Postnoon E-Paper for 04 December 2012 by Scribble Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012 HYDERABAD

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

32 PAGES

WEATHER: MOSTLY CLEAR; 22°C

TAP WATER CHEMICAL COULD BE GIVING YOU FOOD ALLERGIES Food allergies are rearing their head worldwide because of pesticides and chemicals in tap water, says an immunological research. The study reported that high levels of dichlorophenols, a chemical used in pesticides and to chlorinate water, are tied to food allergies when found in the human body. Symptoms can range from a mild rash to a life-threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis.

P20

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER N SHIVA KUMAR

HEF AND HIS WOMEN

After an on-again-offagain relationship, rumour has it that Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris are finally tying the knot. We take a look at the women who have rocked the Mansion.

P28

NEET OR EAMCET?

STUDENTS A PUZZLED LOT

The CBSE has started accepting online applications for the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (Neet) for the academic year 2013-14 while the AP aspirants, given a false sense of security by the State authorities that the Eamcet will be extended for one more year, don’t know what to do.

TEAM RAHUL STALLS

JAGAN SHIFT REPORT ON P3

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

city events

NATIONAL STORY WRITING CONTEST

Annapurna International School of Film and Media (AISFM), has launched the preliminary phase of All India National Level Story writing Competition. Entries ( word limit 300-500) should be sent before December 10 to www.script2screen.in. It is open for both UG and graduate students.

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

23°C

18°C

23°C

30°C

A mix of cloudy and clear skies

A mix of cloudy and clear skies.

A mix of cloud and sun

New Delhi Mumbai Max 25 Max 33 Min 12 Min 22 Mix of sun and cloud

Chennai Max 29 Min 25

Sunny

Bangalore Max 27 Min 20

Scattered thunderstorms

Mix of sun and cloud

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES Célimène and the Cardinal Alliance Française of Hyderabad & Qadir Ali Baig theatre foundation present Célimène and the Cardinal by Jacques Rampal. Where: Nift Auditorium, Madhapur When: December 11, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 2355 4485

ART Delineation Haris Srinivas's art will be on display at this exhibition at Taj Deccan. Where: Taj Deccan, Road No. 1 , Banjara Hills When: Ongoing, 11am - 10pm Contact: (040) 6652 3939

Kaifi Aur Main Hindi play by Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar. Where: Shilpa Kala Vedika Madhapur, Hitech City When: 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 2311 2707

Photo exhibition A wildlife photography exhibition by Suheim Sheikh will be held from December 8 onwards. It will be inaugurated on December 7 at 6pm. Where: Goethe Zentrum, Banjara Hills, Rd No 3 When: December 8 onwards, from 9.30am Contact: (040) 2335 0473 Tales of an idyllic world Alliance Française, Hyderabad, is hosting an exhibition of paintings: Tales of an Idyllic World by Bala Abhiram. The exhibition is on till December 14. The exhibition will be inaugurated on December 6. Where: Alliance Francaise, Banjara Hills, Rd No 3 When: December 7 onwards from 9am Contact: (040) 2355 4485 Po10tial A show of recent works by various artistes such as Anand Bekwan, Jinson Jospeh, , Maredu Ramu, Nataraj Saraf etc is being held

KARTHIKA CELEBRATIONS: On the occasion of Karthika Mausam, families get together at Sanjeevaiah Park. The M ANIL KUMAR eighth lunar month starts with the new moon in November and is considered auspicious by Hindus. Where: Kalakrithi, Banjara Hills, Rd No 10 When: Ongoing, 11am onwards Contact: (040) 6656 4466

Banjara Hills, Rd No 12 When: Ongoing, 11.30am onwards Contact: 98499 68797

Inertia Photography Photography exhibition on India by Lona Lohan till December 27 Where: Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad When: 11am-7pm Contact: (040) 6625 0000 Art exhibition Symmetrics in the unknown, an exhibition of abstract paintings by 10 artists is being held at Iconart Gallery. The exhibition will be on till December 6 Where: Iconart Gallery,

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

DINING Khamma ghani sa The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace is hosting a Rajasthani food festival from November 23 to December 7 at Hitec City. Where: Westin, Hitec City When: Ongoing, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 6767 6838 Awadhi Food Festival Awadh, known for it's fabulous cuisine, dates back to the time of Nawabs. The food festival is on till

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

December 5. Where: Taj Krishna, Road No.1, Banjara Hills When: Ongoing 12pm - 11pm Contact: (040) 6666 2323

SHOWS The last Christmas The last Christmas is a large-scale production featuring live singing, dancing and acting, is the heartwarming story of Retired Gen Roy who recounts his seven favourite Christmases. Where: RNR auditorium, Banjara Hills, Rd No 12 When: December 8, 9 and 10 Contact: (040) 6515 7558

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

Entrepreneurship India Various events hosted by students of ICFAI Business School from December 1 to 6. .Where: ICFAI Business School Punjagutta When: Ongoing, Contact: 9848529385 Interactive session Manthan is hosting an interactive session on The Sacred and the Profane: Living and Dying with Blasphemy Laws with Babu Gogineni humanist, rationalist, activist. the meeting is open to all and is free-of-cost. Where: Saptaparni, Banjara Hills Rd No 8 When: December 6, 6.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 2335 5118

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

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

City

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

WILL YSRC MERGE WITH THE CONGRESS BEFORE THE ELECTIONS? 87% 13%

YES (A) NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

WILL THE T-CONGRESS BREAK AWAY FROM THE PARTY BEFORE THE POLLS? A)

YES

To vote, visit www.postnoon.com

CRIME

Team Rahul stalls Jagan shift YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has been lodged at Chanchalguda jail for the last six months. All his efforts to gain bail have failed... so far. Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com

Political observers see in the ED move a ploy to scare Jagan and coerce him into submitting to the diktats of the Congress.

he YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is currently lodged at Chanchalguda jail in a CBI case on disproportionate assets case, has completed six months. All his efforts to gain bail had so far been in vain as the Supreme Court too had declined to intervene. By all accounts, he may have to spend another three months in prison if the stance explained by the CBI official AP Singh is of any indication. The Central agency has sent request notices to six countries on Jagan’s investments and is awaiting their response. Only after perusing their responses could CBI take a stand on recommending bail for Jagan. Things turned uncommonly

sour for the YSRC leader as the CBI had presented a very strong case against him initially. Moreover, the enforcement directorate too later came to scene and questioned him on undeclared assets and investments. It is probable that Jagan may be shifted to a Delhi jail to facilitate the ED probe. Authorities are learnt to be preparing to seek a transit warrant for him. However, the Rahul Gandhi brigade which is supposedly assessing ‘public opinion’ on the advisability of cooperat-

CRIME

Fight over `3,000 gets man killed

ing with the YSRC (even merger) has slowed down the process of shifting. However, political observers see in the ED move a political ploy to scare Jagan and coerce him into submitting to the diktats of the Congress leadership. Rahul will appear to be the champion of peace and welcome the ‘prodigal son’ back to home. Though Jagan is in jail, sources say he is enjoying uncommon freedom of meeting party leaders, discussing party matters, holding parleys with visitors and using mobile phones. His mother Vijayamma regularly visits the prison to receive instructions on the party works. They discuss the daily progress of Sharmila who is on a padayatra in the lines of Chandrababu Naidu to shore up support for the YSRC.

ON HIGH ALERT

A young quarry worker murders friend after suspecting him of theft.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

ohd Sajjad, a young quarry worker from West Bengal, was allegedly murdered by his close friend Javed Khan two days ago. The victim a 25-year-old came to the City a few months ago in search of job. He landed a work as stone polisher and stated at Raidurg area where another man namely Javed Khan, who too

hails from West Bengal, became chummy with Sajjad and they lived together. Few days back Sajjad had lost `3,000 and suspected Javed and asked him to return the money. But Javed insisted he was innocent and quarrel broke out that ended in raining blows on each other. At the end Javed is said to have whipped out a knife he had on his person and stabbed Sajjad who died on the spot. Raidurg police have taken Javed into custody for murder.

The existing security in the Old City due to the ongoing communal clashes has been further beefed up in view of the Babri Masjid demolition day. N SHIVA KUMAR

city TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

JUSTICE

LAST YEAR... HERE No awareness about CPR

Lok Ayukta lends a helping hand to whistle-blowers

ast year we had reported how a programme promoting CPR and emergency care by a leading City hospital had revealed that most of the denizens were unaware about basic CPR techniques. CPR or Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an emergency technique that can help save many lives. People of any age group can be trained in the same.

An impressive track record of the ITMD’S efforts has been bolstered by the Lok Ayukta’s favourable decisions towards the community.

DECEMBER 4, 2011

NUMEROLOGY

`1,200

is the amount that each mother gets as incentive at government hospital for delivering a baby and free ambulance service, even for going to a referral hospital as part of the scheme.

Universities should motivate the staff to take up research by providing incentives such as in US universities where promotions are based on research output. Samuel P, ex-chief IIM-A See page 8,9

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

Tackling the menace of mother and infant mortality. With the aim of bringing down the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and infant mortality ratio, the government is launching Maarpu.

State medical students left in a lurch. With applications for Neet being announced, AP students are left confused as to what to do as they were made to believe Eamcet will continue for another year.

Lok Ayukta helps tackle grievances effectively. The RTI activist community is extremely happy with the way in which the Lok Ayukta is solving its grievances.

Research as an aid to help teachers develop The system of research should be promoted among today’s academicians as it not only helps enhance their knowledge but would be a great help to society.

T-supporters to get together and form a new party? As the Congress continues to delay Telangana, T-Congress mantris look to form a new party.

RAHUL RAMAKRISHNA rahul.r@postnoon.com

yderabad’s RTI activist community now finds support from the Lok Ayukta. An impressive track record of the community’s efforts has been bolstered by the Lok Ayukta’s favourable decisions towards the community, sparking more hopes among them. When members of ITMD (It’s Time to Make a Difference) filed RTI applications about the pathetic state of bus shelters in the City, the matter was taken up with the Lok Ayukta court. The then presiding judge, Justice Ananda Reddy, saw a lot of merit in the public cause that the ITMD tried to espouse. Bus shelters contracted to private agencies were being misused and the public got no benefits. “When we filed the RTI with all the details, we saw a lot of results after the Lok Ayukta session. The court pulled up the GHMC and ordered that the corporation fine the agencies to whom the tender contracts were given. But the agency refused to accept and filed a case in the High Court. This matter will be taken up in the next hearing session on December 10,” says Dileep Kumar, member of ITMD. Says Rahul Buddala, the new leader of the ITMD, “The hearings were quicker like a fast track court. The judges too favoured our petitions after a thorough examination of the scenario. We will wait and see how the newly appointed judge, Subhashan Reddy deals with it. We have heard that he is of a keen mind and has a good track record.” For ITMD, there are several

Newly appointed Lok Ayukta Judge Subhashan Reddy takes over from Ananda Reddy. important cases waiting to be heard in the upcoming session. Some among them are very interesting cases of government negligence. “On December 10, we will be attending hearings for three main cases, like the pending case of bus shelters, fish market relocation in the city, the problem of overhead banners and posters in Ameerpet, a purposeless construction by the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh in Gachibowli,” says Dileep. GHMC commissioner MT Krishna Babu is expected to attend some of the sessions as per the Lok Ayukta’s requests. It must be noted that ITMD’s efforts have not gone in vain, especially in the bus shelter case. A majority of bus shelters in the Mehdipatnam and Gachibowli route have been revamped and given a facelift after the group’s RTI initiative.

Some important cases to be taken up on December 10: n As part of preparations for CoP-11, overhead banners in Ameerpet had been completely removed. However, right after the conference, the posters were back in place. This issue is expected to be addressed. n The Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh had constructed a 15 floor tower for an international games meet. Back then, the tower was left unfinished as only nine floors were completed and given power and water connections. The purpose of the tower was meant for housing players. However, to date the building lies neglected and unfinished. A total of `12 lakh per annum is being spent on maintaining it. To top it all, the building’s construction was taken

When we filed the RTI, we saw a lot of results after the Lok Ayukta session. The court pulled up the GHMC and ordered that the corporation fine the agencies. But the agency refused to accept. Dileep Kumar ITMD up after a private bank sanctioned `50 crore and SAAP continues to pay `48 lakh as interest every month.

NEWS BRIEFS Congress has rendered injustice: Madiga

Man sentenced to life for murdering wife

T Congress MPs meet leaders on bill

Woman’s chain snatched at bus stand

he MRPS founder-president Manda Krishna Madiga on Monday stated that the Congress government has rendered injustice to the Madigas by enacting the SC/ST Sub-Plan Bill without incorporating SC classiﬁcation A, B, C, Ds in it. He said a political party to counter the Congress will be ﬂoated.

husband was handed down a life sentence by Karimnagar fast track judge A Prasada Raju on Monday. According to the prosecution Koduru Laxman alias Raju,25, of Kisan Nagar in Karimnagar town, constantly harassed his wife Koduru Sumalatha (22) to bring additional dowry. On May 26, he poured kerosene on her and torched her.

even T-Congress MPs are presently engaged in a last minute discussions with the central leaders. The discussion is being conducted on voting for the multibrand retail bill which will be put to vote tomorrow. It has been learnt that the Congress high command is earnestly trying to pacify the MPs and ask them to vote.

ama Devi, 22, was robbed at Afzalgunj bus stand on Monday evening. The incident took place while she was waiting for a bus to go to her home situated in Saroornagar. Two unidentiﬁed men on a bike came and snatched her gold chain weighing three tolas and sped away at break-neck speed. Afzalgunj police are investigating.

city TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

TELANGANA STATEHOOD

Cong netas desperate for identity Under pressure from T-JAC, Telangana ministers and MLAs plan to make a platform that would even forge solidarity with the Opposition if the Congress continues to ignore T-issue. INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com

Keshav Rao

he announcement of Telangana Joint Action Committee (T-JAC) that it would hold a massive Chalo Assembly programme has kept the entire Telangana Congress leaders on tenterhooks. The leaders who postponed their plans to decide on their future in case the Congress high command goes back on its promise of creating a separate state have now renewed their efforts on an urgent basis. Apart from the T-JAC’s warning, the approaching of crucial day of December 9 when the UPA government had announced intention to create a separate Telangana state three years ago, is also another reason for T-Congress leaders’ worries. After holding long parleys with one another, leaders are mulling over creating a platform for all Telangana supporters to launch a joint fight. The idea of T-Congress leaders

included joining hands with the TRS, YSR Congress and Telangana TDP Leaders for the joint fight. “If our high command continues to delay its decision on separate Telangana, we will be left with no option but to launch our own agitation to achieve the dream of separate Telangana. We are planning to form a separate Telangana front sans any political party affiliation. The front would be used to bring together all Telangana supporters on one platform and fight the elections without any political party’s affiliation,” former minister and senior congress MLA R Damodar Reddy told Postnoon. He further added they would come up with clarity on their plan of action before the December 9 deadline. Damodar Reddy shocked the Congress high command by publicly saying that the party would disappear from the political scene of Telangana if it did not concede separate T-state. He also revealed that many ministers from Telangana region like

SC/ST SUB-PLAN

Ministers fight for ‘father’ tag

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

he making of legislation on SC, ST Sub-plan has led to a huge scramble among Cabinet ministers. A day after the legislation was approved by the House unanimously, Cabinet ministers including the chief minister made efforts to claim authorship of the legislation. Taking full advantage of his Indiramma Baata programme, which kicked off in Ranga Reddy district on Monday, the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy left no stone unturned in claiming he is the champion of the SC and ST Bill and but for his untiring efforts it would not have become law.

A group of party leaders also met the CM in his camp office to congratulate him in ensuring the successful approval of the Bill. On the other hand, deputy chief minister Damodar Raja Narasimha, who actually headed the Cabinet sub-committee set up to look into the issue and make suitable recommendations, also competed with his boss to claim that the legislation was the result of his hard work. The deputy CM had spent the day at his camp office receiving greetings of congratulations for his ‘success’ in ensuring the sub plan becoming law. Scores of people from Relli community, a sub-caste in SC group, met the deputy CM and thanked him for making the

legislation. Speaking on the occasion, AP Relli Kula Samkeshma Seva Sangham state president J Rajagopal, gave credit to the deputy CM for successful passage of the legislation. He said that the Damodar Rajanarasimha retained his promises made to them. “He came to our place and promised that he would solve all our problems. He fulfilled his promise. What more we need. The sub-plan would solve all our problems,” Rajagopal said with a sense of joy in his voice.

LARGE-HEARTED BOTSA

Playing his role in an apt manner, APCC president Botsa Satyanarayana, reiterated that the entire credit for the legislation on SC, ST Sub-plan goes to the Congress and its president Sonia Gandhi. “Our party president played a crucial role in passage of this historical legislation. It is at the behest of our party president, the state government introduced this Bill in the House and after a thorough deliberation, ensured its unanimous approval,” he said. Botsa also sought sub-plans for minorities and BC communities.

home minister Sabitha Indra Reddy, panchayat raj minister K Jana Reddy, and major irrigation minister P Sudharshan Reddy would leave the party if it deceived the people of Telangana. The T-Congress leaders also held discussions with Telangana TDP forum convenor E Dayakar Rao on formation of Telangana front and reported to have received a positive response. Another T-Congress leader also said that the formation of separate Telangana front is the only viable option left for them to win elections.

TRS SUPPORT DOUBTFUL The plans of the T-Congress is likely to face resistance by the TRS, the numero uno in separate Telangana issue. There is a strong feeling among the T-Congress leaders that the TRS may not extend support to the proposal of forming a separate front as it had already decided to contest in all Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in Telangana region.

MANAGEMENT Entrepreneurial week at ICFAI B-school Agarwal encouraged students to follow their passion and advised them not to identify themselves with any degree.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

ntrepreneurship India 2012, a week long program showcasing various events hosted by ICFAI Business School, kick started on December 1. Varun Agarwal, entrepreneur, filmmaker and author of the national bestseller How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-founded A Million Dollar Company, was the chief guest for the inaugural ceremony. Agarwal spoke about his journey as an entrepreneur and the struggles that he faced in a society that looked down

upon people without an MBA degree. Urging students not to think too much when it comes to chasing ones dreams, he took excerpts from his book to point out how he kept chasing his dream. Agarwal, who later started his own venture, Alma Mater, stressed on the role of social media marketing sites in making his venture viral. He encouraged students to follow their passion and “be stupid,” advising them not to identify themselves with any degree or role. Farooq Abdullah, minister of new and renewable energy, will the chief guest at the closing ceremony on December 12. The event is coordinated by the entrepreneurship cell of ICFAI Business School students.

city TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

HEALTH

‘Maarpu’ to curb maternal and infant mortalities

As part of achieving Millennium Development Goals, various departments including GHMC, will be coordinating to improve the health and nutrition status of women and children. Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com

The scheme will offer `1,200 incentive to mothers. This scheme will encourage the poor to make sure no untoward delay is made to gain medical facilities.

imed at bringing down the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) and Infant Mortality Ratio (IMR), a new scheme by State government named ‘Maarpu,’ will come handy in a couple of weeks. As part of achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), various departments including GHMC, will be coordinating to improve the health and nutrition status of women and children, under this new scheme. It will become functional in Hyderabad, with the newly formed committees of SGHs (Self Help Groups) shortly. According to a GO, Maarpu will focus on 20 key interventions to reduce MMR, IMR and malnutrition. Early registration of pregnancy, Antenatal checkups (ANCs), Maternal Nutrition, Identification of high-risk pregnancies, Early initation of breastfeeding, Postnatal Care and Newborn Care, Immunisation, Growth Monitoring, Management of ARI and Diarrhoea, Strengthening of referral system, Maternal and Infact Death Reviews and Gender Sensitisation are some of them. It was observed that even

UCD ofﬁcial

though the MMR (per 1,00,000 births) has declined from 220 in 1997 to 134 in 2009, it remains much higher than the MMR of 81 in Kerala (2010), the best-performance of any state in India. Similarly, the IMR (per 1000 live births) declined from 63 in 1997 to 46 in 2010, while Kerala has achieved a significantly lower IMR of 13 (2010). The first meeting of the

Convergence to improve Health and Nutrition Status of Women

Three departments Health, Women and Child Welfare and UCD’s Women Welfare will take charge of this scheme.

and Children was held on August 16 this year. It resolved to strengthen health care service and nutritional services and to bring a behavioural change in the community. Three departments Health, Women and Child Welfare and UCD’s (Urban Community Development) Women Welfare will be responsible for functioning of this scheme. The adminis-

trative structure include State level, district level, cluster level and village level (field level) convergence committees. All the 950 slums from Hyderabad district will be covered under this scheme in the coming months. According to a UCD official, as part of this scheme besides sensitisation efforts, the committees will ensure that each mother gets `1,200 as incentive at government hospitals for delivering a baby and free ambulance service, even for going to a referral hospital. “This scheme will encourage the poor to make sure no untoward delay is made to gain easy access to medical facilities,” said the official.

POLITICS

Use extra liquor revenue on health care: Cong leader

PICK YOUR

Bikshapthi Goud wants the extra revenue from hiked prices to be put to better use.

senior Congress leader demanded that the high earnings expected by the State government through hike in liquor prices should be judiciously spent for improving the facilities in the hospitals, besides setting up new hospitals in villages all over the state. Former RR district Congress Committee president L Bikshapathi Goud in a statement pointed out that the State exchequer is expected to get an additional revenue of `4,500 crore following the hike in liquor price due to enhancement of

The leader was aghast that despite printing a statutory warning on liquor bottles, the govt continued to fill its coffers through liquor sales. excise duty and trade margin. At the same time the distilleries are also allowed to increase the price by 15 per cent thus enabling them to earn an additional revenue of `1,400 crore, he observed.

The Congress leader was aghast that while the government had made it mandatory for printing the warning “consumption of liquor is injurious to health” on every liquor bottle, at the same time, it was determined to fill up its coffers through liquor sales. As the consumption of liquor was harming the health of the consumers, Bikshapathi Goud said that it was imperative that the government spend the additional revenue earned through hike in liquor prices by improving health care in hospitals and also establishing new hospitals in villages. NSS

Across Stores

ities Twin C

classifieds TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012 CLASSIFIEDS HEALTH/ CLINIC

COMPUTERS

EDUCATION

All eyes on SC verdict

Thousands of medical aspirants and their parents are spending sleepless nights and authorities fail to clarify. ANUBHA K SINGH anubha.k@postnoon.com

oes of Medical aspirants in the State don’t seem to end. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has already started accepting online applications for the scheduled exams for National Eligibility and Entrance Test (Neet) for admission in MBBS and BDS course for the academic year 2013-14 while the AP aspirants, given a false sense of security by the State authorities that the state Eamcet will extend for one more year, don’t know what to do. “There is no clarity whether we need to prepare for Neet or Eamcet. Many of us are still preparing according to Eamcet. Syllabus-wise there is a lot of difference. The Neet syllabus is more comprehensive when compared to Eamcet. The two syllabi do not match. For subjects like biology, for instance, there is more than 80 per cent difference,” says Afreen Khan, medical aspirant. “However, students like me, who are under coaching, still have time and we have been preparing for the last one year so it’s not going to be so

hard when compared to aspirants who are going to write the entrance just after their class XII boards,” she says. Laxmi Kanth Narayan, father of Keerthika Rani, an aspirant squarely blames the State government for the confusion. “No one other than the State government authorities are responsible for this confusion. Last year itself the Centre declared that this year there will be no more Eamcet but only one common entrance test — Neet — but the State authorities promised students that like

every year this year too students will be able to appear for Eamcet. Neet will affect students, who are already preparing for Eamcet, adversely. Since a year has already been spent on preparing for Eamcet.” The smoke of confusion just doesn’t ends here, even though students chose to appear for Neet there will be only five centres in AP, namely Hyderabad, Nellore, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Warangal, which means students from far off places need to incur additional trav-

el and lodging expenses. Also the entrance fees for Eamcet is `250 whereas for Neet students will have to pay `1,000 per head. Prof P Jaya Prakash Rao, chairman, Andhra Pradesh state Council of Higher Education, said, “The case is now in Supreme Court and the final decision may come out by the second week of December. Till then we can’t comment on anything. Students and college authorities need to wait till the final decision comes out from the court.”

LIQUOR GOs

COMPETITION

Fresh rift between Botsa, CM

A To advertise on this page, contact: 9866074747 F o r Secunderabad 9290204030 For H y d e r a b a d 9866663212 For Cyberabad 9866698879

fresh rift has risen between the PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana and Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday. The PCC chief was unhappy over the GOs issued by the State on liquor. Botsa has opined that the government will not be benefited with the issue of three new GOs and said that the liquor companies will be benefited more by them. It is learnt that the PCC chief was contemplating to address a letter to the CM in this regard, particularly asking him to withdraw the liquor price hike. Speaking to the media on Monday, Botsa found fault with the YSRC honorary chief Vijayamma for demanding that the govern-

ment order an inquiry into the late CM YSR’s rule with a Supreme Court. He said that the demand was not correct on the part of Vijayamma. He said that the Congress never alleged that mistakes took place during

YSR’s regime. He added that the Congress never said that irregularities took place in regard to allotment of mines and other issues. He made it clear that he has no personal grudge against anybody. He also said that he never informed any Court to file cases against anybody. He admitted that there was no coordination between the Congress party and the Speaker. He made it clear that the Congress would stick to the development of the SCs and STs. He said that the government will give statutory status to the issues related to the SCs and STs with the Bill passed in the Special Assembly session held for three days. NSS

ISB launches idea contest POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

ndian School of Business is launching its fourth nationwide competition, “ISB iDiya Challenge Bootcamp,” where working professionals will share their ideas to set up ventures that have the potential to create social impact. Badminton champion Saina Nehwal and Dr DR Mehta, founder of Jaipur Foot will be the keynote speakers. The competition, started in 2009, sees participation from individuals from diverse background. Participants will be mentored by a jury comprising of leading firms in the impact investment space.

city TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

EDUCATION Even though the government is trying to incorporate features of US university system, like four-year undergraduate programmes focusing on research in Indian universities, the research culture at premier universities is suppressed due to the demand on teaching. ARUNIMA RAJAN arunima.r@postnoon.com

hat makes a teacher great? Passion? Drive? A desire to learn? Ask university faculty and the answer is not that obvious. Many feel that research and teaching are like the two wheels of a chariot, neither of which can advance when separated. “Some of the best stimulation to research comes from teaching students and form the questions they ask. Not only this, students are kept up-to-date on the latest in the subject only from those teachers who are actively engaged in research,” says Ashwini Nangia, professor of school of Chemistry at

Hyderabad University. Sadly, in Indian universities, juggling teaching and scholarship is not an easy task for our educators. Take the case of Justin Mathew, an Assistant Professor at Delhi University’s prestigious Hans Raj College. His students will vouch that no ailments or personal loss can keep him away from the classroom. A student leader, original thinker and liberal Marxist during his college days, Mathew’s passion took him to choosing a career in teaching. Today, the dreams of pursuing research alongside teaching seem unattainable for this young academic. For

Bureaucrats are blindly adopting US models of education in India. It is a shame that they don’t understand the multilingual and multi-ethnic nature of Indian campuses. Justin Mathew assistant professor, Hans Raj College

WHY STIFLE OUR TEACHERS?

city TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012 One size doesn’t fit all

aving said this, one cannot make a sweeping generalisation about research in Indian universities. The situation varies across states and institutions; however, it is clear that many colleges are under-resourced and under-staffed. It is also true that in many universities interacting factors such as ineffective bureaucracy, political interference and faculty and

student apathy have created a vicious cycle of problems. Further, the heterogeneous nature of the student groups often poses a big challenge for its teaching community. A modern Indian university, especially a Central one, is like a salad bowl. It has students coming from various regions, economic situations, and social classes. Central Universities like the Delhi

University (DU) reserve nearly 50 per cent seats for categories like Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). “In a DU undergraduate class, you will have students from Doon school as well as a student from a government school in UP. The teacher has to cater to both of them. Students have to take exams

in the ﬁrst six months of the academic year, so professors often take extra classes for poor performers,” says Mathew. Though teachers have to be in the campus for only ﬁve hours daily, holding special classes has a become part of most teachers’ routine at DU campuses. “Bureaucrats are blindly adopting US models of education in India. It is a shame that they don’t under-

Peer Pressure Academics claim that the pressure to perform is often overwhelming. For professors who head departments like engineering at elite institutions, the need to bring in industry tie-ups can be extremely stressful. “The pressure to do cutting-edge research, which will in turn bring industry consultations, is really high for academicians,” says BN Raghunandan, dean, faculty of engineering at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Not that hard to achieve At several western universities, research is an integral part of career progression. During his tenure as director of IIM-A, Paul had scheduled 50 per cent of the faculty’s working hours for research activities. “Universities should block enough time for its teachers to do research. Thus, when you streamline the process, it’s easy to analyse the research output with variables like the number of citations in peer-reviewed journals,” suggests the adviser to the World Bank. It is clear that our public universities face serious challenges in the areas of maintaining quality of research, teaching, autonomy and governance. Many universities are too large to be managed effectively. Clearly, if we wish to ensure that universities meet some standards of excellence, whether they be global or national, we need to reorganise them dramatically.

Think-tanks versus universities Prominent think-tanks have often voiced their disappointment over the fact that many of the best social scientists are housed in research institutes and not in universities. However, there are academics like Venu Narayan, head of Teachers Education at Azim Premji University, who argue that much of the research and writing in social sciences and humanities still takes place in universities. “If we have a rational and impartial system that can identify an individual’s abilities and encourage them appropriately, we may arrive at a more effective organisation of higher education,” notes Narayan. “While faculty development has a key role in encouraging and mentoring people, I am afraid that Indian public universities do not, generally speaking, have a systematic approach to this.”

stand the multilingual and multi-ethnic nature of Indian campuses,” adds the professor. Many universities also face a staff crunch as some of the teaching is done with the help of contract employees. For instance, there are nearly 4,000 vacant teaching posts in Delhi University according to sources, and this drastically increases the work load on the permanent faculty.

Mathew and hundreds of academics like him, teaching has severely impacted the time available for research as they are often caught in an endless cycle of grading assignments, semester examinations and supervising students. In 1857, India established its first three universities in what was then called Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Today there are 612 universities spread across the country. Earlier, there was a balance of cutting-edge research and teaching at all universities. Academics like RS Deshpande, chairman of Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, lament the end of the golden age of Indian universities. According to him, the problem began with the government’s decision to set up a network of R&D labs and extension centres across the country under the control of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).This created a hierarchical structure in the Indian academic world. As historian Ramachandra Guha points, this change resulted in research being shifted to niche laboratories, while the universities focused mostly on teaching. “Today, scholars do not want to be part of universities because they are often considered inferior to think-tanks and research institutes. I feel this has had a negative impact on our universities,” says Deshpande. With a lack of support for research in universities — like access to funds and adequate time for travel — there is little incentive for researchers to get involved in teaching. “Hans Raj College, for instance, has been ranked as one of India’s top colleges. However, if all 180 faculty members of the college come together, there will be no space for the teachers to sit. Furthermore, there are not enough books in the library or enough computers in the lab,” notes Mathew. Samuel Paul, former director of Indian Institute of ManagementAhmedabad, feels it’s unfair to blame teachers for the low research output. “Universities should motivate the academic staff to take up research by providing incentives such as the ones given in many US universities where promotions are based on research output. When promotions are based on chronologically predetermined norms, the research culture will take a hit,” says Paul.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Business Taking it personal

GREECE LAUNCHES BOND BUYBACK PLAN

Greece will spend up to 10 billion euros ($13 billion) to buy back its outstanding bonds at a steep discount, in a bid to cut debt and unlock much-needed bailout aid.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Facebook kicks off vote on new policies SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook asked its one billion members on Monday to vote on an overhaul of privacy and other policies in what may be the last binding referendum of its kind.

Beginning from an initial bank balance of `50,000 in 2007, Vadana and Swaroop has built a `1-crore business. M ANIL KUMAR

The social media giant, which has drawn fire from privacy activists for the proposed changes on how it manages users’ data, said the poll will be binding only if it 300 million responses.

Factfile

Initial Investment: ` 50,000 Revenues: Around `1 crore Expected growth rate: 100 per cent Employees: 10

PRUDHVI RAJU K prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

usinesses should see customers as part of themselves and the entrepreneurs should see their employees, clients, and customers as their own. This is the motto that drives ArtBeat Communications — an advertising agency founded by the couple, Shashi Vadana Reddy and SK Swaroop in 2007. The business grew around 10 times since inception to reach `1 core in revenues. Talking about her educational background. Shashi says, “I did MPhil in English from English and

Foreign Languages University (EFLU) and started working as a copy editor in an small ad agency. It is the creativity and love towards various art forms that pushed me in to this profession. Advertising is one field where I can use all my talents as an artist, singer, and musician and channelise these creative skills towards one direction.” Almost after nine years of successful stints at various companies, Shashi took a step towards this entrepreneurial journey. “I was a Corp Comm manager at Deloitte and responsible for internal communication for around 5,000 employees. I was at the peak of my

professional career. However, it was a decision to move on in life with helping and guiding others along with our growth rather than taking and executing orders from the seniors.” The duo neither had huge capital nor office space to set up the business. “We had only `50,000 as bank balance and two computers with a printer. The business was set up in an extra room that we have in our house. Luckily, advertising is one field where you don’t need heavy investments to start a business. The creativity and effort, with the reputation that we had, helped us to give that instant push for the business,” she says. On value addition to the client, she says, “We always see client as our own and try to maintain good comfort levels. Many times, we stopped the clients from unnecessary media spending. The idea is to take responsibility to grow the brand image and to have sustainable longterm relationship rather than immediate revenues,” The business has faced many problems during its growth. “Business is a vicious cycle and the problems never end. Be it either initial investment, hiring and retaining employees or expanding the business. However, the growth and happiness comes from constantly solving these problems. For instance, The fact that almost 10 families depend on us for their financial growth gives us immense satisfaction,” she says. The business wants to expand to Vijayawada and Vishakhapatnam soon and aims for another 100 per cent growth in revenues this fiscal.

BSE 5,882.40 `54.88 5,209.05 DOLLAR`55.14 17,179.95DOLLAR NSEPOUND `86.60 `88.32 POUND BSE NSE GOLD`31,500 10g SILVER `62,000 1kg

24C

for

GOLD `29,500 10g SILVER `53,000 1kg for

for

98.90

33.65

Since our country is a union of states, we abide by its federal character and, therefore, are bound by the consensus on the issue, ANAND SHARMA, COMMERCE MINISTER

19,340.62 38.49

ANAND SHARMA, 11.45 COMMERCE MINISTER

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

nation

NOW, UDDHAV IS EDITOR OF SHIV SENA PAPERS A day after getting all powers to manage Shiv Sena, its executive president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday donned a new mantle — that of the editor of party mouthpieces Saamana and Dopahar Ka Saamana.

MINING BAN

GOOD COMPANY

Goa govt fears social unrest

Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and social activist Anna Hazare during a function in New Delhi on Monday. PTI/VIJAY VERMA

PANAJI: Goa can’t afford the social and political unrest that may arise due to the Supreme Court imposed ban on mining, the state’s chief secretary has said in a letter to an apex courtappointed committee. In one of the several missives sent by the Goa government to the committee probing illegal mining in the state, B. Vijayan has also argued for resumption of “sustainable mining” in Goa. “The state would rather forego the revenue that accrues from mining. However, it is afraid of serious threat of social and political unrest which the state is in no position to afford,” the chief secretary has said in his latest communication to the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee,

which wound up its probe in Goa a few weeks ago. Vijayan has also given a detailed breakdown of the direct and indirect impact which could be caused to Goa’s economy in view of the mining ban. The top bureaucrat said that while the state government would suffer a direct revenue loss of `930 crore, the “total cumulative income loss to the economy of the state” would amount to `17,600 crore, which is more than double the state’s revenue expenditure for the 2012-13 fiscal. Spelling out a possible unemployment scenario, Vijayan has said that over one lakh people would be rendered jobless if the ban on mining continued. IANS

NEWS BRIEFS

HARYANA

3 families face social boycott ROHTAK: The families of three youths, who eloped with a girl of the same gotra and village, are being socially boycotted in Haryana following a diktat by a panchayats. The boycott began on Monday in Khanpur Khurd village. The order was announced by a joint panchayat of five villages in the area. “The panchayats discussed the issue and directed all the villagers not to keep any communication with the families of the boys,” Ravinder Gahlawat, son of Khanpur Khurd village head said. “Family members of the accused were also called at the panchayat to know their views about the incident. They also admitted before the panchayat that their kin had broken the social custom of our society hence they were ready to face action,” Manjeet Gahlawat, sarpanch. One of the youths has been arrested by police while the panchayat is seeking the arrest of the remaining two and recovery of the girl. Police had booked the three youth on November 19. IANS

Manipur stays ‘disturbed’ IMPHAL: Manipur Cabinet has extended the ‘disturbed area’ status of the state for one more year till November 30 next year. This extension will allow security forces to operate and aid civil administration to flush out insurgents by imposing Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the state, official sources said today. The decision to extend the disturbed area status was taken during a cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh said late last night, sources said.

TO SUBSCRIBE, CALL US ON 80082 00713

or SMS „Postnoon‰ to 56161

GMR to take all ‘legal remedies’ NEW DELHI: Stating that GMR Infrastructure has not invested in Maldives “to be compensated”, the company has said it will take all “legal remedies” to protect its $511 million airport contract in the island nation. “It’s not a question of compensation. We did not come here for compensation. We came here because we competed competitively in an international tender and we won that bid,” CEO of GMR Male International Airport Andrew Harrison said.

/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

One more held in gold theft case ERODE: The prime accused in the theft of gold jewellery from the Chennaibound Trivandrum express has been arrested, police said today. Yeshant Sahib Jadev of Sholapur was arrested yesterday and with his arrest, the number of persons taken into custody in connection with the theft of 12.84 kg of gold ornaments from the train has gone up to seven, police said.

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

040 - 4067 2222 subscription@postnoon.com

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

World SYRIAN CRISIS The deadly Sarin

WASHINGTON: Sarin gas, the deadly nerve agent the Syrian regime is suspected of weaponising, was first produced by Nazi scientists in the 1930s and used in two attacks by a Japanese cult in the 1990s. A US official told AFP on Monday that Syria has begun mixing chemicals that can be used to make sarin, amid fears that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces could attack rebels with chemical weapons. Wired.com’s military

Even a tiny dose of sarin can be deadly if it enters the respiratory system, or if a drop comes into contact with the skin. blog Danger Room, which first reported the apparent Syrian move, said the mixing of chemicals started last week and was being carried out by engineers in central Syria. The operation had reached the point where sarin could be loaded on a plane and dropped as a weapon, Danger Room quoted an unnamed US official as saying. First developed as an organophosphate pesticide, sarin works by being inhaled or absorbed through the skin and kills by crippling the nervous system. Symptoms include nausea and violent headaches, blurred or tunnel vision, drooling, muscular convulsions, respiratory arrest, loss of consciousness and then death.

BOPHA SMASHES INTO SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES Typhoon Bopha smashed into the southern Philippines on Tuesday, uprooting trees and bringing drenching rains as more than 40,000 people crammed into shelters to escape the storm’s onslaught.

OLMERT SPEAKS

Obama warns Assad on chem weapons the United Nations suspended operations in Syria and said it would pull out non-essential staff. If you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable.

Israel had no reason to oppose Palestine’s UN observer state membership, according to exprime minister Ehud Olmert, who plans to announce Wednesday whether he will run in the next polls. “I have made my decision and I will announce it in two days,” Olmert said, after a speech in New York late Monday during which he renewed criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conﬂict.

NUMEROLOGY

Barack Obama US President

years

later, John Travolta and his "Grease" on-screen love Olivia Newton-John have recorded together for the first time, making a Christmas album honouring the US star's late son Jett.

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama dramatically told Syria’s President Bashar alAssad Monday not to turn chemical weapons on his own people, following US warnings his forces were mixing deadly sarin gas. Obama publicly told the increasingly isolated Assad not to unleash the “worst weapons of the 20th century” in the 21st, capping a day of alarming American warnings on the Syrian regime’s intentions. “Today, I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command, the world is watching, the use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable,”

A US official told AFP that Syria had begun mixing chemicals that could be used to make sarin, a deadly nerve agent. Obama said. “If you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable.” The Damascus government, hitting back at increasingly explicit US rhetoric, had earlier pledged never to take such a step, which the Obama administration warns would cross a

“red line” and result in US action. Adding to the impression of a quickening endgame in Syria, Arab League chief Nabil alArabi exclusively told AFP that Assad’s regime was in danger of collapse “anytime” as the opposition makes sweeping gains. And prompted by deteriorating security, the United Nations suspended operations in Syria and said it would pull out non-essential staff, while the European Union reduced its activities in Damascus to a minimum.A US official told AFP that Syria had begun mixing chemicals that could be used to make sarin, a deadly nerve agent. AFP

NEWS BRIEFS Suicide car bomber wounds six in Pakistan

Police raid firm over Japan tunnel collapse

McDonald’s seeks place Strauss-Kahn’s Bronx in Australian dictionary hearing set for Dec. 10

PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber on Tuesday rammed his explosiveladen car into a checkpoint outside a police station in northwestern Pakistan, wounding six people, police said. The attack took place at a police station outside the restive town of Bannu bordering the lawless tribal regions where Taliban and Al Qaeda are in hiding.

TOKYO: Japanese police Tuesday raided the ofﬁces of a highway company in a negligence probe over a deadly weekend tunnel collapse that raised questions over the safety of the nation’s ageing infrastructure. The raid came as teams of inspectors fanned out across the country to examine dozens of other tunnels of the same 1970s design.

SYDNEY: The Australian arm of McDonald’s has urged the national Macquarie Dictionary to include “Macca’s” — the brand’s local nickname — in its next edition. The hamburger giant said Macca’s was second only to “footy” among recognisable words in local slang, according to a branding survey it commissioned.

NEW YORK: Disgraced ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will face a hearing December 10 in New York to settle with the hotel maid whose sex assault allegation triggered his downfall, a judge said Monday. “If the case is settled, this will be announced in open court on that day,” Bronx Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon told AFP.

ROCKET SCARE South Korea and the United States will “maximise” diplomatic efforts to stop North Korea’s planned rocket launch, Seoul’s top nuclear envoy said Tuesday as he left for talks in Washington. Lim Sung-Nam’s US trip will be dominated by Pyongyang’s announcement on Saturday that it intends to launch a long-range rocket between December 10 and 22. The US and its key Asian allies South Korea and Japan have condemned the move as a disguised ballistic missile test that violates UN resolutions triggered by Pyongyang’s two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

The recent Israeli government decision to build 3,000 new housing units threatens the two-state solution and makes progress through negotiations harder to achieve. British embassy in Tel Aviv

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Technology 20 YEARS OF TEXT MESSAGING A history of texts

1992

n First text sent

1993

n Nokia makes the first mobile phone which allowed customers to send text messages.

1995

n T9 which stands for Text on 9 Keys is invented. It is a predictive text technology for mobile phones.

1997

n Nokia 9000i Communicator is released. It’s the first mobile phone with a full keyboard.

1999

n Was the first year that text messages could be sent between different operators.

2003

n More than 7.5 million American Idol related text messages were sent by Americans.

2008

n Then senator Barack Obama sends a text message announcing his vicepresidential running mate.

2009

n First 911 centre to support text messages was launched in Iowa.

2010

n Melissa Thompson, a 27-yearold British woman smashed the Guinness record for the fastest text message ever. She took 25.94 seconds to type a 160-character phrase on a Samsung Galaxy S. Ohio Native Andrew Acklin breaks Deepak Sharma’s record of 182,689 text message in a month, by sending and receiving 200,052 texts.

2011

n LOL was added to the Oxford dictionary.

TEXTING TURNS

On December 3, 1992, Neil Papworth sent the first ever text message from his computer to Richard Jarvis’s mobile phone. The message was: “Merry Christmas”. But 20 years on, is the text message on the wane? Can you identify the SMS acronyms? LOL, OIC, TMI, BRB, TTYL, BFF, MHOTY, NIMBY, STBY, NVM, FYI Answers: Laugh out loud, Oh! I see, Too much information, Be right back, Talk to you later, Best friends forever, My hat’s off to you, Not in my backyard, Sucks to be you, never mind, For your information.

$70

Is the amount text messaging earns phone companies every years.

3,000

The estimated number of text messages sent by the average teen. Every month, according to Nielsen.

200,000

The number of car crashes caused by drivers who are texting while driving, every year.

71%

The proportion of people who said they preferred texting someone to calling them.

54%

The proportion of people who text just to chat. 20% said they used texting to make plans with friends.

SEARCHING FOR A DEAL? Google has launched a Great Online shopping festival in India to encourage e-commerce in the country. It is not clear if it is part of a longer strategy by the company to launch Google Offers in India. The deals will go live on December 12 and they have managed to rope in who-is-who of retail in India. They have companies from 14 verticals including real estate, though it’s not clear if people are ready to make big purchases online. The scheme will definitely scare Groupon that is already struggling here. Citibank had announced a couple of days back that they would start something similar in India, it is not clear if both the news are related or not.

QUARANTINED

John McAfee, the eccentric founder of McAfee anti-virus has been arrested in Belize for allegedly killing his neighbour. This puts an end to the monthlong manhunt that was launched by the local police for McAfee. However McAfee says he is innocent and has been blogging about his escapades in the wild at www.whoismcafee.com. According to some Twitter users, the trial against him will expire in 30 days, much like the anti-virus named after him. He was arrested back in May after authorities apparently found weapons at his residence.

FB BUYING WHATSAPP? According to the latest rumour messaging app WhatsApp might be bought by social networking giant Facebook. Zuckerberg and co. have been trying to improve their presence on mobile phones for the past year and this purchase will deﬁnitely help them with that. This deal is important because Facebook Messenger application, that works much like WhatsApp, hasn’t had the impact the company expected it to have. WhatsApp is currently a paid app on iPhone and requires Android users to pay $0.99 per year after completing the ﬁrst year of service. It needs to be seen if this policy will change after a Facebook takeover.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Comment Genius creates, and taste preserves. Taste is the good sense of genius; without taste, genius is only sublime folly. Alexander Pope Poet

Thala is losing patience MOUNIR SOUISSI feedback@postnoon.com

atience is wearing thin for the people of Thala, one of the first Tunisian towns to join the revolution nearly two years ago, with an abandoned marble quarry a stark reminder that for them little has improved. On the edge of town, hundreds of blocks of royal marble remain stacked at the quarry, a resource that could bring in millions of euros in revenue and provide work for some of the 40,000 residents. Before the revolution in December 2010, relatives of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali rented the land for next to nothing and tapped its natural riches for their own benefit, according to local marble worker Mohamed Salah Jomli. But since the fall of the regime, the mines have come under the control of the government, headed by the Islamist party Ennahda, which has yet to decide on the terms of their commercial exploitation. “We are the children of this region. We want the state to give us mining licences. Then we will welcome anyone interested in investing, whether fellow Tunisians or foreigners,” Jomli said. But until such time, unemployment and tough living conditions in this poor western town, key factors behind the social discontent that sparked the uprising in Tunisia which touched off the Arab Spring, seem unlikely to improve. As frustration mounts in Thala, where the proportion of people out of work hovers at around 50 percent compared with 18 percent at the national level, social unrest, including protests and strikes, is making a comeback. AFP

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS

Finally we have proof that in Israel there is someone who has sense. Israel had no reason to oppose Palestine’s UN observer state membership, according to ex-prime minister Ehud Olmert. He is yet to declare if he is contesting polls. Hope to God he does.

MYSTERIOUS MEN

The mystery of McAfee STRANGE STORIES Andrew Gully

rostitutes, gun-toting bodyguards, experimental drugs, police raids, poisoned dogs, murder, elaborate disguises, cloak-and-dagger interviews: welcome to the incredible world of John McAfee. In a plotline worthy of a Hollywood thriller, the American anti-virus software pioneer went on the run from his Belize island home hours after his Florida expat neighbor Gregory Faull was murdered early on November 11. With 20-year-old girlfriend Sam in tow, McAfee has evaded capture for more than three weeks. He claimed on Monday that the fugitive pair have secured safe passage out of the country, although no one has a clue where they are. McAfee’s ramblings are laid bare for the public at whoismcafee.com, the blog he set up to counter the lies he says the media and the Belize government have perpetuated in the wake of his disappearance. On Saturday, a posting cited an unconfirmed report that the 67-year-old McAfee had been captured at the border of Belize and Mexico. But, as anyone accustomed with the blog would know, nothing should be taken at face value. On Monday morning, McAfee posted an update apologizing for the misdirection,

saying he had conjured it up to mislead the Belizean authorities, who have declared him a “person of interest” in the case. “I am currently safe and in the company of two intrepid journalist(s) from Vice Magazine, and, of course, Sam. We are not in Belize, but not quite out of the woods yet,” his post said. “My ‘double’, carrying on a North Korean passport under my name, was in fact detained in Mexico for pre-planned misbehavior, but due to indifference on the part of authorities was evicted from the jail and was unable to serve his intended purpose in our exit plan,” it added. In the McAfee story, the truth is an enigma. Did he actually commit the crime? If he did, why leave such an elaborate etrail? If he didn’t, why go on the run at all? McAfee was involved in a spat with the deceased but maintains his innocence and says he fears for his life if he gives himself up because the Belize authorities are corrupt and have it in for him. Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow has described McAfee as “bonkers,” saying he is only wanted for questioning, and urged him to give himself up. Police found no sign of the tech guru when they raided his property on the island of Ambergris Caye -- a ring of white sandy beaches around a mangrove swamp off the northeastern Belizean coast -- on the evening of the murder. McAfee said he didn’t

immediately leave his home and was hiding neck-deep in the sand with his head obscured by a cardboard box. He later claimed to have donned a serious of elaborate disguises to keep an eye on the police investigation, including masquerading as a drunken German tourist complete with a Speedo and flamboyant Hawaiian shirt. McAfee has given interviews from hiding. Many were straight out of a John Le Carre novel, involving elaborate meetings with middlemen, telephone calls with different numbers and rendezvous at safe houses with secret passwords. In an interview with CNN on Friday, McAfee appeared red-eyed and scraggy, and said

he was so fearful he carries up to a dozen disposable cell phones at a time. “I’m going to fight until something changes,” the fugitive said, declining to indicate how long he would remain in hiding but insisting he would get Sam somewhere safe before returning to Belize to clear his name. A successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur who cashed out to live the life of an adventure seeker, McAfee amassed huge wealth from the antivirus software that bears his name. He decamped to Belize in 2009 after losing an estimated $96 million of his $100 million fortune due to bad investments and the financial crisis.

EDITORIALS The death of compassion

he ability of humans to shock themselves is inimitable. We claim to be better than the rest of the living beings, as we are supposedly the special ones that can reason and think. But reports emerge everyday that contradict such claims. What man could torture a kid to death because his parents owed him money. The news of a dhaba owner inﬂicting severe injuries all over the body of a boy working for him because his parents failed in repaying money he loaned them is a severe jolt to our sensibilities. Where was our celebrated compassion that we claim we humans possess in abundance in comparison with the lesser beings? What made the mad man forget when he was torturing him fatally that he was a mere kid and no amount of

READERS’ VIEWS

violence that the child would be made to suffer will get his money back? How could the parents have let him take their child by force because they failed to pay him back? Where were the sentinels of human rights who are up in arms over triﬂes? Where was the police, who could have taken action had they been minding their jobs proper? Forget all that, it seems the couple in arrest in Norway for ill-treating their kid claim that the weals on his body and scars were accidental. And pray, what had the boy done? He had been wetting his pants. How can parents lose themselves in trying to right their wards? This is the point where hope seems to fade away that we can be better than we were before.

AFP

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

workplace

MURDOCH’S UK NEWSPAPER CHIEF RESIGNS

New Zealander Tom Mockridge has resigned unexpectedly as chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's UK newspaper arm, the Financial Times has reported.

AN UNWILLING GESTURE

KNOW YOUR COMPANY

Forced Charity FLEME VARKEY fleme.v@postnoon.com

n her latest performance review Aashita Kumar was reprimanded for not being charitable. She was pulled up for not agreeing to donate 10 per cent of her bonus to charity. “ I am already working with an NGO and I don’t feel the need to contribute monetarily again at my workplace. If I was required to donate in kind, I would have been more than willing to. But dictating what I do with my salary is uncalled for,” says a slightly miffed Aashita. The companies of today are highly concerned about appearing as charitable, environment friendly and conscious workplaces and will go all out to achieve their ends. How the means is, is a secondary question. “In my former company a portion of my salary was being deducted for charity, without my knowledge. They used to write this in fine print, barely legible and expected me to read it. When finally I asked the accountant to uncheck the box for charity I was met with a rude stare. Already, my salary was peanuts and I think by getting that box unchecked was charity towards me,” says Sayantan Sharma, a employee with a marketing agency

in Mumbai. Arpit Ghosh, an employee with an animation company in the City says, that this Diwali he was obligated to buy a certain product from the company,purely because the HR was insisting they do it for charity and saying no would affect his ratings. This is not the case with the workplace only, even at some of the eateries in the City, demands for charity are made. If not the ubiquitous charity box, you have the person behind the counter, asking you to make a donation. “ I happened to be at a fast-food restaurant in the City and had a bill amount of `300, the waiter asked me if I would like to make a donation of the rest of the money since they did not have a change for `500. I could not help but allow them to, as there were other people milling around the counter and it was embarrassing if I would have said no. Till today I feel bad. One must not feel upset after giving to charity,” reasons Dipti Shah, a young bank employee. Coming back to charity at the workplace, some companies do have a very systematic way of doing the deed. A way which does not offend any employees. “ We make sure that the employee is aware that the money

An office is no place for charitable giving. However, there are some workplaces which do believe in being philanthropic, but at the emplo yees expenses. Is this charity worth it?

deducted from their salary is going for charity. In fact, mostly we believe in helping in kind rather than cash and encourage employees to spend more time giving in person , rather than forcing it on them. This way no one gets offended,” explains Shalini Srivats, an HR at a software company in the City. The point is, that whether you wish to give to the homeless, or whoever or whatever you wish to give to, it will be a blessing. But suppose you were forced to give to a cause you despised? Mostly it is out of embarrassment and a sense of compulsion that one donates to charity and that certainly defeats the purpose. Often you have employees asking to pool in for birthday parties, a colleague’s family-member’s operation, some charity a coworker came across, all these make employees uncomfortable. Company policies regarding charity, should be very carefully worded for that matter.

Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian telecommunications services company headquartered at New Delhi, India. It operates in 20 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. Airtel has GSM network in all countries, providing 2G, 3G and 4G services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel is the world's third largest mobile telecommunications company with over 261 million subscribers across 20 countries as of August 2012. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with 186.41 million subscribers as of October 2012. Airtel is the third largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom.

DID YOU KNOW...

`4,500 cr is the amount that Bharti Infratel's newly announced initial public offer (IPO) is expected to generate. Bharti Infratel will offload its 10 per cent share, or sell 188.9 million shares, through the IPO.

COMPANY NEWS

In a bid to capitalise on the available opportunities in the global market, two Indian lenders — Axis Bank and Indiabulls Financial Services — are seriously mulling plans to set up their offices in London. Axis Bank has plans to set up its London office sometime early next year. It will be Axis Bank's first branch outside Asia.

The board of directors of tyre giant MRF has recommended a final dividend of `19 per share for 2012, taking the aggregate dividend for the current year to `25 as two interim dividends of `3 each had been paid earlier. The board recommended the final dividend despite the company's net profit for the full financial year slipped nearly 8 per cent to `572 crore, from `619 crore in the previous year.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

spotlight

SPICE FEST

Welcome this festive season with Papa Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Spice Fest - a treat of freshly baked pizzas and pastas with the zing of spice. Head to their outlet in Banjara Hills.

S BALAKRISHNA

BURNING UP THE DANCE FLOOR

NUMBER CRUNCHERS

Four kids from Andhra Pradesh, aged 8-13 years competed with 4,500 other kids from all over India and emerged champions at the National Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Competition. Seen above are some of the winners of the competition and below are the center heads of the SIP Academy in the state, which helped train these students.

THEY CAN

KEEPING IT FRESH

Rohit Prakash Gupta, (C) Dabur India Ltd. head-home care, launched the Odonil Room Freshener Gel on Monday.

BOOGIE

The nights at Kismet have a special charm to it. No wonder the party lovers in the City headed here to let their hair down. The good music and food is an added bonus.

N SHIVA KUMAR

1 Brij, Deepak & Sachin 2 Farhan & Neha 3 Rajeev, Yesha & Sanjeev

4 Rajeshwari & Ankitha 5 Dj Joy

6 Nancy & Anu 7 Nikitha & Saloni 8 Ankitha 9 Marikam & Dinesh 10 Anam & Zak 11 Ali & Tammana

MUSICAL NOTES

There was a Christmas Choir performance by the students of the International School of Hyderabad at the Park Hyatt on Sunday. The next performance will be on December 9 at 2pm.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

health

BRAZIL, MALAWI SHOW WAY TO LOW-COST CANCER THERAPY Brazil and Malawi have shown the way to low-cost childhood cancer treatment in developing countries. "Our findings mean it is time to re-evaluate global health policy," said Alexandra Martiniuk from the University of Sydney School of Public Health and The George Institute, who co-authored the study.

WINTER BLUES

Feeling the blues?

Winter blues or seasonal affective disorder is a common problem which people living in cold climates suffer during the winter season. It may cause overeating and depression. ANISHAA KUMAR

anishaa.k@postnoon.com

here was a chill in the air, everywhere you turned there were people huddled up in shawls with steaming hot cups of coffee and tea. Reena, stopped in her tracks, looked at them and walked away. Their smiling faces were a contrast to what Reena was feeling. All of them had problems but Reena was feeling a bit low and had lost interest in everything. Reena was suffering from what many people across the world especially those in colder climates are faced with — seasonal affective

disorder that is commonly referred to as winter blues or winter depression. According to Dr Minhaj Nasirabadi, consultant psychiatrist, Apollo Hospital, “Many people suffer from mood disorders called affective disorders. They tend to get either depressed or excited due to seasonal effects. In the summers they are more depressed as there is less sunlight. This generally is referred to as winter blues. In summers, it is exactly the opposite. People in such a situation may suffer from mania.”

CAUSES There is a biological cause for winter blues. Dr Minhaj explains that this occurs due to an imbalance of the formation of mela-

ANEWS PP-LYBRIEFS YOURSELF

Tackling the blues n

Exercise

Go outdoors

Keep yourself warm

Eat health food, avoid eating starchy food

Keep yourself busy

tonin in the brain. The production of melatonin is influenced by the weather.

SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT People suffering from winter blues tend to suffer from depression. “The symptoms could include sadness, a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, irritability, crying spells and suicidal ideation in extreme cases,”

HOUSECALL

Stress Check

Leishmaniasis

Most of us today experience stress due to various factors like family, work, health and financial pressure. Use this app to see how you rate on the stress chart. Developed by clinical psychologists, it takes you through a series of stress check quiz, exploring different areas of in your life.

Leishmaniasis is a disease spread by the bite of the female sandfly. There are different forms of leishmaniasis. Cutaneous leishmaniasis affects the skin and mucous membranes. Skin sores usually start at the site of the sandfly bite. This form occurs 2 - 8 months after a person is bitten by the sandfly. Most people do not remember having a skin sore. This form can lead to deadly complications.

LIGHT THERAPY

WINTER CARE explains Dr Minhaj. Talking about the treatment, Dr Minhaj says that they are advised to go out in the sun and if required may be prescribed antidepressants. In order to diagnose that the patient is suffering from winter blues no specific test is available but Dr Minhaj explains that they tend to notice people come back only during the month of December complaining of not wanting to go to work, depression and tend to recover once they are put on anti-depressants.

In extremely cold places where sunlight is minimal patients may be prescribed light therapy. In this, they are exposed to a prescribed amount of light (artificial lighting) for most times of the day, explains Dr Minhaj. These systems are known as light boxes.

PREVALENCE While many may consider winter blues a problem associated with places that are prone to extremely cold climate. Dr Minhaj says, “It can happen in any place. I do see such cases in Hyderabad quite often. One could say that out of the 70 cases I see on a daily basis, at least 2-3 cases are due to seasonal affective disorder.”

DID YOU KNOW?

PIONEERS

Ears secrete more wax when you’re afraid

Raymond Vahan Damadian

Your ears secrete more earwax when you are afraid than when you aren’t. The chemicals and hormones released when you are afraid could be having unseen effects on your body in the form of earwax. Studies have suggested that fear causes the ears to produce more of the sticky substance.

Raymond Vahan Damadian is an Armenian-American medical practitioner and inventor of the first MR (Magnetic Resonance) Scanning Machine. His research into sodium and potassium in living cells led him to his first experiments with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) which caused him to first propose the MR body scanner.

health TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

ALLERGIES

STUDY

Tap water chemical could be giving you food allergies According to a study, high levels of dichlorophenols, a chemical used in pesticides and to chlorinate water, are tied to food allergies when found in the human body.

WASHINGTON: Food allergies are rearing their head worldwide because of pesticides and chemicals in tap water, says an immunological research. The study reported that high levels of dichlorophenols, a chemical used in pesticides and to chlorinate water, are tied to food allergies when found in the human body. Symptoms can range from a mild rash to a life-threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis. “Our research shows that high levels of dichlorophenolcontaining pesticides can possibly weaken food tolerance in

Opting for bottled water instead of tap water might seem to be a way to reduce the risk for developing an allergy some people, causing food allergy,” said study lead Elina Jerschow, assistant professor of medicine (allergy and immunology), Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “This chemical is commonly found in pesticides used by farmers and consumer insect

and weed control products, as well as tap water,” added Jerschow, the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology reports. A US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2006, involving 10,348 people, found that 2,548 had dichlorophenols measured in their urine and 2,211 were included into the study. Food allergy was found in 411 of these participants, while 1,016 had an environmental allergy, according to an Albert Einstein statement. Opting for bottled water instead of tap water might seem

to be a way to reduce the risk for developing an allergy, according to the study such a change may not be successful. “Other dichlorophenol sources, such as pesticide-treated fruits and vegetables, may play a greater role in causing food allergy,” said Jerschow. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an increase in food allergy of 18 percent was seen from 19972007. The most common food allergens are milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat, tree nuts, soy, fish, and shellfish.

‘Healthy nose promotes a long, loving relationship’ LONDON: A healthy nose ensures a happy, enduring relationship, says a study based on data involving people aged between 18 and 46 years with and without olfactory sense, according to a British media report. The results showed men and women unable to smell were more insecure, with men particularly affected when it comes to finding love. Such men averaged just two partners compared to 10 among those with robust sense of smell. Scientists attribute this to timidity and lack of adventurousness on the part of men because of their poor sense of smell and how they are perceived by others, the journal Biological Psychology reports. Women in both categories had on average the same number of partners - four - but those who couldn’t smell lacked confidence in their partners and were on average 20 per cent less secure than females who could. Significantly, a woman’s lack of smell had no impact on her friendships, suggesting smell is only key for females when it comes to relationships. Smelling, or olfaction, is generally the least understood of the senses but it is increasingly recognised as having an important role in a large number of areas. IANS

AFP

RESEARCH

Steroids tied to bone loss in women

WASHINGTON: Postmenopausal women, treated with epidural steroid shots for relief from backache, suffered significant bone density loss in their hip, says a study. Bone density loss after six months was six times greater when compared to the typical bone density loss seen in a year in a post-menopausal woman

who doesn’t receive steroid injection, according to researchers. An epidural shot involves the passage of painkilling drugs into the small of your back via a fine tube, numbing the concerned part and providing you with effective pain relief, the journal Spine reported.

Shlomo Mandel, a Henry Ford Hospital orthopaedic physician, who led study, says physicians should exercise caution prescribing an epidural steroid for select patients, suggesting that multiple injections may compromise bone strength. “The findings of our study suggest that epidural steroid

injections for back pain relief should be approached cautiously in patients at risk for bone fragility,” Mandel said. Backache is one of the most common medical conditions, affecting eight out of 10 people at some point of their lives. As people age, their spine ages, causing degenerative changes in the spine. IANS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Entertainment NEW STRATEGY

promotional campaign begins

he promotional campaign of Nani, Samantha starrer Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu has kicked off in style. Gautham Menon, who's directing the film, has come up with a unique strategy to promote the film. The latest set of promos feature Nani and Samantha bickering over little things in their relationship and interestingly none of these scenes are part of the actual film. Usually, such deleted scenes are aired after a film's release; however, Gautham Menon pointed out that he wants the audience to be well versed with the kind of relationship which Varun and Nithya, the roles which Nani and Samantha are playing, share before they walk into the theatres. C Kalyan has produced the Telugu version. Ilayaraja has composed the music. The film is slated for release on December 14. Recently, Samantha announced that she isn't dubbing her own voice for the film's Telugu version since it seemed like a big risk, although she has completed dubbing for the Tamil version. Meanwhile, Nani is busy shooting in Dubai for his upcoming film Paisa and Samantha is gearing up to join the shooting of Pawan Kalyan-Trivikram Srinivas' next film.

CINE BYTES KVJ collects `4.5 crores in Andhra Pradesh

ana, Nayanthara starrer Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum took a good opening at box office. Rajeer Reddy, the film's producer, announced that the film collected `4.5 crores in Andhra Pradesh alone. In US, the film ended up collecting `1.02 crores in just two days which is a new record for Rana.

Regina teams up with Nara Rohit

egina is on a roll post the release of Routine Love Story. She has been roped in to play the lead role in Nara Rohit's upcoming action thriller. Tatineni Satya is going to direct the ﬁlm and it's likely to go on ﬂoors in early 2013.

First look of D for Dopidi

he ﬁrst look of D for Dopidi was unveiled yesterday morning. Varun Sandesh, Sundeep Kishan, Melanie Kannokada, Naveen and Rakesh are playing the lead roles in this crime comedy. Siraj Kalla is directing the ﬁlm and Raj & DK have produced it under D2R Films banner. Mahesh Shankar has composed the music.

Entertainment TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

CINE BYTES

Exciting challenge to play Milkha Singh: Farhan Akhtar

ctorfilmmaker Farhan Akhtar says playing sprinter Milkha Singh in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag has been an exciting challenge. “It was definitely a challenge, but it was a challenge that was a very exciting one to accept,” the actor says. The biopic is directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. Asked if he had to learn Punjabi for his character, Farhan said: “In bits and pieces. I mainly focussed on dialogues and certain improvisations within scenes. But of course I had to, because there is a very distinct Punjabi flavour to the whole film.” Bhaag Milkha Bhaag also features Sonam Kapoor, and is slated to release July 12.

Nikhil Advani’s ‘Chand Bhai’ shelved?

ilmmaker Nikhil Advani’s film Chand Bhai with actress Vidya Balan is most likely shelved. The film was to be made with Akshay Khanna and Balan. Nikhil says, “I think so it has.” Chand Bhai was supposed to be story of a boy on the streets who wanted to be a gangster. It was a raw realistic, song-less film on juvenile delinquency. PTI

Kiran is a hands-on mother, says Aamir

ctor Aamir Khan says his wife Kiran is a hands-on mother and is enjoying motherhood. On December 1 last year, the couple became proud parents of Azad Rao Khan. The baby was born through IVF to a surrogate mother. Aamir says due to his work commitments he does not get to spend enough time with his son. PTI

Talaash based on real-life incident

he suspense of Talaash has taken everyone by surprise. But little do people know that the climax of the ﬁlm takes its cue from a real-life incident involving writer Zoya Akhtar. Zoya reveals it was this experience that gave birth to the idea of Talaash. “I had an experience which I could not explain to myself and to others while I was on my way back from a south Mumbai party spot,” Zoya says. IANS

Entertainment TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

CHASTAIN, THE WORKAHOLIC

I feel cut off from friends: CHASTAIN

CINE BYTES

Kimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bahrain visit sparks protests

im Kardashian's trip to Bahrain has prompted Islamic protestors to take to the streets to denounce her. The police have been forced to combat the protesters using tear gas, according to Sky News. The protesters reportedly displayed banners saying 'Kim not welcome here' and chanted "God is great", but were moved before Kardashian reached the shopping complex.

ctress Jessica Chastain feels "cut off" from her friends because she has devoted so much time to her career. Chastain has appeared in several box office hits in recent years, including The Help and The Tree of Life, and Chastain's next latest project Zero Dark Thirty releases next month. It chronicles the real-life search for terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden, who was tracked down and killed by a Navy SEAL team in Pakistan in 2011. She plays an analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the drama and she admits she can relate to women who devote their lives to their jobs because she is one of them. "When I first read the script, I was blown away by this woman. The sacrifices she made and what she had to do. It's something I still get very emotional about," starpulse.com quoted Chastain as saying. "What happens when you live for this one goal? And then you achieve it. When your whole life has been about solving this puzzle, this mystery. "I can relate to those aspects of being in the CIA. For the last three years, my life has been work and only work. I do miss my family. I do feel cut off from my friends," she said. IANS

Gere talks lunch with Pattinson

s everyone knows by now, Robert Pattinson met Richard Gere on Friday when he attended a luncheon in honour of the silver-haired actor's awards buzzy ďŹ lm, Arbitrage. But what you may not know is that Gere didn't exactly realise how major the Twilight star was. "He was a perfectly nice guy, but I had no idea," Gere said.

LiLo refuses to go to rehab

indsay Lohan is reportedly refusing to go to rehab for an alleged alcohol problem. According to TMZ, the Liz & Dick star is drinking up to two litres of vodka a day in order to cope with the stress surrounding an upcoming court date. Lohan was said to have violated her probation earlier this week after getting into an altercation at a nightclub. She was arrested and charged with third degree misdemeanour assault, meaning that she could be facing jail time as a result.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

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

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

1 Some kind of nut 6 Interruptions of continuity 10 Picnic discards 14 Egg-shaped 15 Troop group 16 Dentist's request 17 Transfer, as at a nursery 18 Be jealous of 19 Toy building block brand 20 Place of pride in a jock's home 22 Chess standoff 23 Poetical twilight 24 Big name in glass or jewelry 26 Some Pentagon personnel 31 Seine's water 32 Beastly character 33 Gym numbers 35 Fashionable necktie 39 Brewpub favorites 40 Spiral-horned African antelope 42 Cyclotron particles 43 Downward measurement 45 Show signs of life 46 Attacker of seals 47 Dubbed one's title 49 Propagate 51 Railroad car with

berths 55 White House Web address ending 56 Poker-player's bane 57 Like a thing that can only improve 63 It ain't good 64 Malay nurse 65 One of Donald Duck's nephews 66 Dole (out) 67 Tear out and start over 68 Trumpet part 69 Clairvoyant one 70 Kind of votes a candidate wants 71 Venerated tribe member

DOWN 1 Left on board? 2 ‘Will they ___ learn?’ 3 Mafia kingpin 4 Spin like ___ 5 Lower, as some ‘regions’ 6 They're out standing in their field? 7 AD word 8 Turn around a central point 9 Thoroughly frustrate 10 ‘Cool’ nuclear idea? 11 Drama with music 12 Started

13 Like many northern Christmas morns 21 Be filled with longing 25 ‘Airplane Flying Handbook’ org 26 Tadpole, grown up 27 Eye up and down 28 Ready for use 29 Any Grisham novel 30 Sudden outpouring 34 Goliath's leastfavorite weapon 36 It's cut at birth 37 Fairy tale starter 38 Russian leader before 1917 41 Professional slang 44 Kind of pocket or boots 48 Heat up leftovers, eg 50 Develop by gradual changes 51 Plant stalks 52 Embankment designed to prevent flooding 53 Society's 400 54 Juliet's beau 58 Radioactivity units 59 Mare's offspring 60 ‘___ Lang Syne’ 61 Not prerecorded 62 Look with malicious intent

Chai Time TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 5-12-2012

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

You will take bold decisions, which will bring desired results. Your charisma will increase and all work will get completed easily. Blood relatives will help you on their own. Businessmen need to keep business secrets under strict confidence.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

Be careful while driving as a minor accident likely. Your enemies will be inactive. Spouse of health may be a cause for concern. Employees might face minor tensions at office. Politicians will get into good books of the high command.

You will undertake a pilgrimage. Avoid interfering in a third person’s family issues. Those unmarried are advised to keep away from love issues. Money will come from all the expected sources. Good opportunities await employees at work.

Your children will do well in studies and other curricular activities with your support. Purchase or construction of house will be successful. Delayed marriage proposal will resume and progress well. Employees impress by discharging their duties well.

Newlyweds will have an offspring soon. Marriage of your sister will get settled. Keep a vigil on your children's activities as there are chances of them taking a wrong route. Politicians need to avoid unwanted talk that might not materialise.

Your long-pending wish of buying a house will get fulfilled. Women advised to stay away from those who try to behave with a wrong intention. Family will look cheerful as happy events will take place at home. Businessmen sign good deals.

Mother's health needs to be taken good care of. Real-estate deals might not be successful as expected. Misunderstanding with maternal relatives likely. Politicians will perform well in solving certain major issue within the party and earn a name.

Financial position will be more than satisfactory. Those trying for a new job will get a promising career opportunity. Some might go abroad for higher studies or for a job. Mother's health will improve. Misunderstanding with relatives likely.

Your approach and taste will change. You want to stand apart from others and efforts towards such an activity will succeed. Businessmen will earn more profits. Employees will be overburdened; may have to work non-stop to earn a name.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Judgment – You can heal from within if you have the willpower to convert problems into opportunities. Don’t fret on your fate. It’s meant to be that way.

LEO:

King of Pentacles – You’re the decision maker and the pressure is driving you crazy. Your decisions will impact the profits of the company. Trust yourself.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Page of Swords – You cut through the heart of the matter with ruthlessness of a leader on a rampage. Review your style of communication to make an impression.

SAGITTARIUS:

Three of Pentacles – Improve your skills in your area of expertise to get the acknowledgement and support you deserve. You have the talent.

TAURUS:

Strength – Draw on your inner strength to deal with obstacles. Don’t feel frustrated that there are so many problems. Focus on the fact that you can solve them.

CANCER:

Judgment – You need to let go of the past and think anew. Dissecting the actions of others, which caused you pain is of no use now.

VIRGO:

Ten of Pentacles – There’s no dearth of what you need. You only have to learn to channel it correctly and make it work for you. You have it in you.

SCORPIO:

Five of Cups – What’s lost is lost. Don’t cry over spilt milk. You’re being too emotional and are feeling distressed over things that are not in your control.

CAPRICORN:

Eight of Swords – Bonds are being severed but not the really strong ones such as family and close karmic relationships. It’s best if you accept it and walk on.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Nine of Wands – Don’t take your focus away from the big picture even as minor glitches threaten to derail your plans. Stay positive and have faith in yourself.

NUMBER GAME

You’re feeling adventurous, flirtatious and intuitive. You want to take a trip to rejuvenate your senses and get back to work feeling refreshed.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: King of Cups –

POOCH CAFE

Unexpected tensions and worries likely. Politicians advised not to blame the opposition without any evidence. Employees need to avoid taking too much freedom with superiors. Also adjust with colleagues though they may misbehave.

for 5-12-2012

Temperance – You’re carried away by the number of challenges before you. Don’t be in a hurry and spoil your chances. Stay calm and patient. Problems will go.

NON SEQUITUR

You will be successful in all challenges and new efforts undertaken. Enemies will be inactive. Court verdict will go in favour. In-laws will extend their support and help you in a big way. Housing loan will be approved and the work too will start.

SUDUKO

Do not force your decision on your children. Your harsh talk that brought you problems so far will change now as you become flexible with all. Chances of a minor misunderstanding with your spouse. Politicians not to spend extravagantly.

Boggle CREEK BROOK RIVER STREAM Vol: 2, No 138 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

Entertainment Special

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

THE LAST OF THE GREAT PLAYBOYS

HEF AND HIS WOMEN After an on-again-off-again relationship, rumour has it that Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris are finally tying the knot. We take a look at the women that have rocked the Mansion. Crystal Harris

Kendra Wilkinson

rystal Harris was the Playboy Playmate of the Month for December 2009. On December 24, 2010, she became engaged to Hugh Hefner, to become his third wife. Harris broke off the engagement on June 14, 2011. Rumour has it, however, that the marriage is back on.

ilkinson met Hugh Hefner at his 78th birthday party in April 2004, where she was hired to be one of the "painted girls". Shortly after they met, Hefner asked Wilkinson to be one of his girlfriends, and he moved her into the Playboy Mansion.

Kimberley Conrad

Bridget Marquardt

he married Hefner in July 1989. The Hefners had two sons together: Marston Glenn Hefner and Cooper Bradford Hefner. After an 11 year separation, Hefner filed for divorce stating irreconcilable differences.

Mildred Williams

efner married Mildred Williams in 1949. They had two children, Christie and David. Before the wedding, Mildred confessed that she had had an affair while he was away in the Army. He called the admission "the most devastating moment of my life." They divorced in 1959.

M Kristina and Karissa Shannon

n 2008, the Shannon twins moved into the Playboy Mansion as two of Hugh Hefner's three new girlfriends; because of their relationship with Hefner, the Shannons began appearing on the E! network reality television series The Girls Next Door. Despite their "girlfriend" status, Karissa said the relationship she and Kristina shared with Hefner was more for fun and the opportunity to be on the show, rather than romance. By January 2010, the Shannon twins moved out of the mansion.

arquardt stated that she was married, but separated and had been living in the Playboy mansion since October 2002. In early January 2009, it was reported that Marquardt had moved out of the mansion.

Holly Madison

uring her time with Hefner, Madison stated that she wanted to marry Hefner and have his children. On October 7, 2008, Madison announced in a video posted on TMZ.com that her relationship with Hefner had ended.

sports

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

ONE-MAN STAGE SHOW

TENNIS IN INDIA

Tyson wants to take show worldwide

Lack of facilities discourage youngsters: Sania

India, Saudi Arabia are on the former heavyweight champion’s wish list to stage his act. LOS ANGELES: Boxing legend Mike Tyson said on Monday he wants to take his one-man stage show on the road internationally, to countries including Saudi Arabia and India, if they’ll let him in. Announcing a US tour of his “Undisputed Truth” show -- which opened in Las Vegas in April and transferred to Broadway -- the 46year-old said being on stage gave him a “high” like drugs did during his notorious hell-raising days. Tyson, a convicted rapist who was recently denied a New Zealand visa, said a trip to Australia last month had given him confidence in his abilities to connect with audiences in the US and beyond. “The Australian press they thought I was the abominable snowman until they got to know me. They thought I was scary... They thought I was gonna give them a knuckle sandwich like back in the old days,” he told reporters. But they warmed to him, he said, adding in a media conference call: “That gave me such overwhelming

confidence in doing it.” Asked which countries he would like to take the show to, Tyson, a convert to Islam, said: “Anyone of them, I don’t really care... Saudi Arabia. A Scandinavian tour, we can do a Philippines tour, any of them. “You could even do tours where they don’t speak our language and have interpreters on speakers or something. I’d really like to go to India, I think that’s going to be so awesome,” he added. Describing why he wants to take the show to more audiences, he said: “The stage gets me high, the fans get me high. That’s the high I was looking for when I was doing drugs.” Tyson converted to Islam while serving a 10-year prison sentence, later commuted to three years, for raping a US beauty queen in 1991. After prison, the fighter attempted a comeback, but was never able to regain his title and finally gave up professional boxing in 2005. AFP

LEAGUE CRICKET Southern Stars shine bright to drub Adams XI A4-11 Division One-day League Championship Raju CC 202 for 7 (S Babu 71) lost to Cosmos 205 for 1 (B Prasanna Vijay 124no, B Guruprasad 30no) Chums XI 124 (Sahendra Mallu 5 for 31, Jayantha 3 for 15) lost to Gunrock 125 for 2 (Ram Raju 39no, Rajender 43) Imperial 136 for 6 (Srinath 53, Venu 4 for 36) bt Future Stars 130 (Srikanth 3 for 36, Ravi 4 for 25) Consult CC 122 (Naresh 31, B Preetam 4 for 27) lost to Satya CC 123 for 6 (Prithvi Raj 30no, NND Srinavas 32,Naresh 3 for 24) Southern Stars 336 for 7 (Anwar Ahmed 81, Sultan Ahmed 62, Aleemuddin 51, Naveed 30no, T Shiva Kumar 3 for 64) bt Adams XI 125 (T Shiva Kumar 31, Aleemuddin 6 for 22, Naveed Siddiqui 4 for 28) Roshanara 135 (Najman 3 for 21, Majid 3 for 15) lost to Sungrace 136 for 7 (Abid 34, Majid 57no, Ali Hussain 5 for 25) Cheerful Chums 148 (Ram 30, Naresh 39, Md Sarwar 3 for 20,

AB Azeem 4 for 30) lost to Apex CC 150 for 2 (SJ Quadri 51no) Mahmood CC 180 (KV Rahul 117no, Rohit Jaju 4 for 42) bt Noble 95 (MAR Arshad 39, Praveen 4 for 33, Arun Sai 5 for 5) Shanthi XI 167 (Rajan 33, Ravi Teja 4 for 70, T Madhu Babu 3 for 40) lost to Starlets 170 for 1 (CH Manohar 90no, Akshay 31no) Vijaynagar 98 (Sudheer 34, SK Vikram 3 for 20, J Abhishek 4 for 13) lost to Tarakarama 99 for 1 (S Kiran Valluri 36, Laxman 43) Lal Bahadur CC 208 (Md Akbar 37, D Mohan 53, Sridhar Sharma 42, Marshal 4 for 47) bt Saint Sai 148 (Raja 32, P Vishal 5 for 32, Sridhar Sharma 5 for 10) Vijay Bharath 224 (SM Nadeemuddin 32, Munaaf Subhani 52, N Roopchand 3 for 33) bt Kishoresons 218 (Rahul Pawar 43, D Randhir Kumar 68, Abu Baker 4 for 53) Time CC 235 for 7 (Phani Krishna 96, Murali Krishna 32no, Deepak 3 for 65) bt United CC 127 (Shiva 34, Phani Krishna 3 for 47, Rahul Yadav 4 form29).

Former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in ‘Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth-Live on Stage’, a one-man show.

RAIPUR: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza today said that people should not always expect a win from sportspersons and should learn to take their defeat in a positive way. “Every player cannot win all the tournaments. That doesn’t mean one should look at them in a negative way,” the 26-year-old player told reporters on the sidelines of Gondwana Cup Tennis Tournament that was kickedstarted here. Saying that tennis was a “tough” sport for women, Sania pointed out that there was a dearth of coaches and lack of facilities, which discourage Indians from taking up tennis. “Tennis was never a popular sport here. Due to lack of coaches, programmes and infrastructure, people, particularly girls, hardly take up tennis,” she said adding that they should be encouraged to play the sport. Sports academies would help in grooming the young talent to reach to the top place in tennis, she opined.

When asked, she said that playing at Wimbledon was her “biggest dream”, which she has accomplished. She added that she aspires to win the Wimbeldon doubles and mixed doubles events. Replying to queries, she said had she not been a tennis player, she would have become an interior decorator. Sania added she also loved watching cricket. PTI

HYDERABAD TRACK WORK

Vijay’s Pride in fine form

HYDERABAD: Vijay’s Pride, Nasheeta, Rise Of Emerald and Dard Avanger caught the eye when horses were exercised at the Malakpet racecourse in the City this morning. Sand track 800 metres Best Pal (Dileep) 1-3, 600/48 Easy. Rustic Gal (rb) Elenor (Imran Khan) 1-1, 600/45 They moved together. Inspiring Tunes (rb) Field Smasher (rb) 58, 600/44 They moved together. Rise of Emerald (Imran Khan) 56.5, 600/42 Pleased. 2y. Over Look (Anil) 2y. Fair and Square (Dileep) 13.5, 600/47.5 They moved freely. 2y. Greek Star (app) 2y. Sheer Luck (rb) 59.5, 600/43 They moved together. Dauntless (rb) 1-0, 600/44 Easy. Sheer Genius (rb) 1-2, 600/46 Easy. Corvette (rb) 1-1, 60/46 Easy. Red Magic (rb) 1-3, 600/46 Moved freely. 2y. Royal Opportunity (rb) 2y. Golden Arrow (Kiran Naidu) 1-2, 600/45 They moved together. Sand track 1000 metres Lady Of Grace (M Mark) 1-15, 800/59 600/45 Moved freely.

Viay’s Pride (R Singh) 1-9.5, 800/ 54.5, 600/41.5 Caught the eye. Sand track 1200 metres The Leader (Kiran Naidu) 130.5, 1000/1-15, 800/59, 600/45 Moved on the bit. Nasheeta (Imran Khan) 1-27, 1000/1-13, 800/58, 600/44 Maintains form. Confidential (Alikhan) Merry Maid (S Nayak) 1-32.5, 11000/1-13.5, 800/57, 600/44.5 A fit pair. Cristiano (Kiran Naidu) 1-30, 1000/1-14, 800/58.5, 600/44.5 Moved on the bit. Sand track 1400 metres Ashok Chakra (Kiran Naidu) Dark Avanger (Imran Khan) 145, 1200/1-28.5, 1000/1-13.5, 800/58, 600/44 They moved well and finished together. Noted on Monday Sand track 800 metres 2y. Fair And Square (Dileep) 13,600/47 Easy. The Leader (Kiran Naidu) 1-3, 600/47 Easy. Mock Race 1200 metres 1st Mock Race Napolean (Deep Shanker) Krithiman (Mukesh Kumar) Blazing Asian (Kiran Naidu) 2y. Golden Phantom (Imran Khan) Young Sapper (Srinath Chary)

2y. Skylight Express (Chary) Devils Advocate (Deepak Singh) Dartos The Muscle (Laxmikant) 1-15, 1000/1-1, 800/50, 60/37 They jumped out well and first three were the pick. 2nd Mock Race Magic Million (Kuldeep Singh) Ceremonious (Sreekant) Scubarioo (R Vikrant) Ice Hill (AK Pawar) In Reality (G Sai Vamshi) Classic Crown (P Kumar) 2y. Concours (S Nayak) 2y. Vocation (Ravinder Singh) 1-16, 1000/1-3, 800/52, 600/39 They jumped out well and first two were level and finished well in front of the rest. Noted on Sunday Sand track 800 metres Perfect (S Nayak) Prince of Arabia (K Singh) 1-0, 600/44 They moved together. Sea Runner (S Nayak) Ocean Side (K Singh) 59 600/43 Former finished a length in front. Sand track 1600 metres Golden Rule (Kuldeep Singh) San Ramon (S Nayak) 2-2, 1400/1-46.5, 1200/1-28, 1000/1-11.5, 800/57, 600/41 An impressive display.

sports TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

ANIMAL RIGHTS

CURTAINS DOWN

Gandy to swim for Australia

‘Ironwoman’ Chrissie retires

SYDNEY: British world silver medallist Ellen Gandy (in pic) has decided to switch allegiance to her adoptive home of Australia as she aims for a third Olympic campaign, a report said Tuesday. Gandy, whose family moved to Australia when she was 16, said her decision came after a disappointing performance in London where she not only missed out on a medal in the Olympic 200m butterfly, but failed to make the semi-finals. “I had thought about it before but not seriously, but when I looked into it, it became something that I was really excited about,” the 21year-old told The Australian newspaper of the switch. Gandy swam at the Beijing Olympics but really hit the international scene in 2009 when she broke the European 200m butterfly record by more

LONDON: Britain’s four-time Ironman triathlon world champion Chrissie Wellington announced her retirement on Monday after a one-year break from the sport. “The World Ironman Championships (in Kona, Hawaii) in 2011 was the icing on the cake for me as an athlete. It was my ‘perfect race’ and it ‘completed’ me,” the 35-year-old said on her website chrissiewellington.org. “My passion for the sport hasn’t waned, but my passion for new experiences and new challenges is what is now burning the most brightly. “Hence, I have got to the point where I know that it is right for me to retire from professional ironman distance racing.” Wellington, a former civil servant for the British government before turning professional, won the world Ironman championships — a 2.4-mile (3.9 kilometre) swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run — in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011. She was also unbeaten in 13 races. In an article published in March this year, Britain’s Guardian newspaper called her “the most remarkable woman in sport”. AFP

British world silver medallist Ellen Gandy has decided to switch allegiance to her adoptive home of Australia as she aims for a third Olympic campaign.

than half a second at the British Championships. The next year she won bronze in the same event at the European Championships and also took silver in the 100m butterfly at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, as well as bronze in the 200m butterfly and silver in

the 4x100m medley relay. She went on to win 200m butterfly silver at the 2011 world championships. But Gandy said the difficulty of living in Melbourne while competing for Britain had taken its toll. “The last five years have been really, really difficult,

SPORTS BRIEFS

IN A TIGHT SPOT

Stosur wins third straight player of the year award MELBOURNE: Tennis star Samantha Stosur on Monday received the award for Australia’s most outstanding player of the year for a third consecutive year at the Australian Tennis Awards in Melbourne, organisers said. The former US Open champion won the prestigious Newcombe Medal, defeating Australia’s top-

ranked male player Marinko Matosevic, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt and 2011 French Open mixed doubles champion Casey Dellacqua. Stosur, currently ranked ninth in the WTA standings, is the first Australian woman since Wendy Turnbull to finish in the top 10 in the world three years running. AFP

Robertson edges closer to Triple Crown YORK: Australia’s 2010 world snooker champion Neil Robertson moved a step closer to becoming only the eighth player to win the sport’s Triple Crown when he eased into the second round of the UK Championship with an impressive 6-1 win over England’s Tom Ford on Monday. He recorded four century breaks on his way to sealing a second round meeting with another English cuesman Barry Hawkins. However, while there was much talk about him joining the previous

seven players to win in their careers the world, UK and Masters titles Robertson was not looking that far ahead. “I felt mega-confident today,” said Robertson, who is the current Masters champion. There are still some great players left in the tournament. But for me, it would be fantastic to hold the Masters and win the UK, that would be a special feeling. I have the opportunity to do that and to win all three in a short space of time would be great.” AFP

LeMond ready to for UCI top job challenge LONDON: Former three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond said on Monday that he is prepared to challenge for the top job in world cycling as the sport battles to recover from the Lance Armstrong doping scandal. Asked whether he was prepared to run for president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) against incumbent Pat McQuaid, who has faced numerous calls to quit, he told a news conference in London: “If necessary, yes.” “I

especially the travelling,” she said. “A lot of the time I felt like I was in limbo because I didn’t feel Australian but I didn’t really feel British either because I wasn’t there all the time.” With the support of Swimming Australia, Gandy has applied for Australian citizenship. If granted, she will be unable to compete internationally for a year in order to meet International Swimming Federation criteria for changing allegiance. “It’s not that I don’t like Britain anymore, but Australia has always been so supportive of me as a foreign athlete,” she told the paper. “They have never treated me as an outsider.” Gandy could return to Britain to make her debut for Australia at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. AFP

want to be part of the change process in cycling. But I’m not here to be president. I’m not a politician,” the 51-year-old added after a meeting of the Change Cycling Now pressure group. LeMond, who won the Tour de France in 1986, 1989 and 1990, is now the only American rider to have won cycling’s most famous race after the UCI stripped Armstrong of his record seven Tour wins and career record to 1998 for doping. AFP

India awaits verdict

NEW DELHI: India’s sports chiefs began last-ditch efforts on Monday to prevent the country from being suspended from the Olympic movement, but stuck to their stand of electing tainted officials. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board, which meets in Lausanne on December 4 and 5, will decide if India should be suspended for flouting the Olympic charter in its election process. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had been directed by a Delhi court to hold elections according to the government’s sports code, while the IOC wanted it to abide by the Olympic charter that favours autonomy. Elections to the IOA are due to be held on December 5, but have become a formality after a rival group led by IOC member Randhir Singh withdrew from the contest last month. It left tainted sports official Lalit Bhanot elected unopposed as the IOA’s secretary-general, while Haryana state politician Abhey Singh Chautala was set to take over as president. Bhanot is out on bail after being held in custody for 11 months last year over corrup-

tion charges during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi when he was secretarygeneral of the organising committee. The IOC Ethics Commission had in October warned the Indian body against fielding either Bhanot or former IOA chief Suresh Kalmadi — who is also on bail over corruption charges. Chautala, known to be a close associate of Kalmadi, said there was nothing wrong in Bhanot contesting elections since he had not been convicted. “Many people have cases pending against them, but they can’t be called guilty till the

courts say so,” Chautala told reporters last week. “Bhanot has every right to contest.” Chautala said two IOA members had been deputed to meet IOC officials in Lausanne ahead of the possible vote against India at the Executive Board meeting. Suspension from IOC membership would mean India would not receive IOC funding and its officials would be banned from attending Olympic meetings and events. India’s athletes would also be barred from competing in the Olympics under the national flag, although the IOC could allow some to take part under the Olympic flag. India’s lone individual Olympic gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra said seeing Bhanot elected as the IOA secretarygeneral made his “blood boil”. “It’s about politics and stooping to a new low,” rifle shooter Bindra wrote in the Hindustan Times on Sunday. “It is agonising to see such people coming back.” But he added: “If our Olympic association is banned, it could be a blessing in disguise. With no multi-sport event in 2013, Indian athletes could... unite to change the present system.” PTI

sports TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

SOUTH AFRICA’S TOUR OF AUSTRALIA

Oz press blast side’s failure Oz media blasted the side’s “monumental failure” against Proteas while lamenting the end of Ponting’s illustrious career.

Players shake hands after South Africa defeated Australia at the WACA ground in Perth on Monday. AFP/GREG WOOD

PERTH, AUSTRALIA: Australian media on Tuesday blasted the national team’s “monumental failure” in the third Test against South Africa while lamenting the end of former skipper Ricky Ponting’s illustrious career. South Africa thumped the Australians by 309 runs in Perth to hold on to their number one Test ranking and

ruin an emotional farewell for Ponting, who bowed out after a 17-year Test career. Set an improbable 632 runs to win, Australia were dismissed for 322 with a day to spare. Ponting, the second highest runscorer in Test history, was out for just eight after he was given an honour guard by the South Africans. “Champions contemptuous-

ly put the Australians in their place,” said The Australian newspaper. “Perth was a monumental failure at a critical moment and a timely reminder that Michael Clarke’s side is number three -- better on a good day and worse on a bad one like this,” said their cricket writer Peter Lalor. “Never was the gap between one and three writ more large than in this game.” The Sydney Morning Herald said: “Proteas use momentum to absolute advantage”, while bemoaning Australia’s “missed opportunity” to grab the number one world ranking. The first two matches in the threeTest series ended in draws. “It was disappointing enough that Ricky Ponting’s last hurrah was an unremarkable scratching together for eight runs,” the newspaper added. “For the ambitious Clarke, though, the whole debacle will be viewed as a missed opportunity to crown his captaincy with a return to the top of the Test charts.” AFP

PONTING’S RIVAL

‘Lara most dangerous’

PERTH, AUSTRALIA: Newly retired Ricky Ponting says while India’s Sachin Tendulkar was the best batsman he played against, West Indian Brian Lara (in pic) was the opponent he feared most. Ponting pulled stumps on his Australian record-equalling 168-Test career at the conclusion of the third Test loss to South Africa in Perth on Monday. In 17 years of Test cricket, which pro-

duced 13,378 runs at 51.85 and made him the second-highest runscorer in Test history behind Tendulkar, Ponting said the pair stood out as his highest quality opponents. “I am on record before as saying I felt Sachin was the best player I played against,” he said. “He has so much success against us in our conditions and their conditions. “But I probably lost more sleep on the eve of games against Lara, because I knew that he could single-handedly win games for his team. “The way I judge players is their ability to win games by themselves, and Lara could certainly do that and probably did it more than what Sachin did for India.” Lara scored 11,953 runs at 52.88 in 131 Tests, while Tendulkar has 15,562 runs at 54.60 in 192 Tests. Ponting also nominated fellow 37year-old Jacques Kallis, who took the catch that ended his final innings on Monday, as another modern great. AFP

SKIPPER TROUBLE Taylor may lose cap WELLINGTON: Ross Taylor is expected to be axed as New Zealand captain when the Black Caps’ squad to tour South Africa is announced this week following a string of disappointing results, reports said Tuesday. Coach Mike Hesson had lost faith in Taylor and was set to replace him with opener Brendon McCullum, Wellington’s Dominion Post reported. Taylor, who took over as skipper in June last year, faced heavy criticism when New Zealand threw away a commanding position and crashed to a 10-wicket defeat in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle last month. While the 28-year-old steered the Black Caps to a series-levelling win in the second Test in Colombo, scoring 142 in the first innings, the New Zealand Herald said several senior players favoured a change of leadership. It cited a source as saying that ongoing speculation over the captaincy “makes it harder for everyone — it is almost untenable at the moment”. McCullum was Taylor’s main rival when spinner Daniel Vettori stepped down as captain last year and is seen as a more attacking option than the incumbent. New Zealand have lost seven of 13 Tests under Taylor’s captaincy, winning four and drawing two. Two of the wins were against lowly Zimbabwe, with the highlights of his tenure a rare Test victory over Australia in Hobart in December last year and the 167-run victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo. Over the same period, the Black Caps have lost one-day series to South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka, with their sole series win against Zimbabwe.

RANJI TROPHY Match inching towards draw VALSAD: Slow but steady Hyderabad batsmen steered their team to 291 for four, still trailing Gujarat by 275 runs, on the third and penultimate day of the Group A Ranji Trophy match here on Monday. With six more wickets left, Hyderabad would be looking to overtake Gujarat’s first innings total of 566 to earn the lead on the fourth and the final day today in a match heading for a draw. Resuming on 50 for one today, Hyderabad, in reply to Gujarat’s mammoth total, adopted a cautious approach as they scored just 241 runs in 92 overs, losing three wickets in the process. The visitors managed to put on some valuable partnerships in the entire day. Brief scores: Gujarat 566 vs Hyderabad 291/4 (Akshath Reddy 79, Hanuma Vihari 79, Bavanaka Sandeep 61 n.o., Rush Kalaria 1/29). PTI

Brief Scores At Visakhapatnam: Andhra 393 vs Goa 285/9 (Ravikant Shukla 84 n.o., Duvvarapu Shivkumar 6/41, T Atchuta Rao 2/89). At Rajkot: Saurashtra 576/9 decl (Ravindra Jadeja 331, Kamlesh Makvana 100 n.o., Hardik Rathod 5/98) vs Railways 157/1 (Shivakant Shukla 74 n.o., V Cheluvaraj 49 n.o.). At Nagpur: TN 449/8 decl vs Vidarbha 214/2 (Faiz Fazal 110 n.o., S S Das 62; A Srinivasan 1/30). At Mohali: Rajasthan 222 & 196 (Vineet Saxena 41, Rashmi Parida 33; Sandeep Sharma 5/57, Baltej Singh 3/59) vs Punjab 215 & 149/1 (Jiwanjot Singh 80 n.o., Ravi Inder Singh 34 n.o.). At Nadaun: Tripura 441 and 116/5 (Abbas Ali 59 n.o.; Vikramjeet Malik 3/25) vs Himachal Pradesh 260 (Rishi Dhawan 54; Rana Dutta 4/65). At Mumbai: Mumbai 297 & 294/5 decl (Hiken Shah 108, Abhishek Nayar 73 n.o., Shami Ahmed 2/39) vs Bengal 201 & 47 for no loss (Arindam Das 19 n.o., Rohan Banerjee 23 n.o.) At New Delhi: Kerala 314 and 9 for no loss vs Services 335 (Soumik Chatterjee 107, Yashpal Singh 89, Sandeep Warrier 4/86). At Sambalpur: Maharashtra 315 & 73/1 (Harshad Khadiwale 43 n.o.) vs Odisha 441 (Niranjan Behera 103, Biplab Samantray 107; Samad Fallah 3/118). At Rohtak: Haryana 307 & 167/6 (Amit Mishra 50 n.o., Vikas Mishra 3/57, Sumit Narwal 2/15) vs Delhi 224 (Unmukt Chand 83, Mithun Manhas 53, Mohit Sharma 3/35, Harshal Patel 3/55).

CRICKET BRIEFS Smith tips England for Ashes glory

Wrong to ask for rank turners: Contractor

ECB apologises to BCCI for EPP controversy

PERTH, AUSTRALIA: South Africa’s Graeme Smith has tipped England to win the 2013 Ashes Test series against Australia, saying home advantage will make the difference. Smith is in a good position to judge the merits of the two sides, with the Proteas having wrapped up their second successive series win in Australia on Monday, the first visiting team to do so since the West Indies in 1992-93. In August, the South Africans completed the same feat in England, winning their second successive series there. Speaking after his side beat Australia, Smith said he had been impressed by Australian under the leadership of Michael Clarke. AFP

KOLKATA: Former India captain Nari Contractor lashed out at skipper MS Dhoni terming his demand for designer wickets as “very wrong” and something that captains in his era never asked for. “During our times, nobody has ever made such open statements asking for rank turners. This is very wrong on Dhoni’s part,” Contractor, who led India to their first Test win over England told PTI. “At best, we asked the groundsmen how the pitch would behave and what could be expected of it. We never ordered like ‘aise ya waise wicket banana (we did not give any instruction),” Contractor, who has an all-win captaincy record against England was very critical of Dhoni’s demand. PTI

LONDON: ECB has aplogised to BCCI following its failure to gain all the necessary clearances for the England Performance Programme’s (EPP) tour of India. Following a letter by the BCCI demanding to know why it had not been approached to grant permission for the tour, ECB explained there had been an oversight and apologised. The BCCI has accepted the apology and that the EPP tour will continue as planned. While the incident will be an embarrassment to the ECB, there are some mitigating factors. It had the authority of the MCA for the tour and had presumed that, as several officials within the MCA are also officials within the BCCI, it had all the permission required. PTI

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

sports

MOURINHO RUBBISHES REAL EXIT REPORT Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho on Monday dismissed a report in Spanish sports daily Marca that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season after a below-par start to their La Liga title defence. He added, “As I’ve always said, my relationship with the president is very good.”

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREVIEW

Infamy beckons Chelsea

PREMIER LEAGUE

Even victory at home may not prevent Chelsea from becoming the first CL title holders to go out at the group phase the following season. TOM WILLIAMS Agence France-Presse

n Paris Saint Germain (FRA) v Porto (POR)

LONDON, UK: Without a win in seven games in the Premier League and with interim coach Rafael Benitez (right) already under pressure, the European champions stand only a slim chance of squeezing into the last 16 on Wednesday when they play FC Nordsjaelland. Their 3-0 humbling at Juventus in Roberto Di Matteo’s last game in charge two weeks

AFP/ GRAHAM STUART

n Montpellier (FRA) v Schalke (GER)

Ba double sinks 10-man Wigan

n Olympiakos (GRE) v Arsenal (ENG) n AC Milan (ITA) v Zenit St Petersburg (RUS) n Borussia Dortmund (GER) v Manchester City (ENG) n Real Madrid (ESP) v Ajax (NED) n Chelsea (ENG) v Nordsjaelland (DEN) n Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) v Juventus (ITA)

Benitez can expect another frosty reception at Stamford Bridge but he believes in turning things around on the pitch. ago means the London club can only progress if they win and Juve lose at Shakhtar Donetsk in the other Group E game. Shakhtar have already qualified, but Juventus require only a point to join them in the knockout phase and a draw would also ensure that the Ukrainian champions finish top of the group. Benitez, appointed on a temporary basis in the wake of Di Matteo’s dismissal, saw his side lose 3-1 at West Ham United on Saturday. After goalless draws with Man City and Fulham in

Newcastle United’s Senegalese striker Demba Ba (R) vies with Wigan Athletic’s Barbadian defender Emmerson Boyce in their match at St James Park, England, on Monday.

Big games today

n Barcelona (ESP) v Benfica (POR) n Celtic (SCO) v Spartak Moscow (RUS) Manchester United (ENG) v CFR Cluj (ROM)

his first two matches, it made him the first Chelsea coach in the Roman Abramovich era to fail to win in his opening three games. The free-flowing football of August, September and early October now seems a distant memory and Benitez has thus far shown no signs of being able to stop the rot that had begun to set in under Di Matteo. Chelsea were even forced to deny media reports emerging on Monday that former manager Avram Grant was set to rejoin the club in an advisory capacity.

Ferguson hoping Vidic returns to calm defence MANCHESTER, UK: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is hoping to welcome back captain Nemanja Vidic for his side’s final Champions League group game against Romanian side CFR Cluj. The 31-year-old Serbian defender returned to training last week after undergoing knee surgery in September that has kept him

out of action. Ferguson is set to make a host of changes for the game at Old Trafford, much like they did for the visit to Galatasaray, as United have already secured qualification to the knockout stages as group winners. Ferguson may rest Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans ahead of the game on Sunday.

FIELD RAGE

Linesman ‘dead’ after beating Police arrested three 15- and 16-year-olds from Amsterdam club Nieuwe Sloten for allegedly beating a linesman after the final whistle in match against Buitenboys. THE HAGUE: A 41-year-old football linesman was pronounced clinically dead on Monday after he was severely beaten by teenaged players following a match in the Netherlands, police said. “He is clinically dead,” police spokesman Bernhard Jens told AFP. Dutch media said the linesman had been repeatedly insulted during the match. During the post-match beat-

‘The linesman is clinically dead,’ police spokesman Bernhard Jens told AFP. ing he was kicked in the head and taken to hospital later in the evening after feeling unwell, police said. Police arrested the three

youths from Amsterdam at their homes on Sunday. They have been kicked out of their club and their team has withdrawn from this season’s championship. Sports Minister Edith Schippers reacted with shock even before the clinical death was announced. “It’s horrible that something like this can happen on Dutch sports grounds,” she said. “This no longer has any-

thing to do with sport and is completely unacceptable,” she told Dutch public television. The Dutch football federation condemned the attack, also before the clinical death was announced, with a spokesman saying “what can you do against people who can come off the rails at any moment on a football pitch because they don’t like something or somebody?” AFP

NEWCASTLE: Newcastle climbed away from the relegation zone as Senegal striker Demba Ba scored twice to inspire a 3-0 win over 10-man Wigan at St James’ Park on Monday. Alan Pardew’s side ended a dismal run of four successive Premier League defeats thanks to Ba’s first-half double and referee Mike Jones’ controversial decision to send off Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa. Figueroa was dismissed for a shoulder charge on Ba that led to the penalty which the former West Ham star converted to open the scoring early in the first half. Ba added his second goal soon after and teenage midfielder Gael Bigirimana completed the rout as Newcastle cruised to their first win in eight games in all competitions and moved five points clear of the relegation zone. The only downbeat note for Newcastle was a hamstring injury to Ba that forced the forward off in the closing minutes. Wigan have now lost four of their last five matches and they lie only two points above the bottom three. Pardew had overseen just one win in nine league matches since signing his new eight-year contract with the club in September, so this was a welcome success for the Magpies chief. “It’s been difficult for the players and staff and it was nice to get a break tonight,” Pardew said. “I think it was a penalty. When the defender is coming across the striker and he’s got a goal chance the referee has got a tough decision. That gave us a great start to the game.” Wigan boss Roberto Martinez added: “It became a very difficult game after 10 minutes. The penalty was a big decision and you need to be certain. AFP