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

SPIRITUALITY TURNS FULL-TIME CAREER OPTION Yoga and meditation were at one time considered recreational activities for the youth or the sole domain of the elderly. But now things have changed. P7 Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012 HYDERABAD

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A FAMILY GRIEVES Moh’d Bin Mahmood, 30, who became a father only two days ago, was found dead in Hussain Sagar this morning. Mahmood is believed to have committed suicide yesterday. It is SPECULATED that financial issues forced him to take the tragic step. SRINIVAS SETTY

DREAM Today, as the United States celebrates its 236th Independence Day — a celebration of its past, present and future — we look at the 10 American events that changed history.

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JAGAN BAIL PETITION IS DISMISSED AP High Court today dismissed the bail petition of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in the disproportionate assets case. Judge S Govindarajulu observed that the application could not be considered while the investigation was in a crucial phase.

Page Two

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Spirit of Twin Cities

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF...

Hyderabad Library services

DEEPAK DESHPANDE

Library and librarian services offered to members and groups (institutions) at `3,650 per year (per member). It covers study, career, competition, business of research. Welcome to APSET enrolled. Where: Hyderabad library services, Sagar View Complex When: June 9 to July 8, Contact: (040) 2322 2247, 94412 37751

A double life Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation presents A Double Life: An Evening with Alyque. Catch Mohammad Ali Baig in conversation with theatre and advertising guru Alyque Padamsee. Where: HICC, Hitech City When: July 15, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 6616 3000

Being eunuch Being Eunuch, a play highlighting the plight and problems of eunuchs in the country will be presented by Nishumbita on July 13. Where: Ravindra Bharathi, Saifabad When: July 13, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 2323 1245

Visual Odyssey Visual Odyssey — an exhibition of photographs by Amita Talwar and Mahesh Iyer is being held at Kalakriti Art Gallery. Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery, Jubilee Hills, Rd No 10 When: July 27 onwards, 11am onwards Contact: (040) 6656 4466

Dragon festival Have an oriental experience as the Golden Dragon at Taj Banjara presents its Dragon Festival Feast from June 28 onwards. Where: Golden Dragon, Taj Krishna, Banjara Hills When: Ongoing Contact: (040) 6629 3309

Musical evening Boondhon ka Paigam, a monsoon musical yearly event will be held on July 12 at Hyderabad Marriott and Convention centre. The musical event will feature Kavitha Seth and Jaswinder Singh. Where: Hyderabad Marriott and convention centre,

CINEMAS

Tank Bund When: July 12, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 2752 2999

Akruthi Vasthra Crafts Council of India is hosting a textile exhibition from July 4 at Kamma Sangham Hall. The exhibition features artistes from across the country. Where: Kamma Sangham Hall, Ameerpet When: July 4-July 6, 10.30am onwards Contact: 92937 73970

Art-de-konj A painting exhibition depicting artist Aiyudha Pooja Kapur’s passion for horses is on display at Muse Art Gallery till July 20. Where: Muse Art Gallery, Tank Bund When: Ongoing, 11am onwards Contact: (040) 2752 2999

Art show Head to Shrishti Art Gallery, where the artworks of talent artist Farhad Tamkanat will be on display. The exhibition is on till July 4. Where: Shrishti Art Gallery, Jubilee Hills, Rd No 15. When: Ongoing,

11am onwards Contact: (040) 2354 0023

Expressive notes Adam and the fish eyed poets, is a group of passionate Chennai-based musicians. Their sound is a mix of a variety of music forms. The band will be playing at Hard Rock Cafe. Where: Hard Rock Cafe, Banjara Hills, Rd No 1 When: July 5, 9pm onwards Contact: (040) 6463 6375

Theatre workshop A production-oriented workshop designed to introduce the art of acting on stage, focusing on learning the basics of stage acting, character analysis, stage and movement,is being held. Where: Actor’s Studio, Madhapur When: Ongoing, 7pm onwards Contact: 8341120303

Soft toy workshop A soft toy making workshop will be held at Andhra Mahila Sabha Arts & Science College for Women. Where: Andhra Mahila Sabha College for Women, Osmania University Road When: June 2 onwards,

10am-1pm Contact: (040) 6682 4422

Sacred Vanity A collection of 19 paintings by Rasika Reddy is on display . Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery, Jubilee Hills, Rd No 10 When: July 4 onwards, 7pm Contact: (040) 6656 4466

Petals exhibition Get set for yet another shopping extravaganza. Petals exhibition will be held on July 6. The exhibition which will be held will feature various new designers. Where: Taj Banjara, Banjara Hills, Rd No 1 When: July 6, 10am onwards Contact: (040) 6666 2323

Woodcut workshop The workshop conducted by artist M Ganghadar features various artists and is on from June 30. The exhibition will be on display at Iconart Gallery till July 8. Where: Iconart Art Gallery, Banjara Hills, Rd No 12 When: Ongoing, 11.30am onwards Contact: 98499 68797

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Murder and mayhem in Charlapally jail Morning trouble results in the death of one prisoner and injures four. A probe has been ordered

CRIME Mohd Subhan mohd.s@postnoon.com

ome minister Sabita Indra Reddy today ordered a thorough probe into the goingson in Charlapally jail where a prisoner was murdered this morning and four others sustained injuries. The jail had only the other day faced a probe into the escape of a prisoner Venkateshar Rao alias Jackie Chan (Postnoon, July 3). It all started at the ‘senior citizen cell, named Swarnamukhi.’ Officials said a prisoner, Dasri Narasimha, 30, who is undergoing a life sentence for murdering his wife (who was for inexplicable reasons lodged in the seniors’ cell), suddenly went amuck and ran about the premises shouting obscenities at others. His antics created disturbances in the jail and many objected to it. Dasri got more enraged and he whipped out a razor and attacked a cell mate, Venkataiah,

60, who is undergoing life sentence for murder. Venkataiah happened to be nearby and he had been among those berating Dasri for creating such a ruckus. Venkataiah died in the jail hospital. Dasri also pounced on four others who were objecting to shouting. Of them Chalapaty and Eashaiah were shifted to Gandhi Hospital and are said ot be in a serious condition.

DASRI NARASIMHA, WHO IS UNDERGOING A LIFE SENTENCE FOR MURDERING HIS WIFE, SUDDENLY WENT AMUCK AND RAN ABOUT THE PREMISES SHOUTING AT OTHERS. HIS ANTICS CREATED DISTURBANCES IN THE JAIL

Soon after all the inmates became agitated and sat in a dharna shouting slogans against the jail officials who they blamed for improper lodging of people in different cells. There was no reason for a young prisoner to be lodged with the seniors cell, they pointed out. It is said that the victim, Venkataiah was earning points for his good behaviour. He was of

no trouble to anybody. It is also a matter to be probed how the prisoner happens to own a razor and how he had freely went about attacking people? Why no guard restrained the violent prisoner is also being investigated, sources said. Director general (Prison) T P Das will probe. Meanwhile, DIG prison B Sunil Kumar has suspended two wardens.

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Waywardness of drivers curbed You can expect better-behaving RTC drivers in the coming days, promise authorities. However, the number of people killed on the road by buses has shown no sign of decreasing. SRINIVAS SETTY

often the reason for accident. “It was several months ago that drivers violated the traffic rules, now things have changed a lot. A complete one month programme was conducted on the drivers. Even after this if some drivers violated traffic rules, it would be crass negligence on their part”, said Venkateshwar Rao, Regional manager APSRTC. As part of the measures to reduce number of road accidents involving RTC buses, the Traffic police has ordered 1,000 more barricades to be installed in different parts of the City. There are a total of 50 permanent, 137 mobile and 150 places on roads, inscribed as ‘Bus bay’.

To control this situation the police started penalising erring drivers who have a penchant to stop the bus anywhere except for the bay.

TRANSPORT Md Nizamuddin feedback@postnoon.com

ou can expect better behaved RTC drivers in the coming days, promise authorities. However, death on road involving buses has shown no improvement Over the years the APSRTC buses have earned notoriety as the ‘killer on wheels,’ and to tame this dragon, serious efforts have been taken in the past two years. Yet, the toll remains high. Deaths involving RTC buses till Juneend is half of the previous year. The number of deaths involving RTC buses stands at 42 till

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June, which is precisely half the number of deaths last year — 84. But the transport authorities and traffic police are optimistic of bringing the fatalities considerably down in the days ahead. “Accidents involving RTC buses have come down drastically, following the number of initiatives,” claim the authorities. They admit the death toll remain disturbingly high but making bus bays, training programme for drivers, employing guides from the 24 depots across the City, and slapping spot challans on the erring drivers have begun to show salutary effect on the general behaviour of the RTC bus driver, they point out. Building bus bays has been an important initiative to curb

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fatalities. But lack of discipline of drivers is defeating the purpose, officials observed. To control this situation the traffic police started penalising erring drivers who have a penchant to stop the bus anywhere except for the bus bay. “Passengers scramble after the bus that stops ahead or before the bus bay,” observed a regular commuter, Raghav Reddy. For a change, drivers are being penalised with ‘direct challans’ for violating the guidelines. Even though some 6,500 drivers and 200 RTC guides undertook training, conducted by the traffic police in April and May this year, the number of challans issued recorded a staggering 774. While increasing vehicular

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population and shrinking road infrastructure are blamed for many accidents, engaging ‘contract’ drivers who lack training and experience too is pointed out as a major contributing factor. “An RTC bus has bumped into several vehicles on Road No12 a few months ago, injuring scores of people, some of them seriously. Later it came to light that the driver was on contract,” recalls, Rajneesh, a resident of Banjara Hills. When brought to the notice of the RTC official, he acknowledged that there might be some drivers involved in negligence, but training programme undertaken recently has revealed negligence, not lack of efficiency is

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he APSRTC will begin a zero accident week from July 16 to July 22, said APSRTC managing director AK Khan. This will help create awareness amongst the driver community on road safety measures. The week will see distribution of leaflets and meetings will be conducted for depot managers to educate drivers about safe driving. Lectures on road safety are also being organised besides counseling. Vehicles will be put to thorough testing. Each driver will be told about safety measures especially to avoid the use of mobiles while driving. According to Khan, RTC has registered 2,879 accidents during 2010-11, the cases came down to 2,473 in 2011-12. There is an overall reduction but they want to bring this to zero, he said. “We are taking action against the buses violating the traffic rules. We believe that number of instances of traffic violation have come down. With the installation of some more barricades we shall ensure that the number of accidents is reduced,” said M K Singh, DCP (Traffic).

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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

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She lacks the killer instincts of Maya, Jaya or Mamata but if fortune smiles, she could be a Rabri

Now, another Amma silently invades Delhi POLITICS PK Surendran surendran.pk@postnoon.com

he silent foray into national politics by the YSRC working president Vijayamma this week has gone largely unnoticed but it is seen in political circles as another birth of a woman star in the volatile politics of the country. “An Indiramma is born,” declared a Jagan camp follower jubilantly. It was Vijayamma’s first official meeting as a mass leader with many national players from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to non-Congress ranks. While she had seen many of them at close quarters before, she was then a mere shadow of her towering husband YS Rajasekhara Reddy, and after his death, her son Jagan Mohan Reddy. The imprisonment of Jagan catapulted her into the electoral politics for the first time and made her represent the State before an array of national leaders. “Suddenly the YSR Congress has found a place in Delhi and the party is being mentioned

seriously now,” rued a Congress minister, who earlier considered jumping into the YSR bandwagon but withdrew at the last moment. However, her own party leader Ambatti Rambabu is cautious. Will she emerge a Mamata in AP? “We can’t say anything now. She could. Just wait.” Presidential election has added zest to the wooing of Amma. Both the Congress and the NDA want her party’s votes. Pranab Mukherjee’s refusal to meet Jagan in jail and seek his support has kindled hopes in PA Sangma who was prevented by the AP government from meeting Jagan. “They allowed MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi to meet Jagan Mohan Reddy but I was prevented,” Sangma complained, to which, Owaisi had clarified that he met Jagan by virtue of being ex-officio member of the prison. “Whatever, the discrimination is clear,” observed a BJP leader. Many leaders are aware that Vijayamma has a copybook available to proceed in the fertile federal politics of India today where coalition has become a necessity, not a choice. The mercurial Mamata Banerjee who

floated TMC 15 years ago was laughed off at the beginning. Mayawati, was just a tail of the tiger Kanshi Ram. Jayalalithaa too was held as a curious case at the beginning when she waged a brief war with MGR’s wife Janaki. Rabri Devi was a dupe of her inimitable husband Lalu Prasad but she ruled the State many years and has made a constituency of her own later. The Congress camp is agog and apprehensive about her now. They are not so much worried about her political sagacity or prowess of which they have not much respect but her ability to draw crowd and play on sentiment is what worries them. “She lacks the killer instinct of Maya or Jaya or Mamata,” observed a Congress MLA, “but she could catch votes, and that is all what matters.” Many leaders who are unwilling to come on record, albeit privately admit it so. “It is all the fault of the chief minister,” blames Congress leader Dr. Shankar Rao. “He is leading the party to a blind alley.” Rao says the Congress will not pick up even the runner-up cup if Kiran Kumar Reddy leads the team in 2014 elections.

Man’s body found in PCC slams leaders for rythu dharna T Hussain Sagar CRIME Mohd Subhan mohd.s@postnoon.com

ohd Bin Mahmood, 30, a driver by profession who became a father only two days ago, was found dead in the Hussain Sagar Lake this morning. Mahmood is believed

have committed suicide yesterday but his body was found today. While the exact reason for this tragedy is not known, financial trouble is said to have prompted him to take to extreme step. He was a tanker driver. The spotting of the body created a sensation in Tank Bund and a milling crowd led to a traffic jam. Mahmood lived in Patelnagar, Nampally under Begum Bazar police station limits. SRINIVAS SETTY

aking serious exception to leaders of TDP and other Opposition participating in the Rythu Dharna at Indira Park on Monday, the PCC has said that the allegations made by the TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu against the State government were not correct. Speaking at Gandhi Bhavan on Tuesday, PCC official spokesperson Dr N Thulasi Reddy said the State government was not a lottery government. He ridiculed that Chandrababu Naidu was not coming out from the influence of Kola Krishna Mohan’s lottery issue and that is the reason why he was chanting the word ‘lottery’. Stating that the Kiran Kumar Reddy gov-

ernment was 100 per cent farmers’ government, he said that lottery issue belongs to Chandrababu alone. He said that the Congress government was striving sincerely to solve the farmers’ problems and it has right to own the credit. PCC Kisan cell chairman M Kodanda Reddy has alleged that Chandrababu Naidu was trying to politicise every small problem in the society. He said that Chandrababu, who had neglected the agriculture sector totally, was now being dramatic in his attempt to woo the sector. He alleged that the Opposition parties were not extending constructive advice to the State government. NSS

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Dhoolpet’s artistic offering N SHIVA KUMAR

Dhoolpet is alleged to be the hub of liquor brewing and ganja making business but every year, three months prior to Ganesh Chaturthi they wash off their sins by making idols

FESTIVAL Anubha K Singh anubha.k@postnoon.com

t’s atonement time for the Dhoolpet residents who are brewing gudumba (illicit liquor) or busy making ganja round the clock. They are now giving final touches to the Ganesh idols. Dhoolpet is one of the old suburbs in Old City. This area is inhabited by people who migrated from Uttar Pradesh during the Nizam’s rule. Dhoolpet is known for the notorious liquor brewing and ganja businesses, but every year, this is the time when they wash off their sins by making Ganesh idols. However, the earnings are three times less than what they earn by selling illicit liquor. In spite of this, they are ready to compromise as it’s a matter of pleasing god to wash off their sins.

“Three months prior to Ganesh Chaturthi is the only time when we stop brewing liquor. The main aim is to wash off our sins. It’s been over a month now since we have started to make Ganesh idols. I have made nearly 120 ganesh idols so far. The sizes range from two feet to 20 feet. Even the women from the family are involved in making idols. The men in the family do the final painting,” said Laxman Singh, who has been making idols since the last two decades. “The earnings are low compared to what we earn otherwise but paapo ka prayaschit karna bhi zaruri hai,” he adds. Gudumba and Ganja are our their source of income. Most of the families are into this business from the time of Nizams. “The excise department has conducted many raids here, but we don’t fear in the trade that we practice as Lord Ganesha will take care of us,” gushes the old man.

Not adhering to government rules is nothing new for the residents. Most of them still make idols using plaster of paris and they don't want to make clay idols. “Whatever the government may

say, but idols made of plaster of paris are still more in demand compared to the clay ones. Pandal organisers place orders for plaster of paris made idols only and that is the reason we don’t make eco-friendly Ganesh

idols,” said Devi Singh, a resident of Dhoolpet. Many workers are seen giving the “Dhoolpet finishing” to the idols. It’s a particular finishing in terms of touch, colour and even design.

Celebrating the modern woman It is definitely a homecoming of sorts for Hyderabad-born, New York-based artist Rasika Reddy, as she prepares to showcase her collection of 19 paintings titled Sacred Vanity 2, at Kalakriti Art Gallery DEEPAK DESHPANDE

ART Fleme Varkey fleme.v@postnoon.com

his is not the first time that Rasika has held a show in Hyderabad, she has already exhibited her paintings four times at different art galleries in the City. Rasika’s latest collection is titled Sacred Vanity 2, an extension of an earlier collection of the same name which was exhibited in New Jersey and for which she received rave reviews. The title to her collection immediately arouses interest and Rasika explains the reason for using two opposites. “Vanity for the West may mean something egotistical but in India it’s not to be related to the superficial or the ego, here it links to more than just surface adornment and beauty, it’s more divine. Sacred Vanity is a celebration of the multi-faceted woman in a modern world,” she

Rasika Reddy Title: Sacred Vanity 2 Time: Opening show-7pm Date: July 4-July 8 Place: Kalakriti Art Gallery says. “This series is a dramatic departure from the last show I held in Hyderabad; both in terms of the

style as well as content. While my earlier work had more to do with the cultural amalgamation from around the world, my new work is

specifically related to women,” she adds. The intention behind having a part two to an earlier series, she

says is personal. “In this series, I hope to engage the viewer in a more direct and personal way. I would like them to look at these works as a single entity and not analyse each work separately. The portraits of women are presented as real women with different personalities, ranging from serene to defiant to downright aggressive. Some faces draw you in while the others may push you back,” explains Rasika. The theme, she says, is something most people in India will connect to as the concept is of a powerful goddess who can create, nurture, or destroy. “I feel that the man/woman balance can be restored only when women are accepted for what they are and not judged or discarded as inferior,” she says. Rasika hopes that through her collection, the modern woman emerges strong and believes that this aspect of woman is natural and intrinsic to her being and should be accepted.

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HOME APPLIANCES

FABRICATION

Spirituality turns full time career option? Yoga and meditation were at one time considered recreational activities for the youth or the sole domain of the elderly. But now things have changed

HEALTH

Shankar hits out at Jana

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ormer minister Dr P Shanker Rao has opined that all the 155 Congress MLAs were eligible to the post of the CM and not just senior minister K Jana Reddy. Dr Rao demanded that the party replace the CM and PCC president. He said that the party faced a severe drubbing in the recent byelections just because of CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana. Therefore, they should resign from their posts voluntarily without giving trouble to the high command to sack them. He said that the party could win two seats because two strong communities had supported the party. He opined that the high command should choose people with the ability to strengthen the party and implement development and welfare schemes. He also pointed out that the party had come to power when the PCC chiefs were from Telangana. NSS

TRENDS Sudeshna Koka Sudeshna.k@postnoon.com

ikita (26), was an alumnus of NIT Warangal. She went ahead and completed her masters from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and topped her University. Soon after this, she was offered a job with the US energy department. After working for a while, she quit her job and is today preaching the teachings of Iskon in Chicago. “It’s really surprising how she quit everything and is leading such a simple life. Not just Nikita, but her younger sister too, who is an architect, quit her job and is now preaching spirituality in Chicago, as a full time career,” said one of the family members. Just like Nikita and her sister, there are thousands of Indians who have chosen not to just follow but also teach spirituality. Last week, thousands of Americans performed yoga at the Times Square in USA. What else can be a better example of how, yoga and spirituality have spread all over the world. Perhaps, this could also be a reason why so many youngsters are choosing this as a fulltime career and are travelling across globe to teach yoga. Most people turn to spirituality after

an incident affects their life,” said Subrahmanyam who is fondly referred to as Subbuji. He teaches meditation and follows Somanatha Maharshi. “I had a lucrative carrier of interiors until I suffered three major heat attacks in 1990. After this incident I was asked to practice yoga and meditation,” he says. “After some time, I realised that there is much more to Yoga than just practice. There is some power and I wanted to pursue that real power. It’s an inner journey. To find out who is that man who is called god. It is this thought that changed my life. I have travelled to more than eight countries. I have stopped people from committing suicide and brought people out from depression. What else can be better than this” When asked about his financial needs he says, “The universe has provided you with your needs. I don’t charge my students, they pay what they can. However, I have also been teaching at a corporate firm and from them I charge fees.” Suteja K, a teacher at Isha foundation says that she never looked at spirituality as a career option. “I have not chosen this path to earn money. I realised that as a teacher, I have a deeper understanding of spirituality. It opens up new direction in a scientific method. My purpose is to reach to a larger audience and make a difference in people’s lives.” Suteja was working in one

of the leading companies and gave that up to become a full-time teacher of mediation and yoga. Teaching spirituality does come with a certificate or an exam. Most believe that only a selected few have the power to transform lives. “One should have the courage to take up spirituality as a career. Honestly, it’s the best job. Unlike other jobs where one gets stressed, here you get paid to teach how to distress,” said Gauri P, an Art of Living Teacher. “It was not easy, it was a very difficult decision. I was a banker but I quit years back and now I am teaching mediation, all over the country. Even on this path one has to work to succeed. One needs to have the ability and should be ready to take up challenges,” adds Gauri. For a few, spirituality has been a platform to serve the society with out changing their field. For Abhiram Vishwanathan it was indeed a perfect blend. “I realised that the vision of the organisation coincided with mine, so why choose another path? Spreading knowledge about India and spirituality is the coolest thing to do and using my skills as a film maker is even more fun, yet challenging.”Social responsibility, transforming life’s, making a difference, spreading knowledge and mythology; the reasons may be different but the end product is the same — building brand India and promoting yoga.

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Shard: The divisive new star Nathalie Auriol

welve years after it was first sketched out, London's Shard tower will be inaugurated on Thursday to great fanfare — but Europe's tallest skyscraper has won as many critics as it has admirers. The inauguration of the jaggedtipped tower, which at 310 metres (1,017 feet) dwarfs nearby landmarks such as St Paul's Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament, has been carefully timed. Branded "an icon for London" by its developers, the Shard will be completed just ahead of the Olympic Games, which open on July 27 and will see around two million visitors pour into the British capital. With its striking silhouette, 95 floors and a viewing deck offering 360degree panoramas, developer Sellar Property hopes the Shard can become a major tourist attraction. "It will become as essential a part of a visit to London as going to the top of the Empire State Building is for visitors to New York," said Irvine Sellar, the company's chairman. The inauguration will be as bold as the skyscraper's shape, with a spectacular night-time laser show lighting up the city's major landmarks to live music from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Designed by Renzo Piano, the Italian architect behind the colourful Pompidou Centre in Paris, the glass tower sits south of the River Thames at the heart of a wider regeneration project in the London Bridge district. The idea, Piano told AFP on a tour of the construction site in February, was to build a "vertical city" with capacity for 12,000 people, featuring a five-star hotel, luxury restaurants, 600,000 square metres of office space, and shops. There will also be 10 flats with stunning views on floors 53 to 65 — the

highest residential properties in Britain. But any would-be resident will need a hefty bank account as well as a strong head for heights, because the apartments will reportedly cost up to £50 million each ($78 million, 62 million euros). "The Shard is the perfect metaphor for modern London," one commentator observed recently in the Guardian newspaper. "Expensive, off-limits and owned by foreign investors -- the Shard extends the ways in which London is becoming more unequal." The £450 million ($705.4 million, 560.70 million euro) project teetered on the brink of cancellation in 2007, when developers struggled to find investors as the credit crunch set in. Qatar came to the rescue — funding 95 percent of the construction, and adding the Shard to a bulging portfolio of London properties that includes the Olympic Village and the famous Harrods department store. The tiny Gulf state's Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani will attend the inauguration on Thursday, alongside Queen Elizabeth II's second son, Prince Andrew. Construction of the Shard began in 2009. Since then, it has shot up to overtake the 302-metre Capital City Moscow Tower as the tallest in Europe. It joins several imposing skyscrapers on the city's horizon, including the Gherkin and the Heron Tower in the City of London financial district. The Shard has won critical acclaim for Piano, but its huge, futuristic form has angered traditionalists. English Heritage, the body responsible for protecting historic sites,

A picture shows the Shard under construction in central London. AFP/ MIGUEL MEDINA

Towering statistics Here is a list of the 20 tallest buildings in Europe, following the inauguration of The Shard, which takes over the number one spot from the Capital City Moscow Tower.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Height in feet

Name

Country

year opened

1,016 989 881 866 856 850 843 842 820 817 795 787 783 774 770 770 758 758 757 755

The Shard Capital City Moscow Tower Naberezhnaya Tower Triumph-Palace Istanbul Sapphire Commerzbank Tower Capital City St Petersburg Tower MesseTurm Torre Caja Torre de Cristal Federation Tower West Moscow State University Imperia Tower Torre PwC One Canada Square Torre Espacio Torre Garibaldi Tour First Palace of Culture and Science Heron Tower

London, Britain Russia Moscow, Russia Moscow, Russia Turkey Frankfurt, Germany Moscow, Russia Frankfurt, Germany Madrid, Spain Madrid, Spain Moscow, Russia Russia Moscow, Russia Madrid, Spain London, Britain Madrid, Spain Milan, Italy Paris, France Warsaw, Poland London, Britain

2012 2010 2007 2005 2011 1997 2010 1990 2008 2008 2008 1953 2011 2008 1991 2007 2011 2011 1955 2011

n Unenclosed structures like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which at 1,063 feet) is slightly taller than The Shard, are not included. n The tallest building in the world remains the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, opened in 2010. It soars 2,717 feet above the Gulf emirate, and boasts 200 floors. says the skyscraper taints a view of St Paul's, while UNESCO says it compromises the "visual integrity" of the Tower of London, one of its World Heritage sites. Piano has shrugged off the criticism, pointing out that St Paul's, the original giant of the London skyline,

was considered modern when it was built 300 years ago. "When you're making a building like this, that's so important for the city, you have to be absolutely sure that it's the right thing to do," said Piano. "As an architect, if you make a mistake it stays there for a long time." AFP

17,458.38 32.67

5,298 10.05

BSE

NSE

Business

10g= `29,845

GOLD

1kg= `52,790

SILVER

`54.51

DOLLAR

Matters of saving and spending

POUND WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012 9

Plan to bring home profits Prudhvi Raju K prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

he demand for rented housing properties slightly decreased due to huge inventory that is being generated by gated community projects. Earlier, the demand for rental properties is huge and however with huge supply of inventory in to the market with entry of gated communities brought adequate demand–supply ratio. Each gated community brings around 500-2,000 flats in to the market, said R Naveen Kumar, MD, easytolet.in. However, tenants are also increasingly looking to rent the properties in gated communities even at little higher rental values. Tenants are ready to travel to faroff location for the amenities if he finds a property at almost a similar rental value. This movement has created vacancy in the flats of normal apartments and independent houses, he said. Earlier, living in a independent house is a luxury. However, these days, tenants are sceptic to living in these houses because of the security provided (video surveillance with proper guest entry records) at the gated communities. The landlords of standalone apartments and independent houses cannot compete with the facilities provided by the gated community, but they have to at least regularly maintain their houses to attract tenants, said Naveen.

Key Areas Madhapur Mehidipatnam Kondapur Manikonda Dilsukhnagar Kukatpally Madhapur

Checklist Drinking and general water Ventilation Schools Traffic between office to home ‘To let’ boards

Talking about opportunities in the market, he said, there is huge demand for bachelor accommodation with the almost 90 per cent of the landlords doubtful to rent their property for them. However, bachelors with jobs have disposable income and

IMF warns US on deficit cut WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday that the Obama administration could be slicing the deficit too fast for the weak US economy. The IMF trimmed growth forecasts to 2 per cent in 2012 and 2.3 per cent in 2013, down a tenth point from April’s esti-

mates. The slower growth outlook mainly was due to sluggish spending, the key driver of GDP activity. “It is critical to remove the uncertainty created by the ‘fiscal cliff’ as well as promptly raise the debt ceiling, pursuing a pace of deficit reduction that does not sap the economic recovery,” the fund report said.

Google axes five products SAN FRANCISCO: Google on Tuesday announced to axe five products that are not core to its business. Among the products to be axed, the most notable are iGoogle, the search giant’s personalized homepage service and Google Video, reports Xinhua. iGoogle will be axed Nov 1, 2013, giving users 16 months to adjust or export their data.

For Google Video, which stopped taking uploads in May 2009, its remaining hosted content will be moved to YouTube and users need to delete or download the content before Aug 20. The other services getting axed are Google Mini, Google Talk Chatback and Symbian Search App. IANS

Sources to find a property Online and rental websites Classifieds Brokers Friends’ references NA NA don’t mind paying extra rental as they share among house mates. The major concern for the landlords to rent is the maintenance and cleaning of the property. If landlords let their property to bachelors by proving maid services by including those costs in rentals rather than nagging them

about cleaning the house, it creates win-win situation between both the players. The landlord has to know who is his customer market the strengths of the house to him. For instance, if a landlord has a four bed room house at a HITEC city, it is difficult to rent the house for families as the people who are working in the IT sector are individuals or nuclear families. Instead, he need to market his house for corporate as a guest house accommodation. There are different people with different needs. There are tenants who are ready to travel to their offices from far-off locations for properties in lower rents, pollution free zone and greenery. Landlord needs to highlight these things when they are letting their property and target the relevant tenant, he said. There is also a need of emotional connect between a landlord and tenant. If a landlord builds trust, the tenant does not get a thought to relocate as he feels it as his own house. It also reduces the iteration and vacancy rate drastically to the landlord, said Naveen. The rental housing in the City is not effected with political agitations. There is a 5- 10 per cent hike in rental values. However, the market have a direct relation with the job market and businesses in the City. The new companies starting off in the City will create a demand and layoffs will lead to vacancies, he added.

Manchester United digs for dollars in IPO NEW

YORK: Storied British football club Manchester United, overloaded with debt since their takeover by a billionaire American family of investors, is moving to raise cash through a US share sale. The US-controlled Red Devils, Britain’s all-time top team, filed papers in the US on Tuesday for an initial public share offering, with the owners touting its value as one of the world’s most recognized sports brands. The papers gave a pro-forma amount of $100 million as the target for the share issue, but recent reports about abortive attempts to list it in Hong Kong or Singapore said the owners aim to bring in $1

`85.46

billion. The team, controlled since 2005 by the Glazer family -billionaire US sports investors -- has struggled in recent years with heavy debts from the takeover despite what is arguably the world’s strongest global fan base for a football club. “We intend to use all of our net proceeds from this offering to reduce our indebtedness,” the IPO prospectus said. United fans mounted protests against the Glazers from the moment the Americans bought the Premier League club in 2005, loading it up with debt to finance the deal. AFP

NUMEROLOGY

$87mn is the fine imposed on Japanese electronics giant Toshiba in a price-fixing case on LCD displays.

THUS SPAKE “Decisions made at the eurozone summit reflect policymakers’ growing recognition that the current crisis is not exclusively a budgetary crisis of excessive public debt and deficits, but that it’s also a balance-of-payments crisis,” Standard & Poor’s

STRIKE EXTENDED CarZ, a City-based multibrand car service network announced a tie-up with Corporate Services Plan India to provide extended warranty for cars across all their 14 service outlets in India. This is a first of its kind warranty program in India that will provide extended warranty for passenger cars beyond the manufacturer’s warranty period. The extended warranty plan protects the owner from the cost of repair or replacement of components along with the associated labour cost for the vehicle. The services to be provided to customers vary according to the plan opted between three warranty programs.

POWER SURGE The Middle East energy sector is witnessing a surge of fresh investment, with 97 new power and water projects worth $32.7 billion being initiated in 12 countries this year. In the UAE, 10 power and water projects worth $1.5 billion have been slated to begin construction in 2012, including a $740 million solar power plant named Noor 1, and the phase II of a $580 million power plant. Kuwait has given green light to 19 power and water projects worth $4.2 billion, highlighted by a $2.7 billion water and power plant.

India‑View

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

India unveiled

MP woman wins fight for indoor loo BHOPAL: In yet another instance of toilet revolution in Madhya Pradesh, a woman’s wish to have a proper indoor lavatory will be granted by Sulabh International, after it got to know that she had a bitter quarrel with her husband over the issue and was hospitalised. Harda resident Chhaya, after facing the humiliation of defecating in open for almost a year decided not to return to her husband Narayan Nagre’s home, till he constructed a toilet at his residence. This led to an ugly fight between the duo a few days back following which both were undergoing treatment at a hospital in Harda. When Sulabh International chairman Dr Bindeshwar Pathak came to know about the incident through the media, he wrote a letter to them stating that had they approached him on the issue, the situation could not have taken such an ugly turn. Pathak informed them that he has directed his Bhopal office to construct a toilet at her residence at the earliest, Sulabh sources told PTI.

Green cover upsets locals! MOHALI (PUNJAB): At a time when the Punjab government has launched a comprehensive ‘Greening Punjab’ drive across the state, residents of Mohali town, adjoining Chandigarh, are upset over its green cover. The horticulture wing of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) is receiving scores of complaints from residents saying that the green cover is causing problems. The green cover in the town, designed on the lines of ‘City Beautiful’ Chandigarh, comprises medicinal plants which have become fully grown trees in the past over three decades. GMADA executive engineerhorticulture Harbans Singh Dhaliwal told IANS: “We receive a lot of complaints every monsoon and winter season about these trees. During the monsoons, they fall during thunderstorms and cause destruction to property while during winter, these trees block the sunlight.” The sunlight blockade is a major problem for residents, especially for houses where elderly people live. “For the elderly, exposure to sunlight is a must,”

Dhaliwal said. H.S. Mand, a senior resident of Phase 3, said: “We want that the trees should be cut down after a particular height till a permanent solution is found for this problem.” Residents, after waiting for authorities to take action, sometimes take matters in their own hands. The residents mainly com-

plain of three varieties of trees. Terminalia Bellirica commonly called a ‘Baheraa’, Pterospermum Acerifolium called ‘Kanak Champaa’ by people here and Sterculia Alata, are the trees planted years ago to enhance the green cover of the Mohali region during the development years of the town in the late 1970s and early 1980s. “Over the years, the trees have grown big, attaining

40-45-foot height,” Mandeep Singh said. Local authorities have to tackle jurisdiction problems in dealing with the green cover. While some sectors and phases fall under GMADA, others come under the civic body. Even though the residents are eager to make the changes, the social activists and experts oppose the idea of the change. Leading Botanist and Panjab University professor R.K. Kohli disagrees with the proposition of replacing the trees. Kohli told IANS: “It’s not the fault of the tree. If the tree is of medicinal value, there must be a reason why these trees have been planted. Neem tree is good but they (GMADA) should not plant it everywhere. There should be a proper plan and the planting should be done properly. The plantation should be site-specific.” Against the 33 percent forest cover norm for states, Punjab has a low forest cover of only seven percent. The ‘Greening Punjab’ campaign will see 400 million tree saplings being planted across Punjab in the next eight years. IANS

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Women perform puja of bulls during ‘Bendur’ festival in Karad, Maharashtra on Tuesday. PTI

8-ft tall, 160 kg and growing BALURGHAT: A 25-year-old woman who is eight feet tall and weighs 160 kg and is still expanding has been admitted to a government hospital in West Bengal’s South Dinajpur district for a hormonerelated disease which is causing it. The woman, Siddiqa Parvin, suffering from abnormal growth caused by irregular secretion of the somatotropic hormone from the pituitary gland was admitted to the state-run Balurghat Sadar Hospital on July 2, the attending doctor Sarthak Sensharma told reporters here. Siddiqa was 7.6 foot tall and weighed

140 kg just three months ago, her mother Monsura Bibi claimed. The mother said her daughter had a monstrous appetite and ate six kg of rice and vegetables daily, making it extremely difficult for her father, a daily wage earner, to provide for her. She said that they had to take loans to feed their daughter and also did not know how much her treatment would cost. District Magistrate Durgadas Goswami said no assistance has been sought by the family for Siddiqa’s treatment. If an application was made, the administration would consider it. PTI

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India‑View

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

India unveiled

CPI(M) leader Mani turns up before police THODUPUZHA(KERALA): With options running out, CPI(M) leader MM Mani today turned up before police for questioning in connection with his controversial speech that the party had in the past eliminated its foes. Police had served a virtual ultimatum to Mani yesterday after he failed twice to respond to notices to appear at the DySP office here for questioning. Mani had little choice but to comply with the notice after the Kerala High Court last week rejected his plea to quash the FIRs against him last week. Two days ago Mani’s lawyers had told the police team that the CPI(M) leader would not be personally appearing for questioning as he was planning to move the Supreme Court against the High Court order. The police, however, turned down the plea and made it clear that they would go ahead with the due procedures in the matter. Though speculation was rife that he had gone into hiding to evade police, Mani turned up at his home town in Idukki district last night after keeping away from public glare for a couple of days. PTI

US wants significant naval ties with India WASHINGTON: Recognising India’s growing maritime power, the United States wants to maintain a “significant” relationship with India to help provide stable and secure international commerce through the sea lanes, according to a top US naval commander. Although India is only providing staff personnel for the ongoing Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) 2012 exercise, India’s participation is of significance for all 21 other participants, Vice Admiral Gerald Beaman, commander of the US Third Fleet and RIMPAC, said during a media teleconference on Tuesday. India and 21 other nations are participating in what is described as the world’s largest international maritime exercise being held June 27 to August 7, in and around the Hawaiian Islands.with 42 ships, six submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel. “The partnerships we are building during the RIM exercise is exactly why we want to maintain our relationship with

NATION AT A GLANCE

SC stays graft case against Jaffer Sharief NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today stayed proceedings in a 1995 corruption case against former railway minister CK Jaffer Sharief. A bench headed by Justice P Sathasivam also issued notice to CBI on Sharief’s appeal and sought reply within two weeks. The apex court passed the order his counsel submitted that the 80-year-old Congress leader was innocent.

Indo-Pak talks begin

India to help provide stable and secure international commerce through the sea lanes,” he said. “So I believe our relationship with India will remain significant through the coming years,” Beaman said noting that India and the US have been doing a large number of bilateral military exercises in recent years. “But in the case of RIMPAC, with 22 different nations participating, whether it’s strictly through staff personnel or personnel and assets such as vessels, it expands that training

PILOTS TAKE FLIGHT, AGAIN

value to incorporate employment of people and things in a coalition environment.” However, Beaman was quick to point out that the objective was not to build a coalition of the East Asia Pacific rim nation on the lines of NATO, minus China, which was not invited to participate for reasons that the US commander was at a loss to explain. “No. I want to make sure that everyone understands the RIMPAC exercise was never designed to form a formal coalition,” he said. IANS

Pop singer’s ‘topless’ pic angers Indians

NEW DELHI : Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani began their talks here today during which India is expected to strongly flag the issue of terror activities being planned from Pakistani soil in the backdrop of arrest of LeT terrorist Abu Jundal, who has revealed Pakistani involvement in Mumbai terror attacks.

An engineering student sits in a racing car, ‘ORI 2012’, created by them in Mumbai on Tuesday. PTI

DMK protest: Stalin, Kani court arrest CHENNAI: Top DMK leaders, including party chief M Karunanidhi’s son MK Stalin and daughter Kanimozhi, besides thousands of party workers today courted arrest across Tamil Nadu as part of a ‘fill-the-jail’ protest against AIADMK government which has “foisted cases” against its cadres. Kanimozhi alleged that her party leaders were being arrested without any proof.

Two run over by train UNNAO (UP): A mother-daughter MELBOURNE: Topless pic-

An Air India pilot walks at the Azad Maidan where they were agitating, in Mumbai on Tuesday. Agitating Air India pilots on Tuesday called-off their 58-day-long strike. PTI

Hospitalised monkey irks Omar NEW DELHI: Expressing shock over pictures of a monkey lying on a bed in a Jammu hospital, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said he will seek an explanation from the concerned minister before making any comment on the issue. “I am shocked by the images of the monkey in a Jammu hospital. Before I say anything, I owe it

to my Minister to first ask him to explain,” Omar tweeted. Images of a monkey lying on a bed inside the emergency ward of Government Medical College Hospital at Jammu went viral on social networking sites after a private TV news channel reported the incident. The incident comes at a time when medical education minis-

ter RS Chib is already facing a lot of criticism over the high infant mortality rate at G B Pant Hospital in the Valley. Omar said he would save his thoughts about the incident till the Cabinet meeting, scheduled today, is over. “I’ll save my thoughts for the cabinet meeting and then say what I have to,” he added. PTI

tures of an Indian-origin singer, who is Gold Coast city’s pick to promote tourism in India, has left a section of the Indian community uneasy with some speaking against such moves to sell tourism to a largely conservative India. Queensland-raised pop singer Aiysha Saagar was recently selected as the Gold Coast Goodwill Ambassador by the eastern city’s Mayor Tom Tate. Her pictures has miffed a section of the community. Event coordinator of Queensland-based Indian Associations said that “more than 60 per cent of India is conservative and it would reflect badly on Gold Coast’s image.” PTI

duo were run over by a train in Ajgain area, police said today. Ramkali (45) and her daughter Shrimati (22) were run over by the Mathura-Patna Express while they were waiting for the train near Ajgain Railway Station yesterday. Police said the victims were going to Shuklaganj on the occasion of Guru Purnima.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh receives a bouquet during an interaction with a group of students. PTI

Around the World

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Beyond Borders

£22.4m for Constable’s The Lock LONDON: The Lock by British Romantic painter John Constable on Tuesday sold for £22.4 million ($35.2 million) at a London sale, smashing the world record price at auction for the artist. The 56 x 47 inch (142.2 x 120.7 cm) oil on canvas, which depicts rural life in Suffolk, east England, went under the hammer at Christie's Old Master and British Paintings Evening Sale. The 1824 masterpiece was brought to auction by Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, who admitted it had been “very painful” to let go of the painting, but had no choice as she had “no liquidity”.

he 1824 masterpiece was brought to auction by Baroness Carmen Thyssen-É, who admitted it had been “very painful” to let go of the painting, but had no choice as she had “no liquidity”.

It is one of six paintings from the artist's most celebrated series of large scale works — The Stour Series — which also includes “The Hay Wain”, now in London's National Gallery. It was the last of the series to remain in private hands, although has recently been hung in Madrid's Bornemisza Museum. Museum trustee Norman Rosenthal criticised the sale, saying it “represents a moral shame on the part of all those concerned.” Francesca Von Habsburg, ThyssenBornemisza's stepdaughter and another museum board member, also slammed the sale. “The baroness has shown absolutely no respect for my father and is simply putting her own financial needs above everything else,” she told The Mail on Sunday.

Europe set for 66m-long Uzbeck art feat TASHKENT: It’s longer than an Olympic swimming pool, took two-and-a-half years to complete and fulfils a 40-year dream — a new mega-canvas by one of Uzbekistan’s best-known artists, inspired by the folk tale collection “One Thousand and One Nights”. Now, the immense painting by Lekim Ibragimov is on its way to Europe, where it will be put on show first in the Czech Republic and then in other

European countries. Ibragimov started working on the project — named “One Thousand Angels and One Painting” — in 2010 and put the finishing touches on it in April. It measures eight metres high, 66 metres (215 feet) long, used several tonnes of paint. In each of the Ibragimov has included the image of an angel, and visitors are encouraged to search hard in the picture to “find your own guardian angel”.

Canadian retains burger title WASHINGTON: A one-time anorexic from Toronto turned world-class competitive eater clinched his fourth straight hamburger title in Washington on Tuesday on the eve of New York's iconic hot dog classic. Peter Czerwinski, 24, ate 15 hamburgers in the space of 10 minutes at the Z-Burger Independence Burger Eating Championship to win a $1,000 prize plus a similar amount of gift cards for the local burger chain. “Right now, I feel full, but I'm excited I defended my title,” said Czerwinski, who holds Guinness records for eating a raw onion in 43.53 seconds and for swallowing the most Ferrero Rocher chocolates — nine — in a minute. “Some people will find this very gross, but they're still watching. They can't turn away.” Czerwinski, who claims to have won most of the competitive eating events that he has entered, was hospitalized for anorexia 10 years ago. Today, he lists bodybuilding among his passions. In New York, world champion hot dog eaters prepared to flock to Coney Island on Wednesday, the Independence Day holiday in the United States, to determine who can wolf down the most wieners and buns in 10 minutes. Some 40,000 people are expected to descend on Nathan's Famous hot dog stand on the iconic Brooklyn beach for the competitive eating classic that is held every Fourth of July. AFP

UAE worried over rising spinster numbers ABU DHABI: If you are a 30-yearold Emirati woman and still single, then you have missed the marriage boat: by UAE standards, you are now considered to be too old. Authorities in the Gulf state say more women are falling into this category: some 60 percent, according to the latest statistics, raising concerns among officials and sparking online debates as to why. The issue has been the focus of discussions for weeks at the Federal National Council, the coun-

try's appointed consultative body, where members are scrambling to find a solution to what they believe could be a serious demographic problem. “This is very worrying,” FNC member Said al-Kitbi told AFP, adding that there are now more than 175,000 Emirati women who are over 30 and unmarried. Though he conceded that being a “spinster” is “not a bad thing in itself”, he argues that the demographic consequences of these

women not having children is the real problem. The United Arab Emirates is home to more than eight million people, only 950,000 of them UAE citizens. The rest are foreign, and young Emirati men are increasingly choosing to marry them instead. The latest government statistics show that at least 20 percent of UAE men are marrying non-Emiratis. The reasons behind this growing trend of spinsterhood are not entirely clear. AFP

Around the World Mexican prez poll: Lopez wants a recount MEXICO CITY: The runner-up in Mexico’s presidential vote demanded a full recount of Sunday’s balloting, raising fears he could lead disruptive mass protests like he did six years ago. “There is no doubt that there was not a fair and transparent election,” said leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, accusing the rival Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and its candidate Enrique Pena Nieto of having bought “millions of votes.” Observers fear Lopez Obrador’s refusal to concede could trigger a repeat of the 2006 presidential election, when he lost by less than one percent, claimed fraud and organized mass protests that paralyzed Mexico City for more than a month. The first official results from Sunday’s vote showed Lopez Obrador with 31 percent of the vote against 38 percent for Pena Nieto of the PRI.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Beyond Borders

Big day for Myanmar

GLOBE AT A GLANCE Woman kills hubby for not taking shower

NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar’s opposition lawmakers are due to take their seats in the nation’s fledgling parliament today, in a session likely to be dominated by recent deadly communal unrest. After years muffled by the repressive former junta, National League for Democracy (NLD) members will attend the new parliament session, with violence in western Rakhine state, economic reform and foreign investment leading the agenda. Parliament, still led by the military and its political allies, will discuss the deadly communal violence in June between communal Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya which left dozens dead and tens of thousands homeless. A state of emergency is still in place after the outbreak of violence, which prompted reformist President Thein Sein to warn it could damage the country’s emergence from decades of military rule.

MOSCOW: A man in Russia’s southwest Stavropol region was killed and dismembered by his wife for refusing to take a shower, investigators said Tuesday. After a heated family argument, the 26year-old woman hit her 35-year-old husband twice with an iron on the head and then strangled him with a piece of cord, the report said. She then dismembered the body and scattered the pieces.

Man wanted for murder lands acting job In a statement on the presidential website late yesterday, Thein Sein stressed resolution to communal conflicts was the “foundation of the nation building process”. Also up for discussion will be the crafting of a new foreign investment law to govern the expected rush of overseas cash into the once secretive state and other measures to bolster Myanmar’s long-neglected economy. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who will

TO THE RESCUE

miss the first few sessions as she recovers from her gruelling European tour, said yesterday the NLD will join “the legislative concert” and push for greater “transparency” once inside parliament. The 67year-old, who returned on Saturday from a triumphant five-nation European tour, was swept into parliament in landmark April by-elections that saw the NLD win 43 of the 44 seats it contested. AFP

10 die in drug cartel shooting

SYDNEY: A man wanted over a beheading murder who was eventually captured in the Australian Outback auditioned to be a film extra while on the run - winning the role of a policeman in a homicide thriller. Jonathon Stenberg, 46, sparked a major manhunt in late June after the decapitation of his neighbour.

Man in Afghan uniform shoots 5 NATO soldiers KABUL: A man in Afghan army uniform opened fire on NATO soldiers at a military base near Kabul, wounding five, the coalition said Wednesday, the latest in a series of so-called "green-on-blue" attacks. Attacks by Afghan security forces on their allies from the US-led alliance have claimed 26 lives so far this year, according to an AFP tally, with the latest incident taking the number of such attacks this year to 19.

MORELIA: Rival drug cartel

Firefighters at a shopping complex that was rocked by a gas explosion in Kabul on Tuesday. Two people were killed and 28 injured in the accident, police said. AFP/ ADEK BERRY

members clashed Tuesday in south-central Mexico, killing 10 people and leaving five others wounded in a shootout, officials said. “The early reports were that at least 10 people have been killed and five more hurt who were taken to local hospitals” after the violence in the towns of Zacazonapan and Otzoloapan, in Mexico state, said Elias Alvarez with state security in Michoacan, to which many victims fled. Alvarez said some of the gunmen were linked to La Familia Michoacana cartel, but he did not say what group or groups their rivals worked for. President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown on the cartels when he took office in late 2006.

Ferrari designer Pininfarina no more ROME: The Italian godfather of car design, Sergio Pininfarina, renowned for crafting sleek Ferrari race cars and revolutionising the common automobile, died on Tuesday aged 85, Italian media reported. Born in 1926 near Turin, in Italy's industrial north, Pininfarina dedicated his long career to collaborations with top carmakers, designing the Ferrari Testarossa, Fiat 124 Spider, Fiat Dino and Maserati GranTurismo, among others.

DETERMINED TO CHANGE THE COMMON PERCEPTION OF CARS AS MERELY FUNCTIONAL, HE ROSE TO STARDOM WITH THE SCULPTURED AND BLOOD RED FERRARIS, FROM THE 410 SA TO THE DINO BERLINETTA SPECIALE, FERRARI F40 AND ENZO FERRARI.

He joined the family car company after graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering, and quickly got involved in all aspects of the business, from designing the cars to engineering and manufacturing. Determined to change the common perception of cars as merely functional, he rose to stardom with beautifully sculptured and blood red Ferraris, from the 410 SA to the Dino Berlinetta Speciale, Ferrari F40 and Enzo Ferrari. AFP

Chimps escape death sentence in South Africa JOHANNESBURG: Two chimpanzees which mauled an American student at Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden in South Africa will not be killed because authorities found the animals defended their territory against a trespasser. Andrew Oberle, 26, lost an ear, many fingers and toes and a testicle on Thursday when he entered a restricted enclosure.

Over-the-counter sale of HIV-kit gets OK in US WASHINGTON: The United States announced Tuesday it has authorized sales of the first over-the-counter home testing kit for HIV, the virus that leads to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The OraQuick In-Home HIV test is expected to be available from October at 30,000 American retail outlets, its manufacturer said.

Five-time world hot dog-eating champion Joey Chestnut and women’s hot dog-eating champion Sonya ‘The Black Widow’ Thomas pose with hot dogs at an event in the US. AFP

Comment

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Fair, free and forthright

Startling rise in HIV/AIDS in US black community

Living fossils in a dynamic world

Art Jones feedback@postnoon.com

Fusillade

fter spending six years working overseas as an independent filmmaker, I returned home to find a report on an eyeopening medical situation occurring: a concentration of HIV infections in black communities across the United States. Convinced that we needed do something to draw attention to what is clearly a crisis, I assembled a small team and began pre-production on a film that would address this tragic situation. Based on the startling statistics reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we began a journey seeking an answer to a singular question: How could 13 per cent of America’s population of more than 305 million people now account for 50 per cent of new HIV infections? We started by posing this question to those most capable of providing an informed answer: physicians, journalists, legislators and clergy. Along the way, we met with a number of individuals who are living with HIV and AIDS. And after a 14-month investigation, what we learned shocked and amazed us. “Sixty-two percent of [blacks who] tested [positive] for HIV within a year develop AIDS,” said Dr. Goulda Downer, head of Howard University’s HIV/AIDS program. Popular rap artists have steered clear of performing songs addressing this epidemic. “Why would I want to rap about it unless I’ve got it?” suggested Chris Bryant, founder and CEO of Streetz Smart Magazine. When we finished our last interview on the upper West Side of New York, my director of photography and I quietly sat in a neighborhood restaurant reflecting on all that we had heard from those close to this disease. Following a long moment of silence, I asked him, “Given the thoughts reflected by people related to those infected by HIV, had we shot this film 30 years ago, do you think the attitudes would have been any different?” After a long, despondent pause, he looked me in the eye, slowly shook his head and said, “No.” Global Post

Arun Koshy Philip

n many dictatorships across the world, lampooning the ‘supreme leader’ is a crime punishable by death or prison sentences worse than death itself. Before we pat ourselves for our ‘vibrant’ democracy, as our political stalwarts and their foreign counterparts put it, let us take a realistic stock of our country. If you thought it was the whimsical Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee alone who threw tantrums over cartoons and threw people into dungeons, you got it wrong. The row over political cartoons in the NCERT textbooks is the best examples. Netas of all hues have thundered against a 50-year-old cartoon showing Jawaharlal Nehru whipping BR Ambedkar for the snail’s pace of work in drafting the Constitution. Both have played their roles in nation building, but are now dead and gone. The cartoon was published in a national daily and is a matter of historical record. Now suddenly we find some groups taking umbrage to that cartoon (getting offended, developing feeling of animosity... the list goes on) and has got the government to agree to delete it. The incident made several interest groups realise that if children were allowed free (or rather uncensored) access to political developments of the past, there would be little future for several ideologies based on divisiveness. It also dawned on many that if the origins of their political movements were laid bare before the smart schoolchildren, their out-dated and irrational outfits would soon run out of takers. And so began the clamour from across the country for text books to be ‘politically correct’. The designated panel of ‘experts’ sifted through the NCERT curriculum for political booby traps. And lo! 36 out of 176 cartoons were found to be inappropriate and the panel has recommended their removal. These cartoons reflect the critical political analysis of the times when the corresponding incident occurred. Going back to them now and trying to erase their presence is nothing

Editorials

IF YOU THOUGHT IT WAS THE WHIMSICAL TRINAMOOL CHIEF MAMATA BANERJEE ALONE WHO THREW TANTRUMS OVER CARTOONS, YOU GOT IT WRONG. short of juvenile conduct. And the current ‘revision’ reeks of the dictatorship we see in George Orwell’s 1984. In the book, there is a government department dedicated to destroying records of all follies of the past and rewriting them to make the leadership look like infallible visionaries — we are not far. Tolerance to criticism, no matter how vitriolic it is, is an indicator of the maturity of a leader or an organisation. The more convinced the party is about its ideology and history, the less will be the tendency to throw tantrums over ‘offensive content’. It is an attempt at the impossible to keep historic realities away from the children as they are not confined to text book knowledge.

Information of all shades is available in the media, especially on the internet. We also need to understand that perspectives on the same person or event are divergent, depending on the level of involvement and impact in the life of the person involved. For example, Indira Gandhi is a great leader but others perceive her as the only dictator the country has had since independence. So who gets to decide the political ‘acceptability’ of a cartoon on the Emergency? Many political parties that ran decades of mindless ‘education in mother tongue only’ campaigns are now struggling to own up their folly when English-speaking youths from other liberal states corner the best jobs. Attempting to erase the records of their actions will not undo the damage done. We should come out from the state of denial and learn to accept criticism as inputs for introspection and course correction. Egodriven ideas of self-glorification must not ossify us into living fossils in a dynamic world.

HAVE WE REALLY NAILED THE God Particle?

s Postnoon goes to print, it will be clear during the day if scientists at the CERN research centre near Geneva, Switzerland, have really spotted the Higgs boson or the god particle. The whole of world is intrigued about it for the finding of the god particle answers a lot of questions: how stars were formed, the planets and the most sought-out after answer of all — how came about life. Higgs boson’s importance to Standard Model, which is deemed as what theory of evolution is to biology, hinges on the fact that only this one has eluded discovery apart from the 11 others that are required to explain how the beginning of the universe itself. If we miss spotting the god particle that means the whole theory about our existence will have to rebuilt and rethought — that’s no mean feat.There are encouraging reports about a video that was reported leaked by CERN that proves the existence of the god particle. One man will be mighty proud: Peter Higgs, the Edinburgh professor who first proposed the existence of the mysterious particle almost 50 years ago, who will be among the audience at Geneva.

The writer works for Postnoon

WHY WE LOVE... Pininfarina

If ever men drooled over cars more than at the fairer sex, Sergio Pininfarina has a massive hand in that. He was the man at the helm when Ferrari rolled out Alfa Romeo Spider, Fiat 124 Spider, 1961 Ferrari 250 GT, and the 2003 Maserati Quattroporte sedan. The auto world will miss him.

Cinema Paradiso

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

^=äÉ~ÖìÉ=çÑ=Üáë=çïå= Hemanth Kumar hemanth.k@postnoon.com

n March 27, 1995, when Tom Hanks won the Best Oscar for his outstanding performance in Forrest Gump, he became the second actor in the history of cinema to win consecutive Oscars for Best Acting. The previous year, he won the Oscar for his role in Philadelphia as a gay lawyer suffering from AIDS who sues his company for discrimination. Having struggled for almost eight years since his debut in Armand Mastroianni’s He Knows You’re Alone in 1980, Tom Hanks found his first breakthrough in Penny Marshall’s Big in 1988. The romantic comedy where he becomes an adult overnight was a smash hit and earned him his first Golden Globe award. Films like A League of their own, Punchline, Turner and Hooch and Sleepless in Seattle earned him great respect

in Hollywood, but his best was yet to come. With films like Philadelphia, Forrest Gump and Apollo 13, he became one of the iconic actors of the 90s. Starring in one masterpiece is a big achievement for most actors. Tom Hanks had the honour to collaborate with some of the brightest minds in Hollywood to expand his resume to a stellar level. Films like Toy Story, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, Toy Story 2 and Road to Perdition are proof enough. In 1996, Tom Hanks turned to direction with a romantic musical comedy That Thing You Do! Although the film wasn’t a blockbuster, it proved to be a crucial one in Tom Hanks’ career as he moved on to other things besides acting. He began producing films and TV shows like Band of Brothers, From the Earth to the Moon, Big Love, John Adams and Pacific. Among these TV shows, Band of Brothers is still ranked as one of the finest TV series ever made. In the early 2000s, he starred in films like The Terminal

and Catch Me If You Can, followed by another critically acclaimed performance in Charlie Wilson’s War. For an actor who has been on his toes since 1980, Tom Hanks’ filmography is spectacular to say the least. Some of his roles in films like Forrest Gump and Cast Away have left a long lasting impression on an entire generation of moviegoers. It’s hard to say what makes him

so special. Certainly, he doesn’t score high in terms of looks, but he makes up for all that and a lot more everytime he’s in front of the camera. Very few actors in Hollywood have achieved the kind of fame and respect which Tom Hanks has earned in the past 30 years. Perhaps, it’s got something to do with his desire to give his best for every project. He’ll soon portray the role of Walt Disney in John Lee Hancock’s Saving Mr.Banks and currently he’s acting in Tom Tykwer’s Cloud Atlas. So who’s the real Tom Hanks? Is he the love struck Sam Baldwin in Sleepless in Seattle or the Forrest Gump or Chuck Noland in Cast Away? The answers lies somewhere in between who he really is and what he makes us believe in his films.

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

A Mexican life

ntrepreneurs Ben, a peaceful and charitable marijuana producer, and friend Chon, a former Navy SEAL, run a lucrative, homegrown industry — raising some of the best weed ever developed. They also share a one-of-akind love with Ophelia. Life is idyllic in their Southern California town...

until the Mexican Baja Cartel decides to move in and demands that the trio partners with them. When the merciless head of the BC, Elena and her enforcer, Lalo, underestimate the unbreakable bond of the three friends, Ben and Chon — with the reluctant assistance of a dirty DEA agent — wage a seeming-

ly unwinnable war against the cartel. And so begins a series of vicious ploys and manoeuvres in a high stakes, savage battle of wills.

Movie: Savages Director: Oliver Stone Cast: Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch and Blake Lively

“Life is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re gonna get” a line associated with Tom Hanks, one of the most popular actors in contemporary cinema. On July 6, 1994, his Oscar-winning film Forrest Gump released in theatres and with it Hanks became a household name — one that intends to stay for a long time to come

H‑Factor

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Holistic view of mind, body and soul

Unlike a hearing aid that merely amplifies sound, people with severe deafness can now hope to enjoy sounds with the help of cochlear implants

HEAR THIS!

Ranjani Rajendra ranjani.r@postnoon.com

magine a world, where you can watch people talk, enjoying music, cover their ears as something loud goes off, hear film dialogues or a baby giggle and all you can hear is — nothing. Deafness is a difficult condition to live with. And while the people around someone with a hearing difficulty can empathise, they can’t understand what the endless silence feels like. But coming to their aid, is technology with the latest cochlear implants that can restore near normal hearing. These electronic devices are implanted in the inner ear, with an external speech processor, to recreate sound for someone whose hearing has been damaged. Fortunately, these implants can be used in people with any kind of deafness, which ranges from moderately severe to profound or severe deafness, as long as the auditory nerve (that connects the ear to the brain) is intact.

Who can use it According to Dr EC Vinayakumar, senior consultant and coordinator, department of ENT, Apollo Health City, cochlear implants can be used for the following n Pre-lingual: Children born with deafness who haven’t learnt language/speech yet. n Post-lingual: Children and adults who develop deafness and have already learnt language/speech. n Peri-lingual: Children who while learning language/ speech lose their hearing. “The one thing to be kept in mind is that cochlear implants can be used in people with severe or profound deafness or these days also in people with moderately

WHAT THE COCHLEAR IMPLANT DOES IS, ABSORB SOUND AND THEN RECREATE IT FOR THE PATIENT. HEARING AIDS ON THE OTHER HAND, AMPLIFY SOUNDS FOR PATIENTS WHO ARE HARD OF HEARING. COCHLEAR IMPLANTS ARE MORE SENSITIVE AND SPECIFIC WHEN COMPARED TO HEARING AIDS.

severe deafness,” explains Dr Vinayakumar. “What the cochlear implant does is, absorb sound and then recreate it for the patient. Hearing aids on the other hand, amplify sounds for patients who are hard of hearing. Cochlear implants are more sensitive and specific when compared to hearing aids,” says Dr Rani K George, a Bangalore-based ENT specialist.

How it works “It is an electronic device that replaces the hair cells in the inner ear that have been damaged. Its electrodes directly stimulate nerve endings in the inner ear,” says Dr Vinayakumar.

However, the implant is a slightly expensive affair, with the cost ranging from `5.5 lakh to `10 lakh. The device has a less than 1 per cent chance of developing any defect and in all probability lasts a lifetime. “These devices are usually made to last a lifetime, but like any other electronic device there are chances of a defect. In such a case, the implant will need to be replaced. The external speech processor on the hand can be easily removed as per convenience, for instance while bathing or while stepping out in the rain, when one doesn’t want it to get wet,” explains Dr Vinayakumar.

Mosquitoes sniff out victims for blood WASHINGTON: Mosquitoes have an uncanny ability to sniff out potential victims for blood, thanks to a large part of their tiny brains being devoted to the sense of smell. Zainulabeuddin Syed, mosquito biologist with the University of Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health, who specialises in insect olfaction, says only female mosquitoes feed on blood meals which they find through smell and use the blood to produce eggs. For example, Culex mosquitoes, which transmit West Nile and other life-threatening illnesses, are able to detect even minute concentrations of nonanal, a chemical substance given off by humans. They do so through receptor neurons on their antennae, according to a Notre Dame statement. Birds are the main hosts of mosquitoes and they also give off nonanal. Birds are the main source of the West Nile virus and when mosquitoes move on to feast on humans and other species, they transmit the virus to them. An understanding of the olfactory behaviour of mosquitoes that leads them to feed on humans can play an important role in developing more effective methods of mosquito and disease control. The Notre Dame researcher’s lab is studying what smells plants that mosquitoes are attracted to give off. Again, a deeper understanding of the role of the chemicals produced by plants and how mosquitoes select plants to obtain their energy sources can lead to better control and elimination strategies. In Africa alone, malaria takes a human life, most frequently a child’s, every 30 seconds. A better understanding of the role smell plays in mosquito behaviour can offer important clues that may lead to new control strategies. IANS

H‑Factor

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Holistic view of mind, body and soul

SPANKING MAY LEAD TO MENTAL DISORDERS: STUDY Slapping or spanking a child may increase their risk of mental disorder Stacey Leasca

new study suggests that those who were slapped, spanked or grabbed as children may have an increased risk of mental disorders including mood and anxiety disorders and problems with alcohol and drug abuse. The controversial study, published in the US journal Pediatrics, suggests that between 2 and 7 per cent of mental disorders might be

ACCORDING TO THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, PREVIOUS RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT CHILDREN WHO WERE PHYSICALLY ABUSED SUFFER FROM MENTAL DISTURBANCES AS ADULTS, HOWEVER THESE STUDIES ONLY FOCUSED ON SERIOUS ABUSE.

due to punishments inflicted in childhood. The National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions collected survey data between 2004 and 2005. The research group only included those over the age of 20. According to the AFP, par-

ticipants were asked: “As a child how often were you ever pushed, grabbed, shoved, slapped or hit by your parents or any adult living in your house?” Those who answered “sometimes” or greater were included in the analysis. Lisa Berlin, who studies parenting and child maltreatment at the University of Maryland School of Social Work in Baltimore, told Reuters that the study “adds to our existing worries about the use of physical punishment, and speaks to the value of non-physical discipline.” The New York Daily News reported that previous research has shown that children who were physically abused suffer from more mental disturbances as adults, however these studies only focused on serious abuse. Roya Samuels, a pediatrician at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York, told AFP that parents who use corporal punishment might also be at risk for depression and mental disorders. Samuels added, “There might be a hereditary factor going on in these families.” USA Today noted that corporal punishment has been abolished in more than 30 nations, but not in the US or Canada. GLOBAL POST

HOUSECALL

APP-LY YOURSELF

Charcot-Marie tooth disease

ontrary to it’s name, CharcotMarie-Tooth disease (CMT) has nothing to do with the human tooth. CMT refers to a group of conditions in which the nerves to the muscles, particularly in the lower leg and hands, don't work properly. In CMT the part of the nerves that carry sensory signals back towards the brain may also be affected, leading to altered sensation in the affected areas. The ailment can be diagnosed with the help of a genetic blood test and various electrical nerve tests. Although there are no specific treatments for CMT, treatment can be provided for the symptoms.

itness and exercise are an essential to stay healthy apart from eating a well-balanced diet. Runtastic is a personal sports and fitness application. No matter what kind of exercise you choose, from running, to cycling to even skating — the app helps you map your routines in these forms of exercise. It also helps keep you motivated and burn calories. This app is available for Blackberry, iPhone and Android users and is free. The app can also using the built-in GPS and turn your phone into a multifunctional fitness assistant. The app also provides the option of connecting to your music player so that you can listen to music while exercising.

Distancing can help you quell anger WASHINGTON: When someone makes you angry, pretend you’re viewing the scene from a distance as an observer rather than as a participant, which would help you dissipate the tension. “The secret is to not get immersed in your own anger and, instead, have a more detached view,” said Dominik Mischkowski, graduate student in psychology at Ohio State University, who led the study. “You have to see yourself in this stressful situation as a fly on the wall would see it,” he added, the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology reports. In one study, college students who believed a lab partner was berating them for not following directions responded less aggressively and showed less anger when they were told to analyse their feelings from a self-distanced perspective, according to an Ohio statement. While other studies have examined the value of self-distancing for calming anger, this is the first to show that it can work in the heat of the moment, when people are most likely to act aggressively, said Mischkowski. The worst thing to do in an anger-inducing situation is what people normally do: try to focus on their hurt and angry feelings to understand them, said Brad Bushman, study co-author. “If you focus too much on how you’re feeling, it usually backfires. It keeps the aggressive thoughts and feelings active, which makes it more likely that you’ll act aggressively,” There were two related studies. The first involved 94 college students who were told they were participating in a study about the effects of music on problem solving, creativity and emotions. In the second study, researchers went further and showed that self-distancing can actually make people less aggressive when provoked. IANS

DID YOU KNOW?

Runtastic

Claustrophobic? Smell a fruit

laustrophobia is a reality. Many of us break into a sweat or are left gasping for breath once we enter a closed room. So if you get nervous in small spaces such as subways or elevators a fruit and not any kind of medicine can help. It is believed that a sniff of a green apple may help relieve claustrophobic sensations. This is according to Dr Alan Hirsch, MD, director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation. Green apples not only help you tackle claustrophobia, but a strange belief is that if you have a house that you want to lease out, placing a basket of green apples makes the house appear bigger to the buyer!

Spotlight

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012 2

DEEPAK DESHPANDE

1 Pooja 2 Srikanth & Gulshan Grover

3 C Kalyan 5

4 Tammareddy Bharadwaja

5 Srushti & Randhir 6 Chandana 6

WHEN STARS COME CALLING

7 Bhumika & Bharat 8 Sunitha, 9 Lakshmi Manchu

10 Annette & Sujay 12

11 Ravitha & Satyajay 12 Seema Azharuddin 13 Prithvi 13

A press meet for the a new film April Fool, was held at Novotel on Tuesday. Bhumika Chawla, Gulshan Grover, Tammareddy Bharadwaja, Lakshmi Manchu, Bellamkonda Suresh, Ramesh Prasad and others graced the event.

IN THE MOOD FOR MUSIC

DEEPAK DESHPANDE

For the fans The press meet for Nagarjunaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s upcoming film Shirdi Sai was held at the Daspalla Hotel on Tuesday.

Director Trivikram Srinivas and music director Devi Sri Prasad along with actor Allu Arjun at the Radio Mirchi studio, as part of the promotional activity for their upcoming film Julayi.

Magic Screen

S Rajamouli has locked all the post production formalities of his upcoming film Eega and the film is all set to hit the screens on July 6. For the past three days, the director and his team were busy with giving the final DTS and DI touches to the film. The film’s marketing and promotions have created a massive buzz in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In fact, Prasad V Potluri, who produced the film’s Tamil version, has walked the extra mile to ensure that the film cre-

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

The glamour behind the glitz

Eega is ready to fly

ates big buzz in Tamil Nadu. S Meanwhile, the publicity blitzkrieg of Eega is on full throttle in Andhra Pradesh. Thousands of hoardings of Eega have been put up in every nook and corner of the state and Rajamouli himself is taking care of publicity by revealing interesting details about the making of the film. Nani, Samantha and Sudeep have played the lead roles in the film.

Samantha in Prabhu Deva’s direction?

t’s still a million dollar question why Samantha opted out of Mani Ratnam and Shankar’s films in the past few weeks. Although she has cited lack of dates as the main reason,several rumours are doing rounds that she has been advised by doctors to take rest and not to expose herself to harsh sunlight for long periods of time. The latest buzz is that she has agreed to act in Prabhu Deva’s upcoming Hindi film, which is a remake of his Telugu film Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana. The original film starring Siddharth and Trisha was a blockbuster in Telugu and it made both the lead actors a sensation in Andhra Pradesh. If all goes well, Samantha will be reprising Trisha’s role in the Hindi version. Kumar Taurani, a leading producer in Bollywood, is introducing his son Girish with this film. In the past, Samantha had appeared in a cameo in Gautham Menon’s Ekk Deewana Tha and she was all set to make her full fledged debut in Hindi in Gautham Menon’s Assi Nabbey Purey Sau; however, the latter film has been kept on hold for now. Post the success of Rowdy Rathore, Prabhu Deva has become hot property in Bollywood and if all goes well, Samantha might be making her Bollywood debut in Prabhu Deva’s direction, unless Samantha decides to concentrate on her career in Telugu and Tamil cinema for now.

Ileana impresses in Barfi’s first look

leana is all set to make her Bollywood debut in Anurag Basu’s Barfi. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana in lead roles. Couple of days ago, when the film’s first look was unveiled, Ileana caught everyone’s attention. She’s

playing the role of a Bengali woman in the film who falls for Ranbir Kapoor. Her fans couldn’t stop raving about her new look and it looks like she has a lot of scope to showcase her acting skills after a long time. In most of her Telugu and Tamil films so far, she has been playing stereotyped roles

and her histrionics in Barfi’s trailer came as a whiff of fresh air. We hear that she has already signed two more films in Hindi including the remake of Vettai and everything depends on how well Barfi performs at the box office to give her Bollywood career a bigger boost.

T-TOWN TWEETIES

@Actor_Siddharth My favourite Tamil song of the last decade is ‘Oru naalil’...this song unites me to my closest friends...memories abound! Thanks @Raja_Yuvan

@pnavdeep26 Latest album on my repeat playlist -cocktail... what an album...#musicmakesmehappy wonder when ill get such songs in my films.. Phew #needahit

@actressanjjanaa 9.30 am luxurious cal time 2day, slept for 8long hours, feels good, day2 of 2nd schedule, Mahanadi, rolling

@sundeepkishan Wishing the bestest uncle ever, an inspiration to many, my biggest moral support, Ace Cinematographer Chota K Naidu garu a very Happy Bday :)

@RanaDaggubati “@funnyortruth: Don’t be a racist. Be like Mario. He’s an Italian, created by Japanese people, who speaks English, and looks Mexican.”Superb!

@themohanbabu I went to Baba’s temple along with my wife, daughter and granddaughters Ariaana, Viviana and offered abhishekam.

@PriyaWajAnand What a beautiful night it is in Tirupati! Sitting on the terrace while the temple bells chime! Happy Guru Purnima to all..... God Bless

@prakashraaj Enjoying Bangkok rains. Shooting for Zanjeer. Ramcharan, Apoorva, Mahi... Film is shaping well. Good team. Chilled out evenings. Great food

Magic Screen

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

The glamour behind the glitz

B-TOWN TWEETIES

VEENA GETS CURVY FOR FILM

@realpreityzinta Next 3 days r going 2 be my re charge days. No work, No stress. Just sleep n relax before I jump into the final schedule of Ishkq in Paris!

@deespeak Between, the trucks, the rain and a stern warning from the Mother eyes stayed open and focused on the road! Thank God I’m Home :)

@RahulBose1

f Vidya Balan gained 12 kg to play southern sex siren in The Dirty Picture, Pakistani actress Veena Malik claims she has put on 5 kg for the Kannada version of the film and that her dialogues have not been dubbed. “I had to put on five kg for the role because the script demanded so. Size zero does not exist here in South. I was 48 kgs, now I am 53 kg. Forty per cent of the shooting has been com-

pleted,” Veena Malik said. Currently Veena is shooting for Dirty Picture: Silk Sakkath Maga in Bengaluru “ The Dirty Picture in Kannada has got no relation to the Hindi version. Yes, it is the story of Silk but it’s a different story. You will have to wait and watch. I am speaking in Kannada in the film. It’s not being dubbed.” There is a constant comparison

between Veena and Rakhi Sawant, but the Pakistani actress, whose first Bollywood film Daal Mein Kuch Kaala Hai sank without a trace, says being judged doesn’t bother her. “No, it does not bother me because whenever any new thing comes, people tend to judge it or tag it. I am sure with time things will change. I am new here, so I am being judged. I don’t mind that because it is human nature,” she said. IANS

Ranbir assures ‘no disability’ in Barfi

Farah Khan hits gym, again!

horeographer-filmmakeractress Farah Khan has returned to her fitness routine after a gap of almost six months. “Big day for me today! Hitting the gym after almost six months. Treadmill ki toh vaat hain aaj (The treadmill is going to go for a six today),” she wrote on Monday. Post her workout, she posted: “My Treadmill survived but my trainer lost his hair!” Farah is set to make her acting debut in Bela Sehgal’s Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi, releasing August 24. The movie also features Boman Irani. IANS

anbir Kapoor is playing a deaf and mute boy while Priyanka will be seen as an autistic girl in the forthcoming film Barfi, but Ranbir claims that despite such characters audiences will not see any “disability” in the film. “Whatever disability you see right now, you will not feel in the film. We are normal characters. PC (Priyanka) is playing an autistic girl in the film, but she is like this cute puppy dog who you will fall in love with. You will not see the disability,” he said at the release of the first trailer of Barfi on Monday. Directed by Anurag Basu, the film is titled after Ranbir’s character. Talking about it, Ranbir said that in the movie his character’s “name is actually Murphy but because he is deaf and mute, he says it as Barfi”. When Basu narrated “the script to me, I thought I will really have to work a lot for this and I will have to learn sign language and all”. “But he (Basu) was very clear to me. He told me that this was not a film to show off my acting abilities. He wanted it to be relatable. Everyone should understand the film.” IANS

And so the midnight hour comes & goes as does the witching. Next, the waking (and my, sleeping) hour. #nightshoot #shesherkobita #Calcutta

@SrBachchan T 793 - #BolBachchan trending...!! Can someone tell me what that means? In fact can a lot of people tell me!! Ha ha

@singer_shaan “@KnowMeOrNoWorld: as no one can ever do better yodelling than the legend KishoreDa similarly no one can do humming like u” Hmmm... Thx!! :)

@NeilNMukesh Life is like boxing. The game is not lost when u fall down. Its lost when u don’t get up.

@MadhuriDixit1 Saw The amazing Spiderman yesterday. Very different take on the same story. It was entertaining, but which is more true to the comic book?

@Being SalmanKhan v feel sad for the lady, it is really v sad that she was homeless n sleeping on the roads, may god rest her soul in peace.

Magic Screen

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Magic Screen

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Magic Screen

The glamour behind the glitz

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Josh Lucas becomes a dad S weet Home Alabama star Josh Lucas' home just got a whole lot sweeter.The actor welcomed his first child, a bouncing baby boy, on Friday with wife Jessica, his rep confirms to E! News. And it looks like the couple is indeed revving up for parenthood, because they chose quite the appropriate name for their son... Noah Rev Maurer! The child was born in New York City and weighed in at a strapping 9 pounds, 4 ounces.The lowkey couple caught celeb watchers by surprise when they got married in a top-secret ceremony in March.The 41-year-old, who recently appeared in a TV redo of The Firm, famously proposed to Jessica in January after a close encounter with a bear while shooting on location in Big Sur.

Ian puts himself on auction T

here’s a hoard of Vampire Diaries loyals in the world who would love to have lunch with Ian Somerhalder, and now, here’s their chance. The bonus? It’s for a very good cause. Charitybuzz is hosting an auction that will award the highest bidder a chance to have lunch with the Vampire Diaries star in Atlanta. All proceeds from the auction will benefit the Ian Somerhalder Foundation, and specifically go toward the organisation’s plans to open up an animal sanctuary. “A big component of ISF is not just habitat or species conservation, it’s animal protection and youth education,” the actor tells EW exclusively. “There are too many animals that are abused, mistreated, and abandoned. They’ve been ostracised, they have behavioural issues, and they’re starving. It’s just unbelievable what we’ve done to the animals, and I think that’s why this is so important.” The auction is currently live and will run through July 18, and it will help fund the acquisition of land that Somerhalder has his eye on. The plan, he says, is to make this haven a reality “very soon.” And the big goal is to make the sanctuary a place of co-rehabilitation — benefiting both animals and troubled youth.

Winslet strips to empower women A

ctress Kate Winslet strips off on the big screen to give women confidence about their looks. The 36-year-old has bared all in several movies, including Titanic and The Reader, and reveals she has no qualms about showing off her body, insisting she hopes it makes her female fans feel better about their own figure. "I look like the people that walk down the street. I don't have perfect boobs, I don't have zero cellulite — of course I don't — and I'm curvy. If that is something that makes women feel empowered in any way, that's great," sun.co.uk quoted Winslet as saying. IANS

Chai Time

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 referenced by the number. Within each collection of cells — called a run — any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once. Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on... So, how do you work out the actual combination? Well, this is done through elimination and cross-referencing. For instance, as you work out the answers for other kakuro clues, this will naturally limit the valid combinations, and hence the answer for this particular run. Note the second cell in row two — it contains two numbers, 30 and 11. The 30 refers to the vertical run underneath the number 30 and the 11 refers to the two cells to the right, horizontally, of the number 11.

SCRIBBLING PAD

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Take a shot at the brain game while sipping your cuppa

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Hurricane centers 5 Alexander the Great conquered it 11 Pronounce 14 Barrel's inside diameter 15 Credit and student, eg 16 ‘Honest’ president 17 Mount Sinai phenomenon 19 Make into leather 20 Admission requirements, perhaps 21 Do doer 23 Carefree walk 26 Act as a prompter in the theater 28 Type of rug 29 Door-to-door person 31 Entrance halls 33 Amateurs might turn this 34 Accomplish 36 Evidence of a forest fire 41 What snake oil is, supposedly 42 ‘I don't get it’ 44 Begin liking 47 Retiring place 50 On the ocean 51 Recipe instruction 52 Bad-tempered woman 53 Letter-writing guide 56 NASA's Grissom 57 1 of 100 in DC 58 Frosted Lenten pastry 64 ‘... ___ he drove out of sight ...’ 65 Area code 801 resident 66 Attain also-ran status 67 '60s counterculture hallucinogen 68 Corps member 69 ‘Good grief!’ DOWN 1 Decline gradually, as a tide 2 ‘I kid ___ not’ 3 Act proverbially human 4 Deteriorating from old age 5 Plays on words 6 Chang's Siamese twin 7 ‘Spare’ thing at a

barbecue 8 AA candidate 9 ‘Meet Me ___ Louis’ 10 Colourless of cheek 11 Sarcastic literature 12 Degrading sort 13 They mind your own business 18 ‘Beware the ___ of March!’ 22 Cake part 23 Adder relative 24 ‘The War of the Worlds’ planet 25 Alliance of countries 26 Hidden hoard 27 Falling on deaf ears 30 Computer program shortcut 31 Isn't insensitive 32 Eggs, to a biologist 35 Kept the engine running 37 ‘... sailed the ___ blue’

38 Boring daily routine 39 Norse god of thunder 40 A dromedary has one 43 ‘Now, wait just a second!’ 44 Dangling ornament 45 Daisylike flowers 46 Made loud wailing sounds 48 Conclusion starter 49 Big inconvenience 51 ‘I do’ location 54 Fish bait or pal 55 Extremely small amount 56 ‘... no man has ___ before’

SUDOKU

59 ___-town (the Windy City) 60 Wasn't colourfast 61 Cranberry patch 62 Red, white and blue letters 63 Flanders character in ‘The Simpsons’ PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

THOUGHT OF THE DAY A great thing about these trees is that they are excellent for cleaning, both groundwater, and of course, air. – Mike Lowry

Chai Time STAR POWER

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Your tomorrow today̶Star Power and Tarot THIRUVAIKUMAR

As per Hindu panchang

FOR 5-7-2012

thiruvaikumar@yahoo.co.in 040-27177230 / 9177596118

TAURUS

GEMINI

Employees will be favoured by superi‑ ors and they share their personal sec‑ rets with them. But be careful and exe‑ cute the works properly and avoid dis‑ closing their secrets to anyone else.

Colleagues might criticise you but maintain your cool and adjust with them as your time is not favourable. Artists will get good opportunities to show their calibre and excel well.

Employees will face the ire of superi‑ ors. Artists will improve skills for bet‑ ter. Your efforts will yield desired re‑ sults. Businessmen might face a down‑ trend but there is no cause for panic.

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

Father will help you in starting own business and you will ﬂourish in it. Comforts and inﬂuence are set to increase. Some have bright chances to buy movable and immovable assets.

Financial position will be better than expectations. All work undertaken by you will get completed successfully though there will be minor hurdles. Purchase of a vehicle likely.

You will prove individual capability in every work that is executed by you. Your enemies will become inactive. Your respect and value will increase. Your talks will attract all.

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

You will complete all work undertaken in a perfect manner. Sops expected from govt will come through. Income will take care of your needs. Minor tensions likely through relatives.

Share market deals will bring decent gains. New venture started with good partners ﬂourish well. Family will be in a peaceful atmosphere. You will undertake a long‑distance journey.

A strong ﬁnancial position likely. You will involve and spend for religious activities. Parents will be happy with your affection and good treatment. Mo‑ ney will come from various sources.

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Income will improve drastically. You will undertake journey to expand busi‑ ness. Some might be forced to change residence. You will complete all work successfully with your experience.

Expenses and income will be directly proportional which will upsets you. Health looks ﬁne. Misunderstanding with blood relatives will disappear. Never bother about relatives' attitudes.

Good ﬂow of money likely. Old and written off dues will get collected and make you cheerful. Construction of house can be considered. Relatives will extend their help and support.

SUMAA TEKUR

FOR 5-7-2012

tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

Eight of Pentacles – If you are determin‑ ed to get something, you can. You will do whatever it takes, going the extra mile to ﬁnd what will make you happy.

Ten of Wands – Itʼs alright to be average and not to be pres‑ sured by the thought of being the best all the time, every time. You cannot excel each time. So relax.

Nine of Wands – Yo‑ ur biggest strength is the number of optio‑ ns before you. You can plan and execute ideas better than before without the pressure of success.

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

Seven of Cups – You seem obsessed with making money. You are caught in the tr‑ appings of the mate‑ rial world and all it has to offer. Let not obsessions overtake.

Seven of Swords – You are a believer in working towards gai‑ ning better social st‑ atus. It may not nec‑ essarily be a bad thi‑ ng as it motivates you to achieve more.

Six of Pentacles – You feel emotional, and not always for a reason. Accept feel‑ ing out of sorts and stay with the emo‑ tions than forcing yourself out of them.

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

The Fool – Research thoughts and ideas well and make sure you are not wasting your time by working on something that has no real value. Do the groundwork well.

The Hanged Man – you think differently from others in your peer group and team in the ofﬁce and this is your biggest stre‑ ngth. Use this talent to better prospects.

Page of Cups – Youʼre at your creative best and must work at pu‑ tting your ideas to test. Talk about these to your bosses and do something different and off the cuff.

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Six of Swords – Your biggest strength is your ability to be dynamic and change your tho‑ ughts according to the changing circumstan‑ ces around you. Bosses love you for that.

The Wheel of Fortu‑ ne – It has been a lo‑ ng journey and it bothers you that you do not yet have a cl‑ ear roadmap for the future. Keep working at it. Donʼt give up.

Temperance – Keep it simple, stupid. No other advice is better suited to you at this point. You have com‑ plicated your life by thoughts that serve no real purpose.

For Better or for Worse Stone soup

SOLUTIONS

Boggle DAY MONTH DECADE SECOND CENTURY

Number game

Suduko

Scrabble

Ink pen

COMICS

Fred Basset

ARIES

TAROT READ

Vol: 1, No 352 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

2012 LONDON OLYMPICS

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

DAYS TO GO

DID YOU KNOW...? n Weightlifters put chalk on their hands to help them grip the bar. n Weightlifters put chalk on their hands to help them grip the bar. Harold Sakata, better known as Oddjob from the James Bond film ‘Goldfinger’, won a silver medal for the USA at the London 1948 Olympic Games.

LEGENDS OF THE SPORT Pyrros Dimas (born October 13, 1971) In the 1992 Games the 20-year-old, competing in the 82.5kg weight class, won Greece’s first Olympic Weightlifting gold since 1904. After winning two of the next three world championships, Dimas entered the Atlanta 1996 Games as the world record holder. He broke the world records for both the snatch and the jerk, taking home another gold medal.

Chen Yanqing (born April 5, 1979) won gold in the 58kg class at both Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. In doing so, she became the first woman to win gold medals in Weightlifting in two consecutive Olympic Games. Her triumph in Beijing also saw her set two new records in the process, making a total lift of 244kg which broke her previous Olympic record by 7kg.

CLEAN AND JERK

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n The bodyweights of competitors are used to break ties – the lifter who weighs less wins. n There will be 1630 discs for the Weightlifting competition ranging in weight from 0.5kg to 25kg.

TALLY 2008

46 WEIGHTLIFTING:

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CHINA 8 KOREA 2 KAZ’STAN 1

1 1 2

0 0 1

MEDAL EVENTS July 28 Women's 48kg July 29 Men's 56kg Women's 53kg July 30 Men's 62kg Women's 58kg July 31 Men's 69kg Women's 63kg August 1 Men's 77kg Women's 69kg August 3 Men's 85kg Women's 75kg August 4 Men's 94kg August 5 Women's +75kg August 6 Men's 105kg August 7 Men's +105kg

Weightlifting will showcase a test of pure strength – the oldest and most basic form of physical competition. The aim of Weightlifting is simple: to lift more weight than anyone else. The result is pure sporting theatre of the most dramatic kind, and a real spectator favourite.

Field of play Athletes compete on a platform, which is 4m x 4m and 10cm high. Men’s Weightlifting featured at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, with women’s Weightlifting introduced at Sydney 2000. The

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Katulu Ravi Kumar is an Indian weightlifter from Orissa. At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, he won a gold medal in the Men's 69 kg weightlifting category. Originally a bodybuilder, he took up weightlifting just three years before the 2010 Commonwealth games, and won with a record total of 321 kg. Seven year before, he used to practice body building in a club.

heaviest individual weight lifted in Olympic competition was achieved by Hossein Rezazadeh of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In

the 2004 Games, Rezazadeh clean-and-jerked 263.5kg – a weight roughly equivalent to five flyweight boxers.

The basics Competitors are divided into 15 weight categories, eight men and seven women. The strongest competitors may lift more than three times their body weight. Each event features two types of lift. In the Snatch, the bar is lifted from the floor to above the head in one movement. By contrast, the Clean and Jerk is a two-stage action – the bar is first brought up to the shoulders before being jerked over the head.

Competition format Each lifter is allowed three attempts at the Snatch and three the Clean and Jerk. Th-

eir best lift is combined to determine their overall result. If an athlete fails to make a valid lift with any of their three attempts in the snatch, they are eliminated. In a tie, the athlete with the lower bodyweight is the winner. If two athletes lift the same weight and have the same bodyweight, the winner is the one who lifted the weight first

Officials Three referees judge the success of each attempt, indicating with either a red or white light. Loaders are responsible for ensuring that the bar is in the right position and loaded with correct weights. They must never touch the bar during the lift attempt

HISTORY OF WEIGHTLIFTING

INDIA’S HOPE Katulu Ravi Kumar

No lift a lift that is judged to be unsuccessful by at least two of the three referees Press out an illegal move where the lifter bends the arms while holding the bar overhead, then presses them out to straighten them. Squat to drop while bending the legs, with the feet to either side

Archery at Games

36 35

THE LINGO

he descent of weightlifting can be traced back to the beginning of recorded history where man's fascination with physical abilities can be found among numerous ancient writings. Progressive resistance training dates back at

least to Ancient Greece, when legend has it that wrestler Milo of Croton trained by carrying a newborn calf on his back daily until it grew fully. Another Greek, the physician Galen, described strength training exercises using the halteres (early form of dumb-

bell) in the 2nd century. Ancient Greek sculptures also depict lifting feats. The weights were generally stones, but later gave way to dumbbells. The dumbbell was joined by the barbell in the latter half of the 19th century. Early barbells had hollow

globes that could be filled with sand or lead shot, but by the end of the century these were replaced by the plate-loading barbell commonly used today. Another early device was the Indian club, which came from Persia where it was called the ‘meels’.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

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DAYS TO GO

LEE RACING AGAINST TIME LONDON: Lee Chong Wei is making anxious progress in a race against time to be ready for the climax to his great career at the Olympics. Lee, who has recently lost the world number one ranking to bitter rival Lin Dan after four years at the top, has been receiving stem cell treatment on torn ankle ligaments, which means he may not be at his absolute fittest when the Games start. The brilliantly fleet-footed Malaysian passionately wants that gold, both to improve on the silver medal he won in Beijing four years ago, and to get the better of Lin at last in a major event. However, after being ushered off in a wheelchair during the Thomas Cup finals in Wuhan in May, Lee only has the rest of July in which to rebuild the strength and movement to cope with the sensational Lin, the Olympic and world champion from China. Lee was back in light training soon after his treatment but missed the $650,000 Indonesian Open. "Naturally he will still have the fear of aggravating the injury but I will help him overcome it," Malaysian Sports Institute physio Sandra Fidler said. Lin Dan's comments were generous. "We are long-time competitors, but our biggest enemy is not each other, but injury," he said.

Italy’s Valentina seeks sixth Olympic gold

2 3

LONDON: Italian vet-

"As his competitor, I wish him to come back to the court as quickly as possible." Lin saved two match points while beating Lee in perhaps the greatest ever World Championship final, at Wembley last year, and is now considering extending his career after saying he will retire at the Olympics. However, Lee has avoided admitting that Lin, his barrier for more than six years, is the greatest player ever, as many people believe. He preferred to suggest the accolade may belong to one of two retired world champions from China, Yang Yang and Zhao Jianhua, or to Peter Gade, the former world number one from Denmark, who has

We [Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei] are long-time competitors, but our biggest enemy is not each other, but injury. Lee Chong Wei, Badminton Champ been among the front runners for a record-breaking 17 years. The 35-year-old Gade believes he can do well again because Olympic success depends so much on temperament.

"At some point you learn how to deal with pressure," he said. "I'm an old guy now, so I've got that experience." Gade has had a moderate run-up to the Olympics and, after an early loss to South Korea's Shon Wan Ho at the Indian Open in Delhi, fell from the world's top four. He claims he paid a price for pushing his body hard to qualify. This may result in his getting a tougher quarterfinal opponent, possibly affecting his chances in the last major tournament of his career. Gade's setback has enabled former world champion Chen Jin to cling to the world number four ranking, thus guaranteeing China a maximum three qualifiers.

Odom withdraws from tryouts COLORADO SPRINGS: The pool of players that the USA will draw from to select their 2012 Olympic men's basketball team shrunk further on Tuesday with the withdrawal of Los Angeles Clipper Lamar Odom. Odom told the USA Basketball men's national team head coach Mike Krzyzewski that he won't be available to try out for the team this month. "While it is unfortunate to have lost the players we have, Coach Krzyzewski

and I remain extremely confident with the group of players we'll have at our training camp," USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said. Odom was traded on Friday to the Clippers. He averaged a career low 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds in 50 games with the Dallas Mavericks last year. Odom spent his first four NBA seasons with the Clippers. He played one year in Miami and then seven seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. In the 2010-11 season, he won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award. AFP

eran Valentina Vezzali will seek to bring the curtain down on her career at the London Games by claiming a record sixth fencing gold. If the 38-year-old pulls it off, she will also extend her country's gold medal dominance of the sport which has featured at every modern Olympics since 1896. Vezzali is as close to a superstar that fencing can boast. She is married to a footballer — Domenico Giuliano — and is the first fencer to have won five Olympic golds in the Foil event. The mother of one has also collected 13 world championship golds and nine at the European level. Vezzali is nothing if not determined. In 2005, after taking time out to start a family, she returned to the sport just four months after son Pietro was born and retained her world title. "Fencing is a mental sport and you must know how to manage when you are ahead but also when you are behind," she said. Highly-rated American fencer Mariel Zagumis is tipped to dominate the Sabre category. AFP

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Cavendish could set gold wheels in motion PARIS: As former teammates, Mark Cavendish and Matt Goss could spin a yarn or two about how to beat one another in cycling's hotly-contested road races. But at the London Olympics, their widely anticipated duel for gold on the opening day could set the wheels in motion for a Britain versus Australia rivalry that has the potential to dominate the cycling events in London. AFP

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Playing Field

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

The games people play

Chelsea-II chases CL glory David Legge

JOHANNESBURG: There could be two teams called Chelsea competing at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan this year if a side from Ghana continue to slay CAF Champions League giants. Berekum Chelsea host Cairobased Zamalek this weekend in matchday one of the leading African club championship hoping to go all the way and join shock UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea at the December tournament. Dutch coach Hans van der Pluijm hopes some of the amazing spirit that saw the Stamford Bridge outfit score twice with 10 men in a semi-final against Barcelona at the Camp Nou can rub off on his squad. But he also acknowledges that his young team will begin as Group A outsiders against three of the most successful clubs in CAF competitions — Zamalek, fellow Egyptians Al Ahly and TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ahly have won the Champions League a record six times, Zamalek five times and 2010 Club World Cup runners-up Mazembe four times and the trio share the tag of favourites this year with title holders Esperance of Tunisia. “They are all former champi-

ons and we have a lot of respect for them, but we all got to this stage on merit and so we will see how it goes from now on,” Van der Pluijm told reporters. “My boys must believe in themselves, they must believe that nothing is impossible no matter how strong the opposition appears to be, and they must not let anyone push them around. “Big names do not win football matches — big hearts do —

Chess selections scheduled for this Sunday

he Hyderabad Chess Academy (under the auspices of RR District Chess Association, and Hyderabad District Chess Association) will organise district selections for under-11 boys and girls on July 8 at the academy in Chikkadpally, Hyderabad. All players from Ranga Reddy and Hyderabad districts are eligible to take part in these selections. Girls and boys born on or after January 1,

2001 can participate. The tournament will be held as per Fide Rules and Swiiss League. Players are expected to bring their own chess sets and chess clocks. Eight qualifying players will qualify for the AP State Under 11 Chess Championship to be held at Rajahmundry in July. Interested players can register their names with Anand Naik at the academy office before July 6. Call 9391102940 or 92479 79886.

and we will give it out best shot. Many people wrote us off after being held at home by Coton Sport and look what happened in Cameroon,” added Van der Pluijm. The Dutch handler was referring to a 2-1 final qualifying round victory in Garoua after being held 0-0 at home, which earned Berekum a place among the eight survivors and a minimum $400,000 prize money.

This upset came after two comfortable and anticipated victories over LISCR of Liberian and a shock triumph against threetime African champions Raja Casablanca of Morocco that was born out of a stunning 5-0 home win. Berekum boast the leading 2012 Champions League scorer in six-goal Emmanuel Clottey while Zamalek will be without several players whose goals

helped them through three elimination rounds. Former Egypt striker Ahmed ‘Mido’ Hossam has moved to English second-tier club Barnsley and Benin striker Razak Omotoyossi says he will not return to the cash-strapped ‘White Knights’ until outstanding salaries are paid. Zamalek also want to ditch talented but troublesome midfielder ‘Shikabala’, whose touchline outburst after being substituted against Moroccans Moghreb Fes led to the temporary resignation of legendary coach Hassan Shehata. Ahly must face Mazembe behind closed doors in Cairo because of the continuing Egyptian ban on spectators at international fixtures after 74 died on February 1 in Port Said rioting following a domestic league game. Esperance have fired Swiss coach Michel Decastel and recalled 2011 Champions League-winning handler Nabil Maaloul ahead of a Group B visit to combative Nigerian team Sunshine Stars. Fellow Tunisians Etoile Sahel tackle ASO Chlef in Algeria under the guidance of Mondher Kebaier — their third coach of the campaign after German Bernd Krauss was fired and Faouzi Benzarti resigned. AFP

Villas-Boas confirmed as new Tottenham manager LONDON: Former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas was confirmed as the new manager of Tottenham on Tuesday following the shock departure of Harry Redknapp last month. “The club is delighted to announce Andre Villas-Boas as Head Coach,” Spurs confirmed on their official Twitter feed following days of speculation concerning the Portuguese coach. The appointment marks a dramatic return to the English Premier League for Villas-Boas, who was fired as manager of Chelsea in March just eight months into a three-year con-

tract. Villas-Boas’ ill-fated reign at Stamford Bridge ended in dismissal after months of unrest behind the scenes, with rumours of player mutinies and a breakdown in relations with the manager. However the 34-year-old —

who arrived at Chelsea after a stellar quadruple-winning season with Porto — has successfully convinced Spurs chairman Daniel Levy that he is the best man to build on Redknapp’s legacy. Villas-Boas’s priority will be aiming to restore Tottenham to the Champions League after their agonising near-miss last season. Despite finishing fourth, Spurs were bumped out of the Champions League after Chelsea recovered from the dismissal of Villas-Boas to win the title in Munich. AFP

Wimbledon 2012

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

Serena enjoying her games Steve Griffiths

Paths to the women’s singles semi-finals

LONDON:

Serena Williams insists she has nothing to lose as the four-time champion bids to secure her seventh appearance in the Wimbledon final with a victory over second seed Victoria Azarenka on Thursday. Williams booked her place in the last four by ending Petra Kvitova’s reign as champion with a 6-3, 7-5 victory on Tuesday, while Azarenka moved into her second successive Wimbledon semi-final by defeating unseeded Austrian Tamira Paszek 6-3, 7-6 (7/4). That sets the stage for a fascinating clash between one of Wimbledon’s all-time greats and a talented contender in Azarenka who has already enjoyed the best year of her life after winning a series of titles including her first Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open. Williams, who last won a Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2010, has been impressed by Azarenka’s rise over the last six months, but the American believes the lack of pressure she feels at the moment could be the decisive factor as it allows her to go for broke at crucial moments. “She’s playing unbelievable and already having a Grand Slam under her belt is really great. She did it in such style, so it’s not going to be easy if I play her,” Williams said. “It’s going to be another match where I have absolutely

A Kerber (GER x8) v A Radwanska (POL x3) Kerber 1st rd: bt Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 6-4, 6-1 2nd rd: bt Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 7-5, 6-3 3rd rd: bt C McHale (USA x28) 6-2, 6-3 4th rd: bt Kim Clijsters (BEL) 6-1, 6-1 QF: bt S Lisicki (GER x15) 6-3, 6-7 (7/9), 7-5 Radwanska 1st rd: bt M Rybarikova (SVK) 6-3, 6-3 2nd rd: bt E Vesnina (RUS) 6-2, 6-1 3rd rd: bt H Watson (GBR) 6-0, 6-2 4th rd: bt C Giorgi (ITA) 6-2, 6-3 QF: bt M Kirilenko (RUS x17) 5-7, 6-4, 7-5

Serena Williams v Victoria Azarenka head-to-head Record for Thursday’s Wimbledon women’s singles semi-finals (x denotes seeding; year, tournament, surface, round, winner, score): n S Williams (USA x6) v V Azarenka (BLR x2) n Williams leads 7-1 n 2008 Australian Open Hard R32 Williams 6-3 6-4 n 2009 Australian Open Hard R16 Williams 3-6 4-2 — retired n 2009 Miami Hard F Azarenka 6-3 6-1 n 2009 Wimbledon Grass Q Williams 6-2 6-3 n 2010 Australian Open Hard Q Williams 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 n 2011 Toronto Hard S Williams 6-3 6-3 n 2011 US Open Hard R32 Williams 6-1 7-6 (7/5) n 2012 Madrid Clay F Williams 6-1 6-3

nothing to lose. I can just go out there and enjoy myself and have fun. “Right now if Victoria beats me, she’s had a better year than I have. “Going against a player like that, I feel like she almost has an advantage. So that makes me really relaxed and I can just kind of hit.” For Azarenka, the 22-yearold’s meeting with 13-time Grand Slam champion Williams repre-

sents a chance to make amends for last year’s Wimbledon semifinal defeat against Kvitova, and also a quarter-final loss to Williams in 2009. “It’s a great feeling to be in a semi-final of a Grand Slam but I still want to go all the way and it seems still far away,” Azarenka said. “There’s no better opponent than Serena, I’m really looking forward to it. It’s not going to be easy but it’s the semi-final of a Grand Slam.”

S Williams (USA x6) v V Azarenka (BLR x2) Williams 1st rd: bt B Z Strycova (CZE) 6-2, 6-4 2nd rd: bt M Czink (HUN) 6-1, 6-4 3rd rd: bt Zheng Jie (CHN x25) 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 9-7 4th rd: bt Y Shvedova (KAZ) 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 QF: bt P Kvitova (CZE x4) 6-3, 7-5 Azarenka 1st rd: bt I Falconi (USA) 6-1, 6-4 2nd rd: bt R Oprandi (SUI) 6-2, 6-0 3rd rd: bt J Cepelova (SVK) 6-3, 6-3 4th rd: bt A Ivanovic (SRB x14) 6-1, 6-0 QF: bt T Paszek (AUT) 6-3, 7-6 (7/4)

Note: (x denotes seeding)

Radwanska rewrites Polish history Steve Griffiths

LONDON: Agnieszka Radwanska became Poland’s first Grand Slam semi-finalist when she beat Russia’s Maria Kirilenko 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in a Wimbledon quarter-final, which took seven and a half hours to complete. Third-seeded Radwanska’s victory over the 17th seed ended four years of frustration after she suffered last-eight losses at Wimbledon in 2008 and 2009 and three defeats at the same stage of the Australian Open.

The 23-year-old — a Wimbledon junior champion in 2005 — will play German eighth seed Angelique Kerber for a place in the final. Radwanska had swept into the last eight without dropping a set, but she found it much harder to subdue Kirilenko in an error-strewn match disrupted by two lengthy rain delays. The Pole is unlikely to care about the quality of her victory as she could yet leave London as Wimbledon champion and world number one. The quarter-final had started at 2.20pm

(1320GMT) on Court One but after two delays was suspended at 8.03pm (1903GMT) with the pair locked at 4-4 in the final set and expected to return on Wednesday.

Organisers decided to switch the remainder of the match to the covered Centre Court with Radwanska and Kirilenko resuming their battle at just after 9:30pm (2030GMT).

Wimbledon results Men — 4th round n David Ferrer (ESP x7) bt Juan Martín Del Potro (ARG x9) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 n Andy Murray (GBR x4) bt Marin Cilic (CRO x16) 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 n Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x5) bt Mardy Fish (USA x10) 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4 Women — quarter-finals n Angelique Kerber (GER x8) bt Sabine Lisicki (GER x15) 6-3, 6-7 (7/9), 7-5 n Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x3) bt Maria Kirilenko (RUS x17) 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 n Serena Williams (USA x6) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE x4) 6-3, 7-5 n Victoria Azarenka (BLR x2) bt Tamira Paszek (AUT) 6-3, 7-6 (7/4)

Playing Field

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2012

The games people play

Sivtsov, Rojas out of Tour de France BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, FRANCE: Yellow jersey contenders Team Sky suffered their first setback of the Tour de France Tuesday when Kanstantsin Sivtsov abandoned during the 197km third stage. Sivtsov, one of Sky’s support riders for race favourite Bradley Wiggins, was one of several riders caught up in a crash just after the Cote de l’Eperche around 140km into the race. The Belarusian, who fractured his left tibia, became the first of the 198-strong peloton to abandon this year’s race, which ends in Paris on July 22, but he was not alone. Race organisers later confirmed Sivtsov had “suffered a fracture to his left tibia (shin) and was set to undergo surgery and be repatriated”. Team Sky chief Dave Brailsford admitted losing Sivtsov, who was set to help Wiggins early on in some of the

Tjallingii out of Tour with fractured hip

utch rider Maarten Tjallingii has been forced to withdraw from the Tour de France after fracturing his hip in Tuesday’s third stage, his Rabobank team confirmed. The rider fell 60km from the stage finish and was transported to hospital in Amersfoort in the Netherlands where he will undergo surgery. He becomes the third rider to pull out of the race after Belarussian Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Sky) and Spaniard Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) also abandoned on Tuesday. AFP key mountain stages, was a setback. But he said the team would fight on. “It’s a setback but not a devastating setback,” said Brailsford

after seeing another Sky rider, Edvald Boasson Hagen, finish runner-up on the stage to Slovakian Peter Sagan of Liquigas.

Pakistan gets CL20 invite event to participate in KARACHI: Pakistan’s THE BOARD OF CONTROL the qualifying tournacricket board has ment,” a statement received an invitation FOR CRICKET IN INDIA issued by the PCB said. from India for October’s (BCCI) LAST MONTH GAVE “The invitation will Twenty20 Champions THE GO AHEAD TO INCLUDE be discussed in the PCB’s League, in a step Executive Coordination towards reviving cricket PAKISTAN’S TWENTY20 Committee meeting on ties between the archCHAMPIONS IN THE MULTIWednesday.” rivals which have been NATIONAL LEAGUE. The PCB last month suspended since 2008. called the invitation “the The Board of Control first step towards revivfor Cricket in India (BCCI) last month gave the go ahead to ing cricketing ties between the two couninclude Pakistan’s Twenty20 champions in tries”. The Sialkot Stallions won the domestic the multinational league, which brings together 10 top teams, including those Twenty20 event in Pakistan earlier this year. They were due to feature in the inaufrom India, Australia and South Africa. “PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) con- gural Champions League in 2009 but were firms that an invitation has been received not invited after India severed bilateral from the Champions League Twenty20, relations with Pakistan in the wake of terAFP inviting the winners of Pakistan Twenty20 rorist attacks on Mumbai.

Injury-prone Levet looks for boost Allan Kelly

VERSAILLES, FRANCE: Frenchman Thomas Levet pulled off the biggest triumph of his career in winning the French Open at Versailles a year ago, but his celebrations immediately turned sour, setting off a year of injury misery. No sooner had he won his home title for the first time in a career dating back over 20 years than Levet decided to jump into the greenside lake at Le Golf National’s 18th

hole to mark the occasion. In so doing he jarred his leg and felt a sharp pain, but it was only after drying off and attending a press conference that he headed for hospital where he was told he had broken it. Levet needed two months to get over the injury, missing the British Open at Royal St George’s in the process. He suffered another bizarre injury at the start of the year when he fell down steps off a tee box at the Volvo Golf Championships, breaking a rib.

“He’a a very good climber so he can do that first part in the key mountain stages. But to be honest the climbing department, as it were, is probably where we’re at

our strongest. “It’s a real shame, but not the end of the world. “It’s like boxing — as long as you’re still fighting you can knock the other fella out. That’s the approach you’ve got to take to it.” Other riders caught up in the spill were American sprinter Tyler Farrar (Garmin) and Spaniard Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel), although they resumed racing to finish the stage. Farrar would go on to crash again, but finished the stage. In a Twitter post Garmin team chief Jonathan Vaughters tried to put a positive spin on the incident: “Bad news is Tyler hit his nut pretty hard. Good news is its bigger than it used to be.” The third stage had been feared by a number of different teams and riders due to a succession of six small climbs, five of which came in the last 35km, on tight roads leading to the finish line. AFP