Postnoon E-Paper for 22 June 2012

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FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012 HYDERABAD

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VIJAYAMMA DONS OPPOSITION GARB The newly-elected YSRC MLAs have stitched new clothes for their working president, Vijayamma. She is being dressed up for an exciting role as virtual opposition leader in the days ahead to prove that TDP is redundant.

M ANIL KUMAR

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TOO GOOD TO RESIST It’s been pouring all day and now you’re craving a plate of piping hot bhajjiyas with some spicy chutney to go with it or some garam tikkis and gol gappe on the side. The thela wala is your first choice, because if it ain’t fresh off the street, it just ain’t yummy enough. But as tempting as these monsoon treats may seem, water-borne diseases follow close on their heels.

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YSRC MLAs protest outside the State Assembly against conducting narco analysis on YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

RONALDO...

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

REPORT ON PG 5

Cristiano Ronaldo was the hero as Portugal beat an ultra-defensive Czech Republic 1-0 at the National Stadium in Warsaw in their quarter-final to qualify for the Euro 2012 semi-finals.

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HEAT WIN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP The Miami Heat clinched their second NBA title by routing Oklahoma City 121-106 on Thursday thanks to a balanced offensive attack and 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds from P32 superstar LeBron James.

Page Two

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FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Spirit of Twin Cities

THE TIES THAT BIND N SHIVA KUMAR

Hyderabad Library services Library and librarian services offered to members and groups (institutions) at `3,650 per year (per member). It covers study, career, competition, business of research. Welcome to APSET enrolled.

Where: Hyderabad library services, Sagar View Complex When: June 9 to July 8, Contact: (040) 2322 2247, 94412 37751

Pizza fest Get set to enjoy this amazing combination of pizzas and beer at the Pizza and beer festival at Verandah.The fest is on till June 24.

Where: The Verandah, Somajiguda When: July 24, Contact: (040) 2345 6789

Sacred vanity Recent works by Rasika Reddy titled Sacred Vanity will be displayed at Kalakriti Art Gallery from July 2 onwards.

Where: Kalakrithi Art Gallery, Banjara Hills, Rd No 10 When: July 2 onwards, 11am onwards Contact: (040) 6656 4466

Manoranjan tax-free The play Manoranjan-Tax-free, presented by ‘Sifar’ Theatre Group showcases a group of blind men trying to overcome their physical disability with an open-minded perspective towards life, and also about their fervent efforts to entertain themselves.

Where: Nift Auditorium, Madhapur When: June 23, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 2311 4537

At the ark At the ark at eight is the story of the journey of three penguins who get tickets to sail on Noah’s ark.

Where: Nift Auditorium, Madhapur When: June 24, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 2311 4537

Madhubani workshop The YMCA Secunderabad is hosting a madhubani painting workshop. The workshop is being felicitated by an artist from Madhubani. A part of the fees earned through the workshop will be used to train underprivileged women in this form of painting.

CINEMAS

Where: YMCA Secunderabad, West Marredpally When: June 18-June 29 Contact: 98490 07736, 99595 57183

Gods of Carnage The play deals with two set of parents who meet to discuss their children’s scuffle in a park. The conversation moves from civilized to childlike chaos.

Where: Telugu University, Nampally When: July 23, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 2329 7293

Japanese food fest Take a trip to Tokyo as you relish authentic Japanese cuisine. This Japanese food festival is on till June 24.

Where: Ohri’s Far East, Banjara Hills When: Ongoing Contact: (040) 2330 2200

No Jazz No Jazz, a funky, rocking Parisian electro-jazz five-piece dance band.

The band mixes the original celebratory spirit of jazz with hypnotic rhythms and contemporary sounds.

Where: Taj Deccan, Banjara Hills, Rd No 1 When: June 25, 7.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 6652 3939

Tradition and innovation An interesting display of works which are a combination of tradition and innovation is being held.

Where: Salarjung Museum, Afzal Gunj When: July 7 onwards Contact: (040) 24521 152

Ek akeli aurat The play Ek Akeli Aurat is a story of a woman who is confined to her house by her husband. The play will be presented on June 22.

Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills, Rd No 1 When: June 22, 7.30pm onwards Contact: 964273 1329

Chai pakoda It’s monsoon. How we love to sit by the window sill, with a plate of hot pakodas and some chai. Arena at Taj Deccan brings that feeling to you every evening 3pm-7pm.

Where: Taj Deccan, Banjara Hills, Rd No 1 When: Ongoing, 3pm to7pm Contact: (040) 6666 393

Vision of blue gold Vision of blue gold, an exhibition of paintings by Pranay will be on display at Muse Art Gallery. The exhibition can be

viewed till June 23.

Where: Muse Art Gallery, Lower Tank Bund When: Ongoing, 11.30am onwards Contact: (040) 2752 2999

Friends with bird Friends with bird, a patining exhibition by artist Pallavi Wallunj is being held.

Where: Colours Art Gallery, Chikoti Gardens, Begumpet When: Ongoing, 10am-7pm Contact: 93470 01275

For the environment Waste as development aid,a film dealing with recycling and the third world countries will be shown at Goethe-Zentrum on June 24.

Where: Goethe-Zentrum, Banjara Hills, Rd No 3 When: July 24, 5.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 2335 0443

Sommer Vorm Balkon Sommer Vorm Balkon is a movie, which focuses on two women and their daily struggle for survival during a summer in Berlin.

Where: Goethe-Zentrum.

Nampally When: June 22, 6pm onwards Contact: (040) 2335 0443

Big Cinemas, Ameerpet: 30581470; Cinemax, Banjara Hills: 44565555; Cine Planet , Kompally: 61606060; INOX, Banjara Hills: 44767777; Prasads, Tank Bund Rd: 23448888; PVR, Punjagutta: 8800900009; Talkie Town, Miyapur: 40214175; Tivoli, Secunderabad: 27844973

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FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin Cities

Watchman torches bike to spite his former employer In the process five other bikes parked nearby caught fire and were destroyed PIC FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY

Mohd Subhan mohd.s@postnoon.com

UPSET THAT RAMALINGA HAD SACKED HIM, SRINIVAS SET THE FORMER’S BIKE ON FIRE. HOWEVER, THE FLAMES

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n a shocking saga of wanton revenge displayed by a security person, six bikes were burnt last night at the NGO Colony Vanasthalipuram under the Cyberabad Commissionerate.

According to inspector Vanasthalipuram, B Ravindra Reddy, the security guard of the colony named Srinivas had developed a grudge against a resident Ramalinga Reddy of Urmiladevi apartments in the colony.

Ramalinga Reddy is in the construction business and recently constructed a house and he had fired Srinivas from his job. The latter decided to take revenge against Reddy for sacking him. He set fire to Reddy’s bike but the flames engulfed five more bikes parked nearby. The

SOON SPREAD TO FIVE OTHER BIKES PASSED NEARBY AND ALL SIX VEHICLES WERE GUTTED

sounds of bursting and the smoke woke the residents. As confused people gathered, Srinivas surrendered and confessed his crime. He was thor-

oughly beaten up by the residents and handed over to the police. Srinivas, beaten black and blue, pleaded with the police that he had lost his livelihood

Petrol shortage hits City hard

and was abused by his former employer. He had never imagined that torching one bike would lead to such destruction.

However, it happened accidentally. But those who lost the bikes would not buy the argument.

Vanasthalipuram police has taken Srinivas into custody and sent him for treatment.

Road mishaps kill six, hurt 50 Postnoon News

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t’s bad enough that the City roads aren’t equipped to handle traffic during the monsoons, but for commuters there is yet another inconvenience this time; shortage of petrol. Most petrol bunks in the City remained closed on Thursday morning and by evening they had ‘No Stock’ boards.

“On my way to work on Thursday morning I noticed that several petrol bunks were closed, but it didn’t ring any alarm bells. However, even by evening the situation did not improve. Since I didn’t have fuel in my vehicle, I have to travel by public transport,” said Vivek Rao, a professional.

“I was shocked when I saw that almost every petrol bunk was closed. Although I have some fuel in my vehicle, it won’t last more than 30 kilometers. Some say that bunks won’t have stock till Monday,” says Akhilesh W, an employee with Google.

And if you thought it was the working

professional that was hit badly due to this shortage of fuel, you’re wrong. Housewives too are bearing the brunt. “Everything has come to a standstill for me. I drop my children to school and run several errands. But with this shortage of petrol, I can’t do any of this,” Usha K, a homemaker.

For a City that doesn’t have a good public transport system like Delhi and Mumbai, this fuel shortage is a huge inconvenience. However, the district civil supplies department is unaware of the problems.

When Postnoon contacted Hyderabad district civil supply officer Rajasekhar, he stated that they have not received any complaints. Following this the department sprang into action.

An enquiry revealed that this due to short supply from Indian Oil Corporation at its Chennai plant. “IOC’s plant at Chennai has developed a problem. This has resulted in a short supply of petrol. The problem will be sorted out by Friday,” Rajasekhar said.

ast week happened to be the darkest for road users in AP as five major accidents claimed six lives and injured 50. Of all, the most heart-rending turned out to be the tragedy where six of an 11-member family including a 3-year-old boy were killed on the spot and five others injured.

Moosa Qureshi’s family was near Zaheerabad on NH9 on Sunday, on their way to Bidar to see a prospective bride for his son Muneer. When the vehicle reached a sugar factory in Zaheerabad, the vehicle had a head on collision with a speeding lorry. In another accident at Prakasam district a school van ran off the road and 10 children suffered injuries.

At Venkateshwara Nagar village, a speeding RTC bus overturned and seven were hurt.

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NEWS BRIEFS Thieves make do with a motorbike

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n a night robbery a biker Raj Kumar Chauhan, a local businessman was riding home on Thursday when a three-member gang on two bikes intercepted him at Kattalmandi under the Abids police station limits. The threesome demanded money and valuables but Raj Kumar pleaded that he had no money or valuables on him at the moment. Enraged at the man who dared to go around without cash, the three began to beat him, showering him with abuses for being a miser and a useless guy.

After the thrashing, the gang settled for the bike. “Get off and walk to home, you useless,” they told him and rode away with his bike!

Homemaker robbed of gold chain by two men

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homemaker by name C Varalaxmi was robbed by two bike-borne men at Khairatabad last night. The 49-yearold Varalaxmi of Venkatramna Colony was walking towards her home along with her husband C Venkat Rao when two men on a bike roared up and sped away snatching her gold chain weighing six tolas.

In another incident a woman home guard by name Ashwini was arrested by the Vanasthalipuram police on Thursday and seized 3 tolas of stolen gold chain from her possession.

According to her neighbour Padma’s complaint, Ashwini had come to her home and the gold went missing after her visit.

3 held for health insurance fraud

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he East Zone Team of the Commissioner’s Task Force has nabbed three people, who were fraudulently claiming health insurance on fictitious names and addresses from various corporate hospitals across AP and Karnataka states.

The Task Force personnel also recovered net cash of `3,80,000 and other incriminating articles.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin Cities

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City gets together to bring in Bonalu The annual Bonalu festival started from Golkonda yesterday, giving the City a colourful and festive feel N SHIVA KUMAR

FESTIVAL Sudeshna Koka sudeshna.k@postnoon.com

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he sound of drumbeats, music, colours, turmeric, rains and food — indeed Bonalu has begun in the City. When it comes to celebrating Bonalu, there is no discrimination of caste or religion, for Hyderabadis.

Unlike other festivals which have their origin in mythology, Bonalu is one festival that was started by a king.

In 1869, a plague outbreak killed several people in the twin cities. It was believed that the epidemic was the result of a wrath of the goddess. Hence, Bonalu was initiated to pacify the goddess.

After the epidemic settled, the king decided to offer thanks to the goddess every year and the ritual of celebrating Bonalu continued. Now 143 years after the origin of the festival, Bonalu is still celebrated with the same passion and energy.

The festival began yesterday at the Golconda Mahankali, located inside the Golconda fort.

Th event saw both Hindus and Muslims partaking in the festivities with equal vigour. In fact, one of the organisers of the procession was a Muslim.

The lanes leading to Golconda fort and Langar house were full of life. Loud music, dance, colours, flowers and neem leaves — the festive euphoria had set it and was being enjoyed by one and all.

Thousands of devotees thronged the temple and offered prayers. From a one-month-old child to an 80-year-old lady, everyone was dressed in their best to offer prayers to the goddess, dancing away to the teen maar and folk music.

Potharaju, the brother of the goddess, is believed to be the initiator of the festivities. They were dressed as creatively as possible,

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few were a representation of Lord Shiva and few were painted in blue representing Lord Krishna.

With bells on their ankles, and anointed with turmeric on their body and vermilion on their forehead they led the procession. A few also went into trance at the entrance of the temple whipping

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people around with their jute rope.

Following him were the female dancers in a trance who mostly belonged to the Devadasi community. Families were seen offering Bonalu Ghatams (decorated pots) filled with flowers, which are carried on the heads by the women folk in a procession.

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Cooked rice was also taken in highly polished brass vessels or in clay pots decorated with neem leaves.

A huge thottela which is colour paper structure supported by sticks, was also successfully placed at the temple. This is a sign of the beginning of the

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festival. Bonalu is celebrated in the month of Ashadam which falls between June and August.

Bonalu festival begins with the Golconda Mahankali, located inside the Golconda fort, and is followed by Secunderabad’s Ujjaini Mahankali Temple and then moves to the Old City.

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

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FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin Cities

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Amma dons opposition garb The newly-elected YSRC MLAs have stitched new clothes for their working president, Vijayamma. She is being dressed up for an exciting role as virtual opposition leader in the days ahead to prove that TDP is redundant M ANIL KUMAR

POLITICS Md Inkeshaf Ahmed ahmed.m@postnoon.com

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uoyed by the thumping victory in the recent by-elections, Yuvajana Sramika Rytu (YSR) Congress is gearing up for a virtual take over of the role of opposition party in the State.

As a precursor to the 2014 general elections, the party has decided to raise its voice against glaring public problems by organising agitations and other protest programmes. Following a meeting of party MLAs in Hyderabad on Thursday, the MLAs under the supervision of YSR Congress working president YS Vijayamma, have decided to raise problems faced by ryots across the State.

The party also demanded the State and Central government roll back petrol prices and reduce VAT on textile products.

“The people have given our

YSRC MLAs protest outside the State Assembly against conducting narco analysis on YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. party a mandate to raise their problems. We will stand by the people of the state,” newly elected YSR Congress Party MLA Dharmana Krishna Das told Postnoon.

On being asked about the sudden flurry of new initiatives of the party to take up State-wide issues, leaders said there was a vacuum in

the opposition sphere where major issues go unattended. The Opposition (TDP), they say, is an utter failure and it was on its way out of the political arena of AP. Only the YSRC can fill the gap, they said. “The results of the recent by- elections clearly indicated popular rejection of the TDP for its

Game resumes, parties make beeline to CMO POLITICS

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fter the debacle-induced stupor, political parties have woken up and are at the game once again.

There was a lull in the political march along the corridors of power for some time after the poll results.

But lately the tempo picked up.

Suddenly, all parties have begun to present memorandums to the CM on

various real and imaginary problems of the people, especially farmers. In the game of one-upmanship, TRS gained an advantage and TDP suffered a setback.

The happy TRS which added one MLA to its tally of 17 from Parakal marched ahead of others. A delegation led by TRS leader Etela Rajender and MLAs Aravind Reddy, D Vinay Bhaskar and newly elected MLA from Parakal M Bikshapathi met CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy and submitted on June 18 this month a memorandum.

In the memorandum, the MLAs requested the CM to immediately release salary arrears of the employees of the Singareni collieries and solve the ryots' problems. Of all the problems farmers faced, non availability of seeds is proving the most debilitating one as the Khariff season is well under way, the leaders pointed out.

On the other hand, the Telugu Desam which was in a deep slumber following its debacle in the bypoll, felt a jolt and woke up to discharge its duty. Without making any delay, a delegation consisting of party MLAs met the CM on June 19 at the secretariat and reeled out similar requests of solving the problems faced by ryots in the State.

The Telugu Desam, however, avoided payment of arrears issue of Singareni Collieries employees. The main opposition also called upon its party cadres to raise farmers’ problems at all the places across the State.

gross failure in its role. We will definitely utilise this opportunity and grow into a strong force.

The party leaders are confident that the present political situation in the State would help them in developing its organisational structure and eventually prepare itself to fight 2014 General

Elections with a vengeance.

“Post elections, our priority will be to consolidate our position in State’s politics under the leadership of party president YS Jaganmohan Reddy. We will utilise each and every opportunity in order to achieve our goal,” Krishna Das further added.

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he recent gruesome bus tragedy does not seem to be loud enough to jolt the transport officials from their slumber. With newly laid lanes and introduction of hi-tech buses more and more people prefer travelling by buses between cities, but safety seems to be the last thing in the operators’ scheme of things.

On an average some 15,000 passengers travel daily to and from AP by bus. If passenger

identity is hardly established, safety of luggage is not even considered. No bus uses the preliminary precaution — a hand-held metal detector. Luggage is simply thrown into belly of the bus and that’s that. Besides there exists no checking, the danger of an antisocial person using a detonator or inflammable object is pronounced as most double-axle and Volvo buses have low ground clearance and with those jerks along the way inflammable objects can cause a fire.

Moreover, most of these buses are driven at a speed ranging between 80 kmph and 100 kmph and the way the luggage is dumped, the friction can trigger a fire if any liquid of alcoholic content happens to leak out. It is our good fortune that mishaps are not happening frequently, say frequent bus passengers.

Rajesh Mouli, a technologist, who makes weekly trips between

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PICTURE FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSES

No baggage check: a disaster in waiting?

Anubha K Singh

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin Cities

Bangalore and Hyderabad says that the bags and suitcases are flung inside in such a casual manner that any mishap can blow up the bus within seconds.

Why can’t a metal detector for luggage be mad mandatory? The RTA joint transport commissioner G Panduranga Rao said, “It’s not an easy task. It’s a huge number of travelers and it would require tremendous set up to check each and every baggage. At railway stations and airports they have infrastructure and proper machineries for checking, so it’s easier for them, but we don’t have that. Also there is no single

boarding point for buses.”

Corroborating the RTA stance is SB Bose, president, Andhra Pradesh Tourist Bus Owner Association, “Checking of baggage is not possible as there is no single point from where the passengers board the vehicle like it is in airports or railway stations. We can’t have metal detectors everywhere as most of the boarding points are on roads and there is no proper infrastructure.”

When Postnoon checked with some of the bus depots of the twin cities, it came to light that there were unclaimed bags found lying in several places.

And, no bus agent office has a CCTV system. “Don’t say they (bus operators) have no money,” remarked a government official, “How come each operator adds new buses to their fleet every six months?” he added.

What troubles one is the thought of two things: accidental fire and possible terrorist attack attempts.

There seems to be no willingness on the part of the government and operators to ensure safety of passengers and luggage.

(With input from TSS Siddharth)

AP best bet for investment, insists Ponnala ECONOMY Prudhvi Raju K prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

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he City has emerged as a national capital of summits for attracting investments.

It started with partnership summit in January this year, followed by ongoing Advantage AP and the upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in October. However, there are apprehensions to what extent the summits will be successful in attracting the investments given the current political scenario.

Talking about the current political scenario, minister of IT and communications Ponnala Lakshmaiah said, business is not affected by the political flux. It is done on fundamentals like economic viability, demands, accessibility and the competitive edge that is drawn by the inputs available in the State. AP

has all these facilities and proved to be the most economic in the world after Indonesia and China. He points out that in spite of these apprehensions since the last two years, the office space occupied last year was more than the previous two years together.

This shows that apprehensions are unfounded."

Political condition will become a problem if the government does not take any decisions. That is not happening since the last eight years. If the apprehensions are right, the State would not have attracted `6,47,000 crore worth of proposals. “If the government is not vibrant, how can it number one in the country in terms of budget allocations and per capita budget? The developmental investment or plan investment is the highest in the country for almost seven years which touched around `53,000 crore this year,” Ponnala explained. IT honchos also share the minis-

ter’s stance. The location attractiveness index is counted in terms costs of operations, talent availability and business environment. The political scenario of the State comes under business environment which the companies check before venturing for hassle free operations.

Every major conference is coming to the State because of its infrastructure and growth potential. The IT exports of the state grew to `41,000 crore in

2011-2012 from `35,000 crore in the previous fiscal. “The 17 per cent growth in IT exports aligned with nation’s average shows the performance of the State rather than my advocacy," said V Rajanna, president, ITsAP. But J Nageswara Rao, secretary, FAPSIA begs to differ.

“Everything looks beautiful on paper but the reality is different.

In every summit, the government says there are proposals, but we don’t see them materi-

alise. The system and policy are not in favour of the industry which is filled with red-tapism and corruption. Every file has to pass through many steps to get cleared. If we bring this corruption to government’s notice, they ask for proofs.

For instance, the refund of subsidies for small scale businesses (sales tax, power bills and technology up gradation) valued at `400 core is on hold for the last two years. However, the small scale businesses have to spend huge money for debt servicing.

Even for setting up a manufacturing unit, each acre of land costs `3-4 crore in an industrial estate. How can a small business procure machinery and raw material after spending huge costs on land? he questioned.

The businesses can not see any profits after debt servicing at 15 per cent interest rate and also increase in costs on raw material, power tariffs and property tax said Ramadevi, president, ALEAP.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin Cities

lleging a deeprooted conspiracy to physically harm its jailed president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, YSR Congress on Thursday demanded a highlevel probe by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.

The party alleged that there was a sudden power shutdown in Chanchalguda Central Jail, where Jagan is lodged. It also referred to an incident in which Jagan was brought to court in an ordinary police vehicle without security.

“There is a threat to our leader’s life,” said party legislator Karunakar Reddy, who along with other party legislators staged a protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the assembly.

On a day when Jagan’s mother YS Vijayamma was elected as the leader of 17-member legislature, the newlyelected legislators staged protests.

The party alleged a conspiracy to harm Jagan by conducting narco analysis. YSRC also targeted CBI joint director VV Lakshminarayana for leaking information to the rival media.

IANS

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Annapurna-JNAFAU gives leg up to filmmakers SRINIVAS SETTY

The country has premier institutes offering diploma courses in filmmaking. But City-based AISFM, has become the first to offer Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes

FILM Hemanth Kumar hemanth.k@postnoon.com

J

une 21, 2012 was a historic day for the Annapurna International School of Film and Media as it became the first institution in the country to offer bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes in film and media, when Nagarjuna, the president of AISFM, signed an MoU with Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University. Soon after signing the MoU, Nagarjuna told the media, “The Indian film industry has been pursuing a dream for decades — that students can gain film and media skills as part of a recognised degree. The partnership between AISFM and JNAFAU brings that dream to life.”

So far, all the elite film institutes in India like FTII, SRFTI have been offering only diploma courses in various aspects of filmmaking. Chris Higgins, vice president, admission and marketing at AISFM, tells us, “According to a government report, India needs 30 million talented professionals to meet the demand of the media industry over the next eight years. Fifteen years ago, there were hardly five TV channels and now we have 700. Radio and print media

have witnessed a phenomenal growth. However, media education is yet to go full throttle in the country to meet this demand.”

It’s been a year since AISFM opened its doors to students and it already has become a brand to reckon with. “We are a non-profit organisation which means whatever money comes in goes back into the organisation to provide more value for the students. We have built an enormous academic advisory board which includes the likes of Mani Ratnam, Kamal Haasan, Karan Johar, Farah Khan and Anurag Kashyap. They know that no one’s making money and we are all working together to build a great film institute,” Chris Higgins adds.

We ask Chris why students should choose a degree programme in filmmaking over a diploma course and pat comes the reply, “A diploma programme is more focused on practical skills and less academically rigorous. Whereas a degree programme will introduce students to topics that provide insight in filmmaking.

Having a degree is also beneficial in the long run if a student wants to do a Masters or Doctorate in media. Even having a diploma at a PG level still has its limitations. A degree in filmmaking is the biggest jump India has taken in the field of media education in decades.”

He adds that their collaboration with JNAFAU was a natural choice since it’s a fine arts university. “It was important that there’s some kind of relevance to the university offering the degree programme.

JNAFAU offers courses like animation and painting. It’s already a creative school. So there was a natural synergy.”

Unlike colleges offering degrees in engineering or MBA, it’s incredibly tough to choose what’s the right film school to go to. “Different film

We are a non-profit organisation which means whatever money comes in goes back into the organisation to provide more value for the students.

Chris Higgins, VP, admissions schools serve different purposes. For example in the West, USC follows a more collaborative approach since it’s closely linked to Hollywood, whereas NYU is all about independent filmmaking. It’s not like an MBA where you

learn a lot of theory; filmmaking is about creativity. You have to know what suits you more. The only way to evaluate a film school is to visit the school, meet faculty, management and students and sit in a class and understand what you want to learn,” he replies.

What’s the biggest challenge they are facing since it attracts students from all parts of the country?

“We have observed that most students have grown up watching a similar media diet.

The challenge is to break that incredibly narrow focus because there are so many different ways of telling a story.

That is why we are going to start exchange programmes in collaboration with international film schools,” Chris reveals.

Filmmaking is exhausting and Chris opines that students must understand what they want to do. “The film industry is an incredibly hard place to work in and it’s a place for only those who are passionate,” he says.

The road ahead for AISFM and its students is extremely promising, if their ambition to make it the centre of excellence for media education is anything to go by.

“Five years from now, we plan to become a media university that offers a wide range of courses,” he says. This may just be the beginning of bigger and better things to come.

16978.26 54.30

5145.20 19.80

BSE

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Business

10g= `29,800

GOLD

1kg= `52,966

SILVER

`56.95

DOLLAR

Matters of saving and spending

Keeping your options open Nupur Pavan Bang and Amulya Chirala

S

rikanth owns stocks of ABC Ltd. After he learnt about the concept of futures and hedging from professor Nicky, he used the futures contracts on ABC Ltd. to hedge the risk of a downward slide in the share prices. Unfortunately for him, just a few days after he entered the contract, the company announced its quarterly earnings and the stock prices have gone up steadily ever since.

The value of his stocks are now higher. That’s good news.

But he does not intend to sell the stock. On the other hand, his losses are very real! He started getting margin calls from his broker. So he closed out his position in the futures market, before his losses become larger.

However, this led him to think of how it would be great if he could have the good part of futures without the obligation to honor the contract!

“Naah...I guess that would be too good to be true...”, thought Srikanth. Nevertheless, he walked into prof. Nicky’s room to share his experience with futures with the professor.

Prof Nicky: Well, as a matter of fact, such instruments do exist.

They are called Options. By buying an option, you can lock in a price but can choose not to exercise your option if the market offers a more advantageous price.

Srikanth: Buying an option?

Prof. Nicky: Perceptive as

Moody’s downgrades 15 banks WASHINGTON: The health of 15 of the world’s largest financial institutions was called into serious question Thursday, as Moody’s downgraded their credit ratings, citing exposure risk and Europe’s economic woes.

Some of the biggest names, including Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Citigroup, HSBC and Deutsche Bank, saw their ratings slashed, spelling increased scrutiny from markets and potentially higher borrowing costs.

Moody’s said that the banks’ actions risked massive losses and that they were exposed to the roiling financial crisis and to each other.

BY BUYING AN OPTION, YOU CAN LOCK IN A PRICE BUT CAN CHOOSE NOT TO EXERCISE YOUR OPTION IF THE MARKET OFFERS A MORE ADVANTAGEOUS PRICE.

always Srikanth. Yes, you buy an option. Since you have a right but no obligation to trade your stock at a pre-determined price, you pay a premium. Else it would be like being able to have your cake and eat it too!

Srikanth: Hmmm… though that would be great, I suppose no one would sell options for free, so this situation seems fair enough.

So how about if I want to be able to sell a stock? Can I buy an option to sell a stock?

Prof. Nicky: Yes Srikanth, weirdly as it sounds, you can buy an option to sell a stock... It’s pretty interesting actually, there are fundamentally two types of options, a call option which allows you to buy stock and a put option that allows you to sell stocks.

Buying an option allows you to, at a cost, transfer risk to the seller of the option. A simple call or a simple put option are also referred to

as plain vanilla options.

Srikanth: Professor, in the futures market, we can buy and sell our contracts any time. Can we do the same in the Options market?

Prof. Nicky: Indeed you can buy and sell them anytime at the price (premium) in the market.

However, you can exercise your options anytime only if they are American in nature. Now... before you ask... no you don’t need to be in America to be able to trade in American style Options. It’s just nomenclature. Options which can be exercised anytime up to expiration are called American Options, where as those which can be exercised only on the day of expiration are known as European style options. Both kinds of options are traded all over the world. In India, the index options are European in nature, while the stock options are American!

Srikanth: They don’t seem too plain to me... But why would anyone sell options? The seller seems to take on a lot of risk!

Prof Nicky: Great question!

Simple answer — for the premium. The person writing the option believes that the probability of the option being exercised is very low. So he gets to collect and keep the premium.

Srikanth: Wow!... this is information overload for now..but how about we continue this discussion next week and you tell me how someone like me can use options?

Prof Nicky: Sure!

EU big four to thrash out debt plans ROME: Leaders of the eurozone’s four biggest economies gather in Rome Friday to thrash out ideas to tackle the debt crisis, with calls for the bloc’s bailout fund to intervene on bond markets set to top the agenda.

The talks, which will also focus on efforts to kickstart much-needed growth in the eurozone’s struggling economies, will set the stage for a crucial European Union summit in Brussels on June 28 and 29.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti will host German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for the talks at 2pm (1200 GMT), with a news conference at 4pm.

With the eurozone’s relentless debt crisis threatening to engulf Spain and Italy and weighing

Spain seeks $78 bn MADRID: Spain said Thursday its crisis-torn banks need up to 62 billion euros ($78 billion) to survive a severe financial slump, far less than the maximum foreseen in a eurozone rescue deal.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, speaking in Brazil, welcomed the result of bank audits and stressed that the European funds were needed “as soon as possible”. down the global economy, Europe’s leaders are under intense pressure to find solutions to the two-year-old crisis.

Monti has urged fellow European leaders to back a plan for the eurozone rescue fund — the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) — to ease pressure

`88.94

on struggling countries by buying their bonds on the secondary market.

Both Madrid and Rome have been hit with rocketing borrowing costs, despite a series of structural reform packages in Italy and a eurozone rescue loan of up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) in the works for Spain’s stricken banks.

Italy’s foreign ministry said Thursday that Paris and Madrid were open to the idea, but that Berlin still needed to be convinced. “While Germany considers the plan theoretically doable, it holds that there would have to be clear conditions for the EFSF to intervene,” it said.

The ministry also said the fund would need to be granted a banking licence to allow it to borrow from the European Central Bank. ^cm

POUND FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012 8 NUMEROLOGY

$2.1

billion

in its own debt has been bought back by French bank Societe Generale, making a pre-tax profit of 300 million euros in the process.

THUS SPAKE To emerge in good shape from this crisis of the eurozone and the European economy, ever more integration is needed,” Mario Monti Italian Prime Minister

Twitter sets off jitters as ‘bug’ hits site SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter said a “cascading bug” caused outages Thursday affecting millions of users of the wildly popular site, and dismissed claims of a hacker attack.

The outage led to a barrage of complaints and comments, some serious and other ironic, which the company said underscored “how critical Twitter has become.” The on-again-offagain service led to a range of speculation and one claim of a denial of service attack, but Twitter said this was unfounded.

In a blog post, Twitter vice president of engineering Mazen Rawashdeh said the company learned around 1600 GMT “that Twitter was inaccessible for all Web users, and mobile clients were not showing new tweets.”

He said an investigation “found that there was a cascading bug in one of our infrastructure components. This wasn’t due to a hack or our new office or Euro 2012 or GIF avatars (animation which is banned by Twitter), as some have speculated today.”

He said a “full recovery” was made after about two hours and that a “comprehensive review” was underway. ^cm

India‑View

10

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

India unveiled

Chess blooms under the flyovers of Kolkata KOLKATA: Rain or sun does not bother them, neither does the cacophonous traffic nor the incessant clamour of a packed city. Their dream is to get World champion Vishwanathan Anand to visit their “club”, the concrete railing under a busy flyover where a clutch of chess aficionados concentrate on games over which rulers once traded kingdoms.

For the 80-odd members of the Gariahat Chess Club, the love for the game transcends everything else — weather, traffic, crowds — as masters and novices come together to play the game of kings right under the busy 570-metrelong Gariahat flyover in south Kolkata.

“I’ve been playing chess here since my childhood, even before the flyover was constructed. This area was our favourite meeting place. As more and more people joined us and some even ventured out to participate and win prizes in various tournaments, an idea began to take shape — that we should form a club,” Gariahat Chess Club president Debashish Basu told IANS. However, despite attempts spread over months, no closed space could be found. Finally, the love and passion for the game catalysed the motley group in November 2006 to give birth to the club on an an open space under the flyover.

The club now boasts of at least 80 members, who sit on concrete railing where the chessboards are also placed.

“For me and other members of the club, all the noise does not

affect us. If you have the passion, nothing can bother you,” Basu said.

The chess club has one aim — to promote the game of chess — and their mission is to organise a tournament every month.

From retired pensioners to school and college goers, from bankers to professionals — all make a beeline to the Gariahat Boulevard waiting for their turn to play the cerebral game.

But how does one concentrate, in the chaos of the traffic and the clamour of the hawkers and commuters, on a game which demands tremendous mental attention?

HEAVE HO!

THE CHESS CLUB’S MISSION IS TO ORGANISE A TOURNAMENT EVERY MONTH. THE CLUB NOW BOASTS OF AT LEAST 80 MEMBERS, WHO SIT ON CONCRETE RAILING AND PLAY.

“We have been playing here for years and nothing — be it the weather or the noise — has ever affected us. When a game is played we transcend to a different world where the only things visible are the 64 squares and the

pieces on them,” Sandip Mazumdar, for whom a day is never complete without a game of chess, told IANS. “It would be wrong to say they do not get disturbed by the surrounding noise and cacophony. Initially it surely is difficult for them but as time passes they get habituated,” said Sabyasachi Mazumdar, a clinical psychologist.

“On the contrary, those who have been playing there regularly might find it difficult to concentrate when playing at a secluded and calm place,” Mazumdar added.

IANS

PANAJI: A move is under way in Goa, a state where the service industry accounts for half of its income and provides 40 percent employment, to evangelise college students and convert them from “job seekers to job givers”.

A joint initiative by the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), the Goa Principal’s Forum (GPF) and NGO I Create India, it aims at promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship and will reach out to 18 colleges and 9,000 students spread across the state. “We have tied up with the Goa Principal’s Forum and I Create India. The former will provide us with the necessary students while the latter, an entrepreneurship promotion initiative will provide the knowhow for this outreach programme,” GCCI president Manguirish Pai Raikar said.

“The I Create India programme completely simplifies the language of business. It has no jargon and it is taught in the local language, so that academically weak students and even drop-outs can understand the concepts of fixed costs, stock inventory, reading balance-sheets, putting together business plans and the like,” Raikar said.

According to Raikar, Ulhas Kamat, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the entrepreneur development initiative and an Indian Institute of Technology alumnus of Goan origin, was keen on harnessing and locally moulding young business talent. Anil Dinge, principal of the PES college in Ponda and convener of the GPF, said that the primary objective of the initiative was to change students’ mindset from that of job seekers to one of job givers.

Scotland varsity honours NRI LONDON: Hari Harilela, one of

Devotees during the ‘Vaishakotsav’ at Kottiyoor Perumal temple PTI in Kannur.

In Goa, when job-seekers turn job-givers

the most known Indian origin entrepreneurs in Hong Kong who founded a billion-dollar enterprise, has been honoured with a honorary doctorate in Business Administration by the Edinburgh Napier University.

He was conferred the honour on in recognition of his outstanding contribution to business and higher education at the university’s summer graduation ceremony yesterday.

Harilela, 90, who is Chairman of the Harilela Group, owns a range of companies across the world including restaurants, hotels and real estate.

He has been previously honoured with the Pravasi Bharatiya

Samman from India as well as the Order of the British Empire (OBE). As a philanthropist, he contributed substantially to the relief effort in the wake of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and is also a firm supporter of education and the growth of young people, a university release said.

Harilela, who received the honorary degree accompanied by his wife of 65 years Padma and his son Aron, said: “I am delighted to be honoured in this way.”

“I live my life by three very simple rules: never cheat, don’t be greedy and don’t look sideways”.

Born in 1922 in Sind, Harilela was brought up in Hong Kong.

Professor Dame Joan Stringer, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University, said: “Dr Hari Harilela’s life has been one of fortitude and determination, a vivid example of how one can not only overcome poverty but also go on to make a tangible difference to the lives of many”.

PTI

India‑View

11

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

India unveiled

Fire out, questions remain

NATION AT A GLANCE Goa to check fire safety systems in buildings

MUMBAI: Over 12 hours after

NEW DELHI:The Goa government today issued an advisory to fire and emergency service departments to check fire protection systems at all government departments including secretariat and Assembly complex. Goa Chief Secretary Sanjay Srivastava issued the advisory this morning to fire and emergency departments to conduct drills and also to ensure that fire protection systems are in place.

it broke out, the massive fire that swept through the top floors of the Maharashtra government secretariat killing three persons was doused early today. However, fire brigade officials said the cooling operation will continue for the next two days.

“The fire has been doused, but the cooling operation will continue for the next two days,” fire officer SV Joshi said.

A major fire broke out Thursday afternoon in room 411 on the fourth floor and quickly spread, engulfing the

The death toll in the major fire that swept the Maharashtra Mantralaya or secretariat here rose to three, an official of the city disaster control said.

While two dead bodies were recovered late Thursday evening, another was found Friday morning from the building, the official said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan visits Mantralaya to take stock of the situation. PTI three top floors of the six storied iconic Mantralaya building in the heart of South Mumbai.

Fire brigade and city disaster control cell officials said that efforts were on to douse the fire

that continued Friday morning.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has ordered an inquiry by the Crime Branch into the incident to ascertain whether it was an accident, negligence or

sabotage.

A special meeting of Maharashtra Cabinet will be held today to review the situation in the aftermath of thefire.

Chavan, who has announced a crime branch probe into the incident, will chair the meeting to be held at Vidhan Bhawan, CM’s PRO Aniruddh Ashtaputre, who was among those injured in the incident, said.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar visited Mantralaya this morning and reviewed the work in progress. Offices of various departments located on fourth, fifth and sixth floors damaged in the fire would be shifted to Vidhan Bhawan and Sahyadri Guest house, Chavan said.

Pawar told reporters at Mantralaya that the CM’s office on the sixth floor had remained comparatively unscathed by the fire which had gutted nearby offices. The Cabinet is expected to review the preparation for the monsoon session of the state Legislature, scheduled to begin on July 9. AGENCIES

Woman kills hubby for rape bid on child

STARSTRUCK

SALEM (TAMIL NADU): In an

A motorcyclist drives past a mural of actor Amitabh Bachchan from his classic film Deewar in Mumbai. Artists from Bollywood Art Project, an urban public art project, aim to transform the walls in Mumbai through graffiti art influenced by the 70-year-old design tradition of hand-painted posters, to celebrate the centennial of Indian Cinema.

incident that shocked the state, a woman allegedly murdered her husband after he tried to rape their teenaged daughter in an inebriated state, police said here today.

The 43-year-old man, a real estate business man, had come home drunk last night, picked up a quarrel, and then attempted to rape their daughter following which the woman allegedly attacked him with a sickle, police Inspector Rajnikanth said.

The woman then telephoned police and informed them about the incident, he said, adding, she has been arrested. They have a 19-year-old son and three daughters in the age group of nine to 13, he said. A case has been registered.

PTI

HC strikes down Singur land Act KOLKATA: In a major setback to West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee government, the Calcutta High Court on Friday struck down the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, as unconstitutional and void.

The court favoured the Tata Motors’ appeal against a trial court order which upheld the

act, and gave the West Bengal government two months to appeal before the Supreme Court.

The division bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Mrinal Kanti Chaudhuri set aside the single bench judgment of the court, which had held the Singur Land Rehabilitation And

Development Act, 2011, passed by the Mamata Banerjee government as constitutional and valid.

Automobile giant Tata Motors had moved the division bench against the Calcutta High Court’s Justice IP Mukerji’s September 28 judgment.

According to the division bench, sections of compensa-

tion in the Singur Act were in conflict with the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. It also said the legislation had been enacted without obtaining the assent of the president.

The court has granted a two-month suspension on the order but barred the state from disbursing reclaimed land in the interim period.

IANS

A tribal should occupy Raisina Hill: Naveen BHUBANESWAR: Welcoming the BJP’s decision to support former PA Sangma’s candidature in the presidential poll, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday said a tribal should go to the Raisina Hill. Patnaik said other political parties should also come forward and extend their support to him.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a meeting during Rio+20 Summit in Brazil.

PTI

Nepal turbulence won’t hit tax agreement: India RIO DE JANEIRO: India today said the fluid political situation in Nepal will not have any fallout on their recently signed Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement(DTAA). The political situation came up for discussions during a meeting with PM Manmohan Singh and his Nepalese counterpart Baburam Bhattarai on the sidelines of the Rio+20 summit.

15 child labourers rescued from factory MUZAFFARNAGAR: Fifteen child labourers were rescued after a raid on an umbrella manufacturing factory at Jansath Road near here, a senior labour official said today. A team raided the factory yesterday and freed the child labourers, deputy labour commissioner DK Singh said today. Police is investigating the matter.

Gujarat CM Narendra Modi pays tribute to a bust of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel after its unveiling on Thursday.

PTI

Around the World

12

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Beyond Borders

The Lazarus effect strikes again

H

osni Mubarak, Egypt’s ousted leader, has been the subject of death speculations since he was sentenced to life in prison on June 2, the New York Times pointed out.

Mubarak was already falsely rumored to have died on June 12, Sophos reported. As the world holds its breath over the announcement of Mubarak’s “clinical death” Tuesday, we take a look at some of the most heart-stopping death speculations to make their way through the rumor mill.

n Joe Paterno

SAVING MR KAKAPO AUCKLAND: Flightless, slowmoving and at times more sexually attracted to humans than their own species, it’s small wonder New Zealand’s kakapo parrot is on the verge of extinction.

But a mammoth conservation effort stretching back decades is offering hope for one of the world’s rarest birds, lifting its numbers from about 50 in 1990 to 126 this year.

The plump, green kakapo — the name means “night parrot” in Maori — was once one of the most common birds in New Zealand, which had few land predators before European settlement in the early Nineteenth Century.

“There was a report from an early explorer, Charles Douglas, who said they were so populous you could shake them out of trees like apples," said Deirdre Vercoe Scott, head of the Department of Conservation’s kakapo recovery programme.

Vercoe Scott said habitat destruction by humans and the introduction of pests such as stoats and predatory cats and dogs, sowed the seeds of the kakapos’ decline.

The flightless nocturnal birds, while essentially ground dwelling, are strong climbers but freeze when confronted by a threat, making them easy pickings for predators.

The males also attract mates by emitting a deep booming sound from thoracic air sacs, turning them into conspicuous targets for hunters in the night forest.

With an ageing population and bird numbers declining, kakapo recovery programme chief scientist Ron Moorehouse said the species’ future appeared

Huge mega wombat graveyard SYDNEY: Australian scientists on Thursday unveiled the biggest-ever graveyard of an ancient rhino-sized mega-wombat called diprotodon, with the site potentially holding valuable clues on the species’ extinction.

The remote fossil deposit in Queensland state is thought to contain up to 50 diprotodon skeletons including a huge specimen named Kenny, whose jawbone alone is 70 centimetres long. Pigeon-toed and with a backward-facing pouch large enough to carry an adult human, Hocknull likened diprotodon to “a cross between a wombat and a bear but the size of a rhinoceros".

The deposit contained the largest concentration of megawombat fossils ever discovered and could hold important clues on how the diprotodon lived and what caused it to perish, he said. “dire” in the 1990s.

The situation sparked an intense conservation initiative, which has cost tens of millions of dollars, to save a bird that those who have encountered it describe as endearing and full of personality.

“They can be quite grumpy," ranger Sarah Kivi said. “They display so much personality, which I guess you don’t get from a lot of birds. They’ll sit there and look at you and you wonder ‘what are they thinking?'".

Exacerbating the problem was the fact that kakapo, which can live up to 90 years, are notoriously slow breeders, only reproducing

in seasons when abundant fruit is available from native tree species.

The breeding programme faced another hurdle when male kakapo became “imprinted” on their human handlers, meaning they saw them as more likely potential mates than female kakapo.

In the early days of the conservation effort, rangers even wore an outlandish rubber helmet dotted with dimples in an unsuccessful attempt to collect kakapo sperm when males tried to mate with their heads British actor Stephen Fry witnessed the kakapo’s amorous antics first hand while filming his programme “Last Chance to See” in 2009, when a kakapo named Sirocco took a shine to zoologist Mark Carwardine and began vigorously coupling with his scalp.

The resulting footage, which Fry described as “one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen", attracted almost four million hits on video-sharing website Y o u t u b e http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =9T1vfsHYiKY. Vercoe Scott said the birds’ fortunes began to improve when they were moved to two remote islands where existing pests had been eliminated and which predators from the mainland could not reach by swimming.

Vercoe Scott said it was highly unlikely any kakapo now survived in the wild, meaning only the conservation programme could save the species.

Such has been its success that rangers this year re-introduced eight kakapo to a third sanctuary, Little Barrier Island off the Auckland coast, after eliminating a rat infestation which forced their removal in 1999.

AFP

The Penn State head coach, legendary for winning the most games in major college football, fell from grace when he became embroiled in the sex abuse charges against his former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, ESPN reported. Paterno was suffering from lung cancer leading up to the scandal, and his death was mistakenly reported early by reporters more than 12 hours before his doctors and family members announced he had died, the New York Times reported.

n Tina Turner

On Saturday, June 9th, Twitter (more often than not the main culprit of spreading false death rumors) was buzzing with talk that the 72-year-old singer had passed away, E! Online reported. The confusion stemmed from an “advance obituary” published on a website called Necropedia.com. However, Turner’s rep quickly set the record straight, telling reporters that he had just spoken to his client and that Turner “was still very much alive," Gossip Cop reported.

n Hugo Chavez

When the Venezuelan leader left the country on April 14 to undergo cancer treatment in Havana, his nine-day silence sparked rumors of his

death, Reuters reported.

Chavez had only been communicating via short tweets, leading many to speculate he had died during his cancer therapy.

n Gabrielle Giffords

The shooting that occurred during an event for Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in January 2011 left 18 people injured and six dead, including a federal judge, the Washington Post reported. NPR, however, mistakenly reported that Giffords was one of the fatalities, after they received a tip from Arizona Public Media News Director Peter Michaels, whose wife was at the scene of the crime, wrote NPR’s Ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos. Other major media outlets, including CNN and the New York Times, quickly spread the news.

n Mikhail Gorbachev In late May 2012, a newly created Twitter account (@FReinfeldtGov) claiming to belong to the Prime Minister of Sweden tweeted that former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev’s had died, security firm Sophos reported.

The firm looked into the account and found it had only been created an hour earlier, and that the Soviet leader was still alive.

n Margaret Thatcher

French News organization LesNews started the rumor on Twitter (are you surprised?) that the former British prime minister had died on May 9, 2012. They had gotten their news from a fake Carla Bruni Twitter account, according to Gawker. The rumor spread as far as Canada, where former Quebec party leader Mario Dumont retweeted the news, the Globe and Mail reported.

GLOBALPOST

Around the World

Troops lay siege to Kabul hotel KABUL: Afghan security forces on Friday freed 35-40 hostages taken by Taliban insurgents in an attack on a lakeside hotel at a beauty spot on the outskirts of Kabul, the interior ministry said.

Militants armed with automatic weapons and rockets attacked the Spozhmai Hotel on Qargha Lake overnight, taking hostages and sparking gun battles with Afghan security forces who were supported by NATO forces.

Around eight hours after the assault began, interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP Afghan forces had freed between 35 and 40 hostages, including women and children.

Sediqqi said three hotel guards and at least one police officer were killed.

Just hours before the assault, President Hamid Karzai warned that attacks against local police and soldiers were increasing as they prepare to take over security when NATO combat troops leave in 2014.

Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said that three hotel guards and at least one police officer were killed, while a number of civilian hostages taken by the militants were freed, though he did not specify how many. "We don't have any precise figure about civilian casualties.

Four or five suicide attackers were involved in the attack. Two of them have been killed and three others are resisting," he told AFP. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the hotel raid.

AFP

13

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Beyond Borders

Consensus eludes environment meet RIO DE JANEIRO: Discord overshadowed debate about the world’s environment at the Rio+20 UN summit Thursday, while celebrities clamored for a sanctuary to protect the riches of the Arctic.

On its penultimate day, UN chief Ban Ki-moon defended the first large-scale conference on sustainable development in a decade as “the beginning of a journey.”

The event “will lead to a more sustainable future for ourselves and for generations to come,” he said.

But the gathering came under fire from the leftist presidents of Bolivia and Ecuador, along with indigenous peoples, who said capitalist greed lurked beneath its promotion of the green economy.

Bolivian President Evo Morales described the green economy as “a new colonialism” that rich nations sought to impose on developing countries.

“They want to create intervention mechanisms to monitor and assess our national policies using environmental concerns as an excuse.”

Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, also pressed African countries to protect their mineral wealth from transnational companies.

In an interview with AFP, President Rafael Correa of Ecuador accused rich countries of “looting the planet, consuming environmental assets freely.”

GLOBE AT A GLANCE US denies arming Syrian opposition LAKE BUENA VISTA: The US today said it is only providing humanitarian aid and non-lethal assistance to the Syrian opposition, a day after a media report claimed that CIA officers were distributing assault rifles, anti-tank rocket launchers and other ammunition to rebels. "We do not, as a matter of policy, provide lethal aid to the opposition," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters.

Mexico arrests son of drug cartel boss MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s military on

Indians at the former Indian museum which they are occupying in Rio de Janeiro. They want to keep the building to create the first Indian university but officials want to use the site to consturct a shopping centre.

AFP

Thursday said it had captured the son of Sinaloa drug cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, dealing a major blow against the notorious crime syndicate run by this country’s most wanted man.

The elder Guzman has a $5 million reward on his head in the United States.

India blames it on rich RIO DE JANEIRO: It was a mixed bag for India on the penultimate day of the Earth Summit here on Thursday where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh articulated the aspirations of the developing world, saying it cannot be forced or even expected to share equally the burden of environmental degradation perpetrated by rich nations in the past.

The regret was on the continuing ambiguity and the lack of any meaningful solution on how developed nations proposed to fund green technologies and programmes of emergIndigenous peoples gathered for a counter-summit issued a declaration describing the green economy as “a crime

ing and poor countries.

So was the conspicuous absence of two main leaders of rich nations, US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who did not join some 90 other leaders in this vital summit.

Yet, there were three distinct takeaways from the summit for emerging economies in general and India in particular, which in many ways ensures they will not be burdened unduly with having to pay a greater price for growth and development in a green, sustainable manner.

IANS against humanity and the Earth” by dollarizing nature and stripping communities of their rights.

AFP

President Barack Obama greets students after he called on Congress to stop interest rates on student loans from doubling.

PTI

Annan, major powers launch last peace bid UNITED NATIONS: International envoy Kofi Annan and the major powers have launched a final drive to find a diplomatic solution to the Syria crisis while preparing sanctions and emergency plans for UN observers in the conflict-stricken state. Annan wants to get Russia, the US, and other key nations behind an effort to bring Assad into talks.

Disability fails to thwart his mettle

Diplomats in Pakistan facing harassment: US

AQABA

WASHUINGTON: US diplomats work-

(JORDAN): A Frenchman who lost all of his limbs in an accident braved hot weather and sharks on Thursday to swim across the Red Sea from Egypt’s Taba to Aqaba in Jordan as part of a global challenge.

Using prosthetic limbs with flippers attached, Philippe Croizon, 44, left Taba at 6.30 GMT and arrived in Aqaba more than five hours later at 11.50 GMT. “I am very happy that I have made it. It is a great feeling to swim between Africa and Asia,” Croizon told AFP. French swimmer Arnaud Chassery as well as two disabled Jordanians, Mohammad Smadi and Mohammad Sawaai, accompanied Croizon throughout the challenge. “We are all sunburned. We had to drink

A file photo of Philippe Croizon. loads of water. It was very very hot and the sun was blazing. But the sea was calm and nice,” said Croizon, wearing a red-andwhite keffiyeh head scarf.

“I think we swam 15 or 20 kilometres (nine or 12 miles). We did not swim in a straight line in order to avoid some strong currents.”

Four Jordanian boats accompanied the swimmer and Croizon’s team and French embassy officials were on hand to welcome him ashore. “Bravo, bravo,” they chanted when Croizon arrived.

Croizon said: “Obtaining authorisation from the Egyptian side was difficult. We had to sign tonnes of documents.” “But thank God, we have achieved our goal at this stage, proving that there is no difference between a disabled swimmer and a normal swimmer.”

The Red Sea is infested with more than 40 species of shark.

“I took part in this adventure to prove that disabled people can do anything. I have already taken part in various sports championships,” said Smadi, a 39-year-old former army officer.

ing in Pakistan face increasing harassment amid a sharp deterioration in ties in the wake of last year's killing of Osama bin Laden, a State Department report said Thursday. Such harassment and obstruction is described by US embassy staff as "deliberate, willful and systematic," according to the report by the department's watchdog,

A victim’s kin is assisted during a ceremony at an air base in Jakarta following an air force plane crash killing all seven crew.

PTI

Comment

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Fair, free and forthright

Talk back Focus on governance Now that the bypolls are over, the government can now focus on matters that demand action. The drubbing the ruling party received, I hope, shall wake them up from their slumber. The results signify that the policies this government has been pursuing were wrong and the people have answered. Some may say that Jagan Mohan Reddy’s party won by winning the sympathy of the people. One cannot entirely deny this and the sympathy factor grew as Jagan was being hounded by sleuths over charges of accumulating assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. Now that the show is over, please let’s start concentrating on the real issues that people face.

A Kumar Ameerpet

Students, stick to studies Why students get sucked into the vortex of politics is something I don’t understand. The duty of students is very well defined and this is for their own good. A good student will go on to a have a good career, which in turn ensures a good life. Politics, we all know, is not the cleanest of professions — yes, that’s what it has become of late, a business. Students must be smart enough to steer clear of this whirlpool of nuisance that politics has come to be. They have a clear curriculum scientifically designed for their good and must stick to it. If they want to take active participation in politics, they can move over to it fulltime, so that their misplaced interests do not affect other students.

Eshwar Rao Kukatpally

IDs will reduce crime So driving around customers in busses that are in poor running condition is not the only mistake private bus operators indulge in.

The latest revelation by your paper in the story, Safety is not their concern, should serve as an eye-opener to law-enforcing authorities in the State and country at large. By applying a little bit of commonsense, one can see the mistake that authorities are doing by letting anybody and everybody use long-distance public transport system without having to reveal their identity. Ensuring that we are aware of the movement of as many people as we possibly can monitor certainly will help curb avoidable nuisance.

Chandrashekhar G Banjara Hills

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.

Editor: Dean Williams

14

Is there anyone against the idea of a clean India?

The Anonymous Alien

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oa conjures up images of exotic beaches and impossibly tall palm trees and of empty cans and papers and garbage covering the beaches.

Three years ago, I went to a “retreat” center located on a beautiful lake in the hills two hours outside of Mumbai. The lake was filled with floating garbage. In fact, the retreat center used the lake as its perpetual garbage can.

There’s no escaping it... you can drive down the prettiest road in India, up a mountain, through a city, and everywhere you look is tons and tons of garbage.

I’m sorry to say it, but India is treated by most like one giant garbage can. It’s bad enough that it is such an eyesore, and one that probably cuts into the lucrative foreign tourist market. It’s worse still that this garbage can attract disease-carrying rodents, and actually leach dangerous chemicals into the ground that can harm plants, animals and humans.

It used to be like this in the United States, and not so long ago. Back in the seventies, it wasn’t uncommon (as is the case now in India) to pick up food at McDonald’s, then dump the wrappings out the car as you finished off your Big Mac. Just roll down the window and toss.

The worst thing, also starting to be a huge problem in India, was cigarette butts. When smoking reached its “high” point in the seventies, there were places you could go where the entire earth was covered – I mean covered – in cigarette butts. You didn’t build a sand-castle then, you built a castle made of butts.

Then things changed. First, states and the federal government started cranking up the polluting fines. First to $25 (about `1,250), then $50, then $100, and then, in some areas, to $250. And the police started to enforce them. Funny how people are more inclined to toss the Big Mac wrapper in a trash can when it might cost them $250 if they instead toss it on the ground.

Second, the federal government launched a major and sustained ad campaign against polluting. The campaign showed wildlife lit-

Editorials

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erally submerged in a sea of garbage, and little kids frolicking in playgrounds filled with trash.

Where once tossing garbage out the window was a rebellious and even “cool” act, it became, rather suddenly, an illegal, reprehensible and decidedly uncool act. Collective peer-pressure turned against polluting.

Third, governments around the country started putting out “steal-proof” trash cans everywhere – trash cans literally cemented into the ground. Simply put, the government made it really easy to find a place to dispose of your trash, making the decision to be “clean” an easy one to make.

The results were quite astonishing. Within a few short years, trash on the ground became

an oddity, rather than the norm. And when someone decided to challenge the norm, and toss their garbage, they would draw evil looks from anyone there to witness them. They seldom tossed garage again after that.

A clean India would be a good thing for everyone. For wildlife, children, the tourist industry – it could even help to secure increased foreign investment. Is there anyone against the idea of a clean India?

A dream you say? Let’s slap down a `500 fine for polluters, and let the policeman who enforces the fine keep half of it, and give the other half to the state tax coiffures. I think the country would get clean, and fast. And, we might even get the country out of debt in the process!

MAMATA MUST REALISE THAT SOIL is eroding under her feet

ooks like West Bengal CM is facing payback time. Her much touted Act on Singur lands has been struck down by the Calcutta High Court as 'unconstitutional and void'. The firebrand Trinamool supremo has been wrecking havoc with her adamant stands and whimsical demands, putting enormous pressure on the Centre and the Congress. Her first setback was when Mulayam chose to support Congress presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee within hours of appearing with her and suggesting APJ Abdul Kalam's name. Now the High Court order has thrown water on her plans to emerge triumphant by vanquishing evil industrialists who dared to work with the Marxists. Ever since she came to power, the popular leader has been on a bizarre run. All that was going wrong in the state were Communist conspiracies and media misinterpretation, she charged, and added that she was indeed on track in creating a land of milk and honey. At least West Bengal has one good event to savour during Didi's rule — the victory of Kolkata Knight Riders!

WHY WE LOVE...

Pixar

F

or yonks we had to put up with the animated drivel being churned out

by Disney, but then came a film called Toy Story (ostensible by Disney, but created by a brilliant team called Pixar). After that animated films became so much more than that. From Finding Nemo to Wall-E, the studio has shone. Thanks Pixar.

Rhythm Nation

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

15

PROTÉGÉS DO THEIR MENTORS PROUD Rahul Ramakrishna rahul.r@postnoon.com

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hen Swathi Kiranam hit theatres in cinemas across the state, little did we realise the impact of its storyline. The life stories of many of today’s music directors make for an interesting read, especially their aspirations that helped them carve separate identities, growing into famous names in film history.

Take the case of AR Rahman. Prior to being the Oscar winner that he is, Rahman’s humble roots lay within his family where his father RK Shekhar was a film music composer. Rahman’s association with his father exposed him to some of the then Tamil cinema industry’s heavyweights — Ilayaraja, MS Vishwanathan and MK Arjunanan.

Dileep, as Rahman was known back then, was an assistant under a lot of these famous names including the much popular Raj-Koti from Telugu cinema.

Rahman’s fresh sound and the liberal use of the synthesizer, which he describes as the “perfect combination of music and technology” earned him his first film, Roja with Mani Ratnam. After that, there was no looking back.

The same was to be the case with Rahman’s keyboard player and arranger, Harris Jayaraj, whose works, after his departure from under Rahman’s wing, made him a much sought-after music director in South Indian cinema.

While Rahman’s case may not be statistically conclusive in pointing out a trend such as this, Mani Sharma’s history supplements our story. Mani Sharma was initially a keyboard player who worked alongside Rahman for Raj- Koti and also for Ilayaraja during his early days in Chennai. His first seasoned breakthrough was his single song composition and background score work for Antham. After Antham, Mani Sharma had no looking back. He went on to become one of the

GV Prakash Kumar, has raised a storm in the music industry, thanks to his brilliant musical compositions in Gangs of Wasseypur. His mentor is none other than AR Rahman himself. The instances of protégés transcending the records set by their masters are stories in themselves most favoured music directors in Telugu cinema scoring and working for over 150 films.

At about this time, SS Thaman, a young lad from Chennai, keen and enthusiastic with percussion and rhythm programming was working under music legend SP Balasubramaniam as a rhythm pads player. And soon, he began pitching in with Raj-Koti with whom he had worked for over 60 films and it was during this period of tutelage that SS Thaman came under Mani Sharma’s wings, working as an arranger, rhythm and keyboard programmer. After working for over 80 films with Mani Sharma, Thaman branched out to make his mark in the industry, carving a niche for himself in a remarkably short span of time.

These stalwarts have treated their fans to some of the best music that South India has heard in the recent times, whatever their means might be.

With such varied backgrounds and experiences, their music indeed reflects their passion and struggle for the art and the value they hold for it.

Top 10 songs

Top 10 albums – Gotye

Harris Jayaraj

SS Thaman

Bollywood Top 10 3. Morcha

The Rad

4. Scream

– Beach Boys – Usher

5. Lights

1. Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen 2. Wide Awake – Katy Perry 3. Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra)

AR Rahman

– Ellie Goulding 6. Back In Time (From "Men In Black III") – Pitbull 7. Where Have You Been – Rihanna 8. Titanium (feat. Sia) – David Guetta & Sia 9. What Makes You Beautiful – One Direction 10. Boyfriend – Justin Bieber

1. 21 – Adele 2.Thirty Miles West – Alan Jackson 3. That's Why God Made

4. Americana – Neil Young with crazy horse 5. Live from the Underground – Big K.R.I.T. 6. Up all night – One direction 7. Born and Raised – John Mayer 8. The Stoned Immaculate – The Curren$y 9. Blown Away – Carrie Underwood 10. Bear Creek – Brandy Carlile

1. Mukhtasar – Teri Meri Kahaani 2. Keh ke lunga – Gangs of Wasseypur

– Shanghai 4. Chamak Challo Chel Chabeli – Rowdy Rathore 5. Humse pyaar kar le tu – Teri Meri Kahaani 6. Jiya Tu – Gangs of Wasseypur 7. Jabse mere dil ko uff – Teri Meri Kahaani 8. Dhadang Dhadang – Rowdy Rathore 9. Dua – Shanghai 10. Pareshaan – Ishaqzaade

H‑Factor

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Holistic view of mind, body and soul

SRINIVAS SETTY

TOO GOOD TO RESIST Who doesn’t like to grab a plate of piping hot bhajjiyas or pop some gol gappas when it’s pouring cats and dogs.

But ever thought of the health ailments in store for you?

Ranjani Rajendra ranjani.r@postnoon.com

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t’s been pouring all day and now you’re craving a plate of piping hot bhajjiyas with some spicy chutney to go with it or some garam tikkis and gol gappe on the side. The thela wala is your first choice, because if it ain’t fresh off the street, it just ain’t yummy enough. But as tempting as these monsoon treats may seem, waterborne diseases follow close on their heels.

So the next thing you know after you’ve indulged yourself with some of those yummy delicacies, you’ve got a terrible stomach, nausea and are resigned to eat bland stuff for the next few days, along with a bunch of medicines.

“Food that is made on the road side or at hotels and are left in the open are likely to be contaminated thanks to houseflies swarming around. Also how good the water used to cook these dishes is doubtful. It’s best to avoid street food in the monsoon,” says Dr DV Sreenivas, consultant gastroenterologist at Apollo Hospital.

After the long and scorching summer months, the onset of monsoon does make people prone to a host of diseases. During the monsoons, our digestive system is weaker and makes us susceptible to all kinds of gastrointestinal infections. Which is why, health experts suggest that we keep spicy greasy and fried foods at bay and instead opt for light and healthy food. Also the more freshly cooked the food, the fewer the chances of contamination.

For a City like Hyderabad, that has sewage and water pipelines running alongside, the chances of seepage and mixing of the two lines is pretty high. Little wonder then that with the onset of monsoons there is almost always an outbreak of ailments thanks to contamination and in extreme cases, death (remember the Bholakpur tragedy of 2009 that claimed 14 lives).

“Drinking water gets contaminated with over flowing drain water if there is a break in drinking water pipes. Where ever there is overflowing drainage water, there is a chance of drinking water contamination,” says Dr Sreenivas.

Contaminated and food usually spell an outbreak of gastritis, gastroenteritis,

typhoid and hepatitis B. “We often see such cases. Treatment usually comprises of IV fluids and antiemetic drugs if there is persistant vomiting,” explains Dr Sreenivas.

The best way to stay healthy during the monsoon is to avoid drinking water that has not been properly boiled and filtered and completely steering clear of street food, especially stuff that has been left uncovered for a long time. The chances of infection are

just too high to take a risk. Even at home, it pays to boil and filter water, to avoid any infections. When one is down with a case of gastritis, it helps to stay hydrated and of course consult a doctor for appropriate medical attention.

The most important thing to remember is to complete the course of medication even if you’re feeling better to prevent a relapse or complications.

18

New tests can accurately tell paternity early in pregnancy

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lood tests are now available to reliably determine paternity as early as the eighth or ninth week of pregnancy, The New York Times reported.

While invasive procedures such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS), performed between 10 and 20 weeks, can also determine paternity, the new tests — requiring only blood samples from the pregnant woman and the potential father — carry less risk of miscarriage. And while noninvasive paternity tests have been offered over the Internet for about a decade, experts say technology has advanced to the point that such testing can now be done reliably.

The tests analyse fragments of DNA from the fetus present in the mother’s blood. “I have no doubt that these tests will work clinically,” said Mark I Evans, a professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and director of Comprehensive Genetics, told the Times.

A paper describing one such test, developed by a company called Ravgen, was published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Meanwhile, genetic researchers at the University of Washington had sequenced nearly the entire genome of an 18-week-old fetus using only a sample of the mother’s blood and a swab of the father’s saliva.

According to a separate report in The New York Times, scientists discovered in the 1990s that about 13 percent of the DNA floating freely in a pregnant woman’s blood, outside her cells, belonged to her foetus.

Further, the fetus gets half its DNA from the mother and half from the father. Taking the genetic testing a step further, early and noninvasive prenatal testing for a number of genetic disorders could be a real possibility very soon.

However, as the website pointed out that as the cost of analysing foetus DNA — currently about $20,000 to $50,000 — fell, and as a result possibly became widely available in three to five years, the ethical implications mounted. For example, about 85 per cent of expecting American parents who learned their foetus had Down Syndrome choose to abort.

The cost of blood testing for paternity meantime, was now as low as $950 to $1,650, offered by Ravgen, the Columbia, Maryland based company’s chief executive Dr Ravinder Dhallan told the Times. That’s compared with around $500 for a conventional postbirth paternity test.

Another test developed by Silicon Valley company Natera was priced at $1,775, The Times wrote, adding that thousands of the prenatal tests had been ordered since it went on sale last August.

GLOBAL POST

H‑Factor

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Holistic view of mind, body and soul

New mosquito species doesn’t need blood before laying eggs SYDNEY: Scientists have discovered a secretive and exotic species of mosquito, which, unlike others of its kind, do not require a blood meal before laying eggs.

Researchers found that rather than breeding in ponds, pools or wetlands, the culex molestus mosquito has adapted to life underground, particularly in septic tanks and disused stormwater pipes. Unlike other mosquitoes, this species can also develop their eggs without first requiring a blood meal.

“The curious biological trait of this undergrounddwelling mosquito shows that people in cities need to

take mosquitoes’ amazing adaptability into account when designing water storage systems,” said Cameron Webb, medical entomologist from University of Sydney Medical School, who led the study, the Journal of Vector Ecology reports.

“We have spent the last two years chasing the species, which has adapted superbly to life beneath our cities. Finding this mosquito isn’t easy. Instead of wandering through pristine wetlands, we were snooping around stormwater drains and other polluted structures,” said Webb, according to a Sydney statement.

“However, the toilet

blocks in urban parklands were where we really struck gold. The disused septic tanks associated with these structures are where this mosquito is commonly found,” said Webb.

While the majority of pest mosquitoes require blood to develop their eggs, the female of this species can develop and lay a batch of eggs using nutrients stored earlier in its life cycle. This phenomenon is known as autogeny and has been documented in a number of mosquitoes.

“The breakthrough with our study is that if this mosquito is offered a blood meal, it won’t bite until its

first batch of eggs has been laid. We believe this is the only Australian species to exhibit this behaviour,” he said.

“Once that first batch of eggs has been laid, they are on the hunt for blood and can be severe nuisance-biting pests.”

“One of the major implications of this work is that we must be mindful of the mosquito risks when designing subterranean water storage systems in our cities so we do not create new opportunities for mosquitoes,” said Webb. Culex molestus is thought to have been introduced into South Australia in the 1940s.

IANS

Too much soap may cause allergies, study says Amy Silverste

T

he antibacterial chemicals present in soap, toothpaste and other personalcare products may be contributing to childhood food and environmental allergies, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

In recent years, researchers have struggled to understand why rates of childhood allergies continue to increase. From 1997 to 2007, prevalence of food allergies increased 18 per cent among children, according to a study from 2008. Researchers estimate that more than 23 million people in the US now have asthma and allergies. One of the leading theories for the increase in allergies is the “hygiene-hypothesis,” which argues that children in developed countries live in conditions that are too clean, preventing their

A new study has linked antibacterial usage to allergies

immune systems from getting used to germs and bacteria.

The study from John Hopkins is the latest to back up the hygiene hypothesis. In the study, researchers looked at 860 children and measured the amount of antibacterial chemicals in their urine. The researchers found that children with higher levels of the personal-care chemicals in their urine were also more likely to have more IgE antibodies in their blood. IgE antibodies are immune chemicals that are elevated in people with allergies.

“The link between allergy risk and antimicrobial exposure suggests that these agents may disrupt the balance between beneficial and bad bacteria,” lead author Jessica Savage announced. Other theories include pollution and better detection, MSNBC reported.

GLOBAL POST

19

I’ve lost it and will continue Gym Diaries Sudeshna Koka

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t’s been about two months since I began writing this column. Ever since, I’ve been itching to write this line, “I have lost weight.” Yes, you read it right, as much I find it hard to believe as well, I have indeed lost weight. When a few friends told me that I did look like I’d lost some weight, I refused to believe it. Until, two days ago when I weighed myself at the hospital only to realise that I was four kilos lighter. Wow! I could barely believe it and trust me it was a wonderful feeling.

Although, I can’t really figure out if I’ve lost inches, I’m happy about the weight loss. It may be small, but it definitely is a start. My hard work has paid off and that too when I least expected it. Least expected, because I have not been regular with my work outs or my diet. But now that I know I’ve lost weight, it has made me more determined to keep at it for some more stunning results. Come to think of it, I have realised that weight-loss is not an overnight process, I need to stick to it.

When I was contemplating on what to write about this week, a colleague of mine, suddenly burst out in anger, “Gymming is so over rated. It’s just a fad that most people stick to for a maximum of one year, till they get married. Who would like to go gymming all their lives?”

This is when I realised how important it is to be consistent.

Earlier too, I had joined a couple of gyms but had quit within 45 days. Gavinz is perhaps the only place that I’ve stuck to, thanks to my friend ‘R’ who keeps pushing me. I can now begin to see results or rather it shows for itself. Patience and consistency are the key.

So after not going to the gym for nearly three weeks now, I have vowed to change that and soon write about having lost 10 kilos.

Ouch! My hands hurt as I write, the after effects of upper body work out you see. My fingers hurt too, that’s the kind of workouts I have been doing but it is all worth the pain.

(The writer is determined to fight the flab. Readers can inspire her at sudeshna.k@postnoon.com)

F‑Folio

S

Sona Mohapatra

ona Mohapatra is a young singer who broke the existing norms of Indian female vocalists who are recognised for singing playback in Bollywood films alone. She is a statuesque beauty who has an electric stage presence which is evident in her live performances. She has spoken to the media how she likes to be the face of her music when people hear her. Which shows that Sona understands that a thing like music has to be personal and be communicated from the actual source for it to connect better with her audience. It is true for her personal style options. One can see she wears what she desires and which reflect her inner self while performing. Sona’s style is bold and she likes to go for avant garde designers like Kallol Datta and Eina Ahluwalia. Millions recently saw her live performances via the television show Satyamev Jayate.

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esterday the fashion feature celebrated Hollywood’s leading ladies who made their mark being the original crusaders when it came to style.

Their fashion choices may not have been what everyone agreed to be trending at the moment, but they owned their style because it was a direct osmosis of who they were. Their

appearances will be remembered because it reflected their taste and personality however it was — simple, glamorous, or eccentric. Today, the article is about the Indian women who

Create your Lakshmi Menon

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hen did Lakshmi Menon start her modelling career is not known to many.

But when she made it big is known by many, as it was on a much larger scale, bigger than any model in the past.

Menon’s dusky skin and dark hair were unique to the global fashion world and she was accepted, as she was. Menon, like other models did not turn to films, Bollywood or television once she achieved fame. She wears simple clothes with dishevelled hair reflecting a very personal style when not working. She seems very comfortable in her skin and her style choices clearly reflect that outlook.

She carries the cool laid back style of Goa with her wherever she travels with her fashion and style choices.

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

Surabhi Chauhan feedback@postnoon.com

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012 wear what they know looks good on them. Some on the list, you might argue have made some bad judgments when it came to fashion.

True, but those were instances when

they were dressed as something that was far from their true personality.

Which just proves why they should not dress up considering what looks great on the pages of a glossy maga-

zine. Their style very much reflects their career, their craft, their personal life and mood. Take a cue from these women and dress according to your style.

own style Vidya Balan

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idya Balan is one of the leading actors of our generation. She has perfected delivering varied roles on screen. She seldom repeats her characters in films and her character’s style is also unique to each film. It is good to know the actor sports her own style off screen sometimes. In fact, whenever she has dressed as her character in real life, it has been a major disappointment. Her attempt at trying college fashion for the promotion of Kismat Konnection, or the frilly outfits she wore for The Dirty Picture are a case in example.

The fact is that in real life you are representing yourself even while promoting the about to be released film. Her appearance in a Sabyasachi sari, who is her close friend, always hits the right note no matter how many times she chooses to wear him. His sensibility and drapes suits Vidya’s body and style and that is when her true style is reflected.

Anoushka Shankar

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itar player Anoushka Shankar is an unconventional beauty in the true sense. Maestro Pandit Ravi Shakar’s daughter, singer Norah Jones’ step sister, Anoushka holds her own in talent and individual presence. Her music has fetched her a Grammy Award and that did not make her want to be like other celebrities and turn mainstream. Her style is very unique and she makes a conscious decision to wear Indian wear with a personalised tweak or two. She looks elegant in a dress or an Indian suit. She chooses to wear Indian designers on many occasions and promotes them on an international platform by doing so.

20&21

Spotlight

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

DEEPAK DESHPANDE

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Celebrating 26 years of success Sanskruti, a ladies club that has done much for women and promotion of art and culture in the city, celebrated its 26th installation ceremony at Taj Krishna.

United through music

Saris for all seasons DEEPAK DESHPANDE

The halls of Shilpakala Vedika reverberated with the sound of melodious music at the One World Fusion Extravaganza, organised on Thursday. The event was attended by music-lovers in the city.

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1. Vatti Vasantha Kumar 2. Shradha 3. Bharat 4. Ashish 5. Ruchi

From the weaver to the wearer Kantilal Dande, director of handloom, textiles and apparel, AP on Thursday inaugurated the Ikat Mela 2012 at Abids. The mela will be on till July 6.

Actor Ruhi Chaturvedi on Thursday launched CMR Shopping Mall’s seasonal discounts for Ashadam.

Magic Screen

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

The glamour behind the glitz

Julaayi set to release on July 13 A

llu Arjun, Ileana starrer Julaayi is all set to hit the screens on July 13. Directed by Trivikram Srinivas, the film is an action entertainer replete with Trivikram’s trademark dialogues. The music, composed by Devi Sri Prasad, has already

become a big hit in the market and to celebrate the success, the film’s platinum disc function is going be held on July 8.

Sonu Sood and Rajendra Prasad are playing important roles. N Radhakrishna is producing the film and DVV Danayya is presenting it.

T-TOWN TWEETIES

@pnavdeep26 Gonna watch 3 movies back to back today... need more proof dat I love cinema? Lol :) Prometheus, Madagascar and the Piranha... its raining Hollywood tonight....

@taapsee I dnt understand y ppl cross d road in front of d lane just after d signal goes green! As if they feel dat green is for em! How stupid!

@actor_Nikhil With family on a holiday by the beach...

Lovely peaceful private beach resort... Cottage 20 mt frm the waves.

Suriya and Gautham team up

S

uriya and Gautham Menon are going to team up for the third time after Kaakha Kaakha and Vaaranam Aayiram. The period film, set in 1930s, has been titled as Thuppariyum Anandan and Suriya is going to play the role of a detective who solves a murder mystery in Madras. Gautham Menon had earlier approached Kamal Haasan and Ajith for this ambitious project and finally he decided to collaborate with Suriya. The film will go on floors in early 2013.

Ram Charan, Upasana’s

Italian escapade

R

am Charan and Upasana Kamineni are currently in Italy to celebrate their honeymoon.

After almost 10 days of wedding formalities, the duo flew to Vatican City few days ago and visited the St Peter’s Church. We hear that the couple was invited to stay over at legendary designer Salvatore Ferragamo’s ranch near Florence, Italy. Ram Charan is going to come back to India in a couple of days and he’ll immediately begin shooting for V V Vinayak’s upcoming film.

@sundeepkishan My super cool foreign DOP Lucaz surprised us all by placing a shot which he says he got inspired for from #GabbarSingh #Pawanism #KevvuKekka.

@shriyasmiling I'm wearing Shravan Kumar.... It's a pretty half sari. Black colour.

Delicate Surface ornamentation. I'm sure you guys will love it.

@tashu_02 Was out with my relatives.... it was thr last night in the City... tmrw morning they gonna return... so took them around for a small drive...

23

Magic Screen

The glamour behind the glitz

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

24

Magic Screen

The glamour behind the glitz

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

25

Chai Time

KAKURO

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

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

Within each collection of cells - called a run - any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once.

Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14.

Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on...

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

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

SCRIBBLING PAD

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Take a shot at the brain game while sipping your cuppa

26

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Like some proportions 5 Constellation formerly part of Argo 11 Pantyhose woe 14 Crime scene discovery 15 Belittled 16 Beatle bride of 1969 17 Ostracized 19 Mysterious radar blip 20 Fleur-de-___ (Quebec symbol) 21 Segments of books 23 Painter's support 26 Unit of resistance 27 "Drop this," editorially 28 A ballroom dance 30 Bank jobs 32 End of the Three Musketeers' motto 33 Take air in and out 36 Eloquent 41 Rotted 42 Try to win the hand of 44 "Little Women" novelist 47 Make good 50 Horn honk 51 Square on a calendar 53 "Giddyap!" obeyer 54 Hit maker?

57 Boater's paddle 58 "'Tain't" rebuttal 59 Changing places 64 1,000,000,000 years 65 A hole near the sole 66 Kind of tide 67 Modern courtroom evidence 68 Fishing boots 69 A bit pretentious DOWN 1 Draw away from shore 2 D.C. wheeler-dealer 3 "Apple cider" gal 4 Bikes 5 Airport curb queue 6 Atty.'s org.

7 "Happy Days" role 8 Faith with Five Pillars 9 Maiden name indicators 10 Affixes 11 Certain cosmetics 12 Insincere 13 Hangmen's loops 18 Bit of Scottish attire 22 "Farewell" from France 23 12:15 at J.F.K., perhaps 24 Belt hole makers 25 Concerto highlights 26 An aria is part of it 29 Correct way to stand 30 Believer in sacred cows 31 Bit of a joule 34 Barnyard abode 35 Art of verse 37 Drug for Parkinson's patients 38 Boxer's doc

39 Bedside pitcher 40 Accomplishes 43 Elevated poetic piece 44 Became less intense 45 Small wound 46 Big name in private planes 48 Blacken with fire 49 Blunt-ended cigar 51 Chopped finely 52 Common place for a sprain 55 Bumped off, biblically 56 Bean used in Asian sauces (Var.) 57 Dinner

SUDOKU

scraps 60 All eternity, poetically 61 Above, poetically 62 You can wipe your feet on it 63 "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, ___" PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

THOUGHT OF THE DAY “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

– Thomas Edison

Chai Time STAR POWER

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Your tomorrow today̶Star Power and Tarot THIRUVAIKUMAR

As per Hindu panchang

FOR 23-6-2012

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

TAURUS

GEMINI

Reduce unwanted discussions and arguments with blood relatives.

Financially a strong position likely but savings might not be possible. Listen to the suggestions of your father.

Friends who are holding powerful offices will extend you their whole‑ hearted support. Mother's health need to be taken care of. You have to spend for the cause of your relatives.

Long‑pending wishes will get fulfilled.

Satisfactory financial position likely.

Spouse will share the responsibilities and help in day to day works. Children too will be very co‑operative.

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

Hurdles in the way of fulfilling your wishes will disappear. Friendship with persons of high esteem likely. Court verdict will favour of you. Spouse will appreciate your efforts.

You will be bold and very stubborn in any decision taken by you. Ruling party VIPs will become your friends.

Some will renovate their house and construct a new annex.

You will plan everything well and complete all the works undertaken by you. You will attract everyone by your practical approach. Your share of ancestral property will be received.

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

You will not give up any important works, because you are facing troubles in completing them. Inflow of money will be satisfactory but expenses also will be more.

You will reduce the expenses and start saving. Your social status is set to rise.

Spouse will confidently entrust you with important responsibilities.

Relatives will appreciate you.

New post and responsibilities will come in search of you. Court verdicts will go in your favour. Children will accept your advise and follow the same.

Blood relatives will extend their help.

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Enemies will become inactive.

Politicians will be in limelight. Written off dues will be recovered. You will come to know the real nature of rela‑ tives and change yourself accordingly.

Some will be forced to change their residence. Wanderings likely. Avoid anger and emotional decisions. Spouse might confuse you. Expenses will be more.

Your name is set to get popular. You will start construction of your own house. Government‑related works will end smoothly. Expected help from rel‑ atives will come by.

SUMAA TEKUR

FOR 23-6-2012

tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

Three of Swords – There are going to be ups and downs and there is no way you can prepare for these. At least you can stay upbeat no matter what.

Three of Pentacles – Your heart is like a container different kinds of emotions.

You need to nurse it and protect it against harsh feel‑ ings and negativity.

Temperance – A chance meeting with an old friend can lead to some busi‑ ness deals as well.

Time to utilise your contacts and net‑ working.

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

The Wheel of Fortune – You are likely to meet some very unexpected kind of people who think very differently. You should be open to new experiences.

Two of Wands – You may not be involved in a project but you get dragged into it in the last minute to repair it. You end up doing a good job of it. Treat yourself!

Page of Cups – Too much negativity can be very dangerous.

You can also get into the trap of self‑pity and depression. Stay positive and cheerful to avoid these.

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

Eight of Cups – You go through some intense emotions because of the expe‑ riences you are forced to endure.

Meditate to get a perspective of life.

Seven of Wands – There are some internal conflicts you need to resolve before you can authoritatively advice someone else about his/her life.

Seven of Swords – There are secrets galore that you are unaware of. This is creating problems for you and you need to do something about it.

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

For Better or for Worse Stone soup

Knight of Wands – You will encounter some very unusual experiences. These are learning curves that will see you through many difficult patches later in life.

Ten of Wands – There is a thin line between reality and imagination. You often confuse what has happened with what you think may have happened.

Eight of Pentacles – A close family mem‑ ber is extremely pro‑ tective of you. It is most likely a child or the junior‑most fami‑ ly member. Ask for your space.

SOLUTIONS

Boggle SOFA STOOL CHAIR BENCH COUCH

Number game

Suduko

Scrabble

Ink pen

COMICS

Fred Basset

ARIES

TAROT READ

27

Vol: 1, No. 341 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No. 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad–500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad–500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon.com and for subscription, please call 040-40672222, Fax: 040-40672211

2012 LONDON OLYMPICS

60 59 58 57 56

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

28

DAYS TO GO

DID YOU KNOW...? n Dr Benjamin Spock, the famous child development expert, won Olympic gold in the men’s Eight at the Paris 1924 Games. n The youngest Olympic champion is thought to be an anonymous French boy, who coxed for a Dutch pair at the Paris 1900 Games. The boy, aged no more than 12, took part in the victory ceremony but then disappeared.

LEGENDS OF THE SPORT Elisabeta Oleniuc-Lipa (born October 26, 1964) is the only rower to win Olympic gold medals 20 years apart. She represented Romania at six Games, winning at least one medal at each. In 1984, she won gold in the Double Sculls, followed this in 1988 with a silver in the same event and a bronze in the Quadruple Sculls. Later she won a gold and a silver in the Single Sculls and Double Sculls in 1992.

Steve Redgrave (born March 23, 1962) Often considered to be Britain’s greatest Olympian, Sir Steve Redgrave was the first athlete to win gold medals at five successive Olympic Games in an endurance sport. His streak began at Los Angeles 1984 as a member of the Coxed Four crew, and this was followed by Coxless Pair gold in 1988, 1992 and then in the 1996 Olympic Games.

55

ROW YOUR BOAT

54 53 52 51 50 49 48 47

n At Amsterdam 1928 Australian rower Henry Pearce stopped halfway through his quarter-final race to let a family of ducks pass in front of his boat.

Although a French competitor overtook him, Pearce managed to get back in front and win the gold. n The oldest Olympic Rowing champion is Great Britain’s Guy Nickalls, who was 41 when he won gold at London 1908. n Rowing is the only sport where competitors cross the finish line backwards.

46 45

ROWING: The

TALLY 2008

44 43 42 41 40

GBR AUS CANADA

39

MEDAL EVENTS

38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31

2 2 1

2 1 1

2 0 2

August 1 Men’s Eight Women’s Pair Women’s Quadruple Sculls August 2 Men’s Double Sculls Men’s Lightweight Four Women’s Eight August 3 Men’s Single Sculls Men’s Pair Men’s Quadruple Sculls Women’s Double Sculls August 4 Men’s Four Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls Women’s Single Sculls Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls

Rowing competition at the 2012 Games will feature extraordinary displays of power and passion. Although its history dates back centuries, rowing only came of age as a competitive sport in the last 200 years. Interest began to increase after Oxford and Cambridge Universities began their rivalry on the Thames in 1829, a rivalry that continues today in the shape of the annual Boat Race.

Field of play The lake at Eton Dorney is 2,200m long. Races are 2,000m, with six lanes used.

Rowing at Games Rowing has been staged at

THE LINGO Coxswain The coxswain, or cox, typically sits at the stern and is responsible for steering the boat and directing the crew.

Scull To row with two oars, one in each hand.

Sweep To row with one oar Lightweight In women’s events, no rower may weigh more than 59kg. For men, the singlerower maximum is 72.5kg. every Games since making its debut on the Olympic programme at Paris in 1900.

The youngest Olympic champion is thought to be

qeb=sbkrb

S

et in a 400-acre park within a nature conservation area, Eton Dorney Rowing Centre at Dorney Lake is acclaimed as one of the finest rowing venues in the world.

Located around 25 miles west of London, it has hosted both elite-level

an anonymous French boy who coxed for a Dutch pair at the inaugural competition. The boy, aged no more than 12, took part in the Victory Ceremony but then disappeared.

Women’s Rowing events joined the Olympic programme at Montreal 1976.

The basics Rowing events are head-tohead races, ranging from Single Sculls to the Eight, contested by teams of eight rowers with a cox. There are also lightweight events, where there are weight limits on the athletes in each boat.

Competition format Events with 12 or fewer boats start with two heats. The best qualify for final A. Unsucce-

ssful go to final B. Events with 13–18 boats begin with heats. The best qualify for semis A/B. Others progress to the repechage. The best three in semis A/B qualify for final A. Unsuccessful in semis A/B go to final B. Unsuccessful boats from the repechage go to final C. Events with 19–24 boats and also events having more than 24 boats, follow a similar pattern like the other events — consisting of finals of A, B, C and D as well as a repechage round which gives the unsuccessful boats a second chance.

Officials Officials include the President of the Jury, timekeepers, aligner, starter and judges at the finish.

ETON DORNEY competitions and community events.

The venue has a 2,200m, eight-lane rowing course, warm-up lanes as well as competition facilities.

An additional cutthrough has been created at the 1,400m mark to

allow competitors to get from the return lane to the competition course.

Previously the only cutthrough was at the 600m mark.

Two bridges have also been installed. The first spans the new cutthrough, while the other has replaced the existing finish line bridge with a wider one.

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

29

DAYS TO GO

SANYA HOPEFUL OF DOUBLE EUGENE: Sanya Richards-Ross, with the fastest 200 and 400 meters runs in the world this year, enters the US Olympic track and field trials confident she can double in the events at the London Games.

“I’ve always dreamed of being able to represent my country in two events. That’s my goal if I can do that,” Richards-Ross said Thursday. “It would be a thrill for me.”

The 27-year-old Jamaican-born sprinter set this year’s 400m world-best of 49.39 seconds in winning a Diamond League event on June 2 at Hayward Field, where Richards-Ross launches her Olympic quest in Friday’s 400m first round.

Only a handful of rivals in the world are within a second of her time, making her a clear favourite in the event where she won a 2009 world title but settled for a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“The 400 is my priority,” Richards-Ross said.

“Everything has gone really well for me this year. I’m 100 percent healthy and I think it’s showing. I’m coming in with some great times under my belt. I’m looking forward to what’s going to happen here.”

Ross set a 200m personal best of 22.09 to win a Diamond League race in New York two weeks ago and put herself atop this year’s

performers, a list that has five Americans at the top, setting the stage for a showdown to decide who will stay home and who will go for the gold in London.

“The 200 is shaping up to be a phenomenal event,” Richards-Ross said. “It’s going to be an extremely exciting race. I’m hoping to be one of the athletes who will make that race exciting.

I’m looking forward to being part of that.

“I think we will push each other to have our best times.”

Allyson Felix, a two-time Olympic runner-up at 200, and Carmelita Jeter, the world 100m champion and 200m runner-up, join Tianna Madison and Kimberlyn Duncan as favourites in a

I’ve always dreamed of being able to represent my country in two events. That’s my goal if I am able to do that. The 400 is my priority.

Sanya Richards-Ross, Track and field Champ jam-packed event. “For me it’s an even race,” RichardsRoss said. “It’s going to be a daunting challenge to run against these ladies but I am looking forward to it.”

Richards-Ross is hopeful

of qualifying in the 400 on Sunday ahead of next week’s 200 fight. Were the races in reverse order, she probably would not try to do the double.

“To be honest I don’t think I would attempt it if the 200 was first. It would be really hard to come back from sprinting,” RichardsRoss said. “When the 400 is over and I have run well, the 200 comes really easier for me. I enjoy being able to run all out. In the 400 you have to be careful not to sprint too early.”

Richards-Ross, who left Jamaica at age 12 and became a US citizen in 2002, is married to American football defensive back Aaron Ross of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

AFP

Kibwe, Amber book London berth BEAVERTON: Kibwe Johnson and Amber Campbell booked their berths at the London Olympics on Thursday by winning the hammer throw at the US Olympic track and field trials.

The first event of the American qualifying meet for the Olympics was staged at Nike’s global headquarters. The remainder of the competition will be conducted at Hayward Field at Eugene, Oregon, starting on Friday.

Johnson won the men’s

title with a toss of 74.97 meters with Chris Cralle second at 74.36 and A.G. Kruger third at 73.93.

The top three finishers in most events advance to the Olympics, but because Cralle has failed to meet the Olympic standard distance, only Johnson and Kruger will represent the United States in the men’s hammer throw at the London Games.

On the women’s side, Campbell won with an effort of 71.80 with Amanda Bingson second at 71.78 and Jessica Cosby third at 70.77.

AFP

Olympic dream fades as Longo loses French crown FRANCE: Veteran French cyclist Jeannie Longo’s dream of competing in the London Games faded on Thursday as she lost her national women’s time-trial title to Pauline FerrandPrevot. The 53-year-old finished fifth after the 26.8-km race some 1min 05sec behind winner Ferrand-Prevot.

Isabelle Gautheron of the French Cycling Federation said it would now be “very, very complicated” for Longo to be included in the France team for the Games.

“I said that if she won the timetrial, she was in a favourable position. Here she isn’t on the podium so it’s going to be very, very complicated for her. Unless on Saturday she wins the road race,” said Gautheron.

Longo has won 59 national titles including the last four time-trials, 13 world titles and an Olympic gold.

She has however seen her reputation tainted by doping allegations in recent months. Her husband and coach, Patrice Ciprelli, admitted earlier this year that he had been buying the banned blood booster EPO since 2007, but insisted it was for his own, personal use.

AFP

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Injury-hit Lee loses numero uno position KUALA LUMPUR: Injury-hit Malaysian badminton hero Lee Chong-Wei has surrendered his world number one ranking to arch-rival Lin Dan of China after nearly four years at the top.

Lee, who is racing to recover from an ankle injury before the Olympics, drops to second place in the latest Badminton World Federation standings.

The 29-year-old damaged a ligament at the Thomas Cup last month.

AFP

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

BEAUTY

&

Man kills friend in an argument over match

Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai on Thursday admitted that he should have awarded a goal to Ukraine in their final Euro 2012 match against England and apologised for his mistake. "After the match, we looked at and evaluated the situation. We realised straight away that we made a mistake," Kassai said on the official website of the Hungarian football federation (MLSZ).

Finish Greece with killer instinct: Löw GDANSK:

POLAND: Coach

Joachim Löw has said he wants Germany to show a “killer instinct” and take their chances against tough-tackling Greece in Friday’s Euro 2012 quarter-final.

Having inflicted a shock 1-0 defeat on Russia last Saturday, Greece come to Arena Gdansk as Group A runners-up with a reputation for tough defending and effective counter-attacking football as they look to claim the Germans’ scalp.

The Germans — who are seeking their first trophy in 16 years — are the only team with a 100 percent record, having also breezed through the qualifying rounds

Workers get time off to watch match BERLIN: Several million German car workers will have permission to leave work early on Friday to watch Germany take on Greece in the Euro 2012 quarter finals, auto makers have said.

Some 3.4 million employees at Volkswagen, Europe’s leading automotive group, will be able to leave their offices earlier than normal in order to get home for kickoff, a spokesman said.

Against the turbulent backdrop of the eurozone’s debt crisis, the match, has special resonance, pitting Europe’s most troubled economy against the bloc’s effective paymaster.

AFP

with 10 wins from 10 games.

Having conceded an equaliser to Denmark in Sunday’s final group game, the Germans needed an 88th-minute winner to seal a 2-1 victory and Löw has said his team must take their chances and learn from the Danish game.

“It will be a very tight match, because the Greeks aren’t a team that you can rip apart easily,” said the 52-year-old after his team beat Portugal, Holland and Denmark in Group B. “For a quarterfinal, you have to fight for everything. Against Denmark, we had a few chances, but didn’t take them, which caused us a few problems, so against the Greeks it is very important to have a killer instinct.

“We will be hitting a rock and they will be strong in defence, but we will find ways to create chances.” Löw said he expects Fernando Santos’ team to hit the Germans hard on the break and pack their defence around the penalty area.

“I think the Greeks will not want to concede and will take their chances on the counterattack, but our chances will come if we take an early lead,” said the Germany coach.

“Sometimes we have to play with pressure, but there will be times when there will be 10 players packed around the

30

Hungarian ref admits Ukraine goal blunder

A 40-year-old Ukrainian fatally knifed a friend after the pair became embroiled in an argument about football, police said.

Three men were watching a Euro 2012 match but started arguing, prompting one to grab a knife and lash out. One died of his injuries and another was hurt. The attacker was arrested and faces 15 years jail for premeditated homicide.

Ryland James

THE BEST

Davids eager to oust German Goliaths Ryland James

GDANSK: Poland:

penalty area.

“We have to have a bit of patience to get those chances.”

Having finished second at Euro 2008 and finished third at the last two World Cups, Germany are considered one of the favourites to win the Kiev final.

Greece coach Fernando Santos has said he is happy for his team to play the role of David in Friday’s Euro 2012 quarter-final — providing the Greeks topple European Goliaths Germany.

The Germans are bidding for a fourth European crown, having last tasted success 16 years ago, but Greece are aiming to pull off another giant killing having shocked Russia to book their place in the Arena Gdansk quarter-final.

Much has been made in the build-up to Friday’s quarter-final with un-fancied Greece aiming to emulate their Euro 2004 triumph against Germany, who are amongst the favourites for the title.

The match has a political backdrop with German Chancellor Angela Merkel an unpopular figure in Greece due to her insistence on painful austerity measures as the best response to the Eurozone crisis.

A first win over Germany in the history of Greek football would boost morale amongst Greeks who are enduring their fifth straight year of recession and Santos is happy for his team to take the under-dog role, as long as they win.

When a journalist asked if Greece could be considered as the biblical figure David, slayer of the giant Philistine warrior Goliath, according to the Old Testament, Santos warmed to the analogy.

“If we see it from a historical point of view, David verses Goliath is a good thing for us, because ultimately Goliath lost to David,” said the 57-year-old with Greece having never beaten Germany in eight attempts.

“It is something true that the size of the Germany side is really impressive, they are a good team who often make it to the semis or finals of tournaments. “They are very stable and concrete side, I am willing to accept the role of David... as long as history repeats itself.”

Greece will be without captain Giorgos Karagounis and German-born defender Jose Holebas, out on suspension.

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

31

Ronaldo steals show with star act Barnaby Chesterman

WARSAW: Cristiano Ronaldo was the hero as Portugal beat an ultra-defensive Czech Republic 10 at the National Stadium here on Thursday in their quarter-final to qualify for the Euro 2012 semifinals.

Ronaldo headed home a cross from Joao Moutinho 11 minutes from the end to set up a possible semi-final against either world champions Spain or France.

It was just reward after another starring performance from the Real Madrid man against opponents who failed to register a single shot on target and were hindered by the absence of injured playmaker Tomas Rosicky.

“We had the quality to pass into the semi-finals,” said Ronaldo.

“We are happy but know the next match will be difficult but the team is very mature and we are ready.

“There are big smiles and good music all round us!”

Portuguese winger Nani, who also had an outstanding game, said that the victory while long in coming was deserved.

“We played really well, we were stylish on the pitch and it was a great team effort,” said the Manchester United star.

“Now its going to be more dif-

TOP GOAL SCORERS 3 GOALS: Ronaldo (POR), Dzagoev (RUS, in pic), Gomez (GER), Mandzukic (CRO) 2 GOALS: Bendtner (DEN), Fabregas (ESP), Jiracek (CZE), Krohn-Dehli (DEN), Pilar (CZE), Shevchenko (UKR), Torres (ESP

Czechs exit with dignity intact: Bilek Phil Hazlewood

WARSAW: Czech Republic coach

ficult in each game but we are very confident.

“I had a couple of chances which went close but that’s how it is in football, Ronaldo as well went close but he hit the target in the end.”

As is so often the case in knock-out matches in big tournaments, the first half was a cagey

affair.

Portugal struggled to string two passes together while centrebacks Pepe and Bruno Alves resorted to lumping long aimless balls up the field.

Czech Republic had some joy down their right with one particularly dangerous cross from Theodor Gebre Selassie only just

being cut out by Pepe. Moutinho hit a weak shot from 20 yards that Petr Cech gathered easily. But then the Ronaldo show really took off.

The Real Madrid star sprung into life in the 25th minute as he darted across field, played a onetwo with Nani, shrugged off Michal Kadlec and fired straight at Cech.

Michal Bilek on Thursday praised his players and said they can leave Euro 2012 with their heads held high but said Portugal were the better side on the night.

The Czechs were never really in the game at the National Stadium in Warsaw and a Cristiano Ronaldo header in the 79th minute was all it took to put the Selecao into a semifinal with the winners of Saturday’s match between France and Spain.

But Bilek said the disappointment of defeat was tempered by the achievement of taking a side with a blend of youth and experience — and without midfield playmaker Tomas Rosicky — as far in the tournament.

“Immediately after the match we were disappointed because we lost,” said Bilek.

“We were really looking forward to playing in the semis and the final and we wanted to make it happen.

“We played well in the tournament. We were playing against a more dangerous opponent and they had more chances. I just want to thank my lads for their performances.”

Crowd thanks Czechs after bow out Jan Flemr

PRAGUE: Thousands watching the Euro quarter-finals in Prague’s central square Thursday were upbeat, then anxious, and finally proud despite the Czech Republic’s 1-0 loss to Portugal that sent their team home.

“Thanks, guys,” chanted the crowd in front of the giant TV screen at the final whistle.

“I’m proud of what they’ve achieved,” said Zuzana Bicikova, a Prague student, with a flag on her face, leaving the historic Old Town Square after the game.

The typical venue for similar games lured a big crowd wearing Czech team shirts, waving flags distributed by young girls, sipping

Czech fans pictured during the Euro 2012 football championships quarter-final match between the Czech Republic and Portugal on Thursday at the National Stadium in Warsaw. AFP/GABRIEL BOUYS

the famous Czech-made beer on the hot summer night.

“We’re going to win 2-1,” Lukas Ralek, a young man living near Prague, told AFP while sitting on the cobbled square, munching a hamburger and drinking beer with friends before the match started.

“One-nil will do,” countered Vaclav Jonak, wearing the Czech national team shirt, who brought his wife and two small children to “get a taste of the atmosphere.”

A pub near the square was packed with fans, some wearing the red shirts, others with Czech flags painted on their faces. “It’s been pretty good so far, I’m surprised to see how we put them under pressure,” said Jan Vasicek, a young man with a flag on his face.

Playing Field

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

The games people play

Heat win NBA championship Greg Heakes

MIAMI: The Miami Heat clinched their second NBA title by routing Oklahoma City 121106 on Thursday thanks to a balanced offensive attack and 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds from superstar LeBron James (L).

James was named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals after leading the Heat to the crown, capturing his longsought first championship and delivering on the promise he made to Heat fans when he came to Miami two years ago.

Mike Miller came off the bench to sink 7-of-8 shots from 3-point range and finish with 23 points while Chris Bosh added 24 points for the Heat, who won the best-of-seven series in five games to claim their first title since 2006.

This was James’ third trip to the NBA Finals, including one with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but his first title in his nine

Actress Gabrielle Union joins the celebrations.

AFP

Fans celebrate Miami Heat's victory in Miami, Florida on Thursday.

AFP

NBA Finals’ Most Valuable Players List of the past five NBA Finals Most Valuable Players: Year Player Team 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008

LeBron James Dirk Nowitzki Kobe Bryant Kobe Bryant Paul Pierce

years in the NBA. Miami used impressive 3-point shooting, hitting 14-of-26 from beyond the arc as a team in front of a sold out crowd of 20,003 at American Airlines Arena.

The Heat also shot 58 per cent from the field in the first quarter and never eased up on the Thunder, opening a huge lead with a explosive third quarter, outscoring Oklahoma City 36-22.

Three-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant finished with a game-high 32 points and 11 rebounds.

Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder is a picture of anguish.

AFP

Li to prove a point at Wimbledon Dave James

LONDON: Chinese superstar Li Na heads for Wimbledon determined to defy critics who have condemned her as a one-Slam wonder, blown off course by multi-million dollar riches.

The 30-year-old rocketed to fame and fortune when she captured the 2011 French Open title to become Asia’s first Grand Slam singles champion.

But since that Paris breakthrough, she has failed to win another trophy and has not got beyond the fourth round of a major.

“I lost one match so don’t try to

Miami Heat Dallas Mavericks Los Angeles Lakers Los Angeles Lakers Boston Celtics

put me down. This is tennis,” she snapped after the defence of her Roland Garros title was ended by Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova.

Not that her decline has affected her earning power.

In the recently published Forbes rich list of the world’s highest-earning athletes, Li was one of only two women to make the top 100.

The Chinese raked in $18.4 million to put her at a modest 81st on the list.

Not surprisingly, Maria Sharapova was the only other female on the chart, making 26th place with $27.9 million.

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Kobe is king of global jersey sales, net fans NEW YORK: Kobe Bryant is the NBA’s top international star according to global jersey sales figures released on Thursday by the league and internet interest as seen in the NBA’s first social media awards.

The Los Angeles Lakers guard, a five-time NBA champion, had the most jersey sales beyond US borders during the 2011-2012 season in the first release of international jersey sales figures.

Bryant, Chicago’s Derrick Rose and Miami’s LeBron James topped the global sales list and those of China and Europe with James surpassing Rose for the second-best jersey sales figures in Latin America.

Bryant, who helped the 2008 US team win Olympic gold at Beijing, topped the Chinese sales chart for the sixth year in a row and proved a hit in the NBA’s new Social Media Awards.

The Lakers star won the Trendsetter award as the NBA player with the most mentions on Twitter this season and the Thumbs-Up awward whose Facebook page or posts received the most “likes”.

Awards for the biggest increase in Twitter and Facebook popularity went to Asian-American star Jeremy Lin, whose 38 points for New York in a February victory over the Lakers helped make that game the most popular in a social media fan vote.

Lin, whose parents are from Taiwan, was a hit with US jersey buyers but did not figure on the global lists. Rose led the US jersey sales totals released earlier this season.

Boston’s Kevin Garnett was fourth in international jersey sales, followed in order by Orlando’s Dwight Howard and Miami’s Dwyane Wade.

AFP