Postnoon E-Paper for 25 April 2012 by Scribble Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

THE MARCH OF TECHNOLOGY Ours is a curious mind and we are constantly looking for new technology, so much so that most of what we grew up with, will never be seen or used by our future generations. So, read on to know all that your kids will miss out on! P16&17 Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012 HYDERABAD

MIRANDA KERR’S SECRET AMBITION... SINGING! Supermodel Miranda Kerr has a secret ambition to become a singer. She says she always wanted to be a pop star and has even recorded a number of tracks, but she doubts her music will ever be heard by the public. P25

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WEATHER: A MIX OF CLOUDY AND CLEAR SKIES; 33°C

32 PAGES

Water thieves are thriving Despite efforts by concerned citizens and the district magistrate of Hyderabad, the illegal water mafia continues to thrive in the City. In the Amberpet area, thousands of gallons of water is illegally pumped out every day for commercial use. REPORT ON PG 4

qorb=dofq> Lionel Messi missed a penalty as title holders Barcelona were sent crashing out of the Champions League semifinals after 10-man Chelsea battled to a 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou, in an awesome defensive display. P32

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Page Two

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Spirit of Twin Cities

ECO-DRIVE

Lepakshi Mela

SRINIVAS SETTY

AP Handicrafts Development Corporation is hosting a Lepakshi Cotton Mela. 25 weavers and manufacturers will be participating in the event which will feature a variety of handloom materials such as Bengali Cotton, Chanderi etc. Where: Lepakshi Emporium, Gunfoundry When: Ongoing, 10 am onwards

Dance with me Love to dance? A contemporary dance workshop by French dancer, Solenn. will be held on April 22, 28 and 29 . Where: Alliance Francaise, Marredpally When: April 22, 28, 29 Contact: (040) 2770 0734

Dramaybaaz Dramaybaaz — a theatre fest for solo performances is being held on April 28 and 29. Dramaybaaz provides an opportunity for those who do not belong to any theatre group to perform. Where: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills, Rd No 1 When: April 28 and 29, 7.30pm onwards Contact: 96427 31329

Painting exhibition A painting exhibition titled Twinkle is being held at Inspire Art Gallery. The exhibition features artwork by R Usha Vinod and B Usha Kumar. Where: Inspire Art Gallery, Hyderguda When: Ongoing, 11am onwards Contact: (040) 3062 8447

Shifting terrain An abstract painting exhibition by Pandurang Deoghare, is being held at Iconart Gallery. The exhibition is on till May 5. Where: Iconart Gallery, Banjara Hills, Rd No12 When: Ongoing, 11.30 am onwards Contact: 9849968797

Awadhi food festival Get a taste of Awadhi food at the Awadhi food festival. The food festival called Shaam-E-Awadhi. Where: Mercure Hotel, Chirag Ali Lane, Abids When: Ongoing, 7.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 6712 2000

Every Rupee counts Syn at Taj Deccan is offering interesting meal options. The concept behind Calorie for a Rupee is to enjoy a great meal priced according to it’s calorie count.

CINEMAS

Where: Syn - Asian Bar and Grill, Taj Deccan, Banjara Hills, Rd No 1 When: Ongoing, 12 pm to 3.30pm Contact: (040) 6666 3939

Street and style A street food special called Khao Galli—Street food night will be held on April 25 at Kebab Pavillion, Ella Suites. Head to Ella Hotel for great experience. Where: Ella Hotel, Gachibowli When: April 25 onwards Contact: (040) 6628 8488

IPL special Truffles Cafe is offering a great way to catch the live telecast of IPL 5. It’s the perfect combination of great food and a great game! Where: Truffles Cafe, Jubilee Hills, Rd No 36 When: Ongoing, 8am onwards Contact: (040) 2355 0105

Cricket frenzy Mocha and Mocha Express is hosting IPL specials with live screening of the match and various pizzas paying ode to the IPL teams and their spirits. Where: Mocha — Banjara Hills Mocha Express — Inorbit Mall When: Ongoing, 4pm onwards Contact: (040) 23350144

Goan food festival Take a tasty trip to Goa at the Momo Cafe at Hyderabad Marriott and Convention Centre. Where: Hyderabad Marriott and Convention Centre, Tank Bund When: Ongoing, 12.30pm onwards Contact: (040) 2752 2999

Go Splash Splash lounge is the perfect leisure destination for you to unwind. There is also great music, martinis and aperitifs. Where: The Westin, Mindspace, Madhapur When: Monday - Friday, 5pm - 10.30pm Weekends, 8am - 10.30pm Contact: (040) 6767 6828

Spice fest Love all thing spicy? Head to any Mc Donald outlet for the exciting spice fest.The fest is on from April1-June 1 and offers a variety of Mc Donalds products with a spicy twist. Where: Mc Donalds outlets When: Ongoing

African barbeque fest Barbeque Nation offers a chance to experience Africa in Hyderabad. Where: Barbeque Nation, Banjara Hills,

Rd No1 When: Ongoing Contact: (040) 6456 6693

Angkor Wat A painting exhibition based on the Angkor Wat in Columbia is being presented. Where: Hyder Mahal, ITC Kakatiya, Begumpet When: Ongoing, 11am-7pm Contact: (040) 2340 0132

Show and tell Books n more presents Show and Tell, an activity to promote good expression and communication for 3-8 year olds. The activity aims to improve your child’s ability to communicate well in English. Where: Books n more, Sivaramkrishna Colony, Marredpally When: Ongoing, 5pm to 6pm Contact: 98859 56728

Yoga Camp The first part of a series of seven days yoga camp will be held by Yoga Healing Foundation in Kukatpally. Where: Bhujana Vijaya Ground, Kukatpally When: April 29 onwards, 5.15 am onwards Contact: 92905 45433

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

Hyper Local

Cops nab temple thief red-handed

CRIME Mohd Subhan mohd.s@postnoon.com

e’d been giving the City police sleepless nights for several days. Wanted in 18 cases of thefts, E Rampawan alias Rambabu was finally brought to book when the City police caught him red handed. Early on Tuesday morning when the Nampally police was on patrol duty, they noticed Rampawan at a temple in front of the NMJ Cancer Hospital in Red Hills. Suspecting foul play, the police apprehended and questioned Rampawan, who confessed to have been at the temple to steal jewellery. The police arrested Rampawan and recovered nearly `1.1 lakh worth of stolen jewellery from him. The 44-year-old thief is a native of Kakinada in East Godavari district. Rampawan came to the City 12 years back to set up a business. He eventually set up a pearl business in partnership with an associate. “While the business did well for a few

years, Rampawan’s associate duped him. Dejected by this, Rampawan turned to religion to help him and began frequenting temples to seek solace. He made it a point to attend poojas. It was during this period that he was struck with the idea of stealing temple jewellery as a means to make some money,” said OSD Saifabad V Harshavardhan Raju. He was residing at Nacharam under the Cyberabad police station limits and was involved in several cases of thefts in Nampally, Sultan Bazar, Saidabad and Amberpet. His modus operandi was to visit temples early in the morning when there were relatively fewer devotees in the temple. Rampawan would then get talking with the priests. Once the priest would go out, Rampawan would steal and decamp with the loot. But on Tuesday Rampawan’s luck ran out and he was caught red handed by the police as he was trying to get away with the idol’s mangal sutra and other jewellery. The Nampally police has registered a case of theft against him and Rampawan has been remanded to judicial custody.

BJP puts off Jeevitha, hubby induction U Srinivas srinivas.u@postnoon.com

he much-hyped induction of Jeevitha and Rajasekhar into the BJP has been postponed. The couple was supposed to join the party today at 10 am at the BJP office in Nampally. It may be recalled that the couple had earlier had short stints with various political leaders ranging from NTR to Jagan. However, none

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin Cities

of them worked out and they were now trying to join BJP. Their major contribution to political discourse has been deriding Chiranjeevi. The couple initially dilly-dallied over prospects in TDP. But Chandrababu was apparently not as warm as they had expected. So finally Jeevitha and Rajasekhar decided to join BJP. It now remains to be seen if their joining the saffron party will work in BJP’s favour.

Fake cops dupe three of `35 lakh

NEWS BRIEFS APPSC destroyed answer sheet

Harassed by hubby, woman kills self

hree people were robbed of `35 lakh by a group of men posing as policemen at Srinagar Colony on Tuesday. The victims were working in a steel company and were on their way to deliver cash to their boss when they were stopped by four men pretending to be cops. Noticing the cash, the accused grabbed the bag and escaped. The owner of the company lodged a complaint with the Punjagutta police who have registered a case.

Sekhar Babu, a group one aspirant, who had been trying to get the APPSC to send him a copy of his answer sheet, was today told that his sheet was destroyed soon after the results were announced. Sekhar had filed an RTI four years ago when he suspected that his results were rigged. However, APPSC had refused to abide by the RTI application and Supreme Court orders. They finally replied today saying that his sheet had been destroyed.

22 year old lady committed suicide by setting herself ablaze at her in-laws’ house in Prem Nagar under the Amberpet police station limits. According to the police, the deceased, K Lalitha was being harassed for dowry by her husband K Chiranjeevi, a car driver, whom she had married five years back. She was undergoing treatment when she succumbed to her injuries. The Amberpet police have registered a case against her in-laws and investigations are on.

Hyper Local

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin Cities

All not well, residents fume KATEENA

WATER Rahul Ramakrishna rahul.r@postnoon.com

espite efforts by concerned citizens, the press and the district magistrate of Hyderabad, illegal water mining continues to thrive in the City. A recent such scandal broken by Postnoon higlighted one of the many illegal borewells in the Amberpet area, pumping thousands of gallons of water every day for commercial use. According to the Andhra Pradesh WALTA Act of 2002, no borewell is authorised to pump and sell groundwater in a residential area for commercial purposes. The accused in this case, is G Laxma Reddy a retired OU professor, who with an influential family and political backing is the mastermind behind this case. In the issue dated March 29, Postnoon had carried the breaking story followed by an impact made, when the tahsildar of Amberpet had issued seize orders and had seized the said borewell earlier this month. However, despite the tahsildar’s assurances that the borewells have been seized and notices being issued, the state of affairs at

Tilaknagar remains the same. Water tankers continue to ply through the residential colony, carrying a minimum of 15,000 liters of water day and night. Whatever action that has been taken by the government has proved ineffective. Residents in

the locality have begun experiencing a shortage of water, thanks to the indiscriminate and inconsiderate groundwater mining done by Laxma Reddy. “Thanks to this indiscriminate pumping of water for commercial use, we have to bear the brunt. We

Climate turns moody WEATHER Pruthvi Ramesh feedback@postnoon.com

fter battling the blazing heat over the last one month, Hyderabadis are in for a pleasant surprise with the sudden dip in temperatures and midsummer showers. derabadis are enjoying the frequent showers in the city. However, Indian Meteorological Department, Hyderabad, has a completely different take on

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

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

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this. “Fluctuations in weather is quite normal in the summer,” said Sudhakar Rao, director-in-charge of MET, Hyderabad. Whatever it may be, the rains have come as welcome respite for many. “While it the days are terribly hot, by evening the temperature comes down. When I return from work in the evening, my exhaustion is washed away by the rains,” says Ramesh Sarangapani, senior officer commercial, Ultra Tech. “Although I am not a fan of this drastic changes in the weather, which is also very unpredictable, it

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can sometimes be a positive change. This way I can make plans in the evening, which are pleasant after having stayed indoors all day when the it is sweltering outside,” says Neha Majety, student. “The rains are providing us relief from this scorching summer. But in the long run, this harsh summer and early monsoon will possibly harm the agriculture sector. I think it’s time that the government and our public sector came up with disaster management techniques because either a drought or a flood will possibly hit the State,” says Augustin Kurian.

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

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are now facing a severe water shortage. Although we have a borewell in our house, it’s of little use since the ground water levels are getting depleted. We were forced to dig the borewell further in a bid to find some water. But even that was of little use,” said a

resident on conditions of anonymity. When contacted about this particular issue, T Raja Bose, tahsildar of Amberpet Division said, “The normal procedure of seizing a borewell is this — we issue notices and if there is no reply, we seize the borewell and shut it down by filling it with sand. We note down the meter reading and check the borewell again within a week’s time. If the meter reading has changed, the person will face charges and the borewell will be completely shut down from being used. We will inspect the borewell site in question and take necessary action.”

The weather prediction for April 25 and 26 by MET

April 25

Min Max temp temp 25.0 39.0

April 26

26.0

Date

39.0

Forecast Partly cloudy sky with possibility of rain or thunderstorm. Partly cloudy sky with possibility of rain or thunderstorm.

N SHIVA KUMAR

39879999 27567892 23559555 23226624 27633087 27035588 27550238 30799999 30418296 30417445

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

AIRLINES Airport Director 27903785, 27906001 For Air India Flight Information Toll free (from any network) for IC Flights 18001801407 And for All Flights: 1800227722 Air India has revised its flight timings. For more information call (Toll free) 18001801407, 1800227722 from BSNL/MTNL 04023430334 from other lines and mobile Website; www.airindia.in TOURISM OFFICES AP Tourism, Hyd 23262152/53/54 Sec’bad 27893100 Dept of Tourism 23453110 India Tourism 23261360 AP Tourism information Centre (24x7) 23450444, 23455999

UK Visa Office VFS India Pvt Ltd Building, 8-2-542/A, Sunil Chamber, Road No. 7 Beside Meridian School, Banjara Hills34. Working hours are from 8 AM to 1 PM And 2 PM to 3PM. MUSEUMS Salar Jung Museum AP State Museum Nizams Museum

24523211 232431300/7641 24521029

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

Hyper Local

Kiran bounces around to boost cadre morale POLITICS U Srinivas srinivas.u@postnoon.com

onfidence or bravado, one can’t tell but Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy’s body language has changed these days. The former cricketer is full of energy; be it jumping security barricades to mingle with and riding two wheelers. Revenue minister Raghuveera Reddy told Postnoon that the body language of the CM has changed. The CM is aggressive and this has enthused the crowds in prajapatham, he said. Those in the know of party affairs say the new-found energy of the chief minister is to project confidence to the cadre as the Congress faces a do or die situation in the bypolls, the date for which was announced by the Election Commission yesterday.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin Cities

So far, Kiran Kumar managed to continue in his gaddi by ensuring that by-polls to 18 seats were not held along with the seven seats in March. If that was the case, the Congress would have lost all 25 seats in one go. It is learnt that Vayalar Ravi,

who visited the State as AICC chief Sonia Gandhi’s representatives, asked the chief minister and PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana to see to it with equal responsibility that the Congress wins in all 18 seats. Leaders close to the chief minister agree that if they cannot do well in the elections it could be very difficult for the government to survive. With the Andhra Pradesh incharge for the Congress Ghulam Nabi Azad making it very clear that a decision on Telangana will take more time, the party leaders in the State fear the agitation might go to a new high. There are speculations that if the Congress receives a drubbing in this bypoll too, it might lead to a mid-term election in the State. Senior Congress leader from Telangana K Keshava Rao said that this could be the last chance for the Congress to come clear on Telangana and also make some impact in the Seemandhra.

Poll panel springs a surprise The announcement of the election schedule for the bypolls by the chief electoral officer (CEO) has caught political parties off guard.

ELECTIONS Postnoon News feedback@postnoon.com

he Congress leaders were taken aback as the CM is yet to announce sops across the 12 districts where elections are scheduled. The election code came into effect in the 12 districts and the State government cannot make announcements as it would amount to influencing the voters. The ministers and the leaders who were in Hyderabad, met the CM yesterday night. Minister for information and public relations, DK Aruna was confident that they would win a number of seats this time. She agreed that they did not anticipate the schedule to be announced. CPI leader Narayana said that the CPI was ready for the elections any time. He did not comment about the differences that cropped up

between the communist parties. The BJP leaders welcomed the decision of the CEO and announced that they would win the Parakala seat in Warangal district just as they did in Mahabubnagar. He said that after a meeting, they would announce some more areas where they would contest. TDP leader Muddu Krishnama Naidu was confident that they would win the Tirupathi seat as well as Payakaparaopeta. This will be a different election and the TDP would get many seats, he said. The think tank of the CM is in a dilemma as to how they should extend help to people in the other constituencies where prajapatham will not be conducted. TRS leader K Tarakarama Rao said that the announcement by Ghulam Nabi Azad to postpone the decision on Telangana was to appease the Seemandhra voters . CEO Banwarlal said that the schedule was in tune with the directions of the CEC.

Hyper Local Damodar defends T MPs’ ruckus S

upporting the Telangana Congress MPs action in the Parliament on Tuesday demanding separate Telangana state, senior Congress leader and Suryapet MLA R Damodar Reddy has urged the Congress core committee to take a decision on Telangana issue at least now. Damodar Reddy said that the Telangana MPs were not stalling the House for the sake of their personal agenda, but they were doing it to fulfill the wishes and aspirations of the Telangana people. He said that the Telangana Congress leaders would take the responsibility of ensuring the victory of the Congress candidate in Parakala in the forthcoming by-elections, if the Centre announced that the process of creation of separate Telangana would be started. Stating that stalling of Parliament by the Telangana Congress MPs was good, Damodar Reddy said that there was no need to do the same in the Assembly. The Centre has the power to create the separate state and hence the MPs were fighting in the Parliament, he said. He opined that the Telangana Rashtra Samiti leaders had already announced in the past that they will merge their party in the Congress if the Centre announced that the process has begun. AGENCY

Drought relief fund announced

SSC evaluators in a spot EDUCATION Sudeshna Koka sudeshna.k@postnoon.com

ore than the students, it is the SSC teachers who want exam evaluations to end soon. With just one day left, teachers are waiting for the ordeal to end. Teachers had hoped that this year the evaluation centre would be better as compared to last year but to their despair, this year too the conditions were bad and unfavourable. Sahana T*, a 52-year-old government school principal has been sitting on a wooden bench for the last nine days and has now developed a frozen shoulder. “They provide us with school benches which are not designed for adults. Every year my medical expenses are much more than what I earn from evaluation.” Bad furniture is the main problem which teachers face. They have to sit continuously from 8.30am to 5pm to correct the papers. These evaluators also have to face frequent power cuts. Teachers complain that there is a minimum 2 hours of power cut each day. Bad furniture, no electricity, no drinking water and poor sanitation are regular problems faced at both the spot evaluation and examination centers. Hyderabad has two centres for spot evaluation — one in Mehdipatnam and the other at Ramnagar. Teachers complain that both are not centrally located and commuting to the centre is often a problem. “They have only two centres in the City. Teachers from

Secunderabad have to travel all the way to these centres. Also the timings are such that heavy traffic is bound to be there. If we are late by even 10 minutes they send us back and list us in the punishment book. Moreover, each teacher gets only `50 despite their distance of travel,” complains Anitha K, a convent teacher. Over 12 lakh students took the SSC examinations this year. A total of 21,139 assistant examiners (primary evaluators); 3,525 chief examiners and 7,050 special scrutinisers are required to evaluate the answer scripts. Each teacher has to correct a minimum of 40 answer sheets each

day and gets paid only `6 for each answer script. “There is no motivation in terms of money or facilities provided by the government. My school staff who have been assigned the duty have been complaining. They don’t even have clean and basic sanitation facilities. Another problem that my language teachers are facing is that they exchange the medium. It is so difficult to evaluate In such terrible conditions,” says Indra Srinivas, principal of Gowtham Model School. A Subba Reddy, district education officer (Hyderabad), says that they have provided both the cen-

ICONIC CITY

esponding to the requests of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, the Centre has approved `706.15 crore for Andhra Pradesh from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). In a letter to the chief minister, Union minister for agriculture and food processing Sharad Pawar stated that the government of India has approved `706.15 crore for AP from the NDRF subject to adjustment of 75% of balance available in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). The amount has been alloted as relief for the drought of 2011. The Centre has also released `8 crore from Special Component of National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) for the repair of damaged drinking water supply works in AP”. AGENCY

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin Cities

Karachi Bakery

or people who regularly visit Hyderabad, a trip to Karachi Bakery is a must. The sixdecade-old bakery has created such a name for itself worldwide that people from abroad also book for Karachi biscuits online. Their first retail store opened in Moazam Jahi market in 1953 and recently they have opened a branch in Banjara Hills. Karachi Bakery classics are the fruit biscuits. The melt-in-

Aishwarya Yerra Hyderabad as a City has a lot to offer in terms of heritage and sights. We take a look at the various places that make this City so special

the-mouth cookies come in gift packs and typically many Hyderabadis give these gift packs to relatives and during corporate events. It’s not just the hundreds of varieties of biscuits but also the cakes, puffs and confectionery items that attract Hyderabadis. Their online services allow us to book orders for cakes and biscuits for all kinds of occasions. The biscuits may not be cheap but is worth every penny for its taste which is truly fantastic. The cakes and pastries are quite reasonably priced.

tres with best facilities. “There are no power cuts and we have given them higher section rooms to use. From our side we have provided them with all the facilities,” says Reddy. This year many teachers skipped the evaluation on medical grounds. On one hand when students put their blood and sweat preparing for these exams, this is the physical and mental condition in which the teachers have to evaluate papers. Perhaps this is the reason why they say results of the board exams totally depend on one’s fate. The SSC results are expected to be released in the third week of May. M ANIL KUMAR

Hyper Local CLASSIFIEDS FABRICATION

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin Cities

Courting traffic woes While the creation of a special magistrate court in Erramanzil has helped speed up the clearing of pending cases, the increasing number of vehicles and haphazard parking is causing a greater problem. DEEPAK DESHPANDE

TRAFFIC Osama Salman salman.o@postnoon.com

D CERTIFICATION

EDUCATION

ue to the large number of cases pending in the Nampally court, the judges decided to make a special court where even criminal cases would be looked into, in order to help expedite and dispose pending cases. In January this year, retired magistrates and judges were called upon and a special magistrate court was formed in Erramanzil. While at one end, the piled-up cases are slowly being disposed, at the other, traffic around the court has increased. When the court starts at 10am, traffic comes to a standstill. The many four and three-wheelers that flock the court compound, block the incoming traffic and motorists are often seen complaining about being stuck in bottleneck. Adding to the traffic, the advocates and judges park their vehicles just outside the compound and although the entire stretch of road is a ‘no-parking’ zone, they are found openly flouting the law. Ironically, these are the same people who implement the law. What is worse is that none of the vehicles parked here are fined due to the special ‘privileges’ passed onto them, courtesy the traffic police. Even though a part of the road on the opposite side has been specifically designated for parking vehicles coming to the court, vehicles are still parked in front of the court. “Although the court was partly transferred here as the Nampally court was getting too congested and the court halls were suffocating, the special court here doesn’t have

enough parking. No proper care has been taken for it and the reasons are simply unknown. Naturally this results in traffic jams,” said A Diwakar Rao, former public prosecutor, now an advocate in the special magistrate court. Former president of the Nampally Bar Association and advocate, Srimanth Kumar, said that every morning, the first violations are always by the people of court. “I don’t deny that we flout traffic rules. But we don’t do so deliberately. If I am called on by the judge, I have to park my vehicle wherever I find space. Else the judge will dismiss my case and my client will shout at me. It is easy for people to point fingers at the privilege we get, but in reality, this is not a privilege at all. The advocates and police are always fighting,” said Kumar. Srimanth blamed the govern-

ment for not being able to provide adequate parking. “It is just like not providing enough public toilets —people will relieve themselves wherever space is available, if they have no option. It

Spin the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ W

HEALTH Millennium Dental Clinic, film nagar main road, opp: cafe melange, jubilee hills, HydPh: 040-31000889

ith rising prices all around, it is heartening to note that long standing credit-worthy businesses like Sri Krishna Jewellers, Abids, are willing to share good cheer and wealth among people starting from the auspicious Akshaya Tritiya. Sri Krishna Jewellers, Abids has launched the ‘Wheel of fortune’ starting April 23 to May 27 2012. The initial response has been overwhelming. The appeal in the scheme is the ‘spin, win and take home’ policy! There have been more than 75 winners in just two days. Many Hyderabadis will get lucky with this scheme. On offer are great gifts like diamond jewellery, gold jewellery, gold coins, silver coins, no making charges and no wastage. Electronics

holds true for parking here too,” he quipped. Punjagutta traffic police inspector, V Chandra Kumar, said that they have held many meetings with the judges with respect to providing parking and have designated seven spots especially for them. “The magistrates demanded to know why parking wasn’t provided to them also. This matter has been going on for a while. We even told them that since they have to park, they should park single-lane and not double-lane. They always violate this. I have spoken about this to my superior officer. We are currently in talks with the owner of the adjoining building to provide sufficient parking. We will resolve the issue soon,” he said. When asked why the vehicles are never towed or fined, Chandra Kumar dodged the question.

Danam piqued by Kiran’s VAT stand

Jancy CH who won a gold coin like LCD TV’s, DVD’s, digital cameras, mobiles and special pricing and offers on purchases made can also be won.

The offer is available from the April 23 2012 to May 27, 2012. For further details on the scheme, contact 2320 2288/1992.

abour minister Danam Nagender has expressed his dissatisfaction over the unilateral stand taken by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on imposition of VAT on textiles. Danam said that it was painful that the CM had taken a unilateral decision on VAT. He said that it was also painful that the CM had chosen to ignore their request and responded to the requests of others and reduced VAT. He said that this would unnecessarily send wrong signals to the people. He also said that he would request the CM to have this issue discussed in the cabinet and issue an ordinance. AGENCY

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Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin Cities

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Looking for a career in real estate? Real estate courses Sameer Khanna feedback@postnoon.com

s the Indian real estate sector the right place to make a serious career in now? Compared to more developed countries, the Indian real estate sector still lacks sophistication and transparency. However, it continues to be in the limelight of domestic and international investments. This has naturally brought on the need for better, more capable human resources. Though real estate is not nuclear science, there is a fair degree of complexity involved. As in any other business, real estate businesses operate either on: n The basis of knee-jerk reactions to currently existing market trends and opportunities. n A learned understanding of the market, anticipation of emerging possibilities and with provisions for market integrity over time. The first method is reactive and often opportunistic. The latter is based on information rather than gut-feelings and results in assured growth rather than shortterm gains via calculated risks. There is an increased emphasis on the latter approach today — therefore, there is definitely scope for making a career as a real estate professional.

The scenario is changing fast and there is a lot of professionalism coming in because of the arrival of major international players. Developers are cleaning up their act and introducing best practices and higher transparency now, thanks to evolving market dynamics. People equipped with the right know-how, training and professionalism are in high demand, and are paid correspondingly. There are a number of real estate courses that aim to equip their students with some requisite knowledge, thereby giving them an edge. However, academic learning needs to be backed by hands-on, practical experience in order to reap fruits. A real estate course is at best a means to an end, but certainly not an end in itself. The emergence of Indian real estate as a new academic focus is, of course, heartening. Equipping students with a basic understanding of the real estate market is as valid as instructing them on stock market dynamics — knowledge of either field can open up various career possibilities and attract youthful progressiveness into the sector. Also, the real estate professionals of the future are responsible for bringing about some badlyneeded regulatory frameworks in the sector, and for catalysing a higher degree of transparency. The fact that they now have opportunities for being academically prepared for this is nothing but positive. That said — should

EDUCATION one choose to attend such a course, checking its accreditation and verifying that the courses are officially recognised is extremely important. In the final analysis, no learning is ever wasted. At the very least, even rudimentary real estate courses can whet the appetite of our youth to acquire experience and proficiency in this exciting, dynamic sector. Here, as in every other business field, the instructed youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. The following are some of

career options available in the real estate sector: Residential real estate broker: A broker dealing in residential properties may represent either the buyer or the seller. Commercial real estate broker: Such a broker sells hotels, office space and similar commercial real estate properties. He/she may concentrate solely on retail office space, mall space, industrial space or hospitality space. He/she is involved in extensive market analysis, since commercial real estate is a preferred investment sector. Real estate appraiser: Such people determine the fair market value of a home for sale. They assess the

value of properties on behalf of an appraisal firm, a bank or even major private investors. They are involved in refinancing, too. Property manager: Such a person usually is part of a professional property management firm and looks after the investment of the property owners. He handles customers and manages lease and rent deals. Good negotiation and people skills are de rigueur in this line. Facilities manager: Facilities management as a concept has just begun emerging as the best possible route of maximize profitability and reduce overhears in large real estate projects such as residential townships, office buildings and malls. There is still a severe dearth of adequately trained facilities management personnel. Professional property and asset management companies such as Jones Lang LaSalle train their operatives on the ground. Real estate investment consultant: Such a person has extensive inside knowledge of the real estate market and advises property investors on the best investment options. His main focus is to locate properties that will appreciate in value. Project development experts: Such people are at the very nexus of the property market, and help create saleable properties. They advise developers on all aspects of the project, from the blueprint stage of final deployment. (The author is the head (HR), Jones Lang Lasalle India)

Turmoil at home, City charm draw Manipuris COMMUNITY Anubha K Singh anubha.k@postnoon.com

f there is one thing that can describe the Hyderabadi culture, it is the term diverse. The City boasts of numerous communities. For many, Hyderabad is their home and they have not visited their hometown for years. One such community is the Manipuri community. Of late, the City of pearls have been home to many youngsters and families from Manipur. “It’s been more than a decade since I came to Hyderabad to pursue my education and now I am working here. I have settled down in the City with my parents and have no plans to go back to Manipur. Initially my parents were not willing to move here, but now they don’t want to go back. Such is the charm of the City,” said Uzzal M a public relations executive.

Likewise, many other youngsters from Manipur who have settled here are happy to be called as Hyderabadi Manipuris. Apart from

the love for the City, the scenario in Manipur has also forced many of them to stay away from their hometown. These youngsters have

come forward and formed The Hyderabad Manipuri Society to connect, organise, facilitate and initiate all the people from

Manipur to have a common platform. There are more than 5,000 to 6,000 students and families families residing in the twin cities. Be it Eid, New year or Christmas people from the community comes together to celebrate these festivals. Bishu, Maharas Purnima, Phaguwa Rathyatra, Kang-Festival, Kartika festival or Yaoshang festival are some of their major festivals which they celebrate on a grand scale. The people from the community actively take part in City happenings and politics too. The members of the community also launched the ‘Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign’ in association with the Andhra Pradesh Chapter of National Alliance of People’s Movement (NAPM) as part of a nationwide protest programme in October 2011. The members actively take part in sports events being held in the City. Incidentally, most of the Manipuris in the City are into public relations or software jobs.

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Matters of saving and spending

New mantra: Realty click Prudhvi Raju K Prudhvi.k@postnoon.com

re you looking for buying a property? Do you want to compare and contrast different properties that are on sale in any major cities being at your house? It all can be done at a click of mouse. Many real estate sites like Indiaproperty.com, 99acres.com are offering wide variety of services to the buyers, which are traditionally not possible with the print classifieds. They are giving holistic information ranging from layout plan, photos, amenities and payment options and also become a mediator between the buyer and seller. These sites are also offering resale properties and properties on rents. They are trying to add more value to the display ad by adding video content. The trend is moving towards online. Displaying a classified on online is definitely cost effective and also has a maximum reach. It is already taken over in matrimony and gaining huge momentum in the real estate said Ganesh Vasudevan, vice president and business head, Indiaproperty.com.

Ganesh Vasudevan The sellers can put their project on display and the buyers can search the property according to their requirements. The buyers have access to 650 new projects and 30,000 different properties that are showcased on our site in various categories like farmhouse, apartment, villas, rowhouse and residential lands. They can also filter through all this properties according to his budget range and location in just few second and get the right property, he said. Taking about Hyderabad real estate sce-

` 84.80

nario, Ganesh says “Hyderabad market is reviving very well. The frequency of visits to Hyderabad page increased by 35-40 per cent in last six months, compared to last year. The number of searches also doubled in last four months. These are the clear signs that inventory that is hung over will be absorbed. This searches and visits will convert in to sales over next two months.” “India is still a ‘touch and feel’ market. Buyers would definitely love to see the property once the compare and evaluate between the properties. There should be offline presence to make a connection to the online leads and make the transaction happen. The property show ‘Gruhapravesham 2012’ is a move in this direction. This is organised by us and will be held on April 2729 at HITEX exhibition centre. It will showcase around 2,000 new properties, 40 builders and 100 new projects of the City, he said. It is a win-win situation for both the buyer and seller. The cost per lead is a fraction, compared to what a seller (marketer) spends on print. These real estate sites are growing bigger with the growth of classified market and also by taking share of the print classifieds, he added.

Wipro Q4 net up 7.7 pc at `1,481 crore

MUMBAI: IT major Wipro today reported 7.7 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at `1,480.9 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31. The company had posted a net profit of `1,375.4 crore during the January-March quarter in 201011, Wipro said in a filing to the BSE. The total income during the quarter rose by 18.84 per cent to `9,836.30 from `8,276.3 crore in the year-ago period. “Corporations globally are focused on leveraging technology to drive revenues and productivity. Our strategy is aligned to deliver value to our customers by partnering with them in this journey,” Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said in a statement. For the year ended March, 2012, Wipro posted an increase of 5.1 per cent in its net profit to `5,573 crore compared to `5,297.7 crore in the 2010-11 fiscal. PTI

Skype debuts on iPhone-iPad sales PlayStation Vita boost Apple profit SAN FRANCISCO: Skype made its debut on Tuesday on PlayStation Vita, making its leading Internet video or voice calling service available on Sony’s sophisticated videogame handset. A Skype application for PS Vita devices began rolling out to PlayStation Store in the US and was due to become available for download in Europe and Asia on Wednesday. The service includes free calls between Skype users along with video call capabilities that take advantage of front- and rear-facing cameras on PS Vita handsets. Low rates are charged for other calls. AFP

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple’s coffers continued to swell in the first three months of the year due to record sales of iPhones and iPad tablet computers, particularly in China and other parts of Asia. Apple reported on Tuesday that it made a profit of $11.6 billion on revenue of $39.2 billion in the quarter ended March 31. The amount of cash Apple had on hand grew $12 billion to $110.2 billion. Sales of iPads more than doubled from the same quarter the previous year and iPhone sales surged 88 percent. “We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter,” said Apple chief executive Tim Cook. AFP

Finmeccanica boss under probe for India deal bribe ROME: The head of Italian aerospace and defence giant Finmeccanica is under investigation after a former executive said the company paid bribes for a helicopter sale to India, media reports said on Tuesday. Giuseppe Orsi was appointed chairman last year after serving as director of helicopter maker AgustaWestland, which is part of the Finmeccanica Group. The company’s previous chairman, Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, was forced out after nine years in charge following a series of corruption scandals. The investigation concerns bribes

allegedly paid to secure a large contract for 12 AgustaWestland helicopters sold to India in 2010. Finmeccanica has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the deal. Investigators reportedly suspect the Northern League, an Italian political party whose finances are being probed, may have received a cut of the money in return for acting as an intermediary in negotiating the bribes. “The government should renew the entire leadership of Finmeccanica,” said Felice Belisario, a senator from the anticorruption Italy of Values party. AFP

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India‑View

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

India unveiled

Maha govt to set up 3 solar plants MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government is scouting land in Marathwada region to set up three Solar energy plants as part of its efforts to augment electricity generation in the state. Sources in the state energy department told PTI that the three plants of 50mw each would be set up in Osmanabad and Parbhani. “We need atleast 100 hectare of land and are looking for it for setting up two plants in Parbhani and one in Osmanabad. The electricity generated will go to the grid,” sources added. The government has zeroed in on the sites for setting up of the plants and is currently verifying technical details, sources added. “This process will be complet-

SEE OUR VIEWPOINT

137 people killed in Naxal violence this year: Govt NEW DELHI: A total of 137 people have been killed in 461 incidents of Naxal violence this year, the government said on Tuesday. The maximum number of causalities have been reported in Jharkhand (68), followed by Chhattisgarh (22), Maharashtra (20), Odisha (16), Bihar (10) and Andhra Pradesh (1), till April 15 this year. “The number of incidents of (naxal-related) violence has declined, whereas the number of consequential deaths has remained almost at par compared to the corresponding period of 2011,” Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh told Lok Sabha in a written reply. During the same period in

2011, Maoist violence had claimed 136 lives. A total of 461 incidents of Naxal violence, as compared to 538 in 2011, were reported during the same period in the nine naxalaffected states which also include Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. Singh, in a separate reply, said that a total of 75 battalions (about 75,000 personnel) of central security forces have been deployed in these states in this regard. “During last six months (from November 2011 to April 15 this year, 74 number of security forces have been killed by CPI (Maoist) in the country, out of which 14 have been killed in Maharashtra,” Singh said. PTI

ed in June after which the details will be made public. It is expected that the plants would come up in a year’s time,” sources said. The three units will be set up using two kinds of solar plant technology — Thin film and Crystalline. Considering the need to reduce the electricity shortfall to meet the December 2012 deadline of zero load shedding in the state, the government is planning to use nonconventional energy resources to improve electricity generation. According to sources, once the plant site is finalised, the project can come up in six months and Mahagenco can start the generation. The solar energy will cost `7–8 per unit. PTI

Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Mukul Wasnik (R) talks with activists of the Blind Workers’ Union during a protest in New Delhi on Tuesday. The protest was against lack of AFP/ PRAKASH SINGH employment opportunities for disabled people in government offices.

Little people to have a village of their own Anup Sharma

GUWAHATI: Almost 70 midgets, ranging from one-and-a-half feet to three feet in height, across Assam will soon have a place to live in with dignity and comfort, with a theatre actor setting up a village with houses adapted to their stature. Pabitra Rabha, a National School of Drama (NSD) graduate and a theatre personality of the state, is setting up the special home for these short people in Jalah village near Tangla in lower Assam’s Udalguri district, about 90km away from the state’s main city of Guwahati. “I have got four bighas of land for the project ‘Amar Gaon’, meaning our village in Assamese. We are now working on the designs of houses for the people. The houses in the village will be designed in a

way so that the ‘little people’ can live in comfortably in the houses,” said Rabha told IANS. “It is difficult for them to live in normal houses due to their physical stature. But at the same time the houses should not be too small as that can again affect

the psyche of these people.” Amar Gaon will include houses, a centre for their professional training and skill development and a place for rehearsals as well as other aspects of their lives. “There are about 70 such people in various districts of Assam.

It took me four years to find out the total population of these people. At present eight of them are working with us. We are planning to accommodate at least 30 of them in Amar Gaon initially,” said Rabha who also runs a theatre group called Dapon. Dapon is the only all-midgets theatre group in India, he claimed, while adding that Amar Gaon will be the first such project for midgets in the entire country. Rabha, who had carried out a survey across Assam to find out the population of midgets across Assam in 2008, has also been trying to add dignity to their lives by engaging these people in theatre. In 2010, he staged a play titled Kinu Kou” (What can I say?) engaging them at Guwahati’s Rabindra Bhavan. The play, which was all about the angst of these people and the stigma they

face, drew huge applause. “I was very curious about the lifestyle of these people. When I started the survey, my interest increased and I realised that they are the same people like us. I wanted to prove that physical height does not matter in conquering the world,” said Rabha, adding that each of the participants in his play has the talent and the determination to achieve any given target. Rabha had organised a theatre workshop for the midgets before taking them to the stage after imparting basic training on various aspects of acting. “Earlier, while most of these people remained indoors due to their physical stature, a few of them had worked in circuses as clowns. There was no dignity in their job as clowns and their selfesteem was hurt,” he said. IANS

India‑View

Lalu pitches Ansari as next president NEW

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

India unveiled

DELHI:

The debate over presidential candidate picked up further momentum with RJD chief Lalu Prasad pitching for VicePresident Hamid Ansari while other parties kept the cards close to their chest. In an interesting development, Gopalakrishna Gandhi met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubhaneswar, fuelling speculation that the visit was linked to presidential poll. However, SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati declined to reveal their party strategy on the Presidential elections. Ansari got support from Prasad who said his party would support the vice-president as the presidential candidate. “Our Vice-President Hamid Ansari should be made the president. He is a good candidate for the president’s post. He should be upgraded as the president,” Prasad told reporters. Asked about his party’s stand on former president APJ Abdul Kalam, he said, “Kalam has already been the president. Now Ansari should be made because he is an able person and his performance is also best in the Rajya Sabha.” Presidential elections will be held in July and the UPA has to depend on other parties as it does not have required numbers to elect a president on its own strength. Mulayam said his party has not yet decided on any name for the presidential candidate, distancing himself from the comments made by party colleague Shahid Siddiqui who had favoured APJ Abdul Kalam but made a U-turn. “The party has not taken any decision on this,” Yadav said. When pointed out that his party colleague Shahid Siddiqui had favoured Kalam, Yadav dismissed it, saying, “It may be his personal view but the party has not decided yet.” PTI

Naxals to free MLA tomorrow, says lawyer BHUBANESWAR: Maoists have decided to release Odisha legislator Jhina Hikaka on Thursday after he promised to resign from the assembly if the rebels’ demands were not fulfilled, a lawyer said today (Wednesday). Nihar Ranjan Patnaik, who is based in Koraput district and fights cases for the rebels, told a TV channel that the Maoists will set Hikaka free by 10am on Thursday. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) legislator has been held hostage for over a month. The Maoists will hand him over to Patnaik and Kaushalya, the wife of the abducted Biju Janata Dal legislator, in Narayanpatna area of the district, the lawyer said quoting a Maoist leader. Patnaik also said the rebels took the decision after the legislator gave them in writing that he would resign from the membership of the assembly if the government did not fulfil their demands. However, there is still no official confirmation of the development. No audio tape has been released by the rebels. The left-wing extremists, who kidnapped 37-year-old Hikaka from Laxmipur in Koraput March 24, had announced they would hold a ‘people’s court’ Wednesday where his fate would be decided. “There was no information if they conducted this people’s court,” a senior state home department official told IANS. He said the legislator should be released unharmed as the government had already accepted their demand.

ing lifeguard services in Goa has said that there are no beaches in the state that can be termed as “hazardous” for swimming, except for the fact that a large number of “footfalls” on a few seashores make them prone to accidents. Drishti Special Response Services (DSRS), which has been manning beaches since 2008, has observed that there are more fatalities on the tourist hotspots like Baga, Calangute, and Colva “due to high number of footfalls”. “There are no hazardous beaches in Goa. There are some no-swim zones which are created due to currents. But overall there is no beach which can be called as hazardous for swimming,” DSRS CEO VK Kanwar told reporters here on the side-

deal with piracy, the government today introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha that provides for recognising it as a crime and lays down norms for prosecution of pirates apprehended by Indian authorities with punishment up to life term. The Piracy Bill, 2012, has been brought as India does not have a separate domestic legislation on piracy and prosecution for piracy.

NEW DELHI: The Mumbai Police today drew flak from the National Green Tribunal for causing noise pollution by using sirens and multi-toned horns in their over 4,000 vehicles and causing “harassment” to the public. It also sought answers on “ways and means to eradicate sound pollution”.

The rebels had been demanding the release of 29 prisoners, mostly members of the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh (CMAS), which works mainly in the southern parts of the state, including Malkangiri and Koraput districts, on tribal-related issues. The state government has agreed to release 25 of them but the guerrillas rejected the offer and announced that Hikaka’s fate would be decided in a people’s court April 25. The worry of the government had increased after a rebel leader few days ago said they wanted the authorities to release all members of CMAS. The extremists did not specify how many members of the organisation have been languishing in state jails; similarly the government was also reluctant to disclose the figure. IANS

SUYOG JAIN

lines of a drive to recruit lifeguards. “There are six major rivers that empty into sea in Goa. A river meeting the sea creates seasonal rip currents which are dan-

NEW DELHI: Displaying seriousness to

Mumbai police draws flak on use of sirens

Goa beaches not hazardous: Study PANAJI: A private firm provid-

NATION AT A GLANCE Piracy Bill introduced in Lok Sabha

gerous,” he said, adding there is not a single beach in the coastal state which can be termed as “totally unsafe”. DSRS has conducted a comprehensive study of all the

beaches in the state and presented it to the government. The firm which has placed over 400 lifeguards manning all the beaches in the state is likely to extend its services to inland water bodies where instances of drowning are high. Kanwar said that drowning incidents happen because of the amateur swimmers who venture into sea keeping their security on line. “Most of the people who go for swim (in the sea) do not know swimming but they still go for it,” he said, adding drowning accidents happen as young revellers tend to ignore the potential risk involved in venturing into waters. According to the study, most of the drowning cases have taken place between 12 noon and 4pm. PTI

A priest showers rose petals on couples during a mass marriage on ‘Akshaya Tritya’ in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. AFP / SAM PANTHAKY

426 ‘fake encounters’ cases in last 3 years NEW DELHI: A total of 426 cases of alleged fake encounters by police, defence and central armed police forces were registered by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) during 2009-12. Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh said till April 17, no such case has been registered and during the last two years, no recommendation for prosecution made.

Students to be made aware on NRI marriages CHANDIGARH: With an aim to effectively deal with the problems related to the marriages involving non-resident Indians (NRIs), the Haryana government has decided to launch an awareness campaign in schools and colleges across the state. “The Haryana government has decided to organise a series of seminars in schools and colleges,” a spokesman said.

Tribal and backward class people stage a demonstration to press for various demands in Kolkata on Tuesday. PTI

Around the World

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Beyond Borders

It’s a book bonanza World Book Night donates millions of free books NEW YORK: Thousands of towns and cities around the country and beyond are participating in the second annual World Book Night, when some 2.5 million free books are expected to be donated, the Associated Press reported. Among the 30 books being given out are Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a PartTime Indian, and Leif Enger’s Peace Like a River. “It’s premium company, this list, and I’m glad and lucky to be on it,” Enger told the AP. “It also feels like a challenge. The idea is to entice people back into reading." The Los Angeles Times said the idea behind World Book Night is that "devoted readers are great proselytizers" and each person is encouraged to give away 20 copies of a book they love to friends and strangers alike. World Book Night was originated in 2011 by managing director Jamie Byng of Canongate Books, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, wrote the AP but this year readers in the US, UK, Ireland and Germany are participating. The group is also reaching out past the bookstore crowd. For example, the AP reported copies of Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto will be given out at a Denver

Dean Potter while performing the daredevil stunt.

Walking the tight rope Dean Potter walked across Enshi Grand Canyon on a slackline less than an inch thick

church to a nearby magnet school for refugees and immigrants. In Santa Cruz, Calif., copies of Patti Smith’s Just Kids will go to surfers at Monterey Bay in ziplock bags.

Crème de la crème

“It’s like an intellectual Halloween, only better,” Anna Quindlen, the program’s honorary chairwoman told USA Today. “We’re giving out books, not just Mars bars.”

ean Potter, a daredevil from New Hampshire, crossed China's Enshi Grand Canyon on a slackline less than an inch thick on Sunday, ABC News reported. 40-year-old Potter balanced his way across 130 feet of gaping canyon in central China's Hubei province without a safety harness or parachute, the Telegraph reported. The Enshi Grand Canyon is 5,905 feet above sea level, BBC reported, according to Chinese state media. Potter crossed it in just over two minutes. “In some way, I wonder if it’s healthy what I do,” he said in a February 2012 interview with ABC News’ Nightline. “I’m not even trying to say what I do is good. I go

back and forth to asking myself those questions. Dean, man, is this healthy? You’re obsessed on this thing that might kill you.” Slacklining is considered more difficult than tightrope walking, because the line is not held completely taut and is more apt to stretch and bounce, BBC reported. Potter crossed the Canyon while listening to music. Potter also free climbs, walks highlines, and BASE jumps, all without ropes or a safety harness, ABC News reported. In 2010, he completed the world's longest recorded BASE jump off of Switzerland's Eiger mountain, floating 9,000 vertical feet and nearly four miles in a specially designed wingsuit, the Sun reported. GLOBALPOST

SHOOTOUT AT COLOMBIA

Smurf, the cow, has produced 1mn glasses of milk

cow from a farm near the Canadian capital Ottawa has set a new world record for the most milk produced in a lifetime. 'Gillette Emperor Smurf' has produced 4,78,167 pounds of milk in her 15-year lifetime, beating the previous record set by Michigan cow 'Tacoma Mark MyWord' in 2006, according to the Daily Herd. AFP says that the Holstein cow has produced more than six

times the average amount of milk produced by a cow in a lifetime, and she's still yielding. The news agency adds that it had contacted the Guinness World Records and confirmed the record. “For us, it’s kind of like winning the Stanley Cup,” her owner Eric Patenaude, a farmer from Embrun, Ontario, is quoted as saying by The Ottawa Citizen. Eric Patenaude's uncle Louis also praised Smurf. “Smurf you can’t compare to any other cow. She's the queen," he reportedly said. An article in Canada's Daily Star jokes "She is the crème de la crème. With the equivalent of a million glasses of milk to her credit, Smurf churns it out unlike any udder." The newspaper explains that Smurf is about 105 in human terms, and is expecting her 11th calf next month, despite having already lived more than twice as long as the average cow.

Colombian special forces conduct a military exercise during the visit of US defence secretary Leon Panetta and Colombian defence minister Juan Carlos Pinzon, at Tolemaida military base in Melgar, Tolima department, Colombia. Panetta is in Colombia as part of his first Latin America tour to AFP/ EITAN ABRAMOVICH bolster bilateral military cooperation and regional security ties.

Around the World Romney secures nomination Five-state win consolidates claim WASHINGTON: Mitt Romney effectively claimed the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, reveling in a fivestate primary sweep and urging voters to help him oust President Barack Obama in November. With wins in Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, according to US media forecasts, Romney essentially kicked off his general election campaign and began making his case to take over the White House. “Tonight is the start of a new campaign,” Romney told ecstatic supporters in New Hampshire — scene of his first Republican primary victory back in January and a potentially pivotal general election battleground. He trounced former House speaker Newt Gingrich and congressman Ron Paul, the two remaining Republicans in the race, in the northeastern states that are largely friendly territory to Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts. Romney basked in the glow of the clean sweep, and effectively staked his claim to the nomination. After Tuesday, Romney will still be short of the 1,144 delegates needed to be crowned the official nominee at the Republican convention in late August. But most campaign watchers are treating Romney as the Democratic incumbent’s challenger on November 6. AFP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Beyond Borders

Annan wants UN monitors in now!

AFP

DAMASCUS: International

peace envoy Kofi Annan has called for the rapid deployment of 300 ceasefire monitors in Syria, branding violence levels “unacceptable” 12 days into a promised truce. UN Security Council powers called on the United Nations to speed up the deployment of monitors, but a top UN official said it will take at least one month to get the first 100 in place. Ban’s comments in New York on Tuesday came a day after nearly 60 people were killed across the country in violence that continued on Tuesday with a car bomb in the Marjeh district of Damascus that injured three. Syrian state television blamed “terrorists”, the government term for rebels, for the blast. It came as UN observers returned to the city of Hama’s Arbaeen neighbourhood, which activists said suffered a “massacre” on Monday at the hands of regime troops. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 31 civilians were killed in the flashpoint central city, out of a total of 59 people including five soldiers killed in violence nationwide. UN-Arab League envoy Annan said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has still not fulfilled a promise to end violence and that the situation was “bleak” and “unacceptable”. The special envoy said he

GLOBE AT A GLANCE US Marines punished over Brazil prostitute BRASILIA: Three US Marines and a State Department employee were punished over their involvement with a Brazilian prostitute in December, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday. The admission came as officials were still reeling from the fallout of a prostitution scandal implicating Secret Service agents and military personnel working on a visit to Colombia by President Barack Obama.

Pak successfully tests nuke-capable missile ISLAMABAD: Pakistan successfully test fired a nuclear-capable intermediate range ballistic missile on Wednesday. The exact range of the missile was not revealed, but defence analyst, Talat Masood told it would be able to hit targets up to 2,500 to 3,000 kilometres away — putting arch-rival India well within reach.

Stamps of the Syrian Revolution shows stamps with images of French photojournalist Remi Ochlick (L) and London Times correspondent Marie Colvin (R), who were killed in Homs. was “particularly alarmed” at reports that government forces had entered Hama after a visit by UN monitors and killed “a significant” number of people. “If confirmed this is totally unacceptable and reprehensible,” he told the Security Council. The Syrian League for Human Rights said that among those killed in Hama on Monday were nine activists who were “summarily executed” by government forces a day after they met UN observers in the city. Video footage posted online by activists showed a street in Hama’s Arbaeen neighborhood with large

pools of blood and women waeeping. The council was told there are now 11 UN observers in place and the 30-strong advance party of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) is expected to be on the ground by the end of the week. But UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said it would take a month to get the first 100 of the 300-member full force into Syria. “All council members underscored the need for more rapid deployment of observers,” US ambassador Susan Rice told reporters. AFP

An animal rights activist takes a bath with fake blood during the commemoration of the Laboratory Animal in Colombia. AFP

Sudan raids on South leave at least 16 dead UNITED NATIONS: Sudan’s air raids on South Sudan killed at least 16 civilians and wounded 34, UN officials on Tuesday told the UN Security Council, which condemned the attacks. The 15-member council made a new call for a ceasefire between the rival states at the end of hastily-called talks on the surging conflict.

Google’s giant 16TB cloud — Google Drive

Ex-BP engineer arrested for destroying evidence

SAN FRANCISCO: Google has launched

WASHINGTON: US authorities made

a new consumer service offering up to 16TB (terabytes) of storage for photos and other online content. Dubbed Google Drive, the service goes head to head with rival cloud services such as Dropbox and Microsoft’s SkyDrive. It offers 5GB (gigabytes) of storage for free. People pay on a rising scale for more space. “The model is really designed at the core to help people live their lives in the cloud,” Google vice president for Chrome and Apps Sundar Pichai said on a conference call with reporters. “Google Drive is something we see as central to the online experience at Google.” Google Drive software has been tailored for Windows and Macintosh computers as well as smartphones or tablets powered by Google-backed Android software. A version tailored for Apple mobile gadgets will be released soon, according to Pichai.

“We want to make sure that all our users’ data are available wherever they are,” he said. Google Drive data can be reached from various devices, and deleting it from one deletes it from all. Scanned letters can be saved under the new service and Fax messages can be sent or received. Google Docs online text program was described as an integral component of

Drive, letting people create and collaborate on documents. Google put its search expertise to work to provide tools for people to quickly find files in their Drive accounts, according to Pichai. Included was Goggle technology to power searches using images instead of key words. Autodesk and some other third-party program creators have collaborated with Google to make it possible for people to use their software in Drive accounts, where teams can join forces online to handle projects. Talk about creating a Google Drive started about five years ago. The booming trend of smartphones or tablets being at the center of mobile lifestyles and the growing popularity of services like Gmail or YouTube hosted in the Internet cloud made the time ripe for Google Drive, executives said. Google Drive will also be built into a new generation of Chrome laptop computers.

their first arrest on Tuesday in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, charging an ex-BP engineer with destroying evidence tied to the disaster. The Justice Department charged drilling engineer Kurt Mix with two criminal counts of obstruction of justice for trying to destroy text messages on his iPhone that related to the incident.

Swiss hostage Beatrice Stockly, is pictured on board a helicopter after her rescue from Mali on Tuesday. AFP

Comment

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Fair, free and forthright

Testing times ahead for Congress

Talk back Bigger the better The article on solo living really caught my attention. Is it possible to get any sort of data or statistics about this trend? I have read a similar article before, but I didn’t think that it held true for India also. Such a dramatic change in our social system might just crumble the ethics and values that Indians have been carrying on for generations. Indian society and values have their foundations rooted in the joint family system which is how it should be if one wants to preserve the culture. Khushi Sunil Khairtabad

Girls unsafe at night In response to your article ‘We feel safe but eve teasing fear exists’, I would like to say that men in Hyderabad, and I mean those who you see doing wheelies on roads and gawking at women, are perverts. Maybe it is the case in most of India. Women are unsafe. Even in board daylight, if someone is misbehaving with a woman, there are a handful of people who say something. Hyderabad definitely isn’t safe in the nights unless a girl is inside a car or is in a group which has guys in it. Swathi Shastri Ameerpet

Doling out names Indeed there’s a lot in a name. The article was highly interesting and funny as well. People generally don’t give much thought to naming their pets. But it really is important to understand the animal’s perspective as well. For example, smartness. If an animal is really smart then giving it a complicated name might work. But if it isn’t, then giving it a monosyllabic name makes sense. What I loved in the article is the part about funny names that have been given to pets. Naming a pet Harley Davidson might show the craze for the bike but would only etch confusion in the pet’s mind. Ayub Khan Ramnagar

Learning becomes fun I knew that China was using tablets in its classrooms but it’s surprising that India is doing so too. This definitely is a revolution in the field of education considering that we, as Indians, have always doubted the authenticity of work and study done on computers. But it does make studying a lot more easy and fun for students. Interaction and communication being two of the most important things about education will now be justified. Vijay B Nallakunta

Fusillade Arun Koshy Philip

t has taken a series of electoral debacles to shake India’s Grand Old Party, theCongress, from its political slumber of denial mode and complacence. Despite cross-country hut hopping by the heir apparent Rahul Gandhi and charm offensive by his sister Priyanka, the voters chose to bring non-Congress alliances to power. The emphatic defeat for the 127-year-old party has been in the national capital, where the BJP swept to power in the local body elections. Long has the era passed when the public tended to forgive and forget or get swayed by the personal charisma of Congress leaders. Uttar Pradesh voters refused to buy the ‘yuvraj’s’ charm offensive of mingling with the crowds and dining at Dalit huts. For all the efforts that Rahul put in, the party was reduced to the fourth place after SP, BSP and BJP. Even the last-moment marriage of convenience with the RLD failed to draw the caste votes to the party. Another area where the party keeps getting beaten black and blue is its alliances with regional parties — the most glaring example being that with West Bengal. Stuck with Mamata for meeting the magic numbers in Lok Sabha, the Congress is constantly humiliated without ‘mamta’ at the Centre and state. She blocked a river water sharing deal with Bangladesh, got a sensible Railway minister sacked, is blocking several key policies in segments such as FDI and counter-terrorism. The latest whimsical threat was a 15-day deadline to the Centre to waive the state’s debt to the tune of `22,000 crore. In Tamil Nadu too, the picture is not much different. The Centre’s hands are tied on ties with Sri Lanka owing to pressure from the state’s two major parties, the DMK and the AIADMK. The Congress is perceived as weak because of its failure to get even the UPA allies on board regarding key policies. Key areas such as legal reforms, disinvestment, FDI, counter-terrorism, anti-graft law and police reforms have been languishing without policy

commitments. The constant announcements of new policies and subsequent volte-face due to pressure from allies have hit the credibility of the party. Massive cases of fraud at the Centre running into lakhs of crores of rupees have definitely put the party on the back foot. When senior party leader and telecom minister Kapil Sibal said the loss to the government in 2G spectrum auction was ‘zero’, whereas the CAG put it at `1.76 lakh crore, it came as a shock even to the Opposition. Maybe the firebrand Supreme Court lawyer has forgotten that gone are the days when an elephant in the room would not be seen by the public. The infighting in state units and lack of party discipline has left the party in a lurch. While loose cannons like Digvijay Singh go on the warpath firing salvos at anything that moves and manages to capture his fancy, senior leadership is forced to do the damage control. The party’s inability to make its leaders toe its line is threatening the survival of its government in Andhra Pradesh. The Congress has been forced to swallow its pride and take the help of its rivals in Parliament to suspend

Editorials

AS ROMNEY LOOKS TO THE WHITE HOUSE, Obama must reflect on promises that lie in tatters

itt Romney won five more primaries last night and is now almost certain (barring some bizarre circumstances) to challenge Barack Obama for the White House in November of this year. For all intents and purposes, the race to the Oval Office began a few weeks ago, but the real campaign juggernauts will now begin to roll towards success or doom. For Romney, the battle is an uphill one. In American politics, the incumbent almost always has the upper hand seeing as to how he can rely on tangible results in a campaign, while the pretender will always need rhetoric. That’s bad for Romney who’s more wooden than an elm tree when it comes to public speaking and is as charismatic as a depressed slug. But Obama’s first term has not been the political Eden the world expected; rather it has been pragmatic politics and filibustering to the nth degree. Obama can lose in November, but from now on, Romney is going to have to up his game and connect. For him, that’s easier said than done.

eight of its MPs from Parliament as they refused to obey party directives and stalled the House demanding for a separate Telangana state. An organisation is usually able to tide over crises when there is clarity regarding leadership and a vision for the future. In the case of Congress, there is a lot of ambiguity surrounding leadership. With the scion Rahul failing to sway votes and shying away from any executive post, the focus has shifted to Priyanka. However, Congress president Sonia Gandhi hasn’t cleared the air about who is going to take over the party reins. For all the reform and internal democracy Rahul has been championing, the party is still practicing nepotism and favouritism in selecting its lowand middle-rung leaders — and the lack of quality is showing in its poll performances. India’s oldest party has a Herculean task of cleaning its Augean Stables. If it fails to put its house in order, it will share the fate of several dynasties that had their share of glory before becoming extinct. The writer works for Postnoon.

WHY WE LOVE... Chelsea

hey call their style tiki taka. They refer to the current Barcelona squad as the best football team ever. Last night, they were all wrong. “Football, bloody hell!” The phrase was meant for last night’s Champions League Semi-Final at Camp Nou. Chelsea proved that sheer grit and the determination to prevail are more important than flair. Their style was tenacious, but my, what a result! Bring on the final.

Cinema Paradiso

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

The reluctant superstar John Cusack’s latest film, The Raven, which releases next week, has set tongues wagging. And once again the actor, who reviles the trappings of fame, will make a foray into the spotlight

Andrew Josef feedback@postnoon.com

hen Lloyd Dobbler turns to Diane Court, after she has told him she loves him, and asks: “One question: do you need... someone, or do you need me?... Forget it, I don’t really care,” a sense of calm descended on the audience. In many ways they were witnessing the consummate everyman. They had come to watch a film called Say Anything… . It was a Cameron Crowe film, so above all, they came for the music. But what they found was John Cusack. In 1989, the year Say Anything… was released, John Cusack was just the invisible guy who occasionally acted. He played his parts well, but his screen presence was as unassuming as his looks. Little did they know that he would go on to become one of Hollywood’s most underrated actors, a sort of Robert Downey Jr, sans addictions. But it wasn’t until the following year when Stephen Frears scintillating film, The Grifters was released that

everyone realised they were watching the birth of a star whose very ‘normalness’ was an art in itself. For the early part of the 90s, Cusack floundered, starring in films that were critically acclaimed but tailored for straight-to-video release. It wasn’t until he was cast as David Shayne in Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway in 1994 that his star settled at its zenith. The film was a solid Allen vehicle, if far from his best, but Cusack shone. The role of Martin Q Blank

in George Armitage’s Grosse Pointe Blank could never have been played by anyone apart from Cusack. His pan-faced hitman perfectly balanced Dan Akroyd’s manic assassin. And although the plaudits were shared between Cusack and his superb co-star Minnie Driver, Cusack had established himself as a bona fide leading man. A line-up of films followed that cemented his place as the intellectual filmgoers hero. After a star turn in Clint Eastwood’s Midnight in the Garden

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

THE BIG CHASE

young Chinese girl has vital weapons of mass destruction science secrets both the Chinese Mafia and also the Russian Mafia desire to obtain. The girl meets up with a “Soldier of Fortune” man (Jason Statham) and he protects her from abduction and murder by the Russian and Chinese Mafia agents in the USA, both of which compete to find the girl and get the

secrets she possesses so they can use these secrets to blackmail world governments. Watch out for Statham as he gets to do what he loves best.

Movie: Safe Director: Boaz Yakin Cast: Jason Statham, Catherine Chan and Chris Sarandon

of Good and Evil in 1997, and a great performance in the mediocre Pushing Tin, Cusack was ready for the role that would make him a superstar. When Stephen Frears decided to adapt Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity for the screen he called on his Grifters star. It would be a decision that would change film-making in the early noughties. For kids growing up through the late 90s, High Fidelity captured the essence of their lives. The cassette was fading, LPs were on

their last legs, and CDs were in. It was an angst captured brilliantly by Cusack’s character Rob Gordon, the owner of a record store. His philosophy: “Should I bolt every time I get that feeling in my gut when I meet someone new? Well, I’ve been listening to my gut since I was 14-yearsold, and frankly speaking, I’ve come to the conclusion that my guts have shit for brains… ” obliterated the faux intellectualism of a Hollywood in flux. It was us, it was all about us. From Max and War Inc to Grace is Gone and Hot Tub Time Machine , Cusack replenishes the spirit of normalcy that Hollywood rips apart every couple of months. He is the bulwark against the CGI tides. Even when he’s starring in huge films like 2012, he’s still sane. Cusack once said of his career: “I’ve made 10 good films. The ones that suck I tend to blank out. It’s like I never even made them. Well, there aren’t 40 that are great, put it that way. But that’s fine. Ten is a good batting average.” One reckons he’ll be raising that to 11 next week.

H‑Factor

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Holistic view of mind, body and soul

Lowering lipid helps the heart

Dr Sunil Kapoor

Vexing varicose veins Ranjani Rajendra ranjani.r@postnoon.com

ho doesn’t like to flaunt endless long legs? That are toned and smooth of course. But imagine a situation where you were forced to hide those pins just because you had unsightly lumpy blue protrusions. Or if those veins that stuck out were painful and resulted in swollen legs. Varicose vein is a condition, usually of the lower limbs, where a vein gets clogged with blood because valves that help keep the blood flowing in the right direction become weak or dysfunctional. This leads to partial blood stagnation in the vein causing it to swell up and take on a bluish appearance. Often in such cases it appears as if the vein is located directly under the layer of skin. In worse cases the veins may protrude leaving you with lumpy looking skin. Varicose vein usually occurs on the leg. The condition results in pain while walking or standing and in many cases they could leave you with an itch and develop into ulcers. “Varicose veins occur due to the abnormal dilation of the veins in the legs. It is a common condition and usually occurs in people who are overweight or have jobs which require them to stand for long hours at a stretch,” says Dr Manoj Agarwala, cardiologist at Apollo Hospital.

Painfully swollen legs can often bog you down. But with a little extra care it can be managed

It can also occur in women during pregnancy, but in this case it is temporary and it disappears after childbirth. Though it is primarily a cosmetic problem in several cases, varicose vein may cause pain, cramps, tiredness and itching. “Usually, varicose veins don’t present too many problems, unless it manifests into ulcers, presents with pain or leads to disfigurement. In such cases, it requires treatment,” says Dr Manoj. Doctors generally diagnose varicose vein thorough physical examination. Now ultrasound diagnosis provides more specific information about conditions of tissue as well as blood flow to be considered for surgery as well as non-surgical treatments. Compression stalkings are used to physically reducing the amount of pressure and blood flow in the veins. Sclerotherapy uses injection of medicines to shrink the vein — which reduces blood flow or in many cases it to become a clot and die. In such cases body re-routes blood through healthier veins and the condition no longer persists. While there are both surgical and non-surgical treatments available to treat varicose vein, Dr Manoj says, “Surgery is not always required. Especially with advancement in medicine we have access to several non-surgical procedures that can be used to treat varicose veins. There are news treatments like laser and radio frequency ablation therapy that we can use instead.” Surgical treatments include removing the affected veins (stripping). Other methods involve closing and removing a vein through a small incision and cryosurgery.

Managing complications of myocardial infarction The most common complications from myocardial infarctions are damage to the heart muscle and abnormal heart rhythms. The longer it takes to open a blocked artery with medications or coronary angioplasty, the more likely it is for these complications to occur. However, even after the blocked artery has been opened, patients remain at risk for these complications, especially in the first several days after a myocardial infarction. Thus, MI patients are usually admitted to the hospital and observed for several days in a specialised unit called the coronary care unit, which has staff specifically trained to care for patients with MI. In addition to admission to the coronary care unit and testing, various medications are also given to patients who have had an MI in order to minimise complications and prevent future myocardial infarctions: n Anti platelet medications: Antiplatelet medications inhibit the clotting action of platelets, and thus are very useful in preventing future myocardial infarctions. n Lipid lowering agents: Cholesterollowering medications, such as statins, and other lipid therapies have been associated with marked reduction in future cardiac events by stabilising the remaining cholesterol containing plaques. n Beta-blockers: Beta-blockers slow the heart rate and decrease the adverse effect of excessive adrenaline on the heart. n ACE inhibitors: ACE inhibitors and ARBs are medications that reduce the resistance the heart has to pump against. n Coronary artery procedures: Finally, depending on the number and distribution of blockages in the coronary arteries, procedures to open or bypass these blockages may be useful, in addition to the medications, in preventing future myocardial infarctions. These procedures include coronary angioplasty, or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery.

(The writer is a senior consultant cardiologist at Care Hospital)

H‑Factor

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Holistic view of mind, body and soul

WEIGHT TRAINING MIGHT

slow memory decline, says study A Canadian study found that seniors in the earliest stages of dementia improved their performance on cognitive tests after regular resistance training

trength training may help to reverse memory loss in elderly women in early stages of dementia, according to a new study. CTV reported that researchers studied 86 women who were between the age of 70 and 80 and who had probable “mild cognitive impairment,” for six months. After weight training, researchers used MRIs to show increased blood flow to areas in the brain that were associated with memory and other cognitive functions. Health Day reported that the study showed that aerobics-based activity did not show similar mental health benefits as weight training. “What our results show is that resistance training can indeed improve both your cognitive performance and your brain function,” she said in a statement,” said Teresa Liu-Ambrose, the study’s principal investigator, according to CTV. “What is key is that it will improve two processes that are highly sensitive to the effects of aging and neurodegeneration: executive function and associative memory — often impaired in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.” Medical XPress said that the research was the first to compare resistance and aerobic exercise to improve things like attention, memory, problem solving and decision making in older people. The study was conducted by researchers at the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility at Vancouver Coastal Health and the University of British Columbia. The research was published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. GLOBAL POST

Brain freeze explanation may help migraine sufferers

Scientists say that this discovery may help in developing new treatments for migraine headaches

esearchers find the cause for the infamous brain freeze, also known as an ‘ice cream headache.’ Scientists say the discovery may help in developing new treatments for migraine headaches, which plague about 20 per cent of the population. According to a study at Harvard Medical School, scientists found that so called ‘brain freeze’ headaches are caused by a rush of blood into the anterior cerebral artery while the brain struggles to stay warm after a blast of

cold. The ache stopped once blood flow was restricted, said the Telegraph. “The brain is one of the relatively important organs in the body, and it needs to be working all the time,” said researcher Jorge Serrador, of Harvard Medical School,” according to Live Science. “It’s fairly sensitive to temperature, so vasodilation [the widening of the blood vessels] might be moving warm blood inside tissue to make sure the brain stays warm.” The study saw researchers induce brain freeze on 13 vol-

unteers drinking ice water through a straw that shot water to the roof of their mouths. The volunteers were told to raise their hands at its onset and when it went away. Looking at blood flow alterations like those that occurred during brain freezes could help in studying migraines, researchers said, reported Medical News Today. Learning how to control the brain’s blood flow may help offer new treatments for this debilitating problem of migraines. GLOBAL POST

Spotlight

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

SRINIVAS SETTY

Wedding bells

Hosts Ajay and Rajani Agarawal could not stop beaming as they received guests at the wedding celebration of their son Nitin with Ridhi. The party was held at the HICC Novotel on Tuesday.

Sridevi & Swathi Sanghi

Ajay Agarawal & Rajani Agarawal

Adhiti, Anuradha & Richa

Happy together

Taranjeet & Karamjeet

Kasu Krishan Reddy

Sanjay and Swapna Soodh

Ajay Kumar & Gowtam Jain

Nitin Hinduja and Swati Magwani celebrated their wedding with friends and family at The Westin on Tuesday.

Nitin and Swati with their family

Amita & Munmun

Swapna

SRINIVAS SETTY

Nitin & Ridhi Agarawal

Magic Screen

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

The glamour behind the glitz

Tollywood eyes Karnataka market T

he Telugu film industry has sets its eyes on Karnataka which had hitherto been a tough market to crack due to restrictions on nonKannada films. Few weeks ago, the Competition Commission of India had ordered the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) to lift the restrictions on the number of prints that can be distributed throughout the state. As a

Trisha in talks for Ravi Teja’s film?

risha and Ravi Teja, who had earlier paired up in V V Vinayak’s Krishna, might soon team up, if all goes well. Trisha is reportedly in talks for Ravi Teja’s upcoming film Saar Vastaru. Parasuram is going to direct the film and Ashwini Dutt is going to produce it. Although Trisha hasn’t officially signed the film, sources say that she’s likely to be finalised for one of the lead roles in the film. Amala Paul is going to play the other lead role opposite Ravi Teja. The film will go on floors later this summer. Meanwhile, Trisha is awaiting the release of her upcoming Telugu film Dhammu which will hit the screens on April 27.

result, this has turned into a boon for Telugu film producers who can explore the market to rake in bigger moolah. Earlier this month, Racha had released in about 100 theatres across Karnataka and it smashed several records set by earlier Telugu films that were released in Karnataka. This week, NTR’s upcoming film Dhammu is going to be released in more than 150 screens and next month Pawan Kalyan’s Gabbar Singh and SS Rajamouli’s Eega will also see a huge release in Karnataka. Telugu films do extremely well in areas like Bellary which have a Telugu speaking population and the latest developments are expected to pave way for more Telugu films to be released in a big way in Karnataka.

T-TOWN TWEETIES

@actressanjjanaa

EEGA

set to fly on May 30

S Rajamouli’s upcoming film Eega is all set to hit the screens on May 30. So far, there was a lot of confusion about the film’s release date due to the extensive CG and postproduction involved. For the past two months, Rajamouli and his team had been working round the clock to complete the post production. Now, Rajamouli has confirmed that the film will hit the screens on May 30 in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. Eega is a bilingual film which was shot in Telugu and Tamil and the makers are dubbing the film in Malayalam as Eecha. In Karnataka, the film’s Telugu version is expected to be released in a record number of screens. Nani, Sudeep and Samantha have played lead roles in the film. Sai Korrapati has produced the film’s Telugu version and the Tamil version, Naan Ee has been produced by Prasad V Potluri. MM Keeravani has composed the music and Senthil is the cinematographer.

Jus coz somthin hasn't worked out fo u now,doesn't mean there isn't something big in store fo u in the future.

@richyricha In Kolkata for my producer’s (bengali film) wedding.Will be the first time seeing a Marwari wedding! Exciting w film release arnd the corner.

@shraddhadas43 Listening to my fav song what goes around comes around, love it and completely believe in it! U always get back what u giv to others...

@themohanbabu Vishnu will announce soon the details of Ravana. He is producing it. One of his dream projects. Confirmed is my brother KRR is directing.

@sundeepkishan Emergency: A boy 20-22 years met with an accident on MumNasik Highway on a Black Pulsar, Police can’t trace famly, Name:Rishi Dadlani... pls circulate.

@Actor_Siddharth The evenings program has a straightforward motto... heart before mind. Fantasy before reality. Isn’t sport a funny thing?

@Tashu_02 Jst 1 more week and then my work starts... shall leave for Trivandrum on the 30th.... its time for my debut film in Malayalam to begin... :-)

@shrutihaasan Your words don’t go unnoticed even If I don’t reply to each and every one of you please remember you totally make my day and inspire me :)

Magic Screen Want to explore action genre afresh: Anil Kapoor

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

The glamour behind the glitz

ctor Anil Kapoor feels that the action genre was not new to him and in fact what his fellow stars are doing today he had done it much earlier. Excited about the Friday release of action drama Tezz, the 52-year-old actor says that he wanted to explore the genre anew before he grows older. “I think it is a very natural phenomenon as what you could do ten years back that you can’t do today, you have to change with time and temperament and age and you try to do your best. “You try to do what suits you and what you are capable of and sometimes you try to stretch yourself...saying you can work hard more. There is a lot of action and running scenes that I have tried to do my best in Tezz,” the actor said. PTI

Zoya denies rumours

irector Zoya Akhtar has brushed off rumours that she is planning to shoot a documentary to commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema. However, she had dropped a hint that she has something in store for the occasion. “No, I am not making a documentary and it’s something that’s going to

be announced over the weekend. It’s not my production so I cannot talk about it till it comes out,” the 39year-old said. There were reports that Zoya is set to start shooting for a documentary titled Sheila Ki Jawaani which will also star actress Katrina Kaif in a cameo. IANS

B-TOWN TWEETIES

@RGVzoomin Got a super idea fr the Govt. It shd mke compulsory fr al smokers 2 carry placards around their necks saying ‘smoking is injurious 2 health’.

@reddysameera I just connected my twitter to the facebook page (that i have had for ages) but never really used!!

@NeilNMukesh Who to believe whom not to. What to think what not to. The Q’s have no answers and the answers given have nothing but more questions !

@SrBachchan

Kiran Rao’s life made tough because of Satyamev Jayate

ilmmaker and superstar Aamir Khan’s wife Kiran Rao says the actor’s new TV show Satyamev Jayate has made life tough for her as

he has started bringing work home. “This show has made my jeena haram (life tough) on many levels because Aamir has worked on the show night and day and in my house,” the 38-year-old said. “So my house has been full of writers and people from Star, and Aamir and they have all the big team in my house day and night. So, I am waiting for the show to come on air and slowly, hopefully my life will also go back to normal,” she added. Satyamev Jayate will go on air on Star Plus May 6. The concept of the show has been kept under wraps, but its theme song is receiving a positive response. IANS

T 723 — To all those that wish Jaya on her investiture to the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Parliament, many thanks on her behalf.

@RahulBose1 Titwillow, Derbyshire, Andrew Green, New Sydney, White House — just names of houseboats on the Dal Lake, that’s all.

@AnupamPkher Met up with my friend @thearvindswami after a long time. He looks younger and is excited about Mani Ratnam’s film.:)

@DuttaLara The simple joys of a good book, a peaceful, sleeping baby,a warm glass of milk and a soft duvet make for a very inviting night ahead! G’nite!

@shreyastalpade1 Any love or happiness given to anyone always comes back. Unfortunately we expect it from the same person. Good morning.

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Magic Screen

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

The glamour behind the glitz

Kerr’s secret

ambition — singing! S upermodel Miranda Kerr has a secret ambition to become a singer. She says she always wanted to be a pop star and has even recorded a number of tracks, but she doubts her music will ever be

heard by the public. "I have recorded a couple of songs, actually, that no one knows about! You probably won't hear them, but I love to sing," she told vogue.in. "I'm doing so much at the

moment, modelling obviously, I have cosmetics line Kora Organics, my books, and my family, so I have quite a lot to focus on for the time being," she added. IANS

LiLo to play Elizabeth Taylor

n her first major leading role since the 2009 ABC family movie Labor Pains, Lindsay Lohan has signed on to play the late Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor in the Lifetime biopic Liz & Dick. Chronicling Taylor’s tumultuous romance with actor Richard Burton, the TV movie will be penned by Christopher Monger and executive produced by Larry A Thompson. No director has been announced, but the film is scheduled to begin shooting in June. “I have always admired and had enormous respect for Elizabeth Taylor,” Lohan said. “She was not only an incredible actress but an amazing woman as well. I am very honoured to have been asked to play this role.”

Lovato blames club promoters R

ecovering from an eating disorder is a long process, and if anyone can speak to that, it’s Demi Lovato. Almost a year-and-a-half after completing treatment for “emotional and physical issues,” the former Disney starlet, 19, says she’s too insecure about her physique — she’s now a size 10-12 — to book new projects. “I need to be secure in my body before I go back in front of the camera,” Lovato tells British mag Fabulous. The troubled actor who has previously played down past drug use, also opens up about how she was exposed to drugs and alcohol even though she was underage. “Promoters gave me drugs and alcohol in restaurants or clubs,” she admits. “They wanted me to come back so I would be seen there. They were basically kissing my a**. I thought they were my friends. I thought I was having fun.” Lovato says she can see how young stars end up in trouble. “Being a celebrity can be dangerous. Nobody says ‘no,’” she says. “That’s why so many end up overdosing and dying. It could definitely have happened to me.”

Chai Time

KAKURO

How to play Kakuro Kakuro is a popular game similar to sudoku in some ways. But is also suitably different. The key question: ‘How do you play kakuro?’, well here are the rules of kakuro. The answer: The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers. However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number. Within each collection of cells — called a run — any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once. Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on... So, how do you work out the actual combination? Well, this is done through elimination and cross-referencing. For instance, as you work out the answers for other kakuro clues, this will naturally limit the valid combinations, and hence the answer for this particular run. Note the second cell in row two — it contains two numbers, 30 and 11. The 30 refers to the vertical run underneath the number 30 and the 11 refers to the two cells to the right, horizontally, of the number 11.

SCRIBBLING PAD

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Take a shot at the brain game while sipping your cuppa

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Poker variety 5 Versifier's output 9 Spiritual sustenance 14 Fish-eating bird 15 Doozy 16 Lend ___ (be attentive) 17 Fake bill 20 Country in which Tetris was created 21 ‘Skittle Players’ artist Jan 22 They often have pistol grips 23 Best buds 25 Arrow's path 28 Danson of ‘CSI’ 29 Island whose capital is Denpasar 30 Greet the day 32 Gem for a 30th anniversary 34 Tomorrow, in Mexico 35 Civil strife 38 Legendary athlete Jim 39 External 40 Bee product 41 ‘All ___ being equal ...’ 42 Its symbol is Sn 45 One in a wool coat 46 Right-hand man 47 Biscuit at teatime 49 Canonised one 52 Teeny particles in physics 53 Changes course, in a conversation 57 Arab League member 58 Container with tiny scissors 59 River to the Caspian Sea 60 Three-time Wimbledon winner Chris 61 Go bombastic 62 Informal rejection DOWN 1 Confidential matter 2 Band of traveling actors 3 Still in the original package 4 Slow on the uptake 5 Thing entered in court 6 Sharer's word

7 Employee of Santa 8 Rolled oats cereal 9 Do more than check 10 First name in diarists 11 Kind of ward 12 Slave rebellion leader Turner 13 ‘We ___ the World’ 18 'Twas in the present? 19 Before-time link 23 Golf standards 24 Considering everything 26 Ancient alphabetic character 27 Tax pro 29 Military facility 30 Plum variety 31 Caltech grad, perhaps 32 Denude an apple 33 Spot in the distance 34 ‘Turn off the sound’ button 35 Chuck wagon fare

36 Wanting company 37 Deceptive action 38 Word in many band names 41 Any one of the two 42 Bullfighter 43 Mushroom that's poisonous with alcohol 44 Cuddle up 46 Picnic troublemaker 47 Undersea craft (Abbr) 48 Born on the bayou 50 ‘Monkey see, monkey do’ practitioner 51 ‘___ She Lovely?’ (Stevie Wonder hit)

SUDOKU

52 Pack it in 53 Food additive 54 Prepare to burn rubber 55 Airplane announcement, for short 56 Great ball o' fire?

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

THOUGHT OF THE DAY A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age. – Robert Frost

Chai Time STAR POWER

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Your tomorrow today̶Star Power and Tarot THIRUVAIKUMAR

As per Hindu panchang

FOR 26-4-2012

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

TAURUS

GEMINI

Works will pick up speed and get com‑ pleted as per expectations. Court issues that dragged since long will come to a favourable end. Govt works might get delayed. Friends will offer timely help.

You will manage the position very well and succeed. Unexpected fortune will surprise you. Real‑estate deals look proﬁtable. Be alert in govt‑related issues. Blood relatives will co‑operate well.

All works undertaken by you will be completed without any problem. Per‑ sons in powerful positions will help you at time of need. Chances of misunder‑ standing with maternal relatives likely.

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

You will look active and get work done at a faster pace. Plans to renovate the house will take shape and will become a reality. Govt sops likely. Beneﬁts through other religion persons likely.

You will achieve whatever you wanted as planetary situation are favourable. Financially a strong position likely. Some have bright chances to get a loan sanctioned for purchase or construction.

All your efforts will be successful. VIP friends will help in a big way. You will meet some unexpected persons and friendship with them will be beneﬁcial. Govt works will get delayed.

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

You will take bold decisions which will yield better results. Unexpected source of income likely. Purchase of house or plot will prove proﬁtable. Those gradu‑ ated recently will be favoured with a job.

Expectation will be fulﬁlled without any dissatisfaction. Your efforts to clear old debts will yield good results. In‑laws will give you importance. Blood rela‑ tives will be more affectionate.

All work you undertake will progress well and complete successfully. You will plan expenses well within the in‑ come and start saving for the future. Daughter's marriage will be settled.

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Financial situation looks very strong and comfortable. House will be renovated and an annex will be added. Inﬂux of rel‑ atives will bring cheer to the family. Neighbours will be very co‑operative.

Self‑conﬁdence level will increase. Opp‑ osition will disappear. Hand loans will be cleared and part of big debts too. Yo‑ u decide many things about the future of kids. Court verdicts will go in favour.

Administrative capacities to improve. Persons of high esteem will join your friends' list. Debt problems will be under control. Beneﬁts through govt likely. Minor clashes with spouse likely.

SUMAA TEKUR

FOR 26-4-2012

tarotreadhyd@gmail.com

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

Three of Swords – A love affair was too intense. The joy you got out of this rela‑ tionship was too visi‑ ble for all. The pain of breaking up is too hard to bear now.

Ten of Swords – if youʼre getting a gut feel that you need to back out of a situa‑ tion, just do it. No point hanging on to something you donʼt feel right about.

Seven of Pentacles – Pay attention to your health. A health issue may crop up because of hygiene. Are you brushing your teeth twice a day? Consult a doctor.

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

The Hermit – You may be hurting yourself by being too stubborn about the kind of peo‑ ple you hang out with. Keep an open mind and meet people with‑ out judging them.

Knight of Wands – A casual outing with friends will become important. It either gives you ideas for an entrepreneurship project or you meet a business partner.

Two of Swords – Your diet and lifesty‑ le need attention. Are you indulging your love for food and dr‑ ink too much? Learn to balance needs; you keep away problems.

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

Seven of Swords – You may be too wor‑ ried about whatʼs ha‑ ppening to a close friend. But maybe you need to look within and ﬁgure out whatʼs worrying you.

Five of Wands – No matter how hard you try, you cannot ﬁght back time. There will be some job that did‑ nʼt get done to dead‑ line. Donʼt blame you‑ rself for everything.

Temperance – There are doubts in your mind about a potential romantic partner. Be patient and donʼt jump to conclusions about whether this person likes you or not.

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

For Better or for Worse Stone soup

Two of Wands – You enjoy people‑watching while sitting at a road‑ side café or sitting on a bench in a mall. It gives you insights into human behaviour. Indulge your passion.

Ace of Swords – The‑ reʼs a job youʼve been hoping to complete soon. Obstacles and delays beyond your control are getting in the way. Donʼt worry. Just keep trying.

Ten of Pentacles – Youʼre waiting for results of an exam you gave, or a test that life put you thro‑ ugh. Whatever has to be, will be. Know that this is not the end.

SOLUTIONS

Boggle CUBA CHILE CYPRUS CANADA

Number game

Suduko

Scrabble

Ink pen

COMICS

Fred Basset

ARIES

TAROT READ

Vol: 1, No 283 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon.com and for subscription, please call 040-4067 2222, Fax: 040-4067 2211

91 DAYS TO GO

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

DRESSED TO KILL

Countdown query To The Editor

have noticed that the countdown for the Olympic Games is two days ahead of the actual countdown. Even the official website of the London Olympics shows a different number when compared with the one in your newspaper. May I know why this is so? Suvarna Jubilee Hills

Editor’s Note

nlike other papers and the main website, we are not just calculating the number of days to the Opening Ceremony of the Games. Our paper is taking into account the official Olympic events preceeding the Games and hence, the difference of two days in the countdown. The football preliminaries will be held on July 25 and 26.

Fencing champion Britta Heidemann, member of the German Olympic team for London 2012 walks down the catwalk during the press presentation of the official team clothes on April 24 on the fairground in Duesseldorf, Western Germany. AFP/PATRIK STOLLARZ

GB to face Senegal LONDON: Host nation Great Britain

Senegal’s Ibrahima Balde celebrates scoring against Oman during the final qualification playoff match.

will kick off the Olympic football tournament against Senegal at Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground on July 26 following the draw made at Wembley here on Tuesday. Senegal became the final men’s team to clinch their place in the tournament when they beat Oman 2-0 in a playoff in Coventry, central England, on Monday. Britain, who qualified as hosts, have also been drawn alongside Uruguay and the United Arab Emirates in Group A. Both Uruguay and Senegal could call on Premier League players — Newcastle strike duo Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse are both Senegalese while Liverpool forward Luis Suarez is from Uruguay. The men’s teams are made up of under-23 players with three over-age players permitted per squad. Brazil, tipped for gold in the absence of title holders Argentina, were drawn against Egypt, Belarus and New Zealand. In all 16 teams in the men’s event will be split into four groups, with the top

FOOTBALL OPENER two from each qualifying for the quarter-finals. Unlike most other Olympic events, which will take place in London, organisers have tried to make the football tournament a truly British competition by spreading games around the country. So as well as playing the UAE at Wembley on July 29, Pearce’s men will also face Uruguay in the Welsh capital Cardiff on August 1. Former England captain David Beckham, who played a leading role in the campaign to bring the Olympics to his home city of London, could feature in the British team as an over-age player in what is primarily an Under-23 tournament.”I’ll know a bit more about David Beckham’s chances when I go to the States and see him,” Pearce said following the draw. “He’s been a great ambassador but that’s no guarantee he’ll get in the squad. I’m picking on form and merit alone.” Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football chiefs remain adamantly opposed to their players taking part in a British Olympic team, fearing it could be

Men’s Tournament Group A: Great Britain, Senegal, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay Group B: Mexico, South Korea, Gabon, Switzerland Group C: Brazil, Egypt, Belarus, New Zealand Group D: Spain, Japan, Honduras, Morocco Note: The top two teams from each group go through to the quarter-finals.

Women’s Tournament Group E: Great Britain, New Zealand, Cameroon, Brazil Group F: Japan, Canada, Sweden, South Africa Group G: USA, France, Colombia, North Korea Note: The top two teams from each group and the two best third-placed teams qualify for the quarter-finals. the first step on the road to extinction as independent football nations. The squad may not reflect every home nation and celebrity but they will be the best 18 players who have the best opportunity to deliver a gold,” said Pearce. “That’s my only criteria.”

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

METRE

6 294

Chris Gayle (RCB)

19 4S726

Ajinkya Rahane (RR)

HIGHEST SCORE

103*

Ajinkya Rahane (RR), Kevin Pietersen (RCB)

BEST BOWLER

5-16

Ravindra Jadeja (CSK)

Will MI reverse fortunes? They recovered well, but they couldn't get past 150, which is chase-able. Good to be top of the table, all because of my bowlers, they did a fantastic job.

Rajesh Ravindran rajesh.r@postnoon.com

Virender Sehwag DD Captain

Ajinkya Rahane (RR) 332 runs

Morne Morkel (DD) 16 wickets

MI — a dangerous side: Gilly D

espite winning the last game against them and history on their side — having defeated them on six out of nine occasions, Kings XI Punjab's captain-cum-mentor Adam Gilchrist feels that Mumbai Indians are a dangerous side. "Mumbai is a dangerous side. They are an all-round side with quality players and star-studded line-up," Gilchrist said on the eve of his team's clash against MI. KXIP which is being led by stand-in captain David Hussey in the absence of Gilchrist, who suffered a hamstring injury, defeated MI by six wickets in Mumbai on Sunday. Gilchrist said he was pleased with the result against Mumbai and his team had an "allround best game". PTI

DD KKR RR PW CSK RCB MI KXIP DC

P 7 8 8 8 7 7 6 7 6

W 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 0

KXIP VS MI AT 4 PM ON SET MAX

SCORECARD ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE V RAJASTHAN ROYALS DPMD Jayawardene run out (Wright/†Uthappa)

Pune Warriors innings JD Ryder b Pathan 0 MK Pandey not out 80 SC Ganguly c Nadeem b Morkel 1 RV Uthappa not out 60 Extras (b 4, lb 1) 5 Total (2 wickets; 20 overs) 146 Bowling O M R W Econ IK Pathan 4 0 23 1 5.75 M Morkel 4 0 34 1 8.50 UT Yadav 4 0 40 0 10.00 P Negi 4 0 22 0 5.50 S Nadeem 4 0 22 0 5.50 Delhi Daredevils innings (target: 147 runs from 20 overs)

V Sehwag not out

KP Pietersen c Ryder b Sharma

LRPL Taylor not out Extras

(lb 5, w 2)

Total (2 wickets; 16 overs)

148

Bowling

W Econ

AC Thomas

7.00

A Nehra

11.33

LJ Wright

12.00

SC Ganguly

12.00

M Kartik R Sharma

4 4

0 0

26 33

0 1

6.50 8.25

Delhi Daredevils won by 8 wickets

CSK vs RCB at 8pm on Set Max

RCB look to extend winning streak

L N/T PT NRR 2 0 10 0.857 3 1 9 0.432 4 0 8 0.190 4 0 8 0.046 3 0 8 0.033 3 0 8 -0.192 3 0 6 -0.117 4 0 6 -0.467 5 1 1 -1.032

P-played; W-win; L-lost; N/T-no result/tie;NRR-net run rate; PT-points

ell, Delhi Daredevils were able to exact revenge for thehumiliation they suffered at the hands off the Pune Warriors in their last match. As Mumbai Indians take on Kings XI Punjab at Mohali today, the question is “Will they be able to do a Delhi”? Delhi was out-classed by Sourav Ganguly’s dadagiri last time, yet they made up for the loss by winning their second encounter convincingly. It will be a test of Mumbai’s ability to bounce back despite a setback. It would seem a pity that Mumbai lost despite JEC Franklin scoring 79 from 51 balls. Sachin Tendulkar did not seem bothered much despite a delivery hitting his injured finger during practice ahead of Sunday’s

match and looked like would reverse Mumbai’s fortunes, but was run out. The rest of the team did not contribute much and the run flow was stemmed by Kings’ bowlers. That’s a worry for Mumbai when they play the same team they lost to a day ago: getting runs in the slog overs. Kings will be confident that they could wrench a win from one of the top contenders of this tournament without having their captain Adam Gilchrist to lead them. Shaun Marsh’s fine form also reassures them. What’s even more important is that they have players like N Saini and Mandeep Singh to give them solid starts. Their bowling was pretty okay, especially P Awana, who bowls with good pace and a tight line. It was Sachin’s birthday on Tuesday. Had Mumbai won their match on Monday, it would have been the perfect birthday gift in advance. They can make up for it today, belatedly though.

The match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain.

t might have jolted the Royal Challengers Bangalore that despite posting over 200 runs, they could not defend it. A match which saw their top three batsmen rise to the occasion was stolen by Chennai Super Kings’Faf du Plessis and skipper MS Dhoni. Today they face each other again and now on the points table, Chennai is fifth, one above Bangalore. Tonight the Challengers, if they play with the form they played against Rajasthan Royals, they may step over the heads of their rivals. When it comes to batting, both teams are evenly poised. Both teams have big hitters and

can post big scores. If RCB have the likes of Chris Gayle, Dilshan Thilakaratne and AB de Villiers, Super Kings have du Plessis, S.Badrinath, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja. RCB have evolved from the state of having to depend on Gayle for a big total. De Villiers has been consistent with the bat and has been ensuring that his team get a good total. However, Chennai’s mainstay has been du Plessis. So if RCB need to turn tables, they must try to get him out cheaply. Virat Kohli’s lean patch has been a worry for RCB. But captain Daniel Vettori has backed him to come good in this match. RR

Playing Field

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

The games people play

STUFF OF CHAMPIONS Winners of the Hyderabad Corporate Cricket League (HCCL), Hyderabad House, pose with the winners torphy after they beat Zonah Developers by 15 runs in the final at the Babukhan Arena Cricket Ground. Having won the toss and taking first strike, Hyderabad House posted 187 for seven from their stipulated 20 overs. Chasing this total, Zonah Developers were restricted to 172 for 5 in 20 overs. In the match between Auto Select Blazers and R&I (for the third place), Auto Select Blazers won the match by seven wickets. Former Deccan Chargers player, Shoaib Maqsusi, gave away the prizes.

Priyadarshan, Das win slow and steady

ive players have scored four points each, in as many rounds of the NMDC All India Fide Rated Chess Tournament, organised by Cyber Chess Academy at Suchithra Academy, here, on Tuesday. Four trail the leaders with 3.5 points each. In a Sicilian defence game, Asian under-18 champion Debashis Das of Orissa played a patient game to win in 42 moves against Praveen Prasad of Hyderabad. IM V Koshy of ONGC employed Pirc defence against former Asian under-16 champion K Priyadharshan of TN. The game slowly drifted away

from Koshy, as he lost two valuable pawns and the game ended in favour of Priyadharshan after 51 moves. In another Sicilian defence game between thirteen-year-old national under-19 champion Aravindh Chithambaram of TN and former national champion P Konguvel of ONGC, both could not gain supremacy and agreed to split the point after 42 moves. Hyderabad youngster K Praneeth Surya was forced to give up his queen for a rook against national under 25 champion Rahul Sangma of Railways. The rest was routine for Rahul to pocket a point.

How they fared on Day 3 Name State Praveen Prasad P AP Priyadharshan K TN Aravindh Chithambaram Vr ONGC Sangma Rahul Rly Deepthamsh Reddy M AP Ravi Teja S AP Krishna Teja N AP Srikanth K SSCB Cholleti Sahajasri AP Venkateswara Reddy M AP Nishi Mahalaxmi Iyer WB Dave Kantilal RAJ Praveen Veeramalla AP Chakravarthi Y V K AP Karthik V Ap AP Kandula Durga Kaushik AP Aditya S S V AP Raja Rithvik R AP Kandi Ravi AP Rohith Svs AP Karthik J C AP Lakshmi Krishna Bhushan D AP Aryan BIH Prabhat Koutha AP Anurag Kuruvada AP Srikar Yerrabati AP Thaman Sai Chillakuru AP Dhanunjaya Rao L SSCB K Ashleesh AP Aphale Kanaad MAH Toshali V AP Kandasamy K TN

Opponent lost to beat drew with beat lost to beat 3½ beat 3½ beat beat lost to lost to beat lost to beat beat lost to lost to lost to lost to drew with drew with lost to beat beat lost to beat lost to beat lost to drew with beat lost to

State Debashis Das Koshy Varugeese Konguvel Ponnuswamy K Praneeth Surya Krishna C R G Abhilash Reddy M L Purushothaman T Durga Prasad V Dhar Rajib Trailokya Nanda Saranya J Naga Shashank D Roshan Rangarajan Krishna Chaitanya G S Potluri Saye Srreezza Srija Seshadri Harsha Bharathakoti Chakravarthi Reddy M Anudeep V Jayesh M TN Sai Agni Jeevitesh J J Akshith Kumar Sai Sumedha S Mohan T V S R Sai Akshay Y Anigani Kavya M Tulasi Ram Kumar Mohammad Mubashir Priya Vss Vigna Shree T Gudla Shanth Kumar Mohammad Mudassir

ORI ONGC ONGC AP3 AP4 AP3 AP2½ AP2½ ASM ASM ONGC AP MAH AP AP TN AP AP AP 2½ AP AP AP AP AP AP AP AP AP AP AP AP

Wade’s first ton puts Oz on top ROSEAU: A wonderful maiden test century from Matthew Wade and a poor batting display by the West Indies left Australia in total charge at the end of the second day of the third and final Test here on Tuesday. Australia lead by 163 runs, after being dimissed for 328 and having reduced the West Indies to 165 for eight at stumps, and are set fair to seal the series having come into it with a 1-0 lead. Wade's innings of 106 had rescued Australia from a perilous looking overnight score of 212-7 they had been 169-7 at one point on the opening day. Wade finally fell to the impressive Dominican-born spinner Shane Shillingford, who went on to snaffle Ben Hilfenhaus and finish with a career best 6-119 and make it a memorable experience for being the first Dominican to play a test on his home island. It could have been so different had not Kemar Roach dropped Wade off his own bowling in his third over of the morning when the batsman had yet to add to his overnight score of 22. The hosts did strike next ball, though, as a sharp piece of fielding by Kraigg Brathwaite ran out Mitchell Starc for a test career best of 35. Wade upped the tempo as he approached his maiden Test fifty and brought it up with a sweep shot that yielded two runs. This mark having been reached Wade went on the attack with the highlight consecutive sixes off Shillingford.

Playing Field

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

The games people play

Bilbao, Valencia battle odds PARIS: Athletic Bilbao are hoping another strong performance at their San Mames home can see them past Sporting Lisbon in Thursday's semifinal second leg and into next month's Europa League final. The Basque club were too strong for Manchester United and Schalke earlier in this season's competition, but their chances of reaching a second European final -- and first since 1977 - are on a knife-edge after a 2-1 defeat in the first leg in Lisbon last Thursday.

Athletic had taken the lead courtesy of a Jon Aurtenetxe goal in Portugal only for Emiliano Insua to equalise and Spanish international winger Diego Capel to give Sporting the upper hand. However, midfielder Ander Herrera remains confident as to Athletic's chances in the return. "A 1-0 win would put us through, so we need to be optimistic," he said. "We have a result that we can overturn. We have to improve because

there were things to improve, but we also have to be optimistic." The other semi-final might have been decided last week, but a Ricardo Costa header in stoppage time at the Vicente Calderon gave Valencia a precious second away goal in a 4-2 defeat against Atletico Madrid. Valencia have blown hot and cold in recent times, but they were on fire on Sunday in a 4-0 thrashing of Betis at the Mestalla that strengthened their grip on third place in La Liga.

SPORT SNIPPETS Sania turns down Aisam Sania Mirza has turned down an offer to partner Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi on the international circuit despite the Pakistani expressing interest to play alongside the Indian tennis star several times in the past. Sania is currently partnering India’s Mahesh Bhupathi, who is ranked 15th in the doubles, a place behind Aisam in the mixed doubles competitions on the international circuit.

Tennis

Bayern will score, “ vows Schweini

We've gotten to where we are today thanks to this kid. More than ever I want to thank him for what he's done for us. Pep Guardiola about Lionel Messi

‘Trophy? It’s in the bag’ The honeymoon may be over for Darren Clarke but now he wants to win another trophy to take home to his new bride at the Ballantine's Championship which begins on Thursday. And it’s OK if Clarke doesn't cap a whirlwind two weeks — which saw him get married to former Miss Northern Ireland Alison Campbell — with another piece of silverware, as he already has the most prized Claret Jug in his suitcase.

Golf

Bayern Munich's French midfielder Franck Ribery (front) and Bayern Munich's midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger celebrate after Ribery's scored against the UEFA Champions League first-leg semi-final in Munich. AFP/CHRISTOF STACHE MADRID: Bayern Munich star Bastian Schweinsteiger has promised the Bavarians will score at Real Madrid in Wednesday's Champions League semifinal return leg as they bid to realise the dream of a home final. Bayern travel to Madrid with a slender 2-1 advantage from the first leg last Tuesday at Munich's Allianz Arena, which will also host the final on May 19, and Schweinsteiger, who is back after an ankle injury, says they will score. "I assume we will score a goal in Madrid. And we will," said Schweinsteiger ahead of the match at

Real's Santiago Bernabeu stadium. "The chance to reach the final in our own stadium is motivation enough for us, but their stadium, with so many spectators and emotions, is sure to influence the game. "In the first 20 minutes, it will be very intense, that is when we have to hold our composure and not concede a goal. "A game like this is the highlight of the season, this is what you work hard the whole season for and the chance to play in a game like this motivated me through my injury." Bayern striker Mario Gomez scored

the crucial 90th-minute winner in Munich to give his side a second leg advantage and Real coach Jose Mourinho says games like this are what being part of football is all about. Real's 2-1 El Clasico win at archrivals Barcelona in the Spanish league on Saturday keeps them on course to win the La Liga title, but Mourinho knows nothing is decided yet. "We can win two titles, one or none. This is the excitement of football that turns my hair grey," joked the Portuguese coach, who won the 2010 Champions League title at the Bernabeu as Inter Milan coach.

game-ban was slapped on Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace by the NBA disciplinary officials for a vicious elbow to the head of Oklahoma City guard James Harden. The ban came two days after World Peace committed the offence.

Stosur sees off Shuai Peng US Open winner Samantha Stosur said she was happy with her start to Stuttgart's WTA claycourt tournament on Tuesday after seeing off China's Shuai Peng in straight sets. The 28-year-old Australian, who is the fifth seed here, needed less than an hour to see off Peng 6-2, 6-2 and was rarely tested by her Chinese opponent in her first round tie. "It was good, I thought I played well and served well, it was nice to get through in straight sets," said Brisbane-born Stosur.

Tennis

Playing Field

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

The games people play

Triumph of the brave BARCELONA: Lionel Messi missed a penalty as holders Barcelona were sent crashing out of the Champions League semifinals after 10-man Chelsea battled to a 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou here Tuesday. Chelsea, leading 1-0 from the first leg, snatched a 3-2 aggregate win on a night of extraordinary drama which saw the Premier League side recover from 2-0 down and the dismissal of captain John Terry to reach next month’s Munich final. Barcelona looked to be cruising to victory after goals from Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta put them 2-0 up in the first half either side of Terry’s red card for a foul on Alexis Sanchez. But a superb counter-attack and chip from Ramires put Chelsea ahead on away goals and despite a furious Barcelona onslaught the 2008 finalists held firm. In the dying minutes substitute Fernando Torres raced clear as Barcelona pressed for a winner and rounded Victor Valdes to kill off an epic contest. “We all believed -- not many people did -- but we believed as a team,” jubilant Chelsea defender Ashley Cole said. “It’s hard, but we defended well as a team, got a bit lucky, and Petr (Cech) made some good saves. “Three or four months ago no one thought we had a chance but we always believed. You can’t beat that desire, fight and spirit you saw out there.” An extraordinary first half had seen a disciplined Chelsea manage to frustrate Barcelona in the face of relentless pressure despite the setback of losing Gary Cahill to injury after only 12 minutes. Cahill had wrenched his knee after twisting to thwart a Barcelona attack after six minutes and attempted to battle on before being replaced by Jose Bosingwa, with Branislav Ivanovic moving to centre-back. Despite the defensive reshuffle Chelsea’s thin blue line held firm, with Petr Cech saving brilliantly with his leg from Messi on 19 minutes before Terry slid in desperately to block Iniesta’s follow-up. At the other end Chelsea were limited to pumping long clearances for Didier Drogba, who, just as he had done at Stamford Bridge a week earlier, was forced to plough a lonely furrow up front. Nevertheless Barcelona’s nervousness at Chelsea’s aerial threat was plain to see, and it was a jittery punched clearance from Valdes that led to the substitution of Gerard Pique after a heavy collision with the defender. Yet it was only to be a matter of time before Barcelona’s monopoly of possession yielded its reward and the breakthrough came on 35

10-man Chelsea dump Barcelona out of Champions League Branislav Ivanovic With Gary Cahill off with a pulled hamstring and John Terry’s moment of madness earning him a red card, it was up to Ivanovic to fill in at centre-half. He put in a performance of consumate skill and epitomised that Chelsea grit.

Heroes of the night Petr Cech When a team plays against Barcelona at Camp Nou the most important player for the visiting team is invariably the goalkeeper. Cech made a number of amazing saves. Without him the scoreline could have been very different.

Didier Drogba After Cahill and Terry were out of the game Drogba showed why he’s such a pivotal part of the Chelsea line-up. Often along up top, he busied himself in the midefield and defence too. Some crucial clearances too.

Ramires Ramires has grown in leaps and bounds over the course of Chelsea’s season, and he showed amazing calm to chip the ball over Valdes for Chelsea’s first.

Chelsea’s Spanish forward Fernando Torres jumps above Barcelona’s goalkeeper Victor Valdes before scoring during the UEFA Champions League 2nd leg semi-final. AFP/JAVIER SORIANO minutes, the start of a catastrophic period for Chelsea. A headed Drogba clearance fell only as far as Dani Alves on the edge of the area who picked out

BARCELONA LOOKED TO BE CRUISING TO VICTORY AFTER GOALS FROM SERGIO BUSQUETS AND ANDRES INIESTA PUT THEM 2-0 UP IN THE FIRST HALF EITHER SIDE OF TERRY’S RED CARD FOR A FOUL ON ALEXIS SANCHEZ. Isaac Cuenca on the left, who in turn rolled his pass across the sixyard box for an unmarked Busquets to sidefoot home. It got worse for Chelsea a minute later with Terry’s moment of madness, a dismissal which left the English side with neither of

their starting centre-backs. It was not long before the makeshift nature of Chelsea’s defence was exposed and Barcelona struck what looked to be the killer blow on 43 minutes. Careless play from Raul Meireles saw Messi dart forward and feed Iniesta, who sprang Chelsea’s defence and prodded past Cech for 2-0. Camp Nou rocked with delight but incredibly within minutes Chelsea were back in the game and ahead on away goals when Ramires scored. Lampard’s magnificent pass sent the Brazilian racing in behind the Barcelona back four and when Valdes advanced the rangy midfielder clipped an exquisite chip into the empty net for 2-1 on the stroke of half-time. he Chelsea goal gave Barcelona something to think about but the Catalans were swiftly back into their stride in the second half.