Postnoon E-Paper for 22 August 2012 by Scribble Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012 HYDERABAD

WEATHER: A MIX OF CLOUDY AND CLEAR SKIES; 27°C

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

A CYBER TOOL TO CHECKMATE DEMONS ON THE NET A workshop is being conducted by a City-based school to educate and inform youngsters as well as their parents about what ethical hacking is and the dos and don’ts associated with it.

32 PAGES

LOHAN QUESTIONED OVER HOUSE BURGLARY Troubled actor Lindsay Lohan was interviewed by police recently regarding an apparent burglary at a Hollywood Hills home last night — but Lindsay insists she had nothing to do with it, and was merely sleeping over.

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HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

MARRIAGES

MADE IN HELL!

A police team has left for Gujarat to trace the roots of a racket that has trapped hundreds of impoverished AP girls in marriages that are a façade for flesh trade.

REPORT ON P3

EYES

When we see what they see through the lens, even the most ordinary sights become extraordinary. That’s photography for you. We list here some of the pioneers and exponents of this art.

PUBLIC BANKS STRIKE WORK

P16&17

The State economy was severely hit with government banks resorting to a two-day strike starting today in support of their charter of demands. The strike followed the break-down of reconciliation talks between the United Forum of Bank Workers and the chief labour commissioner, New Delhi.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

city events

COLOURS OF CHANGE

A painting exhibition of abstract art by artist Jayanthmanda will be held at Iconart Gallery. A preview for the exhibition was held on August 18 at 6.30pm. The exhibition will be displayed till August 30 from 11.30am onwards, everyday.

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

overnight

Morning

Afternoon

27°C

22°C

27°C

33°C

A mix of cloudy and clear

Cloudy with showers likely.

Cloudy with thunderstorms

A mix of cloud and sun

New Delhi Mumbai Max 29 Max 32 Min 33 Min 25 Scattered thunderstorms

Chennai Max 35 Min 25

Scattered thunderstorms

Bangalore Max 29 Min 22

Cloudy with chances of thunderstorms

AROUND THE CITY YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES DINING

ART

Punjabi food festival Head to Taj Deccan for a Punjabi Food festival. The food festival offers a variety of Punjabi delicacies such as saag and makke ki roti. It is also offering various specialities. Where: Taj Deccan, Banjara Hills, Rd No 1 When: August 24 onwards Contact: (040) 66663939

Image and imagination A painting exhibition by various artists titled Image and Imagination. Where: Kalakrithi Art Gallery, Banjara Hills, Rd No 10 When: Ongoing, 11am onwards Contact: (040) 6656 4466 Painting exhibitions Two painting exhibitions, dealing with cities and sustainability will be displayed at Vidyaranya High School. Where: Vidyaranya High School, Saifabad When: Ongoing, 10am onwards Contact: (040) 2323 7789

World class cocktails Select from a list of unusual concoctions like Frozen Gold.. Buy two and get a world class cocktail book and experiment with a wide range of drinks yourself. Where: Marco Polo, ITC Kakatiya, Begumpet When: All through August Contact: (040) 2340 0132

SHOWS

STRIKING A FINE BALANCE: A young girl walks on a tightrope while balancing pots on her head infront of the Charminar in Old City as curious onlookers stop to watch her perform this feat. N SHIVA KUMAR organising the ”National Silk Expo” from August 18 to 26. The expo will feature various silk products. Where: Sri Sathya Sai Nigamagamam, Srinagar Colony When: Ongoing, 11am to 9pm

Baghdad Wedding The play Baghdad Wedding dealing with weddings in Iraq will be presented at Ravindra Bharati. Where: Ravindra Bharati, Saifabad When: August 31, 7.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 2323 1245 National Silk Expo The Gramin Hastkala Vikas Samiti is

Play time The play Birjees Qadar ka Kunbaa will be held at Nift Auditorium on

Commissioner & Spl Officer

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

198 155313

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

Satellite City The play is the kaleidoscopic world of a motley bunch of characters and their struggle to make their lives about something. Where: Ravindra Bharathi, Saifabad When: September 2 6.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 2323 1245

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

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

August 24. The play is in Urdu. Where: Nift Campus, Madhapur When: August 24, 7.30pm Contact: (040) 2311 4537 Ethical hacking Oakridge International School is organising a 2-day ‘Workshop on ethical hacking and online security’ by ethical hacker and computer security expert, Ankit Fadia. Where: Oakridge International School, Gachibowli When: August 25 and 26, 7.30pm onwards Contact: 1800 200 8171 Taj Khazana Sale For six days, there will be a special offer on magnificent collection of sarees, western ensembles, pashmi-

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

155313 23307328 23313163

27505566 23314095 23390933 24600146 27001134 23607777 30418888 30417777 30419000 30416666 39879999

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

nas, hand-picked costume jewellery, men’s garments and many more exciting offerings. Where: Taj Krishna, Banjara Hills Taj Falaknuma, Falaknuma When: August 20-29, 10am – 9pm Contact: Taj Krishna (040) 6629 3248 Faluknama (040) 6629 8600 Blindflyers The German movie Die Blindgagner (Blindflyers). The movie is a tale of two girls Marie and Inga.The movie will be screened at Goethe Zentrum. Where: Goethe Zentrum, Banjara Hills, Rd No 3 When: August 24, 6pm onwards Contact: (040) 2335 0443

27567892 23559555 23226624 27633087 27035588 27550238 30799999 30418296 30417445

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

Elegance Artist Snehlatha Prasad presents her interpretation of the Radha and Krishna myth through her canvas. Where: Shrshti Art Gallery, Jubilee Hills, Rd No 15 When: Ongoing, 11am onwards Contact: (040) 2354 0023 Deep in the wood The exhibition displays woodcut art prints by 22 artists.These art works are from the woodcut workshop conducted by Earth Art Gallery to raise funds for DAYS Foundation (for Children with diabetes). Where: Earth Art Gallery, Banjara Hills, Rd No 12 When: September 2 onwards

Airport Director 27903785, 27906001 For Air India Flight Information Toll free (from any network) for IC Flights 18001801407 And for All Flights: 1800227722 Air India has revised its flight timings. For more information call (Toll free) 18001801407, 1800227722 from BSNL/MTNL 04023430334 from other lines and mobile Website; www.airindia.in TOURISM OFFICES AP Tourism, Hyd 23262152/53/54 Sec-bad 27893100 Dept of Tourism 23453110 India Tourism 23261360 AP Tourism information Centre (24x7) 23450444, 23455999 UK VISA OFFICE VFS India Pvt Ltd Building, 8-2-542/A, Sunil Chamber, Road No. 7

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

24523211 232431300/7641 24521029

Readers’ views

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

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

City

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

SHOULD INDIA STEP UP TO COUNTER CYBER MISINFORMATION? 80% 20%

YES (A) NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

IS IT RIGHT FOR MINISTERS TO SEEK CM’S INTERVENTION IN CBI CASE? A)

YES

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

CRIME

Cops on trail of fake grooms A police team has left for Gujarat to trace the roots of a racket that has trapped hundreds of poor AP girls with the promise of marriage that actually proved to be a facade to a flesh trade. YAHIYA KHAN

Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com

n what promises to be an epic scandal of sex and flesh trade, a police team from RR district, has been dispatched to Gujarat for a thorough probe into the shocking incidents of poor Telugu girls being ensnared into ‘fake’ marriages and later pushed into the flesh trade by men from Gujarat. The police now believe at least 200 poor girls, many of them minors, have been sucked into the racket which came into light with one Dinesh from Gujarat marrying a minor girl from RR district (Postnoon Aug

(left) Dinesh was arrested for cheating Vidisha (right) a minor.

21). She later found it to be a horror story of cheating and prostitution. She escaped from her ‘husband’s’ clutches and came

home to tell the police and her mother the sordid saga of some people using unwary poor girls for making money.

Dinesh, a young man from Latur of Gujarat behaved like a rich urban dandy and trapped a minor girl from Tandur in RR district. The ‘rich’ boy marrying the poor girl story after paying `80,000 commission to a middle person called Asima became a cruel joke when she went to their Latur home and was welcomed by her husband’s wife and two kids. Later, she alleged, she was asked to make money by indulging in flesh trade. The police team led by Circle

inspector Srinivas of rural Tandur, one SI, one head constable and three constables are mandated to probe more into the racket and pick up trail of those involved in trapping the poor girls from Andhra Pradesh, said the RR SP D Rajkumari. Sources say the racket is not limited to one area and if properly probed could turn out to be a very bid flesh trade racket that trap only poor girls who have only one parent taking care of them or are semiliterate and can be easily fooled.

city WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012 LAST YEAR... HERE Water, water, everywhere

ast year, we had reported how the incessant rains over a few days had almost left Hyderabad paralysed. Water-logging was reported in many areas of the City and the CM was making the rounds to ensure that work was being carried out to alleviate the situation. Trafﬁc jams were reported in lowlying areas and the power situation remained shaky.

AUGUST 22, 2011

NUMEROLOGY

6,097

The total number of scholarships being offered for State students as part of the newly introduced Central Sector Scheme of Scholarships for College and University Students.

It is a solemn event. There will be over 4,000 delegates from 193 countries participating (in CoP-11) as against the many rumours going around.

CIVIC

Delays anger Krishna Commissioner takes stock of works underway in the City, berates corporation officials for slow pace of work ahead of the CoP-11. Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com

he GHMC commissioner, MT Krishna Babu, came down heavily on officials for the slow pace of work and delay in completion of almost all projects. While inspecting areas within the GHMC limits on Tuesday, he expressed concern that the corporation was not prepared for the upcoming international event in Hyderabad, CoP-11. He was angry about the delay of work near Kochar apartments in Begumpet, where the nallah widening work was not up to expectation. The commissioner pointed out that where there should be three vents, work on only two had started. He directed officials to take up the work on priority basis. Krishna Babu also directed officials to take up the work on the ramp near Kochar apartments immediately. In order to avert accidents, Krishna Babu ordered some

R Hampaiah, chairman See page 8

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

Students are not excited about new scholarship. City students are not enthusiastic about the new central scholarship scheme, as they have not received money from earlier such schemes.

You can’t get any bank work done for two days. Government banks have gone on a two-day strike to protest the bank sector reforms proposed in the Khandelwal committee report. Private banks are not striking.

Large amounts of money don’t guarantee success. The chairman of the AP Biodiversity Board explains that allotting a large sum of money will not make an event successful.

Government needs to support ethical hackers. If the government extends help to ethical hackers, they will ensure their skill is not misused and hackers can help in defence systems.

Fake marriage racket ensnaring poor AP girls? The police believe that at least 200 girls from AP have been ensnared in fake marriages to introduce them into the ﬂesh trade.

Corporator Muddapuram Krishna Goud and other officials complained about the malfunctioning street lights.

fresh safety measure boards, cautioning motorists on the stretch from the old median to the end of Green Lands flyover near Hyderabad Public School gate. These will cover a distance of 500m at a cost of `4.5 lakh. With the objective of expediting works on priority basis, the commissioner interacted with contractors and local officials while visiting the underconstruction parallel bridge at

Lakdikapul. He took stock of Shiekpet-Filmnagar road, which has been pending for years. The commissioner, along with his team, inspected the RUB work from Begumpet to Fateh Nagar and directed officials to expedite the works. He visited Indira Gandhi Puram, where MLA Jayaprakash Narayan (Kukatpally), Muddapuram Krishna Goud, corporator (Fateh Nagar), interacted

with the commissioner to discuss the proposal for construction of houses under Rajiv Awas Yojana. He directed the additional commissioner (planning) to arrange a meeting between the MLA, area corporator and the affected people to take up the issue so as to put the proposal to the Government of India for approval. Goud and other local representatives complained about malfunctioning street lights. They pointed out that fogging operations are not carried out in these areas. The commissioner directed the additional commissioner (electrical) and the chief entomologist to sort out the issue at the earliest.

‘No laxity will be tolerated’

Krishna Babu warns engineers of dire action if work does not improve. POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

ith the CoP-11 around the corner, commissioner MT Krishna Babu, who checked the progress of projects, warned the assistant engineers of dire action if their attitude towards work does not change. He directed the chief engineer to issue charge memos and stop increments whenever assistant engineers are not found on the ground while work is under-

way. “The assistant engineers must be on the field to supervise the works which are being carried out by the contractors,” he said. The commissioner warned that if any negligence is observed from contractors with regard to CoP-11 works, they would be blacklisted and they would never work for the GHMC again. As the HMWS&SB department has not taken up ramp works at PVNR expressway, Babu directed the chief engineer to coordinate with the

Krishna Babu warned that if any negligence is observed from contractors with regard to CoP-11, they would be blacklisted. officials to take up the works. The commissioner directed the zonal commissioner (west) to take up the works in bits

and to order a few tree guards for the newly developing road from Kothaguda junction to HICC exit. If the T&T department doesn’t take up the Tolichowki junction improvement, let the maintenance wing take up the works, he added. Babu directed engineers to hold a drive from September 1 to remove all cables from PVNR expressway to HICC and Assembly to Sanathnagar, and no further extension would be given.

NEWS BRIEFS TRS workers lay siege to APTransco

Three arrested for selling plots illegally

Youth dies in mishap at Chandrayangutta flyover

Nalsar University to hold first-ever film festival

RS protesters continued to lay siege to the Vidyuth Soudha building for the second day on Wednesday, demanding that an uninterrupted power supply be provided to farmers. They were also calling for the release of TRS leader Harish Rao. A heavy police force has been deployed to maintain peace in the area.

he Ibrahimpatnam police on Tuesday arrested three of a ﬁvemember gang, which had allegedly sold plots illegally to poor labourers in the property APIIC. According to police, 20 acres and 17 guntas of land that pertained to Boodan land from survey no 67, 68 of Adibatla of Ibrahimpatnam mandal were ‘sold’ to the unwary labourers.

youth, Feroz Ali Khan, died in a road mishap on Tuesday night. The incident took place at Chandrayangutta ﬂyover. Khan was riding when his bike hit a divider. The youth suffered severe head injuries and died on the spot, said the police. His body has been sent to Osmania Hospital for postmortem, said police ofﬁcials.

alsar University of Law, Hyderabad, in association with the Nalsar Alumni Association, the Centre for Legal Philosophy and Justice Education, as well as the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), will host the ﬁrst-ever Nalsar Film Festival, 2012, on August 25 and 26 at its campus in Shamirpet.

city WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

POLITICS

CM plays it safe, waits for tide to turn

Special package for NE natives demanded VHP blames the Congress for the plight of the North Eastern people.

Fearing backlash the CM has not yet taken any decision on the tainted minister’s resignation.

earing a possible fall-out if roads and buildings minister Dharmana Prasada Rao’s resignation was accepted, several ministers held confabulations among themselves on Monday night, besides trooping to the chief minister’s camp office on Tuesday to attend the mini-cabinet convened by Kiran Kumar Reddy.

In an attempt to elicit views of his colleagues on Dharmana’s resignation, the CM convened an impromptu meeting on Tuesday morning. He decided to invite them in the wake of some ministers opposing acceptance of Dharmana’s resignation, who was charged in the fourth charge-sheet filed by the CBI in the Kadapa MP, YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s assets case.

At the meeting, a majority of the ministers, arming themselves with Article 16 of the Constitution apparently tried to impress upon the CM that none, including the premier investigating agency CBI, had any right to question the decisions taken by the Cabinet. They also cited past SC directives. Nearly 16 to18 ministers attended the meeting. In a bid to mount pressure on the CM, some of the ministers, in fact, held a separate meeting on Tuesday night. They include Danam Nagender, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Pithani, Vatti Vasanth Kumar and Maheedhar Reddy. The CBI has named Dharmana as the fifth accused in their charge-sheet submitted to the CBI special court last week. Perturbed by this Dharmana submitted his resignation to the CM on moral grounds. However, he chose not to take any decision sensing trouble ahead. NSS

STRIKE

he State economy was severely hit with the government banks resorting to a two-day strike starting today in support of their charter of demands. The strike followed the break-down of reconciliation talks between the United Forum of Bank Workers and the chief labour commissioner, New Delhi. The UFBW opposed the Khandelwal Committee report which advocated sweeping banking sector service reforms. The proposed reforms included salary hike slabs and raising of standards for employing clerks

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

he Viswa Hindu Parishad has claimed that some three crore Bangaldeshis have infiltrated into India since the 70s and demanded that they be deported forthwith as they are posing a security risk. The party’s international

CRIME

Banks strike work POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

Praveen Togadia

working president, Praveen Togadia, said in Hyderabad that Bangaldeshis have the blessings of the Congress and they are let in by corrupt security agencies. “What is coming out in Assam is just the tip of an iceberg. The seriousness of infiltration is not properly understood. It is a great national risk. They ought to be deported forthwith.” He wanted each state government to give a rehabilitation package to the displaced North-East natives who abandoned their posts following terror threats. “These are the very people who provided vital services to the economy in many states. They ought to be given proper rehabilitation package.” He wanted a special NE insurance scheme to be introduced for their safety. It has been a conspiracy, he said. Togadia said the government of India could not be absolved of its blame and put all responsibility of texting false messages on Pakistan.

Burglars break roof, loot shop

Top five of the 50-point charter of demands 1 Revision of pay scales 2 Stagnation increment 3 Introduction of service ex-gratia 4 House rent allowance 5 Rural compensatory allowance

and sub-staff. Making graduation mandatory did not go down well with the Union. Among the many measures suggested by the Khandelwal Committee, testing computer skills among both the staff and the sub-staff was to be made mandatory. Private banks however, didn’t join the strike.

Pick

Despite police patrolling the area, burglars managed to decamp with phones worth `1 lakh and `16,000 cash. Mohd SUBHAN mohd.s@postnoon.com

ight under the nose of the Charminar police, a shop selling mobile phones and related accessories was burgled last night. Marauders gained access by breaking open the asbestosroof.

Thieves got away with `16,000 in cash and cell phones worth `1 lakh from the shop owned by K Vikas Khatoot, Charminar police found out. The incident that happened in the congested locality which has a police presence roundthe-clock has generated dismay and anguish among shop owners in Charminar area.

at the

airport,

city WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

ETHICAL HACKING

A cyber tool to checkmate demons on the Net

A workshop is being conducted by a City-based school to educate and inform youngsters as well as their parents about what is ethical hacking and the dos and don’ts associated with it. T BALANARAYAN balanarayan.nt@postnoon.com

s hacking becomes more commonplace, thanks to many offthe-shelf tools that are available, a school in the City is organising a workshop on whitehat hacking or ethical hacking. City-based Oakridge International School, that’s organised the workshop, intends to introduce students to the concepts which they believe will improve their knowledge on network security and also present it as a future career option. Saumil Shah who is the founder of net-square, a company that specialises in vulnerability testing, says that people don’t understand hackers and their work most of the time. “Hacking is a state of mind. Unfortunately it has been a maligned word. People have a negative perception of hacking and hackers. To me, hacking is simply the science of taking things beyond their limits. Push the envelope. Make magic. As far as the term goes, what does your own conscience tell you? Is what you are doing right or wrong? That’s ethics to me. I would put more stress on ethical abilities opposed to technical abilities,” Saumil says.

BASICS FOR HACKING

According to him, to be a good ethical hacker one needs to have a good understanding of mathematics, logic, algorithms, programming and systems. “The better you know how things are built, the better you are at spotting weaknesses and taking them apart. One cannot get a degree or a certificate which says as much, although there are many money making schemes out there which sell such labels to the public and also drive industries into this ‘validation by certification’ vortex. A real hacker is known by his/her work. A real hacker is known by what he or she has contributed. A real hacker is known by the research and knowledge they have accumulated. The rest is just hype,” he says. So can hacking be taught? Dr Zaki Qureshey, chairman of E2 Labs, one of the first hacking academies and a leading information security organisation,

says that it can. However, he insists that it should be done only for defensive purposes.

GOVT SUPPORT NEEDED

“The government should set up a framework for this field of education and get a declaration from them that they’ll use it only for right purposes. A government framework,” he says, “will ensure that the right kind of information is shared with the students. It is important, as it’ll encourage young people who are good at this. If they are good enough then the government can train them and give them access to critical infrastructure which will help them defend the country from cyber warfare,” he says. “People who have found zero-day vulnerabilities (unreported bugs which can be used to compromise machines of users running a particular software, operating system or hardware) have found support from the government in US and China. However, that is not the case in India. Over here, most of the socalled hackers are script kiddies, people who use tools created by others to show-off,” he added. Script kiddies may not be great hackers, but they can more often than not get the work done.

Hacking is a state of mind. Unfortunately, it has been a much maligned word. People have a negative perception of hacking and hackers. Saumil Shah founder, netsquare According to a report ArsTechnica, a PC running a single AMD Radeon HD7970 GPU which costs $400 approximately, can try on average an astounding 8.2 billion password combinations each second, depending on the algorithm used to scramble them, using some of these tools. This method, called brute force attacks, is the preferred method used by some of the beginnerlevel hackers. It is hoped that such workshops will encourage them to use their energy into doing something productive. PS Vikas, who is the IT secu-

rity manager at a City-based hacker school however, says that a lot of people who come to learn ethical hacking are those who think of it merely as a “cool thing” or have bad intentions. “Some of them say they want to do the course to further their career, but a lot of them do it use for nefarious purposes. Some of them use it to hack social media and email account of friends and enemies. This is a worrying trend. So we ask these students to sign an NDA asking them not to use the skills for such purposes,” Vikas says.

FOR MANY IT IS A FAD

The other issue according to him is that some of these students do it as a fad and such people generally don’t have the basic understanding of networking and other allied fields, which are important to be a good ethical hacker. “Most such students get interested in the field after going to these one week workshops where they are shown a few tools which can be used to hack and scrap data. So they think that’s what white hat hacking and hacking in general is about. They do not understand the core principles,” he adds. What happens to these hack-

ers churned out by these institutions? There is no way institutes can track them according to Vikas, as schools are not allowed to unless legally mandated. Apart from workshops, parents too play a role in enrolling students to such courses according to Dr Zaki. “Some children download software like keyloggers (used to register all key presses by a user. If a keylogger is installed in a system a hacker will be able to see all the passwords as text and use it to access the account). The parents then enrol them in one of the programmes; they do not realise that the child has just downloaded a program available online to do the ‘hack’; they think their child is a genius. So even these parents need to be educated,” he says. So in the absence of a government-backed framework and the threat of students using the knowledge for nefarious purposes, where can one begin ethical hacking? Saumil says that they need to begin with the basics. “I would prefer sound mathematics and logic to be taught before anything else,” he says. Many professional hackers, however, believe there’s much more required than a mere workshop.

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city WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

BIODIVERSITY

‘It’s not the amount of money that decides the success’ In an exclusive interview with Rahul Ramakrishna, chairman of AP Biodiversity Board, R Hampaiah, talks about the upcoming Conference of Parties (CoP), the agenda and the rampant corruption that had a debilitating effect on various circles of administrative works. What is the present status of the number of countries attending the CoP 11? Is it true that this is going to be a low key affair? Not at all. People think there should be a flurry of activity and changes like they would expect for a Commonwealth game. It is a solemn event, not a show off one. In fact, there will be over 4,000 delegates from 193 countries participating as against the many rumours going around. What is the setup of discussions in the CoP 11 going to be? Unlike other global conventions, this meeting will not require much infrastructure. Since this is going to be a convention and an exhibition at the same time, the HICC has offered 42 rooms and one hangar hall divided into 10 rooms for the conferences that will take place simultaneously. The organisers were perfectly satisfied with the infrastructure present in Hyderabad for the conference. The planning schedule is still being discussed but this is the basic setup of the CoP 11 as of now. What was the outcome of Rio+20 out of which this Conference on Biodiversity was

DEEPAK DESHPANDE

The organisers were perfectly satisfied with the infrastructure present in Hyderabad for the conference. The planning schedule is still being discussed. R Hampaiah, chairman adopted? How do you think the CoP 11 will be different and if it will, what is going to be its outcome? The outcome of the Rio+20 was not much, except for taking stock of the then environmental situation. It later phased out as everybody ‘agreed to disagree’ over the many policies of climate change. Nothing concrete ever came out of Rio+20. We hope that the outcome of this event is going to be an awareness over the importance of biodiversity.

For example, the various uses of gene theory in reducing carbon emissions that can bring about a great climate change certainly needs to be talked about. But this will take time as we have to go through the many rigours of legislature and corruption. We are hopeful of more awareness which will mean stricter laws will be placed so that endemic species are not bought/sold or smuggled by foreign corporations without due punishment. What is going to be the prime

agenda of the CoP 11? We have shortlisted over 28 agendas for discussions at the conference. The prime issue is going to be “Access and Benefit Sharing” that explores the various economic strong points of biodiversity which is the most important for sustained economic development. The other issues include the many measures for biodiversity in dry land areas and sub-humid areas, which are important in today’s drastically changing climate patterns. Out

of the 28, four of them are the AP Biodiversity Board’s initiatives. I am positive that atleast some of these agenda’s will bear fruit. Considering that the budget allocated for the conference has had a serious shave, and that a meagre `250 crore has been finally granted, do you not think it is a disappointment after all the hype credited to it? I cannot personally comment on the finances allocated but it is not surprising that the budget has been trimmed. For example, if a lake cleaning project is allocated hundreds of crores of rupees and the project drags on for years with no obvious result , when all it takes is a few months and a few lakh rupees to clean it completely, it is obvious that some people fill their coffers through these schemes. Similarly, this is the state of affairs with the conference. Of the total amount promised for the conference, not more than 20 per cent is actually going to fall through. An annual budget of `5 crore has been allocated as the State Biodiversity Board’s budget. This should give a rough image of the scheme of things.

EDUCATION

New Central scholarships introduced A new scholarship has been introduced by the government of India for college and university students. A total of 6,097 scholarships have been alloted for the State but City students are not enthusiastic about it. SUDESHNA KOKA sudeshna.k@postnoon.com

he ministry of HRD, New Delhi has introduced a new ‘Central Sector Scheme of Scholarships for College and University Students’ from the financial year 2008-09. The eligibility criteria for the scholarship are that students should have above 80 per cent in Class XII in the IPE conducted in March 2012. Their parental income should not exceed `4.5 lakh per annum. They should be pursuing a regular or professional bachelor degree courses from a

recognised educational institutions in the current year 2012-13 and they should not avail any other scholarships. The government of India has allotted 6,097 scholarships to AP. As per the guidelines, two-anda-half times of the above number of the candidates are provisionally selected. These scholarships are designated in the ratio of 3:2:1 for science, commerce and humanities respectively. Reservations are available for SC (15 per cent), ST ( 7.5 per cent), OBC (27 per cent) and the physically handicapped (3 per cent) candidates.

The government of India has allotted 6,097 scholarships to AP. Two-and-a-half times the number of candidates will be selected. The scholarship amount that will be paid is `1,000 per month for 3 years (regular and professional degree courses), `2,000 per month for year IV and V of professional degree and PG courses

for 10 months. For all professional courses, the scholarship will be renewed till graduation subject to a maximum of five years. However, students are not excited about this scholarship. “It’s all a joke. When we joined engineering we were supposed to get a certain amount but now I am in my fourth year and we did not get any money,” said Megna R, a final year student. The application forms for the selected students will be sent to their junior colleges and also placed in the Board’s Website. All the paper work should be sent to the Board by September 30.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

focus NOSTALGIA

‘SINGH IS KING IN GAH’

In Singh’s old primary school, which unlike his home is still standing, his mark sheet has been put up on the wall, exhorting the next generation of children to take his lead, and go ahead and rule the world.

SING(H)ING PRAISES OF

THE SON OF THEIR SOIL

When the world’s largest democracy elected Manmohan Singh as prime minister in 2004 and he told an interviewer he had been born in a remote Pakistani village, his friend Khan was over the moon.

KHURRAM SHAHZAD feedback@postnoon.com GAH: For years, Ghulam Muhammad Khan thought his brilliant classmate had been killed in the bloodbath that gave birth to India and Pakistan in 1947, the deadliest end to British colonial rule in history. But when the world’s biggest democracy elected the softlyspoken Manmohan Singh as prime minister in 2004 and he told an interviewer he had been born in a remote Pakistani village, Khan was over the moon. “He was our class monitor and we played together. He was a gentle and brilliant child. Our teacher always advised us to get his help if we couldn’t understand something,” Khan recalled, striding through village maize fields. Even more incredibly, Singh wanted to help the 2,500 villagers in Gah, on a plateau of muddy rock and bushy forest 100 kilometres (62 miles) southeast of Islamabad near the ultra-

modern motorway that runs almost to the Indian border. “I never imagined Manmohan would one day bring so many blessings to our village.

He did what our own government still refuses to do,” recalled Khan, who is Singh’s last surviving classmate left in the village. But the last eight years is a

tale of generosity, squandered opportunity and political shorttermism that leaves Pakistan with an embarrassing predicament now that President Asif Ali Zardari has invited Singh to visit later this year. The model village that Singh dreamt of lies in tatters. Buildings that cost tens of thousands of dollars stand empty and unfinished. The only question is what, if anything, will Pakistan do to fix it?

EMPTY SCHOOLS, HOSPITAL

WILL SINGH’S DREAM COME TRUE?

The model village that Singh dreamt of lies in tatters. Buildings that cost tens of thousands of dollars stand empty and unfinished. The only question is what, if anything, will Pakistan do to fix it?

‘WE THOUGHT WE LOST HIM’

For years, Ghulam Muhammad Khan thought his brilliant classmate had been killed in the bloodbath that gave birth to India and Pakistan in 1947. “He was our class monitor and we played together.”

Not long after taking office, Singh wrote to Pakistan’s then ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, asking that Gah be earmarked for development. Musharraf, at the time working on peace talks that he hoped ould resolve India and Pakistan’s conflict over Kashmir, was happy to oblige. The provincial government in Punjab built a decent road from the motorway to the village, high schools for boys and girls, a hospital, veterinary clinic

and hooked the village up to the water supply. Singh sent an Indian firm to install solar-powered street lights, solar-powered lights to 51 households that did not have electricity and a water heating system at the mosque close to the site of his destroyed home. But the project stalled after elections in 2008 swept former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N party to power in Punjab, booting out of office Pakistan Muslim League-Q and Musharraf stepped down. The high schools and hospital stand empty. No teacher or doctor has been appointed, because the villagers say, credit for the development would have gone to the previous regime and not the new government. “We contacted the district administration and members of the ruling party time and again. They say there are no funds for the facilities and that they are trying to get it from the government,” said Ashiq Hussein, the mayor of Gah. But a Punjab government spokesman said it was “absolutely baseless” to suggest it had abandoned the Gah development project for political reasons. “No scheme has been stopped anywhere in the province on such a basis,” Pervez Rasheed told AFP. “The hospital in the village is still under completion and the boundary wall plus equipment is being provided this year. Staff will be recruited when it’s completed,” he said, referring to plans to open the high schools in September.

“HE IS THE SON OF OUR SOIL” Villagers young and old are united in their hope that the return of their lost boy sometime later this year will be the spur. “Everybody wants to see him and say thank you. We also want him to come soon because we think the abandoned development will be completed for his visit and we will get staff in our schools and hospitals,” Khan said. AFP

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

Business

BELIZE IN 'SELECTIVE DEFAULT' ON DEBT: S&P

Standard and Poor's called Belize in selective default on its debt on Tuesday after the country failed to make a $23 million debt payment. S&P said Belize missed the coupon payment on a $547 million bond when it came due on Monday.

CONSTRUCTION

APPLE-SAMSUNG SUIT

Giant shifts made easy The cost of lifting and shifting ranges from `250 to `300 per sqft and comes with a lifetime warranty.

o you want to get your house lifted to a certain height or shifted to a certain distance? Are you facing a problem with rainwater flowing in to the house because of low-level construction or facing a problem with road widening? Here is the solution for you.

Mamchand and sons, a family-run company, has successfully lifted and shifted 5,000 houses since 1990. Mamchand and Sons, a familyrun company, has successfully lifted and shifted 5,000 houses since 1990 and entered thrice on to Limca book of records. This technology is also patented by government of India. “We not only save the time and money that goes in demolishing and re-constructing the house but also save resources like water, bricks, stone dust. The lifting work will take up to 45 days,” said Rajesh Kumar Chouan, director,

HEALTHCARE

Allergan, Molecular team up ZURICH: US-based Allergan and Switzerland's Molecular Partner said on Tuesday they have formed an alliance to develop and market eye disease treatments worth up to $1.4 billion. In addition to $62.5 million in upfront payments, Molecular Partners "is eligible to receive additional success-based payments, including up to $1.4 billion" for meeting development, regulatory and sales goals, as well as royalties on sales, the companies said in a statement. A first agreement is for cooperation on developing a treatment for age-related macular degeneration, a common cause of vision loss. A second agreement is for the development of similar compounds that could treat other ophthalmic diseases.

Mamchand and Sons. “We lift the house as per customer's need. At the maximum, we lifted a building up to 11.3 feet from foundation at Ghatagaon in Gurgaon,” he said. For instance, a temple in Hisar was shifted to 15 feet because of laying new broad road. It also successfully moved a Jyotiba Puley statue's direction in Amroha (MP). Talking about customers, he said, “we get both commercial businesses and residential customers. However, the majority are residents who face the problems with rainwater and drain water entering into the house due to its level.” First the conditions are variables for shifting are studied. Then the company enters into a court agreement after agreeing on the lifting or shifting. The cost of lifting and shifting depends on the condition of the building. It can be anywhere between `250 to `300 per sqft with the lifetime warranty. It is recommended to make a plinth beam while the constructing the house to make things easy.

$732

for

NSE

5,418.25 2.75

is the net income of Dell for the second quarter, a fall of 18 per cent from a year ago.

Aus Reserve Bank in bribery cover-up row

GOLD `30,700 10g SILVER `55,700 1kg

he mammoth Apple-Samsung patent trial went to the jury Tuesday, setting the stage for a verdict that could have huge implications for the hot market in smartphones and tablet computers. Apple, which accuses the South Korean electronics giant of copying the iPhone and iPad too closely, is seeking damages of up to $2.75 billion and an injunction that could knock some Samsung products off the US market. Even a delay in sales could endanger Samsung's position in the US market, where it is currently the top seller of smartphones. Samsung has countered by arguing that its patents on wireless communication were infringed by Apple, and is demanding up to $422 million from the Silicon Valley manufacturer. In closing arguments, Apple lawyer Harold McElhinny said that the story of Samsung's copying was laid out in the company's own internal documents.

NUMEROLOGY

GRAFT

SYDNEY: Pressure mounted Wednesday for an independent inquiry into allegations that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) covered up evidence of bribery by its note-printing subsidiaries. Eight executives from two firms either wholly or part-owned by the central bank — NPA and Securency — are facing claims they conspired to bribe officials at foreign banks to secure contracts to make plastic banknotes.

The scandal was exposed by Australian media in mid-2009 and police were called in, but a confidential memo has now emerged that suggests at least one senior RBA official knew of the allegations long before they became public. The Sydney Morning Herald said it showed recently retired deputy governor Ric Battellino was given a detailed memo cataloguing alleged bribery and corruption inside NPA, or Note Printing Australia, in 2007.

BSE

17,882.53 2.73

DOLLAR`55.49 POUND `87.59

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

nation

6 DIE AS HEAVY RAINS LASH JAIPUR At least six people died in a wall collapse and due to electrocution as heavy rains lashed the Rajasthan capital overnight, officials said Wednesday. The rains created havoc as over 100 colonies in low-lying areas and the walled city were inundated, they said.

ASSAM FALLOUT

COALGATE STALEMATE ON

Exodus-hit India gets US lecture on Net freedom Evasive on firms based in the US to complying with Centre’s directive. WASHINGTON: Voicing its support for full freedom of the internet, US has urged India to maintain respect for fundamental freedoms, while probing rumours that have caused an exodus of northeastern Indians. The US “have seen these reports that northeastern Indians are returning to the northeast from cities in southern India, and these media reports that the returns are due to concerns about personal safety”, state department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said. “On the larger question of internet freedom, you know

SUPERSTITION

Woman branded witch, beaten JAIPUR: A 50-year old woman in Rajasthan’s Ajmer district approached the police Tuesday accusing her neighbours of branding her a witch and beating up her and her daughter, officials said. A first information report (FIR) has been registered against some half a dozen people on the basis of the complaint of Bhuri Devi, a resident of Kajipur village near Kekari town in the district, some 150 km from Jaipur, they added. “Bhuri Devi said that about half a dozen people from houses in her neighbourhood barged into her house Monday night and started abusing her. They claimed that she was a witch and was casting evil spells on others in the village,” said a police officer. Bhuri Devi said that she and her 20-year old daughter were severely beaten up. “She says that her neighbours threatened to kill her if she did not leave the village soon,” the officer added. “It seems the neighbours want to grab her property. We have registered the case against the neighbours,” said the officer. IANS

where we are on that issue, and we are always on the side of full freedom of the internet. But as the Indian government continues to investigate these instances and preserve security, we also always urge the government to maintain its own commitment to human rights, fundamental freedoms, rule of law,” she said. Asked to explain its stand on WikiLeaks in view of its professed support of full freedom of the internet, Nuland said: “WikiLeaks didn’t have to do with freedom of the internet. It had to do with the compromise

The US had not asked for any investigation by the Indian government nor was it part of the investigation, a senior US official said. of US government classified information.” The US had not asked for any investigation by the Indian government nor was it part of the investigation, Nuland said, noting that India itself has “called an investigation of some

of the sources of the rumours,” she said. Asked if the US had or would ask US-based companies, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter to comply with India’s directive to go after the sources of erroneous information, Nuland said she could not speak “of the conversation that those companies may or may not be having with the Indian government”. “We maintain open lines to our own companies in India and we are obviously open to consultation with them if they need it from us,” she said. IANS

Both houses of the Parliament were adjourned soon after they met Wednesday as the BJP-led Opposition renewed its demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation over the CAG report on coal block allocation. In the Lok Sabha, speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the house till 12 noon after BJP members refused to allow proceedings and rushed towards her podium raising slogans. The scene was similar in the Rajya Sabha, prompting Chairperson Hamid Ansari to adjourned the house till 11.30 am. On Tuesday, both houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day on the issue.

NEWS BRIEFS Militants explode two grenades IMPHAL: Militants exploded two powerful bombs near the office of an NGO in Imphal East district of Manipur but no casualty was reported, officials said today. The bombs exploded at around 10.30pm last night at Napet Palli area under Heingang police station, about 15 km from here but no one was injured, they said. A militant group had demanded extortion of `10 lakh from the NGO, Educated Farmers Association (EFA). No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the incident. PTI

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Man killed in car-bus collision FIROZABAD (UP): A man was today killed while his wife and daughter were injured when his car collided with a bus in Tejabur locality here. Vivek Yadav, 25, was returning to the district from Agra this morning when the mishap took place, police said. The injured wife and one-yearold daughter of the victim have been rushed to hospital, where their condition was stated to be stable. Police have launched a manhunt to nab the bus driver, who fled from the spot.

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

1 dead, 21 ill after food poisoning AIZAWL: One person died and 21 people fell sick after consuming fermented soya bean in the remote Humntha village of Mizoram’s central district of Serchhip, police said today. K Vanlaltluanga, vice president of the Humntha Village Council, died yesterday after eating fermented soya bean. Those taken sick included wife and children of the deceased and the doctors opined that they were out of danger.

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nation WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

SECURITY

Dire necessity to enforce airport security in India

Intelligence reports fearing Pakistan-based militant groups planning terror attacks on India’s civilian airports should be enough to raise all kinds of alarms.

he daring terror attack on Pakistan’s Kamra air base on August 16 claimed by Tehreek-eTaliban and persistent intelligence reports that Pakistanbased militant groups keep planning terror attacks on India’s civilian airports should be enough to raise all kinds of alarms in India. If such elements can breach Pakistan’s air base security, Indian civilian airports become all the more vulnerable. Experts say it is high time the India redoubles its efforts to bring security at its airports to international standards, or maybe even better in view of the continuous threat it faces from the LeT. The Airports Authority of India did its part on Oct 18, 2007, when it introduced a new Ground Handling Policy, under which any agency operating at airports would have to have 100 per cent full-time employees with their background antecedents fully checked by the relevant security agencies. According to a government notification, under the policy, only three ground handlers would be allowed to perform this function at the six metro airports of the country. These

Implementation of the new Ground-Handling Policy has been delayed to efforts of certain vested interests.

would be AAI or its joint venture company, subsidiary companies of the national carrier and any other independent ground handling company selected through a competitive bidding process subject to its security clearance. The non-metro airports have been allowed self-handling by

the domestic airlines, provided they comply with certain standards and ensure that all activities are carried out by their own full-time employees. According to some security experts, strict enforcement of the policy is an absolute must because at some Indian airports,

non-entitled entities that are still providing ground handling services do not even comply with International Air Transport Association standards. They cite overstaffing with totally untrained personnel without any background and security checks, duplication of resources,

the use of inappropriate and outdated equipment and the presence of multiple non-entitled agencies. Security officials say the new policy has plugged all these loopholes. But its implementation has been delayed again and again by greedy vested interests. Since the new policy, when fully implemented, would really improve safety and make Indian airports more secure by using the best service standards and eliminating outsourced non-entitled entities as well as restricting the number of service providers, it would result in bringing bona fide trained workers. Besides making them foolproof from the security angle, it would also prevent accidents on the apron because only IATAapproved equipment limited to certain required numbers would be operating on tarmacs. IANS

GREEN REVOLUTION

Sikkim to turn ‘fully organic’ by 2015 S

ikkim, which started ecofriendly farming from a small area of land about a decade ago, is set to become a fully organic state by 2015, a senior state official has said. According to Sikkim agriculture secretary Vishal Chauhan, structured organic farming started in the state in 2003 when the government set up the dedicated Sikkim State Organic Board to promote farm techniques that prohibit the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. “Our CM had also introduced a resolution in the Assembly seeking to convert entire farming in the state to organic. Now, our farming relies on techniques such as green

manure, compost, biological pest control and crop rotation.” Over 8,000 hectares was covered under organic farming between 2003 to 2009. In a bid to make the state fully organic, various government agencies have been working in coordination. The state government has completely stopped lifting of quota of chemical fertilisers extended by the Centre since 2006-07 and all sales points for chemical fertilisers in public and private sector have been shut. Sikkim government has also promoted large-scale use of biofertilisers and provides certified manufactured organic manure to farmers as an alternative to their chemical substitutes.

In order to provide alternatives to farmers, 24,536 rural compost units and 14,487 vermicompost units were constructed in farmers’ fields till 2009. The bio-village programme was also adopted in 2003 and around 400 villages were adopted by the state government till 2009 to benefit some 14,000 farmers and 14,000 acres. Sikkim produces some 80,000 million tonnes of farm products, including 45,890 million tonnes of ginger, 3,510 million tonnes of large cardamom, 2,790 million tonnes of turmeric, 4,100 million tonnes of buckwheat, 3,210 million tonnes of urad daal and 20,110 million tonnes of mandarin oranges. IANS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

World

GREECE’S EURO FATE HANGS OVER MERKEL-HOLLANDE MEET German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will try to present a united front when they meet Thursday ahead of a fateful few weeks for Greece’s eurozone future.

RAPE ROW

MARS MISSION

Curiosity to make a test drive today

Pressure piles on Akin to quit race

The US lawmaker said he would not quit his race for a Senate seat, despite Romney’s demand

his self-portrait released August 17, 2012 shows the deck of NASA’s Curiosity.

LOS ANGELES: A little more than two weeks after its arrival on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover will on Wednesday make its first “test drive” before setting off on its Red Planet mission, the US space agency said. The $2.5 billion rover, which landed on Mars on August 6, has performed a battery of tests and appears ready to embark on its two-year mission to explore the Red Planet in the hunt for signs of life, NASA said Tuesday. On Monday, NASA “did the wheel steering test,” said the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission manager, Mike Watkins, at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. The size of a small car, the one-ton rover is equipped with six wheels, four of which can pivot. A series of photos posted to the NASA website show the wheels are fully functioning and ready to roll. “We’ll go for our first test drive tomorrow,” Watkins told reporters on a teleconference.

DAMASCUS: The firestorm over congressman Todd Akin’s comments about “legitimate rape” has dominated campaign headlines and put the sensitive issue of abortion back into the spotlight ahead of the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida. A panel has approved an anti-abortion amendment as part of the Republican platform at the convention and the divisive pro-life issue is a minefield for Romney, who lags behind President Barack Obama among women voters. Fearing a monumental backlash that would harm efforts by Romney to reverse that polling trend, Republican leaders closed ranks and essentially ordered Akin to go. “Todd Akin’s comments were offensive and wrong and he should very seriously consider what course would be in the best interest of our country,” Romney, who will challenge Obama in the November 6 election, said in a terse statement. “Today, his fellow Missourians (four former US senators) urged him to step aside, and I think he should accept their counsel and exit the Senate race.” But while Akin apologized, the staunchly pro-life conservative said he wasn’t going anywhere, and a Missouri deadline for him to quit the race passed late Tuesday with-

A supporter of the GOP presidential ticket of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) at the intersection of Seven Locks Road and Tuckerman Lane holds a sign August 20, 2012 in Potomac, Maryland.

‘There’s a cause here’ Akin apologized, the staunchly pro-life conservative said he wasn’t going anywhere, and a Missouri deadline for him to quit the race passed late Tuesday without him dropping out. “The defense of the unborn and a deep respect for life (are) important parts of who we are, and they’re not things to run away from.”

out him dropping out. “I believe there is a cause here,” Akin said on former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee’s radio show, adding he was getting “a great deal of grass roots support.” “The defense of the unborn and a deep respect for life (are) important parts of who we are, and they’re not things to run away from.” Akin shocked the political world Sunday when he said women rarely conceive as a result of a “legitimate rape” because their bodies have the capacity to prevent such a pregnancy. The comments sucked the air out of the political debate just as Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan were looking to build a head of steam rolling into next week’s convention, where they will introduce themselves to millions of Americans during prime time. It was not immediately clear just how much harm Akin has done to the Romney campaign, but Republicans fear Akin’s gaffe will jeopardize party efforts to woo female voters and seize majority control of the Senate in November. An NBC News and Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday showed that the Democratic ticket of Obama and Vice President Joe Biden has a four-point lead (48 percent to 44 percent) over Romney and Ryan.

NEWS BRIEFS Man held trying to board plane with grenade

Armed man arrested for email threat to Obama

Taiwan wants temple built on disputed island

Sweden unlikely to hand over Assange to US

BOGOTA: A man was arrested when a grenade was found in his carry-on luggage as he tried to board a commercial ﬂight in the southwestern Colombian city of Guapi, authorities said. Authorities have yet to determine whether the suspect is part of an armed group, where he obtained the grenade or what he intended to do with it.

WASHINGTON: An armed man was arrested in the western United States on Tuesday for allegedly sending an email that threatened President Barack Obama, a justice ofﬁcial told AFP. “He had sent an emailed threat against the president,” said Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney’s Ofﬁce in Washington state.

TAIPEI: A group of Taiwanese activists said they are hoping to build a temple of a Taoist sea goddess on one of the islands at the centre of a territorial row between China and Japan. “We have started to raise funds to build a temple for Mazu on the Diaoyu islands, so the goddess can protect the safety of our ﬁshermen,” an activist said.

SYDNEY: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was unlikely to be extradited from Sweden to the US if there was a risk of the death penalty or a military court, Australia’s foreign minister said Wednesday. “It’s not a subject for Australian diplomacy, it’s a subject for consular support,” he told the Australian Financial Review.

SYRIA READY TO TALK

The discussion on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s resignation can only take place once the dialogue with rebels begin and Assad’s exit will not be a precondition for that, Syria’s Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said on Tuesday. Jamil has said that the Syrian govt is ready to enter into a dialogue with Opposition on the issue of Assad’s exit but it should not be a pre-condition for talks.

NUMEROLOGY

200,000 burglaries were reported in Italy last year. The number of crimes reported to police in Italy went up last year, according to figures released by the country’s interior ministry.

MUSIC IS GOOD A little music training in childhood can help improve brain functions in adulthood, especially the complex processing of sound involving listening and learning. “Based on what we already know about the ways that music helps shape the brain, the study suggests that short-term music lessons may enhance lifelong listening and learning,” said Nina Kraus, who led the research. Northwestern researchers have for the ﬁrst time directly examined what happens after children stop playing a musical instrument after only a few years.

No power in the world can frighten us, as we are brave people and know how to defend our soil and its integrity. This is also evident from the past. Raja Pervez Ashraf Pakistan PM

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

Comment Hope is some extraordinary spiritual grace that God gives us to control our fears, not to oust them.

NATIONAL INTEGRITY

n the last day of Eid alFitr, the celebration that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, this town awoke not to the call to prayer, but to the sound of a falling rocket. Everyone's doors and windows rattled, and shrapnel rained down outside. For this village on the edge of Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city and the scene of the regime's latest offensive against rebel forces, bombardments like this occur almost daily. After the first explosion, Rafah al-Huseni, 29, rushed to opened the doors and windows. Her mother darted back from the outside toilet, adjusting her clothes as she ran. Her hands shook as she removed debris from her hair. “We must open the doors and windows or they will blow apart in the explosion,” said alHuseni, who is 3 months pregnant. She is a veteran of air raids, having lived in the embattled city of Homs for most of the Syrian revolution. In Syria, the three days of Eid are usually filled with celebration, gifts, elaborate meals and visits with family and friends. “We didn’t buy anything new for Eid, no new clothes, no gifts for the children — you see now they are dropping the gifts from Assad on us from the sky,” al-Huseni said, referring to Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad. As the sound of the jet aircraft again roared above, al-Huseni explained: “This is a MIG-21. Today it’s dropping the 500 kilogram bombs, not just the bullets like last night.”A second explosion rocked the neighborhood as cries of Allah Akbar echoed through the streets. GLOBAL POST

DIVIDED WE STAND AS PAKISTAN'S PUPPETS FUSILLADE

Vincent McNabb Irish scholar and priest

Holidays in Syria

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS

Lovers of cricket will be saddened byKP’s exclusion from England’s T20 squad. It’s a sad day for cricket, for rarely comes a guy like KP. But discipline comes foremost in sport, and for his ungentlemanly conduct, KP must pay the price.

Arun Koshy Philip

ssam riots and its ripple effect have come as a disgrace to India and its leaders who love to flaunt the 'unity in diversity' tag. While the violence displaced close to 4.5 lakh people in Assam, at least 50,000 people from North East fled from other parts of the country to their homes as random targeted attacks and hate campaigns via SMS, MMS and social networking sites created a fear psychosis. Some media reports claim that the sheer magnitude of the displacement is the biggest that has been triggered in the history of the country since the postpartition bloodbaths. While the violence in Assam has behind it complex and intertwined factors such as illegal migration, ethnic identity, vote bank politics, militancy, unemployment and lack of development, its 'fallout' across the rest of the country defies all logic. One cannot fathom why lives and property of people of North East, very much the citizens of this country, must be held to ransom by elements who support Bangladeshi immi-

grants (according to government statistics, there are at least 3 crore of them). Can someone who threaten his countrymen on behalf of protecting illegal aliens be called a patriot? Their actions are nothing short of treason. Now more evidence is emerging about Pakistan being the epicentre of the mobile and internet hate campaign (like most of terrorism directed at India). Indian intelligence agencies have said that it is a psychological warfare that has full support from Pakistani intelligence agencies. Therefore, any act of violence that would hurt Indians and undermine our national

security security will be the moral equivalent of being on the payroll of Pakistan. What difference does it make if someone in Bangalore or Mumbai attacks people with oriental features? Will it solve the problems of Assam? Can even one among these brainwashed mobs differentiate between an Assamese from a Naga, or a Manipuri from a Mezo? Do they know anything about the unique culture and heritage of the North East? India has been battling militancy in the North East for decades. The continuing conflicts and the resultant military presence have already made the people of the region wary of the

designs of those in the 'mainland'. Even without the raciallytargeted violence, they face enough humiliation, harassment and discrimination across the country. Reservations, economic packages and inspiring speeches on 'our India' will not work when our citizens are made refugees in our own country. An anti-Assam-violence protest in Mumbai on August 11 turned violent, killing two people and injuring over 50 — most of them policemen. The thickskulled mob did not even spare the Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial (for martyred Indian soldiers). The exodus of North East people from 'mainland' cities have given a major boost to Sangh Parivar organisations. The likes of Raj Thackeray and his vitriolic MNS are hogging the limelight and whipping up communal passion. The way of life India adopted after partition has ensured that we did not end up a failed, savage, theocratic dump like Pakistan, and it is only natural that our western neighbour wants some parity in the department. It will be an acid test for us as a nation to uphold the values enshrined in our culture and the Constitution so that we do not end up like our estranged (and deranged) sibling. The writer works for Postnoon

EDITORIALS Despondency is the way of life in Pakistan Ministers too are accountable

akistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf sure knows how to crack a good joke. Rocked by a string of terrorist attacks in the past one week, including one at a key air force base, Ashraf says Pakistanis know how defend every inch of their country. Rejecting claims of despondency, Ashraf says, “No nation is more brave, tolerant, courageous than Pakistan. Each one from the brave Pakistani nation knows how to defend every inch of their country and sacriﬁce their lives for this purpose," while addressing a public meeting in his hometown Gujar Khan in Punjab province. The fact is Pakistanis have become so used to the uncertainty of phenomenal proportions that reigns in their country that despondency has become a way of life. Plotting for India’s undoing they have brought upon themselves the curse of selfdestruction that goes hand-in-hand with hate. That Osama bin Laden was holed up there and his assassination speak volumes about how things are run there.

READERS’ VIEWS

inisters seeking chief minister's help to save them from the CBI is unheard of in political history. But that's what is happening in AP politics where the ministers indicted by the CBI in cases are pleading with the CM to save them. The Kiran Kumar Reddy government has already done a lot, providing legal help to the ministers being framed, which is quite unprecdented; any more would be construed as challenging the law and constitutional provisions. In days of yore a minister who has been indicted immediately quits. AP ministers should follow suit.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

Cinema

CHASING JIM

Kick-Ass 2, already set to feature the whole old gang as well as John Leguizamo, is hoping to score Jim Carrey. He'd played the Colonel, a flashy fellow who helps get the ragtag crime-fighting band back together.

ALL THE STARS IN ONE PLACE

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

THE STING

OCEAN’S ELEVEN

our years after George Roy Hill’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid released, Paul Newman and Robert Redford teamed up once again with the director for The Sting, a heist film about two grifters who plot to con a mob boss. The film’s complex structure resulted in having quite a few stars onboard; however, George Roy Hill’s efforts paid off. It won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Director.

THE GREAT ESCAPE

teve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough were on fire in this John Sturges’ 1963 film about prisoners who escape from a German Camp during World War II. The film was based on a true story about a prison break from Stalag Luft III, Zagan, Poland in 1944 which was later adapted by Paul Brickhil as a book. The film was a major critical success and it was lauded for its realism and great performances. HEMANTH KUMAR hemanth.k@postnoon.com

cean’s Eleven was the ultimate testimony to what happens when the most desirable men in Hollywood team up for a comedy-crime caper. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the film was an epitome of style and the presence of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts made it a highly anticipated film in 2001. The film grossed more than $450 million worldwide and spawned two sequels.

SHOLAY

t has been 37 years since Sholay released and the film still continues to be ranked among the greatest films of all time in India. Directed by Ramesh Sippy, the film had a ensemble cast comprising Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, Amjad Khan and Sanjeev Kumar. The film’s stunts, dialogues by SalimJaved and RD Burman’s music have become stuff of legend.

BIGGER THE BETTER

With Simon West’s ensemble action film Expendables 2 set to release later this week, we take a look at some of the films that featured some of the finest actors of that era. More than the tag of being multi-starrers, it’s the thrill of watching all your favourite stars in one frame that made them memorable. KABHI KUSHI KABHIE GHUM

AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY

aran Johar managed to do the unthinkable just three years after his debut. He roped in Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Kajol, Kareena Kapoor and Jaya Bachchan for a melodramatic film which had a dream run at the box office. The film was a major international success and in a way, the film was responsible for taking Bollywood to newer shores in the West. It really was a dream combination!

his 1977 film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, Parveen Babi, Shabana Azmi and Pran is about three brothers separated during childhood who grow up in different homes, adopting different religions. Directed by Manmohan Desai, the film was a blockbuster and the songs composed by LaxmikantPyarelal became a rage among the masses.

MAYABAZAR

uite rarely has any Telugu film stood the test of time, let alone wield a major influence on moviegoers. KV Reddy’s Mayabazar, which was made in 1957, is one such Telugu film. The film starring NTR, ANR, Savitri, SVR, Gummadi, Relangi, CSR, possibly had the best star cast in the 50s. More than the film’s ensemble cast, it was the effortless blend of fine acting, special effects and music which made it a timeless classic.

DEVUDU CHESINA MANUSHULU

TR and Krishna teamed up as brothers in this hugely popular family drama which was released in 1973. Directed by V Ramachandra Rao, the film narrated the story of two estranged brothers who happen to meet many years later under different circumstances. Sharada, Vijayanirmala and Jayalalitha played the lead roles and it was remade as Takkar in Hindi in 1980.

The Apparition This is a supernatural thriller ﬁlm directed and written by Todd Lincoln, and starring Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan, Tom Felton, Julianna Guill, and Luke Pasqualino. When frightening events start to occur in their home, young couple Kelly (Ashley Greene) and Ben (Sebastian Stan) discover they are being haunted by a presence that was accidentally conjured during a university parapsychology experiment. The horrifying apparition feeds on their fear and torments them no matter where they try to run. Their last hope is an expert in the supernatural, Patrick (Tom Felton).

DID YOU KNOW...

784,417

is the number of likes Amitabh Bachchan’s Facebook page got within an hour of activitation. "Yipee! I am on FaceBook! My ID: FaceBook.com/AmitabhBachchan," the 69-year-old tweeted. The star is one of the few filmstars who remains connected to his worldwide fans through the online medium — his blog and Twitter, and even through his voice blog.

ICONIC QUOTES

And one day, not Razors pain long from you; Rivers are now, my looks damp; Acids will go. They will stain you; And discover I can't drugs cause act, and I will cramp. Guns become some aren't lawful; sad middle-aged Nooses give; woman who Gas smells looks a bit like awful; You might someone who as well live. was famous for a Dorothy Parker while. Mrs Parker Anna Scott and the

Notting Hill

Viscious Circle

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

spotlight

LET THEM HEAR YOUR VOICES

Sing in style as KJ Anand will make sure you hit the dance floor with a vengeance. There are popular tracks, soulful music and lyrics on the house for company. So grab that mike and croon your heart out. Be there at Liquids at 8pm to experience the fun.

TUESDAY TANTRA

Twistinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the night away Seems like the youngsters in the city are having an extended weekend of partying. Tuesday night saw pubs like Cuba Libre and Firangi Paani boast of a lot of activity. DEEPAK DESHPANDE

1 Kaoutar & Manuael

4 Soheal & Sammer 5 Akshay & Mona

2 Shafi & Monika 3 Diana & Mehdi

7 Priyanka 8 Pari & Micheal

6 Pari

FOUNDATION DAY LECTURE 2012

Katherine Dhanani (second R)Consul General, Consulate general of USA, Hyderabad releases copies of the books edited by the faculty at School of Management Studies.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

health

ANTIBIOTICS MAKE BABIES OBESE LATER

Babies given antibiotics before they were six months were more likely to be overweight by the age of three, a British study has found. A study of around 11,000 children found that those given the drugs before they were six months old had a bigger body mass index (BMI) than their peers.

SLEEP DISORDERS

How far have you walked? Somnambulism or sleep walking might be cause for amusement or concern for family and friends. However, it is pretty common and can be tackled quite easily, say doctors. RANJANI RAJENDRA

If it is a harmless pattern then treatment is unnecessary. However, identifying and avoiding the potential precipitating factors is effective .

ranjani.r@postnoon.com

t was one of those fun cousins camp together nights for Priya. There was rambunctious laughter as the cousins traded notes before finally going to bed. But at midnight, they were awakened by the sound of footsteps. When they woke they were startled to see Rahul, the youngest of the lot, letting himself out of the front door. All this at 2 am! In deep sleep, the youngster didn’t even realise what he was doing. Sleep walking or somnambulism is a rather common problem. Experts in the City routinely receive such cases. “Sleep consists of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) phases. In a typical sleep, REM sleep comes in between NREM sleep. Sleep walking is disorder of awakening that arises from NREM sleep. Other disorders also exist in disorders of NREM like sleep terrors and confusional arousals,” says Dr Ch Vijay Kumar, consultant interventional pulmonologist and sleep specialist, Yashoda Hospital. Sleep walking is characterised by complex behaviour, which may begin with simple movements (sitting up in the bed) and culminating in walking or bolting from the room. “Episodes of surprising complexity have been reported like cooking, eating, driving a car, or even homicide. It is usually associated with mis-perception and relative unresponsiveness to external stimuli, confusion, behavioural abnormalities and variable retrograde loss of memory,” he adds. Somnambulism could be caused due to conditions that intensify sleep such as physical activity, fever, hyperthyroidism or drugs like neuroleptics. In 80 per cent cases it could also be due to a family history. “Somnambulism can occur at any age although it is more risky in adults. There have been cases of homicide as a result of

ANEWS PP-LYBRIEFS YOURSELF

Dr Vijay Kumar Ch sleep specialist this disorder. The durations vary,” says Dr Vijay, adding, “The peak incidence is in early teens and more in boys.” Somnambulism can result in increased anxiety. “We don’t really know whether sleep fragmentation associated with sleep walking, causes anxiety disorder in patients. However, anxiety may increase. It has been proposed that somnambulism can be due to nocturnal expressions of repressed anger concerning major events such as separation, divorce, marital conflicts and family relocation among other things,” explains Dr Vijay. He goes on to add, “If it is a harmless pattern then treatment is often unnecessary. However, identifying and avoiding the potential precipitating factors is effective in prevention of episodes.” He also advises waking up children about 20 minutes before the typical occurrence of an episode. In some cases hypnosis has also found to be effective, although it is not scientifically proven. “Pharmacological treatment is only indicated if the behaviours is hazardous to family members. Anxiolytics and anti-depressants can be effective,” says Dr Vijay.

HOUSECALL

Women’s health lite

Episcleritis

Women’s Health Lite is a fun health app designed by ﬁtness experts from the Women’s Health magazine. It contains professionally designed workouts and exercises. While the free version contains ﬁve sample workouts the paid version contains 130 exercises.

When the episcelra of the eye gets inﬂamed it causes episcleritis. The episclera is the covering for the eyes sclera which is a white outer covering of the eye. The episclera contains blood vessels. The exact cause is unknown although it may be due to inﬂammation related ailments. The symptoms include a red eye and tenderness/soreness in the eye. Episcleritis is more likely to affect people in their 30s and 40s.

DID YOU KNOW? Heart attacks more common on Mondays Now this is a startling fact. It is said that we are more at risk of suffering from a heart attack on a Monday as well as three days from when your doctor diagnoses that you are suffering from any kind of respiratory ailment such as ﬂu.

PIONEERS Heiyronimus fabricus Heiyronimus Fabricus was known as a pioneer in anatomy and a surgeon. He was referred to as the father of embryology. He is said to have revolutionised anatomy when he designed the ﬁrst theatre for public anatomical diseases. He investigated the formation of the foetus, the structure of the esophagus, stomach and intestines, and the peculiarities of the eye, the ear, and the larynx by dissecting animals.

health WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

ABORTION

MENTAL HEALTH

Abortion seekers more likely to be abused The study comes as a Republican senatorial candidate triggered a firestorm of criticism after he suggested that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy. MIRA OBERMAN CHICAGO: Women seeking an abortion are seven times more likely to report physical or sexual abuse at the hands of their partners than the US national average for domestic violence, a study published on Monday found. The study comes as a Republican senatorial candidate triggered a firestorm of criticism after he suggested that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy. Explaining his complete opposition to abortions, even in the instance of rape, Representative Todd Akin said pregnancy from rape was rare because of biological reactions to “legitimate rape.” “First of all, from what I understand from doctors, (pregnancy from rape) is really rare,” Akin said in an interview widely distributed by Democrats. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole

estimated that rape causes more than 32,000 pregnancies in the United States every year. Monday’s study by the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit concerned with reproductive health and abortion rights, said poverty, relationship problems and disruptive events such as losing a job led women to terminate pregnancies. The study aimed to help understand why poor women are far more likely to terminate a pregnancy than their more affluent counterparts. Poor women accounted for 42 per cent of the 1.21 million abortions performed in the United States in 2008, up from 27 per cent of the 1.31 million abortions performed in 2000. Seven per cent of the women surveyed by Guttmacher

thing down.” A previous study found that five per cent of rape incidents result in a pregnancy among women of reproductive age and

after seeking an abortion reported that they had been physically or sexually abused by the man with whom they

became pregnant. National surveys have found that slightly more than one per cent of US women report abuse at the hands of their partners. Poor women, were twice as likely to say they had been physically or sexually abused by the man who impregnated them than abortion-seekers with higher incomes. The researchers cautioned that these numbers should be considered a “conservative” measure of the degree of abuse because women often don’t acknowledge that they’ve been forced into a sexual act or physically hurt by their partners. Nearly 9,500 women completed an anonymous, fourpage questionnaire distributed by the staff of 95 facilities providing abortions in 2008. Some 20 per cent of respondents — and 25 per cent of poor women —said they had been unemployed for at least a month and 14 percent said they’d fallen behind on their rent or mortgage. Relationship problems were also common — 16 per cent said they had separated from their partner or husband in the past year while six per cent said their partner had been jailed. Ten percent of respondents said they’d had a baby in the past 12 months and that number rose to 14 percent among women living below the poverty line. About half of the abortion patients were using contraception in the month they got pregnant, but poor women were less likely to have used birth control than those who were better-off. “The study was published in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care.

Take breaks, sleep to learn better SYDNEY: Trying to master a new skill or new dance steps? Make sure you take good breaks while training because you’ll learn faster than if you push yourself non-stop, suggests a new study. Psychology researchers Soren Ashley and Joel Pearson from the University of New South Wales found that adopting a “practice makes perfect” approach has limits: train too much and the law of diminishing returns cuts in to impede progress.

For a new skill to persist, those brain changes must be stabilised or consolidated by being transferred. Learning a new skill involves rewiring of the brain, a phenomenon called neural plasticity. For the new skill to persist, those brain changes must be stabilised or consolidated by being transferred from short-term memory and locked into long-term memory, the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B reports. “If the information and/or neural changes are not adequately consolidated, then learning will be temporary or not occur at all,” the researchers say, according to a New South Wales statement. Other research has found that lack of sleep, for example, can interfere with the consolidation process, as can trying to train for a second skill before the first one has properly sunk in. “Many studies have shown that you don’t learn if you don’t sleep after a day of training,” says Pearson. “Likewise, overtraining can reduce learning if you don’t allow time for consolidation,” he added.

AFP

IANS

WEIGHTLIFTING

Watching porn helps male weightlifters LONDON: Male weightlifters can lift heavier objects after watching erotic videos, a study has found. Scientists showed different types of video clips to male athletes and then studied their workout performances. The experts found changes in salivary testosterone samples and subsequent squat perfor-

mance, after the weightlifters watched the pornographic clips. Looking at different types of videos produced incredibly different reactions in saliva. Erotic, aggressive, funny, training and motivational clips prompted a noticeable increase in testosterone, while sad and neutral videos sparked a signifi-

cant dip in testosterone. Saliva samples were collected on six occasions immediately before and 15 minutes after watching a four-minute long clip. The male athletes then performed a squat workout. The report said the study contributes to the idea that sex improves an athlete’s

performance. Juan Carlos Medina, general coordinator of the sports department at the Tecnologico de Monterrey said sex can help wipe out mental fatigue to leave them feeling refreshed. “It helps you feel relaxed and sexually, mentally and physically satisfied,” Medina said. IANS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

Entertainment

KAJAL SHOOTS FOR THUPPAKKI

Kajal Aggarwal has joined the team of AR Murugadoss’ Thuppakki in Geneva. Vijay is playing the lead role. She was recently in Norway to shoot for a song in Suriya’s Maattrraan.

MAKING AN IMPRESSION

CINE BYTES

Amala Paul

gets lucky

mala Paul has bagged the chance of grooving alongside Ram Charan in the eagerly anticipated remix of Shubalekha Rasukunna song in Ram Charan’s upcoming film Naayak. VV Vinayak is directing the film. Initially, the song was supposed to be picturised on Ram Charan and Kajal; however, the latter’s dates went haywire because of her other commitments. So, V V Vinayak decided to rope in Amala Paul for this song which will soon be shot in Iceland. Earlier this year, VV Vinayak roped in Amala Paul after watching some footage of Love Failure and the actress reportedly impressed him quite a lot during the making of the film. Although Amala Paul has acted in couple of Telugu films like Bezawada and Love Failure, Naayak is the biggest project till date. The film unit flew to Greece recently to shoot some key scenes and from there they’ll head to Iceland to shoot this song. DVV Danayya is producing the film and Thaman is composing the music. The film is expected to hit the screens in January, 2013.

Priya Anand connects to her roots

riya Anand made the best of her recent shooting schedule in Rajahmundry, where she was shooting for Sharwanand’s Ko Ante Koti. Some of the scenes were shot in Amalapuram, near Rajahmundry and the actress got all excited since it’s the native place of her grandfather.

First Look : Amala in LIB

mala Akkineni is all set to make her comeback after almost 20 years. She’ll soon be seen in Sekhar Kammula’s Life is Beautiful which will release on September 13. Going by the response so far on social networking sites, it looks like that her comeback is going to be one of the most talked about topics of the year.

It was a false alarm

day after Dil Raju registered a title Jana Gana Mana, rumours were rife that it’s most likely to be the title of Harish Shankar’s upcoming film starring NTR. However, the director quickly clarified that it was a false alarm. “Jana Gana Mana is not Our title... pls guys don’t go with Websites News (sic),” Harish Shankar posted on Twitter. There’s also a buzz that Harish Shankar, NTR’s film might go on floors later this year.

Entertainment WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

FAN FOLLOWING

Sonakshi's prediction rings true for 'Ek Tha Tiger'

CINE BYTES

Ranbir, Kareena together on 'Indian Idol 6' finale?

ousins Ranbir Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor are rarely seen together in the same frame, but they are likely to share the platform on the finale of singing reality show Indian Idol 6. The siblings are expected to be at the finale of the show to promote their films, said a source. For Kareena it will be Heroine and for Ranbir it will be Barfi. IANS

'Background score shouldn't be noticeable'

ctor Sonakshi Sinha, who had earlier stated that Ek Tha Tiger will be a super hit, is happy that her prediction has come true. "Yes, I have seen it (Ek Tha Tiger). I saw it on the day of its release and it's a fun film. It has taken a very good opening, like I had predicted," the 25-year-old said. "You know, he (Salman Khan) is doing very well at the box office and I wish the entire team all the best," added the actress who debuted opposite Salman in Dabangg. Sonakshi, who had come to promote her forthcoming film Joker, is happy that kids have developed a special liking for her film's main characters, the aliens. “Kids are a very, very strong market because when kids come they have to bring along their parents. That's great for us and luckily the kids have taken such a liking to these little aliens and even adults are reacting very nicely. It's different, they have not seen something like this before," Sonakshi said. Directed by Shirish Kunder, Joker also stars Akshay Kumar, Shreyas Talpade and Minnisha Lamba and hits theatres August 31. IANS

opular composer Sneha Khanwalkar says the less noticeable the background score is in a ﬁlm, the better it is. According to the Gangs Of Wasseypur composer, the mark of a good background score lies in how well it blends with each scene. "I think the background score gets appreciated as soon as the ﬁlm gets released. If you don't notice the background score, then it's good,” she said. IANS

Happy to be back to doing funny roles: Juhi

ctress Juhi Chawla, who would be seen opposite Sanjay Dutt in a light-hearted film Son of Sardar, is ecstatic to be back to doing a bubbly-funny role. "After quite sometime I am back with a good role in a big budget Bollywood film. It is very humorous. When Ajay Devgn (actor and producer of the film) called me up for this movie, he said it is something I am good at," Juhi said. PTI

Entertainment WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

REMEMBERING DANGEROUS LIAISONS

When felt like a sex object

CINE BYTES

T H U R M A N

ctress Uma Thurman says she was unhappy being treated like a sex object when she shot a cosy scene for Dangerous Liaisons in 1988. She admitted she was sexually naive when she appeared alongside John Malkovich in the movie, reports femalefirst.co.uk. She was 18 then. “I could not stand being the inflatable sex doll everyone wanted me to be. I was naive, sexually, when I made that film and it felt paralysing to be thrust in to this overtly sexual image which had nothing to do with who I was,” said Thurman. The movie had a sequence wherein Malkovich seduced her. IANS

Paris supports Miley’s new haircut

aris Jackson has tweeted a message of support to Miley Cyrus following her recent haircut. Jackson, voiced her approval of Cyrus’ new look on twitter and praised the actress’s originality. “I don’t know why people keep hating on Miley’s new cut... I love it!” the 14-year-old wrote. “She’s being herself and she’s being different and I love her for that!”

Jolie laughs off wedding hype

umour had it that Brad Pitt was set to tie the knot with ﬁance Angelina Jolie over the weekend but the actress has laughed it off. The A-list couple was said to be planning their wedding at their French chateau, but Pitt and Jolie were spotted a week ago at a restaurant in Halkidiki, northern Greece, reported New York Post. “Angelina laughed and said ‘not yet’ when the restaurant owner asked if she was getting ready to be married.

Too famous to be in public: Emma Watson

arry Potter actress Emma Watson says it’s a struggle for her to be out in public as she is too famous. “If I went somewhere busy, I wouldn’t last very long,” thesun.co.uk quoted Watson as saying. “I can’t go to a museum, I’ll last 10 or 15 minutes in a museum. The problem is that when one person asks for a photograph, then someone sees a ﬂash goes off, then everyone else sort of... it’s sort of like a domino effect,” she added. IANS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

When you go in search of honey you must expect to be stung by bees. Joseph Joubert French essayist

KAKURO

QUICK CROSSWORD

SUDOKU 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.

ACROSS

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

SCRIBBLING PAD

1 What the humbled eat 5 Start of a classic Christmas poem 9 Laughter syllables 14 Alphabetic symbol of yore 15 Namby-pamby 16 Muse holding a lyre 17 Key in the water 18 Reminder to take out the trash 19 Starboard side 20 Leafy vegetable in Asian cuisine 23 Home of many marathon winners 24 Lennon’s Yoko 25 “He maketh me to ___ down in green ...” 27 “Didn’t I tell you that would happen?” 28 Was on the ballot 31 Like most modern dental practices 34 ___ a high note (finish well) 36 Actors’ quests 37 Beets without swollen roots 40 Blurb specialists 42 Vegas spectacle 43 Alternative to rubber bullets 46 “Hold on just a ___” 47 “The Good Wife” network 50 Way beyond -er 51 Tilly or Ryan 53 Deadly virus named for a river 55 Garnish that has flat leaves 60 Place for NBA games 61 Do drudgery 62 “___ helpless as a kitten up a tree” 63 Joanna of “Growing Pains” 64 “My Cup Runneth Over” singer Ed 65 LAPD investigators 66 Balance sheet positive 67 Fiddling Roman emperor 68 “Put a tiger in your tank” sloganeer

DOWN

1 Pains in the neck

2 Fraternity hopeful 3 Accessing the Internet 4 Teeny-___ 5 Three of them make six 6 Ample, as a doorway 7 Oil giant acquired by BP 8 Vaulted 9 Oregano or sage 10 Operatic tune 11 Verbal bargain seekers 12 Believer’s antithesis 13 One who likes cheap shots? 21 Bringing home the bacon 22 Breathtaking snake? 26 Gender-changing suffix 29 They’re often classified 30 Rejecting replies 32 More up-to-date in dress and manners 33 Load cargo 34 Pitcher in a painting 35 Manufacturer of the first mechanical cash registers 37 Dabbles (in) 38 “___ making a list ...” (Christmas lyric) 39 Blvd. cousin 40 Consumed 41 Ardent impulses 44 “What ___, chopped liver?” 45 “Able-bodied” military figure 47 Hannity’s former foil, on Fox News 48 Babbles 49 Utters decisively 52 Diminutive being of folklore 54 Throwaway song on a 45, usually 56 William Shakespeare’s wife 57 Have staying power 58 Boardwalk structure 59 “I almost forgot ...” 60 “Alias” equivalent

Chai Time WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 23-8-2012

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

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

You will take important and bold decisions fastly and with shrewdness. Your decisions taken even at a critical situation will not go wrong and yield desired result. Well wishers will help you clear a major portion of your debts.

You will look cheerful. Money will come by from the expected sources. Misunderstanding existed with blood relatives will disap pear. Sharing process of property will take place smoothly and you will get the due share.

Expenses will be under control. Difference existed with father will disappear. Those trying for new job will get favourable news. Held up marriage talks will resume and may bear fruit. Some have bright chance to buy a vehicle.

QUICK CROSSWORD FRED BASSET

You will take bold and perfect decision which will yield results as expected. Expenses are monitored better and you will start saving in a regular way. Differences with younger brother will disappear. Marriage talks will progress.

Doubting sincere friends will be the reason to lose good friends, be alert and avoid such a situation. Money will come by from all the expected sources.Govt. sops likely. Spouses may get an attractive career opening.

You will not hesitate to take up big challenges and also succeed in all the challenges undertaken. Investment in share will bring good gain. Unexpected financial gain likely. Some have bright chance to go abroad.

You will plan to renovate the ancestral property which will take place without facing any difficulties. Comforts will increase. Delay likely in the marriage talks but will resume later. Friends will extend their strong support.

Your administrative abilities will increase. By praising you no one can influence you and will remain stubborn in the decision taken. You will remain peaceful as all the works undertaken will be completed. Financially a tight situation.

Depression and tensions existed will reduce gradually. Govt. related works will end favourably. Avoid taking major investment decisions by taking advise from third persons who are not having any exposure.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Two of Pentacles – You will be expected to bare your heart to someone close to you. If you cannot do that, you come across as a secretive person.

LEO:

Queen of Pentacles – Expect some delays and obstacles to work today. So when you plan meetings, make sure to keep some buffer time to allow for these.

LIBRA:

STONE SOUP

Ace of Wands – Your inputs will be valuable to colleagues, who will ask for your advice in important matters. Think before you give advice.

SAGITTARIUS:

King of Wands – You have a pleasing demeanour but only those who are close to you will know the devil you can be to those from your inner circle.

TAURUS:

Five of Wands – You prefer to spend free time at home with family. Members of your family will be around to lighten your mood and de-stress you.

CANCER:

King of Pentacles – You will find a young supporter of your ideas and creative work. This will give you the encouragement to do even better.

VIRGO:

Four of Wands – The law of averages applies to your energy levels. Not everyday will be the same. You will be full of energy only on some days.

SCORPIO:

Seven of Wands – You need to take up a social cause and work in a committed way to achieve tangible results. Take up a cause that matters to you most.

CAPRICORN:

Three of Pentacles – You have to dump the old notions you have held about people, especially elder members of your family. They may actually betray you.

SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

Nine of Pentacles – You will hear some good news within the fortnight. It may be related to your career, or some part of it that has upset you recently.

NUMBER GAME

Swords – You tend to be quite shallow when interacting with peers and colleagues. Think twice before you talk. Your opinion matters to them.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: Seven of

INK PEN

You will be able to achieve in all the works undertaken. A new property purchase likely by selling the existing one. You will be cheerful with the influx of close friends. Your stock is set to pile up. Differences with VIP friends likely.

for 23-8-2012

Ten of Pentacles – You owe someone an apology. The sooner you get it over with, the better. What you said may have hurt this person a lot.

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE

Financial position will improve and keep you strong. Success likely in all the challenging tasks undertaken. You will fulfill the wishes of your children. Good events to take place at home. Influence among your friends and relatives will rise.

SUDUKO

Tensions existed will disappear. Debt issues and other problems will be under control. Children will prosper and keep you also in a happy mood. They will also co-operate well with you. Ancestral property will come by.

Boggle TIN LEAD SILVER NICKEL COPPER Vol: 2, No 36 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon.com and for subscription, please call 040-4067 2222, Fax: 040-4067 2211

Entertainment WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

ON THE RADAR

Lohan questioned over house burglary

indsay Lohan was interviewed by police recently regarding an apparent burglary at a Hollywood Hills home last night — but Lindsay insists ... she had nothing to do with it. According to sources, Lindsay slept over at the home in question on Sunday night after a small get together — along with several guests — and when everyone woke up this morning, the owner of the home claimed expensive jewellery had been stolen from the property. Law enforcement sources tell us, police were called to the home and interviewed everyone inside, including LIndsay.

CINE BYTES

More than just Twilight

obert Pattinson, after years of puckering his sparkling vampire lips has finally graduated with alumni cred at the box office, showing he has what it takes to draw in moviegoers. Pattinson’s whoozy, philosophy-laden pairing with director David Cronenberg, Cosmopolis, racked up a solid $70,339 in three theaters this past Friday through Sunday, when it opened in tightly limited release domestically, according to box office tracker Hollywood.com.

Scott’s family denies rumours of tumour

ony Scott’s family has apparently denied claims that the late director had been diagnosed with a brain tumour prior to his death. Scott committed suicide on Sunday by jumping off a bridge. He was 68. It was later claimed that Scott suffered from inoperable brain cancer, a story which the Top Gun helmer’s family has described as “absolutely false”.

Swank splits from Campisi

ilary Swank has split from longtime boyfriend John Campisi. People reports that the couple ended their six-year relationship in May 2012, though the reason behind the break-up is not known. Swank and Campisi began dating in summer 2006. In 2010, the New Year’s Eve actress said that while she and Campisi were monogamous, neither were in a rush to get engaged due to the failure of their previous romances.

sports

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

LONDON PARALYMPICS 2012

LOCAL CRICKET

London to welcome the world, again A record 4,200 athletes from 166 countries will be in the British capital, with the 11-day Paralympics Games a near sell-out. PHIL HAZLEWOOD & JULIE CHARPENTRAT Agencie France-Presse PARIS: The world’s top athletes with a disability, including “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius, converge on London next week for what organisers say will be the biggest and most high-profile Paralympics in the Games’ 52-year history. A record 4,200 athletes from 166 countries will be in the British capital, with the 11-day Games a near sell-out and expected to be watched by an estimated global television audience of four billion people. Britain is considered the birthplace of the Paralympic movement, after World War II veterans with spinal injuries competed in archery events at Stoke Mandeville in southern England in 1948, 12 years before the first official Games in Rome. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said that history, a desire to see more elite sport after a successful Olympics, increased media coverage and sponsorship have combined to drive up interest and awareness. “There’s a fantastic buzz, waiting for it to kick off and people talking about it,” IPC president Philip Craven said. China held the last Paralympics in Beijing in 2008 and did much to raise the

Games’ profile. The previous hosts won 211 medals, including 89 gold, and will be looking to replicate that success this time round. But challenging them will be the current hosts, who came third in the Olympics medal table, galvanising wide support for the Games across the country and lifting a national mood hit by lingering economic woes. ParalympicsGB have been set a minimum target of 103 medals from at least 12 different sports — one better than in Beijing — and to match their second-place finish four years ago.

4 billion

The estimated number of people expected to watch the London Paralympics on TV across the world

Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets athletes of the national paralympic team in the Kremlin. Russia's paralympic team leaves for London to take part in the Paralympic Games 2012. AFP/MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV

And while every athlete has as much determination to overcome adversity as talent and skill, few have as remarkable a backstory as Martine Wright, who lost her legs in the 2005 suicide attacks in London. She will be a member of Britain’s sitting volleyball team. London organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe has maintained that the Paralympics and the Olympics are two equal parts of the same event.

Hyderabad Bottling draws with SBH in Div 3 The Kosaraju vs Telangan match was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to intense rainfall

A DIVISION THREE DAY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP DAY 3

Hyd Bottling 293 & 272 for 5 (Vaibhav Chopra 82 (96,12x4,2x6),Rohan Yadav 47, V Sandeep 71 (89b,5x4,1x6), Prithvi Reddy 56 (71b,5x4,1x6), Vishal Sharma 3 for 121) drew with SBH 217 (Rajendra 6 for 50) A 2 & 3 DIVISIONS TWO DAYS LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

DAY 2

Kosaraju drew with Telangana (Washed out without a ball being bowled) Gujartahi 201 for 6 (K Sreekanth Reddy 84 no,Bhanu 32) bt Khalsa 144 (Sai Prasad Reddy 33 no,Dharahas 3 for 18,Laxmi Reddy 3 for 10)

DAY 1

Sultanshahi 292 (Mahesh Kumar Goud 74,Vamshi Raghava 64,Vinay 62,Prince Ojha 6 for 62) vs MCC 38 for 2 National vs Sai Satya (Washed out without a ball being bowled) Saleemnagar 84 (Sami Ansari 38,Rameshwar 4 for 16,Ritesh Negi 4 for 24) lost to AOC 87 for 3 (Irfan Khan 32) Budding Star 216 (Ateeq 34,Meher Kiran 38,Dharani 3 for 46,Sravan Kumar 3 for 39) vs Mega City 29 for 1

AP STATE CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

V Varun, G Harshitha win tourney V Varun of RR District won the AP State Chess Championship

Varun of RR District won the AP State (Inter-district) Sub-Junior (U-15) Chess Championship held at Visit Engg College, Tadepalligudem, West Godavari District. In the girls sections G Harshita of Rajamundry got the winner’s title.

AP Team for National Sub Juniors (Boys): 1. V Varun (RR) (7.5) 2. N Krishna Teja (WG) (7) 3. J Sai

Agni Jeevetesh (Warangal) (7) 4. Ch Naga Sampath (Vizag) (7) 5. M Teja Suresh (Krishna) (6.5) 6. E Arjun (Warangal) (6.5) 7. T Dhiren (Krishna) (6.5) Above seven-member boys team will represent Andhra Pradesh in forth coming National Sub-Junior Chess Championship to be held at Nagpur from September 16 to 25.

A P Team for National Sub Juniors (Girls):

1. G Harshitha (EG) (6); 2. V Toshali (Vizag) (6) 3. S Priyanka (WG) (6); 4. K Aasha Deepika (Krishna) (6) These four-player girls team will represent Andhra Pradesh in forth coming National SubJunior Girls Chess Championship to be held at Mumbai from September 17 to 27. In the closing ceremony Chief guest Sri Surya Prakash, DIG Eluru Range distributed the trophies to the winners.

sports

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

TOUR OF SPAIN

CRICKET

It’s Simple Simon: Oz cyclist takes 4th stage Simon Clarke edged ahead of Germany’s Tony Martin in the final metres of the 160.6-kilometre run. ESTACION de VALDEZCARAY, SPAIN: Australia’s Simon Clarke (right) won the mountainous fourth stage of the Tour of Spain on Tuesday while Spain’s Joaquin Rodriguez took the overall leader’s red jersey. Clarke edged ahead of Germany’s Tony Martin in the final metres of the 160.6-kilometre run between Barakaldo and the Estacion de Valdezcaray ski resort, which ended in the second summit finish of the race. The 26-year-old GreenEdge rider completed the stage in four hours, 30 minutes and 26 seconds, with Martin of the

Omega Pharma-Quickstep team just two seconds behind. “It is my first win as a professional, I’ve been a pro for four years. I have tried so many times, I have so many second and third places, I am just so happy,” Clarke said.

Kazakhstan’s Assan Bazayev of the Astana Pro Team finished in third, 22 seconds behind the stage winner. “It was such a long day with so much wind in the finish. I knew Tony was going to be really strong but I wanted to

make it a really hard climb,” said Clarke. “I was really happy when Tony and I could leave the rest behind and then we just worked together. I really backed myself in the finish. Tony is a really good time trialist.”

NEW ZEALAND IN INDIA

Just when you were bracing yourself for the first test between India and New Zealand on Thursday, the City got a glimpse of things to come later on, when the trophy for the series was unveiled by MS Dhoni and Ross Taylor at the Taj Krishna. DEEPAK DESHPANDE

Clarke slams Oz world rankings Australia look to bounce back having slipped down rankings. SYDNEY: Australian captain Michael Clarke has told his team their world rankings are “unacceptable” as he worked to fire them up ahead of upcoming matches against Afghanistan and Pakistan. Clarke and the Australian team face emerging cricketing nation Afghanistan in a single one-dayer in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday before three matches against Pakistan and a Twenty20 series. Speaking ahead of his departure, Clarke said the players need to improve significantly on their 4-0 humbling by England in their last one-day series. “I think it’s a good opportunity for us to get some of that consistency back in the one-day format,” he said on the Cricket Australia website.

Earlier this month Australia lost the top spot on the ICC’s oneday rankings for the first time in nearly three years. “We didn’t play anywhere near as well as we would’ve liked in England. “We learned a lot and it was nice for some of the guys who hadn’t experienced those conditions to get over and do that, but we certainly didn’t get the results we were after. “So I think it’s a good opportunity to turn that around.” Australia are taking an experienced squad to the UAE, which will be followed by the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, and they have plenty to prove, having slipped down the rankings in all forms of the game. Going into the UAE series, Australia sit behind England, South Africa and India while on the T20 ladder, with Australia are ninth.

sports

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

NEW HAVEN OPEN

US OPEN

Sore day for Radwanska Radwanska had received treatment on her shoulder and admitted she took the start of the US Open into consideration when she opted not to continue.

New Haven results 1st rd Zheng Jie (CHN) bt Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 7-5, 6-2 2nd rd Olga Govortsova (BLR) bt Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x1) 6-0, 2-1 ret Maria Kirilenko (RUS x7) bt Mona Barthel (GER) W/O Marion Bartoli (FRA x5) bt Sloane Stephens (USA) 6-1, 0-6, 6-3 Sara Errani (ITA x4) bt Carla Suarez (ESP) 6-4, 6-3 (x denotes seeding)

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut: Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska (above) retired from her opening match at the WTA’s New Haven Open Tuesday with a sore right shoulder. Qualifier Olga Govortsova of Belarus was leading their second-round contest 6-0 and 2-1 when Poland’s Radwanska, the Wimbledon runner-up, called it a day. Radwanska, who enjoyed a first-round bye, had received treatment on the shoulder after

the first set and admitted she took the fast-approaching start of the US Open into consideration when she opted not to continue. “I think Grand Slam is the most important tournament, obviously,” Radwanska said. “I was just scared to play more.” Radwanska, who has won titles this year in Dubai, Miami and Brussels, said she has been bothered by pain in her shoulder in recent weeks, but had hoped to get in some match play

before the last Grand Slam of the season starts on Monday at Flushing Meadows. “I’ve struggled with my shoulder for a couple weeks now,” she said. “I needed some practice.” Govortsova advanced to a quarter-final clash with Russian seventh seed Maria Kirilenko, who advanced on a walkover when Germany’s Mona Barthel withdrew before their scheduled match with a stomach ailment.

Earlier, French Open finalist Sara Errani and former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli booked a quarter-final meeting. Italy’s Errani, the fourth seed, defeated Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4, 6-3, while fifth-seeded Bartoli of France survived a scare to beat American Sloane Stephens 6-1, 0-6, 6-3. First-round action concluded Tuesday as China’s Zheng Jie defeated Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova.

WINSTON-SALEM OPEN

Tsonga’s winning start Tsonga converted just one of his nine break point opportunities, but saved all five that he faced to beat the Brazilian in a match lasting one hour 49 minutes. WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina: Top-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (far right) launched his campaign at the ATP’s Winston-Salem hardcourt tournament with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) victory over Thomaz Bellucci on Tuesday. Tsonga, ranked sixth in the world, converted just one of his nine break point opportunities, but saved all five that he faced to beat the Brazilian in a match last-

Winston-Salem Open select results 2nd rd Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x1) bt Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) John Isner (USA x3) bt Martin Klizan (SVK) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 Sam Querrey (USA x7) bt Santiago Giraldo (COL) 6-3, 6-2 David Nalbandian (ARG x14) bt Robin Haase (NED) 6-2, 6-4

Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR x4) bt Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) 6-1, 6-3 Steve Darcis (BEL) bt Denis Istomin (UZB x11) 6-2, 6-2 Jarkko Nieminen (FIN x16) bt Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-3, 6-3 Tomas Berdych (CZE x2) bt Alex Bogomolov Jr. (RUS) 6-3, 7-5 (x denotes seeding)

ing one hour 49 minutes. Second-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, who like Tsonga is appearing for the first time at this US Open tune-up event, needed just 95 minutes to oust Russian Alex Bogomolov 6-3, 75. Berdych will next play Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, who beat German qualifier Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-3. John Isner beat 50th-ranked Slovakian Martin Klizan.

Federer tops seeds at US Open Defending champion Novak Djokovic is second and world number four Andy Murray is third. NEW YORK: Five-time champion and world number one Roger Federer was confirmed Tuesday as the top men’s seed at the US Open, the last Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year that starts Monday at Flushing Meadows. Defending champion Novak Djokovic is seeded second and world number four Andy Murray of Britain, who won Olympic gold at Wimbledon, is seeded third – higher than his world ranking because of the injury absence of Spain’s Rafael Nadal. Spain’s David Ferrer is seeded fourth. The singles draw for the tournament, which runs from August 27-September 9, will be made on Thursday. Federer, who won his 17th Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, has won six titles in 2012, including his seventh Wimbledon title and three ATP Masters Series titles. The Swiss great won five straight US Open titles from 2004-08.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012

sports

MICHAEL JORDAN TO JOIN OBAMA AT FUNDRAISER Barack Obama and legendary NBA star Michael Jordan will team up in New York on Wednesday for a basketball-themed fundraiser expected to raise $2 million for the president's re-election campaign.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

RYDER CUP 2012

Colsaerts looks to Ryder Cup spot

Celtic dare to dream of glory The Glasgow giants took command of the first leg play-off against Helsingborg.

Celtic's Thomas Rogne (L) vies with Helsingborg's Nikola Djurdic.

PARIS: Celtic took a giant step towards reaching the Champions League group stages for the first time in four years with a 2-0 win over Swedish side Helsingborg on Tuesday. The Glasgow giants took command of this first leg play-off in large part thanks to

Collated results of the Champions League play-off Spartak Moscow (RUS) 2 (Emenike 59, Kombarov 69) Fenerbahce (TUR) 1 (Kuyt 65) At Copenhagen FC Copenhagen (DEN) 1 (Santin 38) Lille (FRA) 0 At Moenchengladbach, Germany Borussia Moenchengladbach (GER) 1 (Ring 13) Dynamo Kiev 3 (Mykhalik 28, Yarmolenko 36, L. de Jong 81-og) At Basel, Switzerland FC Basel (SUI) 1 (Streller 44) CFR Cluj 2 (Sougou 66, 71) At Helsingborg, Sweden Helsingborg (SWE) 0 Celtic (SCO) 2 (Commons 2, Samaras 75) Playing Thursday (1945GMT) At Minsk BATE Borisov (BLR) v H Kiryat Shmona (ISR) At Nicosia AEL (CYP) v Anderlecht (BEL) At Zagreb Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) v Maribor (SLO) At Braga, Portugal Sporting Braga (POR) v Udinese (ITA) At Malaga, Spain Malaga (ESP) v Panathinaikos (GRE) Return legs to be played on August 28-29

AFP

Georgios Samaras, who played a pivotal part in both goals, and goalkeeper Fraser Forster, who kept an invaluable clean sheet. Greece international Samaras set up the lightning fast opener when crossing into the box for Kris Commons to volley home, then rose highest to nod in a corner from the right to seal the seal 15 minutes from time. Fraser then managed to hold Helsingborg at bay, despite intense pressure from the Swedish champions, with Celtic manager Neil Lennon describing his keeper’s performance as “excellent”. “Fraser’s done his chances (of getting an England call-up) no harm tonight,” Lennon told ITV1. “I said you’d have an audience tonight and to go and show them how good you are. “I thought he was excellent tonight. We’ve been banging the drum about him for a while, but it’s not for us to say.” Lennon conceded Celtic were fortunate to escape leaking a goal, especially in the first half. “We had to rely on our goalkeeper. That’s what you have to do away from home,” he said. “The second half we were a lot better; we had to change the shape of the team. “I’m very grateful for the two goals and the clean sheet.” Lennon’s men will now be looking to wrap up the tie in the second leg at Celtic Park on August 29. “The job is only half done. There is a big game at Celtic Park to come,” he added.

GLENEAGLES, SCOTLAND: Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts is determined to gain an automatic place on Jose Maria Olazabal’s European Ryder Cup team at this week’s final qualifying event, the Johnnie Walker Championship. Colsaerts is lying 12th on the points table and if he should finish first or second at Gleneagles he would break into the top-10 and into Olazabal’s team. That would then see Germany’s Martin Kaymer, who is lying 10th, drop to 11th and if so, Olazabal would be left with a seemingly easy choice of picking

two former Ryder Cup players in Kaymer and England’s Ian Poulter as his ‘wildcard’ picks. However if Colsaerts does not automatically qualify Olazabal then faces firstly the easy choice of Poulter as one pick but then the very difficult task of choosing between Colsaerts or Ireland’s triple Major winning, Padraig Harrington, who is 19th on the points table. But while Colsaerts looks to boost his hopes of being the only rookie in the European Team, Scotland’s Paul Lawrie can finally breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing his place is guaranteed.