS?

Around 18 years ago a little boy clad in a yellow t-shirt and blue dungarees stormed out of his house and was brought back by his grandfather at the thought of jalebis being made by his mom. The moment when he exclaimed his excitement say-

Beautifully propagating the idea of free thinking among children, is the new Parle G ad with its quintessential punchline ‘Bachpan se bada koi school nahi. Curiosity se bada koi teacher nahi. Aao banaye Kal ke Genius’.

As stunning are the instances of little kids being exceptionally creative, the ad humbles you with its simple and noble message.

Entourage movie coming from Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. has approved a plan to make a movie based on the HBO series. Doug Ellin — one of the executive producers of the series — wrote the screenplay and will direct the film. Deadline.com first broke the news and reports that negotiations for the film have begun with Adrian Grenier (Chase), Kevin Dillon (Johnny Drama), Kevin Connolly (Eric "E" Murphy), Jerry Ferrara (Turtle) and Jeremy Piven (Ari Gold).

DID YOU KNOW..

Dexter

has cast Nick Gomez in a recurring role. The Looper actor revealed on Twitter that he will appear in the Showtime drama's eighth season.

The 49-year-old actor joins veteran British actress Charlotte Rampling and Young Indiana Jones star Sean Patrick Flanery in the new season of Dexter. The serial killer drama's eighth run is expected to be its last.

TRENDING...

Hari Sadu is a name that will live on in Indian TV viewers'

ROFL Even on their best days, celebrities and all those model-sorts we generally see on TV are no match to the magic of Zoozoos. The 21-ad series of Vodafone introduced during IPL’s second season truly revolutionarised Indian TV commercials. The cute-little egg heads that hopped, skipped and giggled their way through each ad left us all smiling and yearning for more such. Created by Ogilvy & Mather, Zoozoo ads are among the few good things that happened on Indian TV.

Zooey Deschanel has suggested that she has never been a "movie star". The actress has starred in films like Elf and (500) Days of Summer, but her greatest success has come in television in New Girl. "People sometimes say, 'Oh, you were a movie star', and I'm like, 'No, I was a supporting actress'. I wasn't an A-list actress, and I'm fine with that," she says.

The Vampire Diaries was the most discussed show on social media last week.

The supernatural drama topped the list of broadcast shows compiled by Trendrr for the first time.

The Vampire Diaries' latest episode beat the previous number one show American Idol as well as popular series like The Simpsons and Glee.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

spotlight SRINIVAS SETTY

ROCK & ROLL

Head to Hard Rock Cafe where rock band Alter Egoz will be setting the pub on fire. Fun begins at 8 pm.

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SRINIVAS SETTY

PUTTING HER BEST FOOT FORWARD

Looking chic in a pink t-shirt and matching pink shoes was actress Chitrangada Singh who was in the city to launch PUMA Urban Stampede 2013.

BUSINESS TALK

The Vicat Group, which owns a majority stake in Bharathi Cements, announced its launch in Telangana Market on Wednesday. The event was organised at Taj Deccan.

S BALAKRISHNA

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GROOVY NIGHT

HIGH ON ENERGY

For young party peeps, Wednesday nights don't involve sitting idle anymore. It is all about ganging up with their BFFs and heading to the nearest pub. Spotted at Liquids pub were Komal, Sudha and others.

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5

3

4

4 Komal, Sudha, Swapna

1 Varsha

S BALAKRISHNA

2 Moon Moon

5 Gaurav, Reetik

3 Swapna Reddy, Geeta

6 Rajnee

MEET & GREET

Around 2,300 delegates from 15 countries including Austria, Italy, New Zealand, India and Germany were present at the 13th Triennial Conference of the Association of Inner Wheel Clubs that was held at Leonia Holistic Destination.

SPREADING JOY

With kids of an orphanage in Nampally in attendance, Mohammed Asif Hussain Sohail celebrated his birthday in style.

S BALAKRISHNA

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

health

PUMPING BOTOX WON'T HELP WEIGHT LOSS Some of the obese are looking to botox shots for easy weight loss but now it is clear that they don't, according to a definitive study. Injecting Botox into the stomach had been believed to delay emptying of the stomach, increase feelings of fullness and reduce body weight.

HAIR COLOUR HEALTH SCARES

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COLOURS that kill?

DEEPASHRI V

deepashri.v@postnoon.com

M

any people say their hair is just not the same ever since they coloured it.

Hair fall, greying, lack of lustre and poor health of hair are some of the common complaints. But what about allergic reactions that can get you hospitalised?

In 2011, the Daily Mail reported the case of a teenager who died within an hour of applying a hair dye at home.

Doctors suspected an allergic reaction to p-Phenylendiamine (PPD), a chemical used in 99 per cent of all hair-dyes.

It also reported the case of a 29-yearold woman who had suffered from severe itches and blisters after colouring her hair, and had to spend three days at the hospital, due to an allergic reaction to the same chemical.

With thousands of chemicals COLOUR GONE BAD “The dye content, which gives colour mixed to to the hair in most hair colours in PPD. have allergic or irritant reacmake these People tions to it,” said Dr Sunitha P, consuldyes, are tant dermatologist at Adi Clinic. if they say it’s ammonia-free, the side PPD“Even can still cause allergy,” said Dr effects Radha Shah, consultant dermatologist at Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills. restrictWhile irritant reaction is an immediate allergic reactions ed to the occur manifestation, when the person develops an condition of allergy to the chemical after months or of application, the doctors said. your hair years Fluid filled blisters, puss formation alone? and severe pain occurs in extreme cases, Dr Shah said. “Sometimes, it spreads to the entire scalp, surround-

ANEWS PP-LYBRIEFS YOURSELF

HOUSECALL

Crossfit Workout

Mumps

This application brings the CrossFit WOD to your iPhone. Whether you’re a seasoned CrossFitter or a beginner who wants to get in shape with fun, constantly varied exercises, this is the perfect resource for you! This app is great if you’re traveling or don’t have internet access available every time you carry your iphone or ipod around.

Mumps is a viral disease caused by the mumps virus. Before the development of vaccination and the introduction of a vaccine, it was a common childhood disease worldwide. It is still a significant threat to health in the third world, and outbreaks still occur sporadically in developed countries.

Painful swelling of the salivary glands – classically the parotid gland – is the most typical presentation. Painful testicular swelling (orchitis) and rash may also occur.

ing areas, and even the whole body.”

Dr Sunitha said people need to check the content (though it is an idiosyncratic reaction where even one or two per cent PPD can cause irritation) and check the frequency of application. According to a paper published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, permanent hair dyes when used for a long time may increase the risk of cancers in adults. “There is no direct proof.

But there could be a potential risk, said Dr Sunitha.

TREATMENT “We give anti-allergic medicines, based on the type of reaction. In severe cases steroids may be given,” Dr Sunitha said. She said the method of application matters. One must use gloves, and make sure it doesn’t come in contact with the scalp or facial skin. This puts beauticians who apply dyes every day at a higher risk. “Approach a skin specialist. Do a patch test first. Never directly apply onto the entire scalp,” Dr Shah said. “Ideally, if you have an allergic reaction, you should avoid dyes in the future, except herbal ones.”

Some natural ways to colour your hair n n n

n

Doctors say henna can be used, though it dries the hair, with proper serums or oils to balance it.

Lemons act as a bleach to lighten hair colour over time.

Crush marigold and brew them like tea and apply the concentrate on your hair for red or golden highlight (depending on your hair colour).

Strong black coffee darkens hair and paprika paste reddens it.

Source: Outofstress.com

DID YOU KNOW?

PIONEERS

Colourblind? Your son might be so too

Gerald Edelman

The daughters of a mother who is colourblind and a father who has normal vision will have normal vision, however the sons will be colourblind.

While seven men in 100 have some form of colourblindness, only one woman in 1,000 suffers from it. The most common form of colour blindness is a red-green deficiency.

Born in New York City in 1929, scientist Gerald Edelman won a Nobel Prize in 1969 for developing the first precise model of an antibody molecule. Later he moved away from immunology and into neuroscience, where his work led to the general theory of brain development. In interviews, he has said that the way the components of the immune system evolve over the life of the individual is analogous to the way the components of the brain evolve in a lifetime.

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health THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

STUDY

RESEARCH

3-D imaging surgery can cure skull disorders

Erectile dysfunction signals heart troubles Previous studies found ties between severe erection problems and heart attacks and strokes, but this study was the first to also include mild and moderately severe erection problems.

WASHINGTON: Erectile dysfunction might signal more than a need for the little purple pill, researchers said Tuesday in a study showing a link with heart disease and early death.

The Australian study — the world’s largest investigating links between erection problems and heart disease — suggested erection problems could act as a warning sign of more serious health issues.

“The risks of future heart disease and premature death increased steadily with severity of erectile dysfunction,” whether or not there was a history of cardiovascular disease, study director Emily Banks said.

Previous studies had found

ties between severe erection problems and heart attacks and strokes, but this study was the first to also include mild and moderately severe erection problems.

“These results tell us that every man who is suffering from any degree of erectile dysfunction should be seeking medical assistance as early as possible and also insisting on a heart health check by their GP at the same time,” said Rob Grenfell, Cardiovascular Health director at Australia’s Heart Foundation.

The study, published this

Doctors’ Corner Dear doc, I am 28 and almost all my friends are getting a well woman check up. Is it really necessary at my age?

The first thing to understand is, we are a product of our genetics and environment. The everyday stress and the disease cards life has dealt you have to be checked once in a while. I would suggest you take a good look at yourself. Are you overweight? Anything obviously wrong, like periods, tiredness, puffiness or hair loss? Even

week in the “PLOS Medicine” journal, followed 95,000 men aged 45 and older for two to three years.

The men responded to a survey on their health and lifestyle, and the authors also studied any records of hospital stays or deaths in the group.

Over the study period, there were 7,855 hospitalizations for cardiovascular disease and 2,304 deaths.

Banks said that the study indicated that erection problems seemed to a symptom of heart problems.

“Rather than causing heart disease, erectile dysfunction is more likely to be a symptom or signal of underlying ‘silent’ heart disease and could in future become a useful marker to help doctors predict the risk of a cardiovascular problem.

“This is a sensitive topic but men shouldn’t suffer in silence; there are many effective treatments, both for erectile dysfunction and for cardiovascular disease,” she emphasized.

Erection problems are very common. About one in five men over 40 are reported to have moderate or severe erectile dysfunction.

KOLKATA: Craniosynostosis, a rare skull disorder in newborns in India, can now be successfully treated with surgery based on 3D imaging, doctors said here Tuesday.

“With one in 2,000 to 2,500 infants being diagnosed with craniosynostosis in India, which has life altering complications, such advanced surgeries based on 3-D imaging are the best options available in the country,” said Richa S Debgupta, facility director of Fortis Hospitals, Kolkata, that recently performed such a surgery on a six-monthold.

Craniosynostosisis is a birth defect that causes one or more sutures on a baby’s skull to close earlier than normal. “Due to increasing intracranial pressure, the forehead does not grow fully.

The skull would be defective and distorted and loss of vision would result eventually. Eyeballs would also protrude abnormally,” said Dr Amitabha Chanda, consultant neurosurgeon at Fortis Hospitals who was part of the team that performed the surgery.

“Usually the method used to treat this is to relieve the intracranial pressure through surgery.

However, this does not eliminate facial distortion or blindness,” Dr. Chanda said.

According to him, a surgical procedure based on a 3-D map of the skull can take care of such complications.

IANS

AFP

Dr Divya T Sudarshan

OVER CONFIDENT ABOUT YOUR HEALTH? simple anaemia can do all this.

So if you ask me, I think a few tests are worth doing to keep your body on track. The national health organisations of certain countries recommend these tests. Maybe it’s time we thought about it too. n Blood pressure test: Every two years, beginning at18. n Cholesterol test: Start at 20 and let your doctor suggest the frequency.

n Blood sugar test (diabetes): Get tested if you have a family history or your blood pressure is higher than 135/80 or if you take medication for high blood pressure. n Pap test/pelvic exam: Every three years if you are sexually active from the age of 21.

Indians are at a higher risk for cervical cancer. So it is better to get the pap earlier, at least before 30. After 65, talk to

your doctor about frequency. n Mammogram: We suggest it at 40, once a year for three years. If you have a first or second degree relative with breast cancer, then earlier. n Bone mineral density test: Indian diet and social behaviour have most women with low vit D and calcium levels.

Osteoporosis is a big problem in the 50s here. Have baseline test around 50 and let your

doctor decide on frequency. n Vision testing: After 40 it’s mandatory. Even people with good vision should get eye check ups once in two years, to prevent corneal dryness, glaucoma, and cataracts.

The writer is a gynaecologist and obstetrician at Happy Women Clinic. You can write in to her at happywomenclinic@gmail.com or call her on 9959729444/ 9581952485.on 7702446000.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

Entertainment A new Learning Experience QUITE HOT

Ram talks about his latest film Ongole Githa, working with Bhaskar and why he treats every film as a new learning experience.

HEMANTH KUMAR hemanth.k@postnoon.com

CINE BYTES

Sukumarudu to release in March

A

adi, Nisha Aggarwal starrer Sukumarudu is gearing up for release in March. G Ashok has directed the film and Venugopal has produced it. The film’s shooting is in its final stages and it also stars Bhavna, Sharda and Superstar Krishna in important roles. Anup Rubens has scored the music and the audio is going to be launched later this month.

O

ngole Githa is an unlikely film for a director like Bhaskar who had earlier made films like Bommarillu, Parugu and Orange. Ram is playing the lead role in this mass entertainer and he reveals that he’s playing the role of a chilli yard trader in Guntur. “A lot of people are surprised that Bhaskar has directed a film like Ongole Githa,” Ram quips, adding, “I must confess that it’s a typical Bhaskar’s film set in a mass backdrop. There are three parallel tracks in the film and it’ll be a treat to watch the kind of relationship which the father and son share in the film.”So how does he choose his projects? “I don’t like telling directors to write scripts for me based on what I want to do. When I heard the script of Ongole Githa I got goosebumps and I knew that this was exactly the kind of film I should be doing,” Ram says. The film was shot in the chilli yard for nearly 21 days and Bhaskar had spoken a lot about the harsh conditions under which they shot the film.

What sort of precautions did they take to withstand the pungency of chillies? Did you get used to it?

“You don’t ever get used to the pungent smell. There’s a burning sensation all over the body and the entire film unit fell sick a couple of times,” Ram reveals. So why take so much risk? “We could have shot all that footage inside a studio, but it wouldn’t have looked so authentic. Guntur’s chilli yard is the biggest in Asia and the grandeur cannot be replicated. There’s one shot where a camera was mounted on the bike I was riding and the chilli powder was blowing on to my face. It took us almost eight takes just to get it right. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this experience,” Ram recalls. Ongole Githa is the ninth film in his career so far and he says that he treats every film as a new learning experience. “I have the urge to learn something new from the director, the technicians and rest of the cast I work with. I really want to know the director’s thought process behind a particular scene,” he says.

So, what was the biggest learning experience this time? “Bhaskar has an interesting way of shooting the scenes. He would place two cameras and ask us to enact the whole scenes no matter how long it is because he doesn’t like to break the flow. There’s a scene in the film’s second half which occurs on a bridge between Prabhu, who plays my father, and me. I would call that as the defining moment in the film for me,” Ram reveals.

Ongole Githa is slated for release on February 1.

Baadshah nears completion he principal shooting of NTR, Kajal starrer Baadshah is nearing completion. The film’s climax is currently being shot near Nagarjuna Sagar. Sreenu Vaitla is directing the film and Bandla Ganesh has produced it. Navdeep is playing an important role.

Thaman has scored the music and the film will hit the screens on April 5.

T

Samantha loved watching Tamil film Pizza

S

amantha is all praises for Karthik Subbaraj’s recent Tamil film Pizza. “It’s one of the best films I have seen in recent times and I urge everyone to watch it,” she said. Suresh Kondeti and Thammareddy Bharadwaj are releasing the film’s Telugu version on February 15. Vijay Sethupathi and Remya Nambeesan have played the lead roles.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

fashion

NAEEM KHAN COMES TO INDIA

IT'S EXPECTED to be a high point in the 2013 fashion calendar. Hollywood red carpet favourite, designer Naeem Khan is scheduled to show in Mumbai at Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) Summer/Resort 2013 this March.

The writer

is a fashion blogger (www.lovestruckcow.blogspot.com) who attempts to bridge the gap between creator and consumer. As a fashion writer, she hopes to promote Indian fashion among Indians and on a global level too.

SURABHI CHAUHAN feedback@postnoon.com

A look at the forthcoming summer season’s best trends as seen on the international runways.

MINIMALIST

M

inimalism has its reserved space in the trend charts for the seasons considering the prominent maximalist trends in the same season.

How to wear it: Minimalism is about clever dressing. Keep the colours the layers at the basic necessary level. Minimalism should not be confused with basic wear dressing. Go for clever stitching, tailoring and clean lines when trying this trend.

John Galliano

G

NEON

P

Jil Sander

erhaps Marc Jacobs is to be credited for this trend outburst. The bold graphic prints like chequered boxes, zig zag lines, and parallel lines are easy attention grabbers and should be worn with the same intent.

How to wear it: The Parisian house of Louis Vuitton and even Marc Jacobs sent out models in pairs wearing bold dual tone prints from head to toe. Mix patterns – small checks with bigger checks and bold lines with thin lines. At Marc Jacobs the lines were supersized and covered the long dresses from head to toe. At Armani, the graphics were muted with dark on dark tones and kept pretty simple on blouse as well as trousers.

Emporio Armani

Proenza-schouler

N

eon has for sometime been on the trends list.

How to wear it: The New York City cool kids behind Proenza Schouler showed some stellar pieces SS13. The neon use on the untraditional fabrics made for new way of looking at neon. The aline cut dress with a strong neckline and scuba gear inspired front zip made the models look like ethereal creatures from out of this world.

Etro

GRAPHIC PRINTS

ORIENTAL EXPRESS

reatly inspired by the oriental culture, this season indulge in the Asian culture wearing traditional silhouettes like kimono belts, wrap jackets and sandals.

How to wear it: Take Miuccia Prada’s cue and go for new age fabrics and screen prints onto 60s inspired dresses and slit skirts. The accessories were distinctly an homage to the Japanese platform sandals. At John Galliano, the fit was more relaxed and shirts and jackets enveloped the bodice in a kimono kind of a way. At Etro the models walked by in breezy parallel pants and belted blouses. The oriental influence was from the street wear upgraded the Italian way using rich embroidery and prints.

22&23

RIRI’S BIG PROJECT

SINGER, ACTOR and full-time controversy machine Rihanna has another big project on hand -- her debut clothing collection for high street label River Island to premiere at London Fashion Week in February.

The colours of spring WHITE

W

hite has for sometime been on the trend charts for summers.

How to wear it: Roberto Cavalli broke his pattern of showing mix and match of prints by showing head to toe white looks. At Emilio Pucci designer Peter Dundas gave sexy numbers in white with skin showing in sneaky slits and sheer fabrics. Missoni gave easy-to-wear jacket and trousers in white but rich fabrics.

Chanel

FLOWER

C

PEEKABOO

CROPPED PANTS

he pants have become fitted and cropped. Showing ankles is in fashion, especially when the trousers are paired with high heels.

How to wear it: At the forward thinking house of Balenciaga, designer Ghesquiere gave strong clean lines for women to wear this summer. The trousers were almost menswear derived.

Balenciaga

Roberto Cavalli

T

he clear winner of evening wear trends lies with sheer fabrics playing with skin. Underwear that shows from under the dress and side slits that give a sneak-peek of skin.

How to wear it: At Jason Wu the designer showed some extremely sexy looks where besides the form fitting silhouettes the dresses gave a hint of what lied beneath. At Stella McCartney the dresses ended with sheer organza hemline with high slits.

Stella McCartney

T

Moschino

learly flower power will reign in 2013 as noticed in the haute couture shows earlier this month. For ready -to-wear, the floral love is depicted in prints, applique work and delicate lace.

How to wear it: Prada depicted the most unusual use of flower pattern in the form of prints that seemed like paintings onto satin. Using the actual flower silhouette onto garments for a Prada inspiration. At Moschino, the tea garden blooming inspiration was noticed.

A festival of colours hinting loud that summer is here.

Entertainment THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

24

Entertainment THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

25

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

Chai Time

Play & Win

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

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

Some cells will contain two numbers.

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

QUICK CROSSWORD enced by the number.

Within each collection of cells — called a run — any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once.Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so

on...

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

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

Play & Win

voucher from VENKEY’S VEG Restaurant, Nampally

ACROSS

SCRIBBLING PAD

Play & Win voucher from VENKEY’S VEG Restaurant, Nampally

SUDOKU

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

26

Play & Win voucher from VENKEY’S VEG Restaurant, Nampally

1 Nile reptiles 5 Semitransparent stones 10 Movie's storyline 14 Six years, for a senator 15 Wine variety 16 Top-rated 17 Cookie in ice cream, often 18 Phonograph needles 19 Mythical birds 20 Halloween disguises 22 Old-school snacks 24 Add spices to 27 Proclaim profanely 28 ‘Honest’ president Lincoln 30 Aired as it happens 31 Cow that hasn't had a cow 34 Had no catching up to do 35 Not kosher 36 Retail establishment 37 Flute in a march 39 ‘The ___ of Kilimanjaro’ 42 Diving eagles 43 Severe suffering 45 Pied Piper's pack 47 Even the score 48 Tennis match starters 50 One way to ring

51 Soak timber 52 Venus de ___ 53 It develops into a fetus 55 Desert stinger 58 Longstanding quarrels 61 So-called kissing disease, familiarly 62 Olympic logo shapes 65 Panama and Costa Rica do it 66 Genesis paradise 67 Poet who inspired the musical ‘Cats’ 68 Fizz flavoring 69 Partner of means 70 Montaigne's writing form 71 Put a toe in the water DOWN 1 Basic unit for the elements 2 Evening, in Roma 3 In desperate need of cash 4 ‘Mirrors’ companion 5 Photo ___ (publicity events) 6 Place for an orchestra 7 Question for the courts?

8 Title ‘girl’ in a Kinks hit

9 Part of a baseball's seam 10 Mooch 11 Is up to no good 12 In the old days 13 Hardy woman 21 Bad thing to put in a wound 23 Actor's prompts 25 Business letter greeting 26 Chamber to bake in 28 Code words for ‘A’ 29 Light brown 32 ‘Sesame Street’ regular 33 Bowling alley button 38 Vicinity 40 Not too hot 41 Returned part of a theater ticket 44 Anguished canine cry 46 Peasant who is bound to work 49 Evening reception 54 Fermentation starter 55 Eurasian diving duck 56 Closing musical passage 57 Olive and canola 59 Smallest teams 60 Editor's mark 63 ___ few rounds (box) 64 Where boars board

Chai Time THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 1-2-2013

27

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

You do not like to de dependant on anyone. Minor health problems likely; take good care.

Some chores are likely to get delayed or will get completed only after making multiple efforts. Avoid anger and emotional decisions.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

You will express opinions with courage, unmindful of the consequences and you will not face any tricky situation. New thoughts in your mind will be given shape and implemented successfully. Friendship of VIP friends likely; it benefits you.

Controversial decisions taken in haste need to be avoided.

Friends and wellwishers will understand you better whereas others might misunderstand you, as time is not favourable.

However, the situation is likely to change soon for the better.

Comforts are set to increase.

Your creativity will reach greater heights and earn you appreciation. Your charisma is likely to improve, which will favour getting work done without putting much effort. A very strong financial position likely.

You will never give up till you reach the goals. All commitments by you will get fulfilled without any deviation. Your stock is set to pile up. Support from spouse and in-laws will cheer you. Delayed marriage talk will resume and progress well.

Your boldness is set to increase, which will help get work done with a decisively. Foes, too, are likely to become friends, which will come as a surprise to you. Written-off dues will be received, which will better your financial position.

You will never compromise on anything that falls short of your expectations. You also expect instant results for good and wise decisions taken by you.

Work that seemed difficult will get completed now successfully with lesser effort.

With unrelenting efforts, you are certain to complete even challenging assignments easily and without facing any hurdles.

A foreign trip that did not materialise since long will become a reality. Also, the purpose of the trip will be successful.

You will be able to attract all with your sweet talk and proper approach. Expenses might go beyond expectation, which might erode your savings too.

Minor misunderstanding between couples likely. Drive carefully as a minor accident likely.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Ace of Wands – Use creative ideas that come to mind today. Make them a reality by putting them into action. They will click, thanks to your faith and enthusiasm.

LEO:

The Devil – You’re tempted to overeat, to indulge and push your body to do more than it can. Slow down; let the day pass without any excesses.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

King of Cups – Love is in the air. Your romantic partner is wooing you with flowers, candlelight dinners and all things nice. Go with the flow and have a good time.

SAGITTARIUS:

King of Pentacles – You gain through professional contacts. An unexpected pat on the back comes from a senior in your industry, which spurs you to do well.

TAURUS:

Seven of Cups – There’s confusion about your relationship with someone close to you. Expectations have to be set right and you decide how much to invest in it.

CANCER:

Knight of Cups – You’re feeling emotional today. But make sure you’re not trampling on someone else’s feelings because you are not able to see beyond yourself.

VIRGO:

Seven of Wands – Avoid conflict at all costs with your coworkers. Things might get difficult, especially when two or more colleagues are vying for the same position.

SCORPIO:

The High Priestess – Your significant other may be hiding something from you, only because he/she thinks knowing the whole truth may hurt you. Be patient.

CAPRICORN:

Five of Swords – If your planning has been logical, then you come of this difficult time unscathed. Still, expect obstacles to the most the well-laid plans.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Nine of Swords – Bad dreams may be making you feel restless. Fears and concerns are throwing up some images in your dreams that may also have the solutions.

NUMBER GAME

tacles – You’re searching for a solution that is easy to implement, and that which does not feel like a missing jigsaw puzzle piece. You get it!

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Queen of Pen-

POOCH CAFE

You are not ready to believe anything without proper evidence. You look matured and gain good worldly knowledge, which will help you handle problems wisely and lead a smooth life. Anger and emotional outbursts should be avoided.

for 1-2-2013

Four of Wands – You’re making a deeper commitment to an important relationship. It may be a marriage or a crucial business partnership. You feel more secure.

NON SEQUITUR

Health looks alright. All longpending wishes will get fulfilled. You will be invited by VIPs to take part in celebrations to take place at their homes.

Good events to take place at home, which will keep the family members cheerful.

SUDUKO

Defeats will not deter you from marching ahead but will make you stronger as you learn a lot from those disappointments.

Success is sure in the near future but that also will not go to your head which is appreciated by everyone.

Boggle SOCK BOOT SHOE SANDAL SNEAKER Vol: 2, No 195 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved.

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

28

Entertainment THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

THE BIGGER THE BETTER

CINE BYTES

THE EFFECTIVE

SUNORY DUTT feedback@postnoon.com

J

immy Shergill is perhaps one of the pioneers of ensemble casts, right from his debut film Maachis, to the Munna Bhai series and more recently A Wednesday and Saheb Biwi aur Gangster. Yet the intense actor actually has a fun side, just waiting to be humoured. He explains, “As an actor, I’m open to different roles, but would really like to do more lighthearted ones. I’ve done a few comedies early in my career, which were quite enjoyable. If I get the kind of comic roles that I want, I’ll definitely do it.”

But for this year, audiences will have to be content with seeing Jimmy straitjacketed into playing the cop (Special Chabbis and Rajdhani Express), a brooding aristocrat (Saheb Biwi aur Gangster Returns) and a renegade (Bullet Raja).

A significant part of the Punjabi film industry for almost a decade now, Jimmy recently also turned producer, promoting films from his homeland. The film Dharti, which he starred in and co-produced, received the rare honour of being the only Punjabi film to be screened at the International Film Festival of India in Goa last year.

Says Jimmy, “Over the past few years, I’ve done at least one Punjabi film per year. As a sardar, I feel duty-bound to do whatever I can to promote Punjabi films. It’s a passion; it’s never been about the money. I’ve seen the Punjabi film industry develop from scratch and am privileged to be a part of it. Since I’m also busy with my Hindi films and can’t do Punjabi films throughout the year, I decided to help tell stories for other people

TEAM PLAYER and boost new talent. Hence the establishment of Jimmy Shergill Productions. We’ve had some successful tie-ups with Eros Entertainment and are looking forward to many more films with them.”

His upcoming Punjabi film, Rangeelay releasing later in the year, opposite Neha Dhupia will be ‘a full on entertainer with songs, dance, action emotion drama, the works’.

When quizzed on his penchant for choosing ‘cops and robbers’, Jimmy laughs, “It’s what I get, and it’s what I like. As an actor you have to choose what’s best for you. If I feel the role is different and exciting, I go ahead with it. I’ve never been particular about solo roles. In fact I believe the bigger the cast, the more the characters and choices for the audience, especially when it's a good script and every personality shines through.”

He’s most often seen as part of an ensemble cast, yet Jimmy Shergill almost always stands out from the crowd with his acting chops.

Priyanka training hard to play Mary Kom

P

riyanka Chopra, who would be essaying the role of boxer and Olympic medalist Mary Kom, said she is leaving no stone unturned to get under the skin of the character. "I am training for it at the moment and it will take me a lot of time to come into shape. We will start shooting for the film from June onwards," Priyanka said.

IANS

Special Chabbis starring Jimmy Shergill, Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpai and Kajal Aggarwal releases February 8.

Stardom means nothing to me

D

espite numerous megahits in his filmography which spans over two decades in Hindi cinema, Shah Rukh Khan says stardom means nothing to him. "It means nothing to me. I work almost 18 hours a day. The biggest thing in life is to define the reason for your success because I don't know it. I think you are dishonest if you explain it because I can't pass it on to my daughter and son, nobody can," SRK said. PTI

Mohit and Udita tie the knot

D

irector Mohit Suri and actress Udita Goswami tied the knot on Tuesday evening at the Hare Rama Hare Krishna temple in a traditional Punjabi wedding attended by family and a few close friends from the film fraternity. Bollywood celebrities like Dia Mirza, Kangana Ranaut, Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh Bhatt, Anurag Basu, Jacqueline Fernandez, were present to bless the newly-weds.

IANS

sports

29

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

FRIDAY RACECARD

Vijays Conquer looks good Laxmansingh-trained Vijays Conquer, improved since his second in race number 165, can make amends in the RM Reddy Memorial Cup, the main event of Friday afternoon races at the Malakpet racecourse in the City.

1st Race: The RM Reddy Memorial Cup (about) 1200 Metres; Cat-I; Terms for horses, 4-year-olds and upward. 1-10pm 1 Alexander Square 57.5 (Netto) A Imran Khan 2 2 Kohinoor Mystic 57.5 (Vatsalya) Ravinder Singh 1 3 Vijays Conquer 56 (Laxman S) A M Tograllu 3 4 Genius Empress 52 (Fayaz) G Sai Vamshi 4 Selections: 1 Vijays Conquer 2 Alexander Square 2nd Race: The Perceived Value Plate ( Div-II) (about) 1400 Metre; Cat-II; Terms for Maidenhorses 3-year-olds only.140pm 1 Galiat 55 (Netto) A Imran Khan 2 Kohinoor Thunder 55 (Vatsalya) Ajit Kumar 3 Amicable Advisory 55 (Fayaz) Ravnder Singh 4 Golden Flash 53.5 (Prasad R) N Rawal 5 Graceland 53.5 (D’Silva) NS Parmar 6 Roma Rouge 53.5 (A Sharma) C Henrique 7 Trustful 53.5 (Satheesh) Deep Shanker 8 Whats Up 53.5 (Laxman S) Harinder Singh Selections: 1 Wahts Up 2 Graceland 3 Galiat

4 6 1 5 3 7 8 2

3rd Race: The Perceived Value Plate (Div-I) (about) 1400 Metres; Cat-II; Terms for Maiden horses, 3-year-olds only. 210pm 1 Equalizer 55 (Z Shaikh) Ch K Chary 3 2 Hometown Hero 55 (Prasad R) NRawal 2 3 Light Blue Sky 55 (S Abbas) A Imran Khan 1 4 Cold Smile 53.5 (Satheesh) Deep Shanker 4 5 Goldie 53.5 (D’Silva) NS Parmar 7 6 Kohinoor Punch 53.5 (Vatsalya) Ajit Kumar 6 7 Sincara 53.5 (Netto) Withdrawn 8 True Haven 53.5 (Fayaz) Ravinder Singh 5 Selections: 1 Equalizer 2 Hometown Hero 3 Light Blue Sky 4th Race: The Twin Star Plate (about) 1600 Metres-CategoryIII; A handicap for horses, 5-year-olds and upward, rated up to 50. 2-40pm 1 Airborne Magic 60 (A Sharma) J Vikas 1 2 Kohinoor Angel 58.5 (Vatsalya) Ravinder Singh 3 3 Spanish Conquest 58 (Deshmukh) A Joshi 6 4 Star Stiker 57 (Satheesh) K Anil 2 5 Lioness Heart 56.5 (Netto) Harinder Singh 5 6 Eloquence 51.5 (Netto) G Sai Vamshi 4 7 Enrapture 50.5 (S Abbas) Ch K Chary 7 Selections: 1 Airborne Magic 2 Spanish Conquest 3 Lioness Heart 5th Race: The Mir Mushtaq Ali Khan Memorial Cup (Div-I) (about) 1600 Metres; Cat-II. A handicap for horses, 4-yearolds and upward, rated up to 50. 3-10pm 1 Qinghuangdao 61.5 (A Sharma) C Henrique 2 Toli Toli Toli 61.5 (N Rao) P Trevor 3 Westminister 61.5 (Vatsalya) NRawal 4 Cristiano 58 (S Abbas) A Imran Khan 5 Ponte Verdi 57.5 (D’Silva) NS Parmar

5 9 2 4 7

Laguna Beach impresses

7th Race: The Mir Mushtaqu Ali Khan Memorial Cup (div-II) (about) 1600 Metres,Cat-II. Handicap for horses, 5-year-olds and upward, rated up to 75. 4-25pm 1 Don Valentino 61.5 (S Abbas) A Imran Khan 4 2 El Paso 61.5 (D’Silva) S Nayak 9 3 Wedding Gift 60.6 (N Rao) P Trevor 8 4 Suchiman 59 (A Sharma) C Henrique 7 5 Aarohan 54.5 (Prasad R) A Ramana 1 6 Audaciousd 54 (Netto) Harinder Singh 3 7 Combined Force 53 (Srinivas R) AM Tograllu 5 8 Sanjaa 50.5 (Hassan) AA Asbar 6 9 Kansas City Mac 49.5 (Vatsalya) Ajit Kumar 2 Selections: 1 DonValentino 2 Audacious 3 El Paso

HYDERABAD: Laguna Beach, Decathlon, Magical Spell and Pacific Star ran impressively when horses were exercised here this morning.

Sand track 800 metres Commanding Heights (N Rawal) 56, 600/42 Moved well. Lady of Grace (Chary) 57, 600/44 Urged.

Street Magic (K Alam) 57, 600/43 Moved well.

Rajkumari (Sreekant) 1-1, 600/46 Easy. Asta La Vista Babe (rb) 1-0, 600/45 Moved freely. Kohinoor Wish (Ravinder Singh) 59, 600/43 Moved on the bit. Surya Lakshmi (Ravinder Singh) 56, 600/41.5 Pleased. Flowers of Music (Ramana) 1-1, 600/47 Easy. Lucy Diamond (Ravinder Singh) 58, 600/42.5 Moved well. 3y. Mull of Kintyre /Serious Trouble (Parmar) Midnight In Paris (K Alam) 58, 600/44 Former finished in front.

Sand track 1000 metres Magical Spell (Joshi) 1-11.5, 800/56.5, 600/43 Moved well. Ashleen State (app) Laguna Beach (Joshi) 1-11.5, 800/56, 600/41 They finished together. Pacific Star (Joshi) 1-11.5, 800/55.5, 600/42 Pleased.

Sand track 1200 metres Decathlon (Joshi) 1-27.5, 10001-9, 800/53.5, 600/40 Pushed in the last part. Specialist (Ravinder Singh) 1-29, 1000/1-13.5, 800/57.5, 600/43 Moved on the bit.

6 Aneres 54 (Srinivas R) A M Tograllu 7 Star Prospect 54 (Prasad R) Ajit Kumar 8 Handsome Hunk 51.5 (Satheesh) P Venkat 9 Devils Advocate 50 (A Sharma) J Vikas Selections: 1 Qinghuangdao 2 Devils Advocate 3 Handsome Hunk

8th Race: the Jockey KavanKariappa Memorial Cup (Div-II) (about) 1000 Metres; Cat-III. A handicap for horses, 4-yearolds and upward, rated up to 50. 5-00pm 1 Kohinoor Destiny 61.5 (Vatsalya) Ajit Kumar 8 2 Yours Truly 57.5 (H’ibulla) B Dileep 1 3 Caladium 55 (A Sharma) J Vikas 2 4 Oscar Royal 55 (LaxanS) Deep Shanker 4 5 Smashing Beauty 55 (Kassam) A M Tograllu 10 6 Royal Sword 54 (KVSrinivas) A Ramana 3 7 Sprint Saloni 53 (Netto) G Sai Vamshi 5 8 Grenada 50.5 (D’Silva) N S Parmar 7 9 KomoKomo Komo 50.5 (Sequeria) Khurshad Alam 9 10 Bold Attack 49.5 (Prasad R) N Rawal 6 Selections: 1 Sprint Saloni 2 Grenada 3 Smashing Beauty

3 6 1 8

6th Race: The Jockey KavanKariappa MemorialCup (Div-I) (about) 1000 Metres; Cat-III. A handicap for horses, 4-yearolds and upward, rated up to 50. 3-50pm 1 Fopping 61.5 (Srinagesh) NitinSingh 5 2 Montego Bay 61 (Prasad R) A Ramana 4 3 Kathakali 56.5 (A Sharma) J Vikas 1 4 Arudra 55 (Silvester) C Henrique 7 5 Stolen Date 55 (Netto) A ImranKhan 3 6 Ceremonious 54 (Netto) S Sreekant 10 7 Over Taker 54 (Kassam) AM Tograllu 9 8 Rob Roy 53 (Srinivas R) G Sai Vamshi 6 9 August Kranti 51.5 (Laxman S) Deep Shanker 2 10 Deccan Queen 50 (Prasad R) N Rawal 8 Selections: 1 Kathakali 2 Stolen Date 3 August Kranti

HOCKEY INDIA LEAGUE

Delhi Waveriders’ Gurvinder Chandi (L) controls the ball during their Hockey India League match against Ranchi Rhinos in New Delhi on Wednesday.

PTI/ KAMAL SINGH

9th Race: The Ballerian Star Plate (Div-I (about) 1800 Metres; Cat-III; A handicap for horses, 4-year-olds and upward, rated up to 25.

1 Bernabeu 60 (A Sharma) P Trevor 1 2 Jaz Elle 60 (Z Shaikh) A Imran Khan 8 3 Tripple Eight 60 (Z Shaikh) S Nayak 3 4 Dartos The Muscle 56.5 (Silvester) P Venkat 6 5 Classic Wish 56 (Prasad R) NRawal 4 6 Khalis Gold 56 (Hassan) M Mark 10 7 India One 54.5 (H’ibulla) B Dileep 9 8 Kohinoor Adhira 52.5 (Vatsalya) Ravinder Singh 7 9 Anagalekha 51.5 (A Sharma) C Henrique 5 10 Golden Star 50.5 (Fayaz) A Ramana 2 Selections: 1 Bernabeu 2 Dartos The Muscle 3 Anangalekha

Days Best: Equalizer n n n n n n

Jackpot Race Nos: 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 1st Treble Race Nos: 1, 2 and 3 2nd Treble Race Nos: 4, 5 and 6 3rd Treble Race Nos: 7, 8 and 9 Tanala Pool will operate on all races where there are five or more starters.

No false rails

LEAGUE CRICKET

AP down Kerala in close contest

National deaf Twenty20 cricket championship Andhra Pradesh 134 for 7 in 20 overs (R Paul 27, T Yadagiri 27, VP Shoukath 2 for 17, A Jabbar 2 for 19) bt Kerala 124 (Baby Joy 31, T Yadagiri 3 for 14, R Paul 2 for 22) Karnataka 82 in 14.2 overs (D Nayal 2 for 29, Vinay Mishra 3 for 19) lost to Delhi 83 for 3 in 11.2 overs (Manish Kumar 26no) Madhya Pradesh 124 all out in 18.2 overs (Sunny Kacher 42, Rakesh Raj 3 for 27, M Mandal 4 for 22) bt Jharkhand 112 for 9 in 20

overs (A Kumar 44, G Mahanta 2 for 21, Ratan lal 2 for 16) Odisha 125 for 8 in 20 overs (S Vijay Kumar 2 for 18, C Vijayan 2 for 23) bt Tamilnadu 113 all out in 18.4 overs (Abhilash 34, Sagar Kanta 2 for 4, Sashi Bhushan 2 for 28, Rabindra 2 for 19, Faiyaz Ahmed 2 for 16) Bihar 100 all out in 18.3 overs (Dheeraj Kalra 6 for 16) lost to Haryana 101 for 1 in 14.5 overs (Anil Kumar 27, L Kumar 40) Pondicherey 77 all out in 13.5 overs (Sharif Khan 2 for 17, P

Pradeep 2 for 11, Shashikanth 2 for 13, Santosh M 2 for 19) lost to Maharastra 78 for 4 in 11 overs (Dinesh Thakare 25) HCA under-25 inter-district T20 cricket tournament Khammam 80 for 9 in 20 overs (Sameer 3 for 15) lost to Mahboobnagar 81 for 2 in 13.1 overs (Neelkamal 32no) Warangal 140 for 4 in 20 overs (Vishal 31,Md Farooq 37no) lost to Adilabad 141 for 6 in 19.3 overs (Ramesh 52, Rakesh Goud 33, Md Farooq 3 for 12)

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

DAVIS CUP PREVIEW

Djokovic lights up contest DAVE JAMES Agence France-Presse PARIS: World number one Novak Djokovic goes straight back into action in the Davis Cup this weekend while his Grand Slam rivals skip the opening round.

The Serb, who collected his fourth Melbourne title and sixth career major with victory over Andy Murray on Sunday, just about catches his breath before leading his country into their World Group opener against Belgium. However, the 113-yearold competition is not the powerful draw card it once was.

World number two Roger Federer, fourth-ranked David Ferrer and world number seven Juan Martin del Potro have opted not to turn out for Switzer-

ARMSTRONG SCANDAL

‘Dope amnesty only way to save cycling’ PARIS: Lance Armstrong has said that a truth and reconciliation commission is the only way for cycling to move on from its drug-addled past, warning that doing nothing would consign the sport to stagnation and decline.

The 41-year-old, who this month admitted that he used a cocktail of banned drugs to win the Tour de France a record seven times, told cyclingnews.com in emailed comments: “It’s (a commission) not the best way, it’s the only way. “As much as I’m in the eye of the storm, this is not about one man, one team, one director. This is about cycling and to be frank it’s about ALL endurance sports. Publicly lynching one man and his team will not solve this problem."

Armstrong was last year banned from cycling for life and stripped of his career record back to August 1998 after a damning US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) dossier accused him of orchestrating the biggest doping programme in the history of sport. The revelations of his use of performance-enhancing drugs have rocked the sport, with the International Cycling Union (UCI) governing body accused of turning a blind eye to his activities and mass doping within the peloton.

The UCI is currently at loggerheads with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and USADA over the creation of a truth and reconciliation commission and in particular an amnesty for drug cheats.

Armstrong claimed that he suggested setting up a commission to the UCI president “many months ago” but the idea was rejected.

The Texan rider also called him “pathetic” and claimed he was protecting himself.Without an amnesty “no one will show up", Armstrong added, claiming that no generation of professional riders was exempt from doping, but WADA should be in charge of the process and “the UCI has no place at the table".

AFP

land, Spain and Argentina respectively.

Murray’s British team does not have a match while 11-time major winner Rafael Nadal also misses Spain’s trip to Canada as he completes his recovery from the knee injury which has kept him off court for seven months.

Djokovic and ninth-ranked compatriot Janko Tipsarevic, who spearheaded Serbia’s first Davis Cup title in 2010, should help their country prevail over Belgium in Charleroi. The home side’s top player David Goffin is ranked only at 50.

“The Davis Cup title came in the right moment. I believe that feeling of sharing one of the biggest titles in our sport with my team for our country, in our country, was one of the best feelings I experienced as a player,"

said Djokovic, who skipped the tournament in 2012.

His absence last year was felt as Serbia were defeated in the quarter-finals by eventual champions Czech Republic.

Spain, winners three times in the last five years, and runnersup to the Czechs in 2012, travel to Vancouver without their top players — Nadal, Ferrer and Almagro, who has a leg injury.

Almagro has been replaced by world number 85 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, which should mean Marcel Granollers, the world 34, and 51st-ranked Albert Ramos, will play singles.

Canada’s top player is bigserving Milos Raonic, who stands at 15 while, in the shape of Daniel Nestor, they boast one of the world’s most accomplished doubles players.

Hewitt bids to shine for Oz

TAIPEI: Bernard Tomic is the bright hope of Australian tennis but old warhorse Lleyton Hewitt will lead the charge as the country tries to find its way out of the Davis Cup wilderness, starting this week.

Tomic, Australia’s topranked player, is riding high after winning his first title this month, but the 20-year-old world number 43 has been snubbed for this week’s Asia/Oceania Group I tie with Taiwan over concerns about his behaviour.

The move by captain Pat Rafter looked prescient this week when Tomic

was caught speeding in his yellow Ferrari, the latest in a series of run-ins with police, and looked set to lose his licence.

Tomic’s enforced unavailability leaves former world number one Hew-

itt, aged 31 and back in form after a series of injury problems, as the spearhead as Australia seek to return to the World Group for the first time since 2007.

Marinko Matosevic, Matthew Ebden and Chris Guccione are the others who will line up in Kaohsiung from Friday.

Australia should have few problems against a Taiwan side missing Lu Yen-hsun. Chen Ti and Yang Tsung-hua are both ranked outside the top 200, Lee Hsin-han is at 819 and Peng Hsien-yin is way down at 1,121.

AFP

Group ties Davis Cup World Group first round ties from Friday until Sunday: At Vancouver – hardcourt Canada v Spain At Turin – clay court Italy v Croatia At Charleroi – clay court Belgium v Serbia At Jacksonville – hardcourt USA v Brazil At Rouen – hardcourt France v Israel At Buenos Aires – clay (outdoors) Argentina v Germany At Astana – clay Kazakhstan v Austria At Geneva – hard Switzerland v Czech Republic

WTA PATTAYA OPEN Rain washes out Pattaya action PATTAYA: Heavy rain washed out all of Wednesday’s schedule at the WTA Pattaya Open leaving top seed Ana Ivanovic still to complete her first round match.

The Serb star was unable to get on court to finish her opener against Ayumi Morita which had been halted by rain on Tuesday with her Japanese opponent leading 6-3, 5-7, 2-1.

Russian seventh seed Elena Vesnina was also in limbo. She had led Greece’s Eleni Daniilidou 6-2, 1-0 when her match was also suspended on Tuesday.

PARIS OPEN

Bartoli, Kvitova advance MARTYN WOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS: French number one Marion Bartoli celebrated her recall to the country’s Fed Cup team on Wednesday with a battling 7-5, 6-1 second-round win over American Christina McHale at the Paris Open while Petra Kvitova defeated Swiss qualifier Stefanie Voegele in straight sets.

Earlier in the day captain Amelie Mauresmo ended Bartoli’s nine-year exile from the international

stage by naming her in a five-player squad to face Germany in next month’s World Group II first-round tie in Limoges.

The world number 10 will be joined in the French team by Alize Cornet, Kristina Mladenovic, Virginie Razzano and Pauline Parmentier.

“I’m very happy to return to Fed Cup," Bartoli said in her post-match news conference, citing her relationship with two-time Grand Slam champion Mauresmo as a factor in her return.

“The communication was always there with Amelie, it happened bit by bit.

“I talked a lot with my dad. He supported me in my project and in my decision because he only wants

me to be happy," added Bartoli, whose long-term absence from the team stemmed from her insistence on having her father and coach, Walter, by her side during the competition, a demand that contravened team rules.

Bartoli, runner-up to Angelique Kerber in last year’s final, was forced to call upon her fighting spirit in the first set in the French capital, fending off four set points on McHale’s serve at 4-5 before eventually breaking to level.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

AUSTRALIA’S TOUR OF INDIA

Oz ready to spin India Australia will take four spin-bowling options for their four-Test tour, with Maxwell and Steve Smith named alongside Lyon and Xavier Doherty.

SYDNEY: Australia will take four spin-bowling options to India for their four-Test tour, with Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith named Thursday in a 17man squad alongside Nathan Lyon and Xavier Doherty.

The first Test starts on February 22 and selector John Inverarity said they would be ready for all conditions, with five pace bowlers also included.

“This squad has the flexibility that will be required for the varying conditions expected in India, and it will provide valuable experience to a number of young players,” he said.

“The squad includes a spin bowling all-rounder in Maxwell and a medium-fast all-rounder in Moises Henriques.

“In aiming for more depth in

Lillee brought in to help quicks SYDNEY: Dennis Lillee has been drafted in to provide guidance and coaching advice to the national side ahead of their tour to India, Cricket Australia said on Thursday.Lillee will also act as a mentor to the country’s up-and-coming quicks, but will not travel extensively abroad with the team. “He will work closely with full-time bowling coach Ali de Winter as Australia prepare to tackle India in a Test series next month” CA said.

a bowling attack, the squad would allow for three pace bowlers, a leading spinner and Maxwell, or two pace bowlers, the two spinners and Henriques. These are two of the options.” Doherty earned selection after recent good form and in the the absence of injured leftarm orthodox spinners Michael Beer and Jon Holland.

“We certainly feel he is much improved in the longer format of the game since he made his Test debut in 2010-11 against England,” Inverarity said of Doherty.

“He adds further flexibility to the squad, depending on the conditions.” The pace attack is led by Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson and Jackson Bird. AFP

Warne calls for new Oz coach SYDNEY: Test great Shane Warne on Wednesday called on Australia coach Mickey Arthur to be replaced by former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming days after branding the nation's cricket chiefs "muppets".

The outspoken leg-spinner, who said he was "frustrated on many levels at present", praised Fleming as "the best opposition captain we played against" on his website www.shanewarne.com.

"I believe he brings a lot to the table, a calmness, an intelligent understanding of the game and a very good cricket brain.

He's a good communicator too as well as a good leader of men."

Warne, who also wants former Rod Marsh as chairman of selectors, said the current Australian set-up was not working as the players gear up for two Ashes series against England.

ICC WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

ICC lauds OCA effort in hosting WC CUTTACK: After Pakistan team management’s appreciation, ICC too has praised the hospitality and facilities provided by Odisha Cricket Association to Pakistan players, who are staying inside Barabati stadium premises here for the Women’s World Cup to be played here and in Mumbai.

The ICC endorsed the decision of the OCA to allow the Pakistan players to stay at the Club House located inside the stadium premises.

“The facilities provided by the host association are wonderful and in accordance to ICC

requirement. Like the Pakistan team management, the ICC is also appreciating the arrangements here,” an ICC spokesperson said today.

According to OCA secretary Asirbad Behera, two senior functionaries of ICC — CEO David Richardson and David Horney — will visit Cuttack during the matches. Some senior members of the BCCI will also be here to oversee arrangements for the Women’s World Cup matches being hosted by OCA. While the remaining teams of the World Cup — New Zealand,

AUSTRALIA VS WEST INDIES Warner out of first two ODIs against Windies

PERTH, AUSTRALIA: David Warner fractured his left thumb and been withdrawn from Australia’s first two one-day internationals against the West

Indies on Friday and Sunday.

Warner will be re-assessed next week ahead of the four-Test tour of India CA said.

Usman Khawaja has been brought into the one-day squad to replace Warner who could still play in the final three ODIs. “David Warner was struck on the left thumb by Mitchell Johnson in the nets,” said CA physiotherapist Kevin Sims.

“While the fracture is very minor, it is not worth taking any risks. The injury will keep him out of at least the next two ... matches against West Indies.”

India women’s cricket team members get ready for a net session ahead of the ICC World Cup 2013 in Mumbai on Wednesday.

AFP/INDRANIL MUKHERJEE

South Africa and Australia — are staying in a hotel in Bhubaneswar, the Pakistan team will continue to stay in the OCA Club till the end of their group

matches on February 15.

The OCA Club has 17 luxurious double-bed rooms, 15 of which are used by the Pakistan team. Similarly, the club is hav-

ing a swimming pool and a sophisticated gym which are used by the Pakistan players.

Similarly, a team of around 15 selected cooks of the OCA cafeteria are in charge of Pakistan players’ provisions, serving them their favourite dishes.

“We are determined to give the best facility to our guests and see to it that the Pakistan players go from here highly satisfied,” said OCA secretary Asirbad Behera, adding that if Pakistan reach the final of the tournament, OCA would be delighted to host that match here.

AFP

PAKISTAN IN SOUTH AFRICA

Pak face SA under injury cloud COLIN BRYDEN Agence France-Presse

JOHANNESBURG: Pakistan will face top-ranked South Africa in the first Test at the Wanderers from Friday destabilised by the loss of rock-solid opener Taufeeq Umar.

The 31-year-old Umar, who has played 43 Tests and scored 2,943 runs, was pulled out of the tour after suffering a muscle injury in his shin.

Umar and regular partner Mohammad Hafeez had opened together in 18 consecutive Tests, a record for Pakistan, and the tourists were keen for

the sequence to continue against South Africa’s formidable fast bowling attack on a pitch likely to offer pace and bounce.

With Umar out, Nasir Jamshed is expected to make his Test debut after scoring halfcenturies in the warm-up game against a South African Invitation XI which ended in a draw at East London on Monday.

Pakistan’s batting could be the key to the three-match series after South Africa’s bowlers swept aside the challenge of New Zealand in two Test matches earlier this month. AFP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

sports

MILAN CAN REVIVE ME, SAYS BALOTELLI

Italian striker Mario Balotelli said on Wednesday that he has joined AC Milan in an attempt to revive his career after a roller-coaster spell with English champions Manchester City.

SPANISH CUP

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Real Madrid scrape through with draw Barca had the lead at the Bernabeu in a game they looked to be running away with until the leveller.

DERMOT LEDWITH Agence France-Presse

evening, clearing off the line in the first-half and making countless other defensive interventions in an entertaining encounter.

With the second-leg almost a month away, Madrid, who trail Barca by 15 points in the league, will be relieved to avoid defeat and will now look to the Champions League last-16 firstleg against Manchester United in the same stadium in less than two weeks.

Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka highlighted Varane’s

MADRID: French youngster Raphael Varane (right) headed in a late goal as Real Madrid salvaged a 1-1 draw against bitter rivals Barcelona in their Spanish Cup semi-final first-leg clash on Wednesday.

Cesc Fabregas had given Barca the lead at the Santiago Bernabeu in a game his side looked to be running away with until the leveller.

Varane was Madrid’s star all

FRENCH CUP

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Man United stretch lead, as Arsenal salvage pride Arsenal also came from 2-0 behind at home to Liverpool to force a 2-2 draw that did little for the top four ambitions of either club.

JULIAN GUYER Agence France-Presse LONDON: Wayne Rooney’s (above, far right) double helped Manchester United restore their seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League as they came from behind to beat Southampton 2-1 at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Chelsea blew a 2-0 lead as Reading (above centre) climbed out of the bottom three after ‘supersub’ Adam Le Fondre scored two late goals in

a 2-2 draw.

Arsenal (above far left) also came from 2-0 behind at home to Liverpool to force a 2-2 draw that did little for the top four ambitions of either club.

Tottenham remained fourth thanks to Gareth Bale’s superb leveller in a 1-1 draw away to Norwich. The Canaries, fresh from the embarrassment of being knocked out of the FA Cup by non-league Luton, went ahead when Wes Hoolahan turned in Anthony Pilkington’s 32nd minute cross.

performance.

“He had a great game, after saving us a few times he gets the equaliser and it will do him good, he is only 19 and this will be good for his progress with us,” he said.

With Barca coach Tito Vilanova in New York receiving further cancer treatment, assistant Jordi Roura took the reins and thought his side could have won it. “We had lots of chances to increase our lead but a draw is always a good result in Madrid,” he said.

But Wales winger Bale struck in the 80th minute when he collected the ball inside his own half, ran at the defence and curled a shot across the goalkeeper.

Fifth-placed Everton closed to within a point of Tottenham after a 2-1 win at home to West Bromwich Albion.

Leighton Baines gave Everton a 29th minute lead at Goodison Park when his welltimed run saw him found by Leon Osman before the leftback lashed a shot into the roof

of the net from 16 yards.

Baines then doubled Everton’s lead with a penalty on the stroke of half-time after Claudio Yacob brought down Victor Anichebe in the box.

Shane Long pulled a goal back for the Baggies with a 65th minute header. Meanwhile Fulham beat London rivals West Ham 3-1 at Craven Cottage.

Bulgaria striker Dimitar Berbatov celebrated his 32nd birthday by opening the scoring for Fulham with a 10th minute header.

Marseille set up PSG clash The Marseille versus PSG is scheduled to take place just days after the clubs meet in Ligue 1 on February 24.

PARIS: Marseille set up a clash with bitter rivals Paris SaintGermain in the last 16 of the French Cup after edging out third-tier Rouen on Wednesday thanks to a goal that should never have stood.

Elie Baup’s side were already leading in Normandy courtesy of a Mathieu Valbuena free-kick when they were incorrectly awarded a second goal.

A hanging cross from the right wing from recent signing Modou Sougou was spilled on the line by Rouen ‘keeper Theo Defourny. He appeared to stop the whole ball from crossing the line, but the officials thought otherwise and gifted the Ligue 1 club a 2-0 lead.

Television replays suggested that Defourny was hard done by and the goalkeeper was booked for protesting the decision.

Marseille will now face PSG in the next round, with the tie scheduled to take place just days after the clubs meet in Ligue 1 at the Parc des Princes on February 24. The sides also met in the last 16 of the League Cup earlier this season, with PSG winning 2-0.