bangalore beat evening newspaper - 26.07.2011

Evening dailyWalkathon for Kargil Diwas P 3

Vol. 1, Issue 329 n Tuesday n July 26, 2011 No. of pages: 8 n Price: Rs 2BangaloreBeat

Denise throws baby shower P8

New device preventstheft of vehicles

A Bangalore inventor has come up with a de-vice that is sure to bring down two and four wheeler thefts in the city. This de-vice does not allow you to start the vehicleunless you enter the right password, like yourcomputer, says Aknisree Karthik... Page 5

Beyond Beat

Hegde holdshigh‑levelmeeting

Bangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegdeheld a crucial meeting with his official on theeve of presenting the second instalment of hisreport on illegal mining to the government to-morrow.

The Lokayukta, who has already compiledthe report, gave final touches to it. He held adetailed discussion with the Lokayukta policeand other officials about the report.

The meeting was attended by conservatorof forests Uday Vir Singh, DCFs Bijai Mishraand Uday Kumar, Lokayukta DIG Pranab Mo-hanty and registrar M K Nayar Moole.

The Lokayukta registrar has sought timefrom chief secretary S V Ranganath to presentthe report tomorrow.

Nun can stay as long as

she wants: PCNew Delhi: Home minister P Chidambaram to-day intervened to restore visa “without limitof time” for British-born Catholic nun Jacque-line Jean McEwan, known as Sister Jean, inBangalore and making it clear that she can stayin India as long as she likes.

The notice (for her to leave India) issued bythe Foreign Regional Registration Office(FRRO) was a mistake, presumably based onthe ground that complete documents had notbeen submitted, Chidambaram said.

He intervened today and directed issue ofvisa “without limit of time”.

“Orders are being issued today. She can stayas long as she likes,” he said.

Sister Jean is popularly known as MotherTeresa of Sumanahalli. She has been runninga mobile clinic for leprosy patients since1982 and has been a resident of Bangaloresince then by renewing her visa every year. Shewas recently asked to leave on the ground thatshe did not possess a valid visa. PTI

Related report on page 2

Did not seek toimplicate PMand FM: Raja

New Delhi: In a U-turn, former telecom min-ister A Raja today told aDelhi court that he didnot seek to implicatePrime Minister Manmo-han Singh and the thenfinance minister P Chi-dambaram in the 2Gcase.

“I did not seek to im-plicate the Prime Minister

and the then Finance Minister in 2G case,” sen-ior advocate Sushil Kumar, counsel for Raja,told Special CBI Judge O P Saini.

Full report on page 4

Ganja sold in open atKR Market

Aknisree KarthikBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Marijuana or gan-ja happens to be one of theproducts sold when lights gooff. But not anymore. The nar-cotic is now available just likeany other basic commodity insome crowded areas like K RMarket, Chickpet and BVKIyengar Road.

What is shocking is that theraw weed is sold for as low asRs 10. The product is stuffedinto white packets and soldfrom morning 7 till midnight.

“A drunkard and a drug ad-dict, who is well into his 60s isselling ganja in and around thefruit market. Coolie workers,auto drivers and many whowork in and around these areashave fallen prey to the weed,mostly because it is so easilyavailable. Children of big busi-nessmen in Chickpet are hisregular customers. Since it issold at such low price and inthe open, many college andschool goers too have beenaddicted to it. They try it out ofcuriousity and then get ad-

dicted to it,” said a worriedman who sees the businessgoing on unhindered.

“Police officials have failedto do their job and preventthis illegal trade. It comes bythe bulk to the City Marketand gets distributed to other ar-eas through rag-pickers andother addicts,” he said.

A student Bangalore Beatspoke to said, “Most of themwho buy the narcotic are col-lege goers between 18 and 25yeas. They use cigarettes andcoconut leaf chillum to smokethe stuff.

“They also add differentkinds of flavours, like mangoand apple, to get a high. Someof them go to any extent tosmoke the stuff.”

If the police act and cut thesupply, it would naturally leadto reduced number of peoplegetting addicted to it. It is quitesurprising that though the nar-cotic is available in the openand in the middle of a crowd-ed area, the police have still notbeen able to catch the culpritsand catch all those behind thesale of the weed.

An old man sells marijuana at KR Market. He starts tradein the morning and continues till late into the evening.

London: The protocol signed by In-dia and Switzerland to amend theirexisting Double Taxation AvoidanceAgreement so as to facilitate infor-mation sharing on black moneystashed away in Swiss banks maycome into force by the end of thisyear, finance minister PranabMukherjee has said.

“We have signed a protocolamending the existing Double Tax-ation Avoidance Agreement withSwitzerland last August. As per theirlaw and Constitution, their interna-tional agreements are to be ratified

by both houses of Parliament and lo-cal authorities.

“The ratification by the two hous-es is over. Ratification by local au-thorities may be over by the end ofthis year,” Mukherjee said at IndiaHouse here last evening.

On BJP president Nitin Gadkaridemanding the resignation of PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh andhome minister P Chidambaram fol-lowing allegations made by formertelecom minister A Raja – who is un-der arrest and faces charges in con-nection to alleged irregularities in the

award of 2G spectrum – Mukherjeesaid: “I don’t know what evidenceRaja has given, apart from making astatement. The matter is before thecourt.”

Raja told a Delhi court hearing the2G case yesterday that Chi-dambaram, then Finance Minister,had told the Prime Minister that di-lution of shares by 2G licencees to at-tract FDI did not not amount to saleof licence.

Gadkari had subsequently de-manded the resignation of Singh andChidambaram, stating that what

Raja said in court showed that thetop leadership of the governmentwas aware of all 2G transactions. .

Replying to another question onwhether Raja had consulted himon the 2G spectrum issue, Mukher-jee, who was heading the group ofministers, said: “I was involved in re-solving the issue – spectrum to bevacated by ministry of defence.”

“There were divergent views. I washeading the external affairs ministryand I resolved the issue by makingthe defence ministry to vacate certainquantum of spectrum,” he said.

Pranab: Indo‑Swiss pact on blackmoney may be in place by yearend

Loans will be expensiveRBI increases short‑term lending rate by 50 basis points

Mumbai: The RBI today hiked short-term lending and borrowing ratessharply by 50 basis points for the thirdtime in three months to tame high in-flation, a move that would make allpersonal and corporate loans moreexpensive.

The RBI has also revised its fiscal-end inflation projection to 7 per centfrom 6 per cent earlier.

With today’s increase of 0.50 percent, the short-term lending (repo)rate has been hiked to 8 per cent andthe short-term borrowing (reverse

repo) rate has also been increased bya similar margin to 7 per cent.

It, however, has retained the cashreserve ratio (CRR) at 6 per cent.

“Notwithstanding signs of mod-eration, inflationary pressures areclearly very strong... inflation con-tinues to be the dominant macro-economic concern.

“On the basis of this assessment,it has been decided to increase pol-icy repo rate by 50 basis points from7.5 to 8 per cent with immediate ef-fect,” RBI governor D Subbarao said

while announcing the quarterly re-view of the monetary policy.

This is the 11th time since March, 2010, that the RBI has raisedthe interest rate to check inflation,which is currently ruling at over 9 per cent.

The RBI’s unexpected decisionled to a sharp decline of over 300 points in the BSE Sensex. The 30-share Sensex fell to 18,570 after announcement of the policy, although it had opened in positive ter-rain. PTI

SHIVARAJ PATILNEW LOKAYUKTAGuruarajan appointed second Upa Lokayukta


Bangalore: Governor H R Bhardwajhas approved the Justice V ShivarajPatil to hold the post of Lokayuktaand to succeed the incumbent JusticeSantosh Hegde.

The proposal was sent to the gov-ernor today and it was approved im-mediately.

Justice Santosh Hegde, who is go-ing out on a high after presenting thesecond instalment of the report on il-legal mining, is relinquishing his of-fice on August 2 after completinghis five-year term in office.

Justice Shivaraj Patil is a retiredSupreme Court judge and a formerchairman of the National HumanRights Commission. Recently, heheaded a team that went into the mul-ti-thousand crore 2G spectrum scam.

The position Lokayukta could nothave been kept vacant after JusticeHegde’s tenure as the report by thecorruption watchdog is expected togenerate a lot of heat, as indicatedfrom the excerpts of the leaked report.Justice Hegde is presenting the report

to the government tomorrow.The process for the appointment of

new Lokyaukta began on July 16when the government sent the namesof former chief justice of Kerala S RBannurmath, sitting Supreme Courtjudge R V Raveendran and ShivarajPatil to the selection committee mem-bers. The selection panel included as-sembly Speaker K G Bopaiah, leg-

islative council chairman D HShankara Murthy, opposition leaderin the assembly Siddaramaiahm andopposition leader in the council Mo-tamma. All the members sent backtheir recommendation to the gov-ernment with Justice Patil’s name inthe lead.

It was forwarded to the governor,who approved it immediately. JusticePatil will hold the post for another fiveyears after assuming office on August3.

Born on January 12, 1940, JusticePatil enrolled as an advocate on July25 and started practicing in Gulbar-ga. He shifted to Bangalore in 1979. Hewas a member of the Karnataka StateBar Council.

He was appointed a judge of theKarnataka High Court on March 291990. He was transferred to theMadras High Court on April 29, 1994,and was an acting chief justice therefrom December 29, 1998 till January19, 1999.

He assumed office of the ChiefJustice of Rajasthan High Court onJanuary 22, 1999 and was elevated as

a judge of the Supreme Court onMarch 15, 2000. He has been con-ferred with the honorary degree ofdoctor of laws.

An honourable man with greatreputation, Justice Patil would bringin a lot more force to the powerful of-fice of the Lokayukta, the legal fra-ternity said.

R GURURAJAN IS UPA OKAYUKTAAt the same time, former KarnatakaHigh Court judge, Justice R Gururajan,has been appointed the Upa Lokayuk-ta.

He will in tandem with anotherUpa Lokayukta S B Majjige.

Governor H R Bhardwaj today ap-proved Justice Gururajan’s appoint-ment too.

Outgoing Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde had sought the appointment of a second UpaLokayukta, as thousands are pendingbefore his office.

Justice Shivaraj Patil

UPA govt riddledwith scandals: BSY


Bangalore: The central UPA govern-ment is filled up with scandals, allegedchief minister B S Yeddyurappa thismorning.

The chief minister had a close doormeeting with his senior cabinet col-leagues and BJP state president K S Esh-warappa on the eve of Lokayuktha whois expected to submit his report on illegal

mining tomorrow. The meeting discussedthe course of action and steps to be tak-en once the report is received.

“During the Congress rule in the statecorruption has reached pinnacle andeven today we can see Spectrum 2G,common wealth games and AdarshaHousing Society scandals. But they show-ing their hands towards others,” he said.

Continued on page 4

S Radhakrishna

Rural development and panchayat raj minister Jagdish Shettar, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, MP Sadanand

Gowda and BJP state president K S Eshwarappa arrive for a crucial meeting at the chief minister’s residence in

Dollar’s Colony today.

Home grownterror threatpretty high:

ChidambaramNew Delhi: Voicing concern overthreats posed by indigenous ter-ror groups, Home Minister P Chi-dambaram has said they are nolonger fledgling outfits but are ex-perts in assembling and trans-porting bombs. The threat fromthem is pretty high, he told PTIagainst the backdrop of the July13 Mumbai blasts in which 22people were killed. “Pretty high.They are no longer fledgling out-fits. They have established severalmodules and they have gainedexpertise in assembling bombsand transporting bombs,” hesaid. Report on page 4

CITY 2Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Contact: M : 9900948514

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638 ERS SBC SPL Ernakulam Jn 0430 000637 SBC ERS SPL Bangalore City 000 17156228 BANGALORE EXP Shimoga Town 0430 0006227 SHIMOGA EXP Bangalore City 000 23306222 MYSORE EXPRESS Chennai Central 0500 05306221 CHENNAI EXPRESS Mysore Jn 2300 23456517 BANGALORE MAIL Chennai Central 0525 0002657 BANGALORE MAIL Chennai Central 0535 0002658 CHENNAI MAIL Bangalore City 000 22452607 LALBAGH EXPRESS Chennai Central 2125 0002608 LALBAGH EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 06306021 BANGALORE EXPRESS Chennai Central 0735 (Sunday) 0006022 CHENNAI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 2130 (Sunday)101S RMAS SBC PASSENGER Chennai Central 1900 000102SR SBC MAS PASSENGER Bangalore City 000 09152008 SHATABDI EXPRESS Chennai Central 1050 and2230 0002008 SHATABDI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 1615 and 06002639 BRINDAVAN EXPRESS Chennai Central 1320 0002640 BRINDAVAN EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 14306523 BANGALORE EXPRESS Chennai Central 2005 0006524 CHENNAI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 08005626 GUWAHATI-BANGALORE Chennai Central 1840 (Tue, Thu) 0005625 BANGALORE - GUWAHATI Bangalore City 000 2330 (Wed, Fri)2429 RAJDHANI EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 1835 (Sun, Mon, Wed, Thu)2430 RAJDHANI EXPRESS Hazrat Nizamuddin 0725(Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat) 0002627 KARNATAKA EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 18302628 KARNATAKA EXPRESS Hazrat Nizamuddin 1340 0006217 SWARNA JAYANTHI EXP Bangalore City 000 1925 (Fri)6218 SWARNA JAYANTHI EXP Hazrat Nizamuddin 0830(Wed) 0002647 KONGU EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 2315 (Sun)2648 KONGU EXPRESS Hazrat Nizamuddin 0200 (Fri) 0001013 COIMBATORE EXPRESS Mumbai 2215 23001014 LOKMANYA TILAK EXP Coimbatore 1225 12456529 UDYAN EXPRESS Mumbai Central 0905 0006530 UDYAN EXPRESS Bangalore City 00000 20006507 JU BANGALORE EXPRESS Jodhpur Jn 0400(Sat, Mon) 0006508 JODHPUR EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 2125 (Mon, Wed)1017 CHALUKYA EXPRESS Dadar Mumbai 2225(Except Wed) 0001018 CHALUKYA EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 0620 (Except Thu)6509 AII SBC EXPRESS Ajmer Jn 0400 (Sun, Tue) 0006510 AJMER EXPRESS Bangalore City 000 2125 (Tue, Thu)6501 AHMEDABAD EXPRESS Ahmedabad 0800 (Thu) 000

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Train No. Train Name Station Arrival B’lore Departure B’lore Train No. Train Name Station Arrival B’lore Departure B’lore

TRAIN SCHEDULE

YOGARAJ BUT...!Bhaathi (11,2.30,6,9.15PM) Govard-han Theatre (11.30 am, 2.30, 6 , 9pm) Krishna (KR Puram) (10.30 am,2,5,8PM) Kamakya (10.45 am, 1.45,5.45, 8.45 pm) Triveni (10.30 am,1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm) Veeresh (10.15am,1.15 pm)

KRISHNA N MARRIAGE STORY (U)Ganesh, Yami GauthamBalaji (Tavarekre) (11 am, 2.30, 6.30,9.30 pm) Ganesh (11 am, 2, 6, 9pm) Krishna (KR Puram) (10.30 am) Manasa (10.30 am) Maruthi (11.30am, 2.30 pm, 6.30 pm, 9.30 pm)Nandini (11 am, 2, 5, 8 pm) Sagar(10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm) Sid-dheshwara (11.30 am, 2.30, 6.30,9.30 pm) Srinvasa (Gowdanapalya)(11.30 am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm)Ullas (5.45, 8.45 pm) Vijayalakshmi(Garudacharpalya) (11 am, 2.30 pm)Vajreshwari (11 am, 2.30, 6, 9.15pm) Inox (Jayanagar) (4 pm) Inox(JP Nagar) (12.50 pm, 6.30 pm) Inox(Malleswaram) (10.15 am, 3.55, 6.40,9.25 pm)

POLICE STORY 3 (U/A)SudeepAdarsh (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm) Anupama (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30,

7.30 pm) Nartaki (10.30 am, 1.30,4.30, 7.30 pm) Uma (10.15, 1,4, 7pm)

SHRIMATHI (A)Upendra, Priyanka UpendraAdarsh (11.30 am, 2.30, 6, 9 pm)Bharathi (11 am, 2.30, 6, 9.15 pm)Eshwari (11.00 am) Inox (Malle-swaram) (12.30 pm) Manasa (11.30am) Mohan (11 am, 2.30, 6, 9.15pm) Nartaki (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30,7.30 pm) Prasanna (10.15 am, 1.15,4.15, 7.15 pm) Uma (10.15 am, 1, 4,7 pm) Veerabhadreshwara (10.30am, 1.30 pm) Vaibhav (11.30 am)

BANNA BANNADHA LOKA ANNABANNADHA LOKA BHUMIKABhumika (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30,7.30,) Ullas (10.45 am, 1.45 pm)Vishal (11 am, 2.30, 6, 9.15 pm)

KIRATAKA (U/A)Yash, Oviya Helen, T S Nagab-haranaGoverdhan (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30,7.30 pm) Kapali (10.30 am, 1.30,4.30, 7.30 pm)

DHAN DHANA DHAN (U)Prem Kumar, Sharmila MandreBanashankari (Hongasandra) (11am, 2.15, 6.15, 9.15 pm).

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLYHALLOWS (U/A)Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson,Rupert Grint“3D” Cinepolis (10.20 am, 11.40,3, 5.30, 7.40, 10 pm) Fame (Lido)(11.15 am, 1.45, 4.20, 6.55, 9.30pm) Fame (Shankarnag) (9.40 pm)Fun Cinemas (10.30 am, 3.45, 6.30,9.25 pm) Gopalan Cinemas (Ban-

nerghatta Road) (10 am, 5.30, 7.30,10 pm) Gopalan Cinemas (MysoreRoad) (10 am, 5.20, 7.40, 10 pm)Gopalan (Innovation Mall) (10.20am, 5, 7.30, 10 pm) Innovative Mul-tiplex (11.15 am, 1.45, 6.45, 9.30pm)Inox (Magrath Road) (10.35 am,4.10, 6.50, 9.30 pm) Inox (Malle-swaram( (0 am, 2.05, 7.20, 9.45pm)

LARRY CROWNE (U/A) Tom Hanks, Julia RobertFame Lido (12.35 pm, 7.35 pm) PVRCinemas (10 am, 2.40, 7.20, 10 pm)

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THEMOON (U/A)Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley“3D” Cinemax (2.15 pm, 7.15, 10pm) Fame Lido (10.15 am, 3.25,6.20, 9.15 pm) Fun Cinemas (12.45pm, 3.50, 6.55, 10 pm pm) GopalanCinemas (B’ghatta Road) (10 am,4.30, 7.15, 10 pm) Gopalan Cinemas(Mysore Road) (11 am, 1.45, 9.30)

Movie ListingsKANNADA

ENGLISH

ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA (U/A)Katrina, Farhan Akhtar, Hrithik,Abhay Deol and Kalki KoechlinAbhinav (10 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm) Cauvery (11.30 am, 2.30, 6,9.15 pm) Cinemax (10 am, 1, 3.30,4.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm) Cinepolis (10am, 11 am, 12.55, 3.30, 4.10, 6.25,7.05, 9.20 pm) Eshwari (11.15 am,2.15, 6.15, 9.15 pm) Everest (FraserTown) (11.30 am, 2.30, 6.15, 9.30pm) Fun Cinemas (10 am, 12.45, 4,7, 10 pm) Gopalan Cinemas (Ban-nerghatta Road) (10.15 am, 1.10,4.10, 9.45 pm) Gopalan (LegacyMall) (10 am, 4, 7, 9.15 pm) Gopalan(Mysore Road) (10.15 am, 1.15, 7,9.50) HMT Cinemas (1.30 pm, 7.15pm) Innovative Multiplex (11 am,

1.45, 4.30, 7.15, 10 pm) Inox (Jayana-gar) (10 am, 12.25, 3.20, 6.15, 9pm) Inox (JP Nagar) (10 am, 12, 3,4.35, 6, 9 pm) MURDER 2 (A) Emraan Hashmi, Jacqueline Fer-nandezApsara (11.30 am, 2.15, 5.30, 8.30pm) Abhinay (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30,7.30 pm) Abhiman (Goripalya) (11am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm) Anand(3.30 pm, 6.30, 9.30 pm) Fame Forum Value Mall (10.30 am, 2.50,4, 7, 9.30 pm) Fame Lido (10 am,2.35, 5, 9.35 pm) Fame (Shankarnag)(2 pm) Fun Cinemas (10.10 am,4.30, 7.30 pm) HMT Cinemas (Jala-halli) (10.45 am, 9.45 pm) Inox(Jayanagar) (10.30 pm) Inox (JP Na-gar) (10 am, 7.30 pm).

HINDI

TELUGU

KANCHANA MUNI 2 Lawrence Raghavendra, Lakshmi Rai

Chandrodaya (11.30 am, 2.30pm)Murali (Gokula) (11 am, 2.30pm)Movieland (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30,7.30 pm) Renukaprasanna (11 am,2.30 pm) Radhakrishna (11.30 am,2.45 pm) Vaishnavi (11.30 am, 2.30,6.30, 9.30 pm) Venkateshwara (KRPuram) (6.30 pm, 9.30 pm)

NAANNA Vikram, Anushka Anjan (10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30pm) Chandrodaya (4.30 pm, 7.30pm) Renukaprasanna (6, 9.15 pm)Rajarajeshwari (11 am, 2.30, 6.30,9.30 pm) Tulasi (Marathahalli) (11.30am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm)Tirumala (10 am, 1.45, 5.30, 8.45pm)

SINGHAM (U/A)Ajay Devgan, Kajal Agarwal

Apsara (KR Market) (11.30 am,2.30, 5.30, 8.30 pm) Cauvery(Sankey Town) (11.30 am, 2.30,6, 9.30 pm) Cinepolis (Ban-nerghatta Road) (10.40 am, 12.45,1.20, 3.50, 6.35, 9.20, 10 pm)Everest (11.30 am, 2.30, 6.30,9.30 pm) Gopalan (Arcade Mall)(10 am, 12.30, 4.50, 7.25, 10 pm)Gopalan Cinemas (BannerghattaRoad) (10 am, 12.25, 3.10, 7.10,9.50 pm) Gopalan (Legacy Mall)(10.15 am, 1, 3.45, 6.30, 10 pm)HMT (Jalahalli) (10.45 am, 4.15,9.45 pm) Innovative (10.15 am,

12.45, 5, 7.30, 10 pm) Lakshmi(10.15 am, 1.15, 5.15, 8.15 pm)Manasa (11.30 am, 2.30, 6.30,9.30 pm) Radhakrishna (11.30am, 2.45, 6.30, 9.30 pm) Rex(2.15, 7.10 pm) Navarang (10.15am, 1.15, 4.15, 10 pm) Srinagraja(11 am, 2, 5, 8 pm) Sri Srinivasa(11.30 am, 2.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm)Tribhuvan (10. 30 am, 1.30, 4.30,7.30 pm) Vaibhav (11.30 am, 2.30,6, 9.30 pm) Varjeshwari (4.30,7.30 pm) Veeresh (10 pm) Vinayaka (11.15 am, 2.30, 6.30,9.30 pm)

Rationalise tax structurefor MRO units: Assocham

Bangalore: Assocham has calledfor streamlining various taxesto encourage aviation mainte-nance, repair and overhaul(MRO) facilities as the countryhas a huge potential to becomea major hub due to its low-costbenefits, favourable geographicallocation and sharp upswing inair passenger traffic.

The Indian civil aviation sectoris currently celebrating 100 yearsof existence, but its share is just1 percent in the $50 billion globalMRO market, it said.

Passenger traffic of scheduledairlines jumped from 73 millionin 2005-06 to 142 million in 2010-11, said The Associated Chambersof Commerce and Industry of In-dia (Assocham). “By a conser-vative growth rate of 10%, thethroughput is expected to be 540million passengers by 2025,” saidits secretary-general D S Rawat.

At the same time, cargo trafficis expected to touch nine milliontonnes from 2.33 million tonnesin the last financial year. India’sscheduled airlines have 430planes now. Industry estimatessuggest this figure is likely to goup to 1,500 by 2025.

Besides, the general aviationcomprises of 700 small planes

and 300 helicopters. In addition,the business jet fleet has about140 aircraft. This is expected togrow to 2,500 aircraft and 900helicopters.

“With a fleet size of Indianscheduled and non-scheduledoperators likely to treble in thenext one-and-a-half decade, theneed for a strong domestic MRO

industry gains ground. India’sunique geographical position of-fers an opportunity to become aglobal hub for international air-lines as well,” said Rawat.

The minimum requirement foran MRO facility is about 100 mil-lion dollars. Indian rules allow100 percent foreign direct invest-ment for greenfield MRO projects

through the automatic route.A full-fledged MRO unit doing

all types of checks requires35,000 to 45,000 engineers. Be-sides shortage of skilled person-nel, the country faces stiff com-petition from neighbouring MROhubs like Dubai, Singapore,Malaysia and China.

Indian aviation has seen a

tremendous growth in the past10 years due to government’sopen sky policy, arrival of low-cost airlines and air travel be-coming more affordable for mid-dle-income people. A total of 12greenfield airports are currentlybeing developed.

But the government must ra-tionalise tax structure so that itcan grow further, said Mr Rawat.MRO facilities are subject to 10.3percent service tax. There is noimport duty for foreign MROcompanies from overseas sup-pliers but domestic players haveto pay import duty of 30 to 40percent.

In addition, there is 18.5 per-cent minimum alternate tax onaerospace special economiczones which are coming up atNagpur, Belgaum and Hyder-abad.

“The increase in traffic andaircraft fleet will require signifi-cant investments in terms of expanding and upgrading existing infrastructure facilitiesbesides creating new ones,” said Rawat. “For that, a right policy mix, an encouragingtax structure and a healthy regulatory mechanism are essential.”

Puttenahalliresidentsprotest

against DCBangalore Beat Bureau

Bangalore: Members of the Kar-nataka Bahujana SangarshaSamithi and residents of Putte-nahalli yesterday protested infront of the office of BangaloreUrban deputy commissioner MK Ayyappa for not developing aslum next to Puttenahalli lake.

The protesters demanded thatthe deputy commissioner utiliseRs 50 lakh allotted from the gov-ernment towards developmentof the area. The tahsildar hassent a plan, but the deputy com-missioner is sitting on it, theyalleged.

The protesters, who had comefrom Puttenahall and LakshmiLayout, said they have beenliving in the area for a long timeand proper facilities should beprovided to them.

KBSS state president M A Na-jeeb said, “The previous deputycommissioner wanted to developthe area. The tahsildar too hassent a proposal with an expen-diture of around Rs 50 lakh, butAyyappa has not been takingany action on it. Our protest isto highlight the apathy shownby the DC.”

Jaya assetcase

posted to tomorrowBangalore: A special court yes-terday posted to tomorrow thehearing of two applications filedby Tamil Nadu chief ministerJayalalithaa in the dispropor-tionate asset case, seeking ex-emption from personal appear-ance and that she be allowed tomake a written submission.

When the matter came up before judge B M Mallikarjuna-iah, Jayalalithaa’s counsel B Kumar filed these two applications under Section 313(1)and 313(5) of the CrPC, seekingexemption for his client frompersonal appearance and thatshe be allowed to make a writtensubmission.

Kumar submitted that hisclient be allowed the provisionof video-conferencing if the tworequests were not possible.

The court then adjourned hear-ing of all the three applications,including one filed during theJuly 14 hearing when it had post-ed the case to July 27 for recordingstatement of the accused underSection 313 of CrPC (power toexamine accused).

Kumar in the July 14 hearing had filed the first application stating that as per an amendment to Sec 313 in2008, presence of accused wasnot necessary for recording ofthe statement.

The case was transferred froma Chennai court to Bangalore bythe Supreme Court in November2003 during the previous regimeof Jayalalithaa.

The Supreme Court had thenstated that all the accused shallpersonally appear in court onthe day they are called upon todo so, for answering questionsunder Section 313. PTI

Canadianfirm getscity coʼssolution

Bangalore: Bangalore-basedMetricStream, a market leader in governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solutions,has announced that Pacific Rubiales Energy, an oil and gas corporation headquarteredin Canada with significant operations in Columbia and Peru, has gone live with its GRCsolutions for compliance, risk,audit, issue and policy manage-ment.

“Built on MetricStream GRCPlatform, the solutions are en-abling PRE to integrate and es-tablish clear workflows for risk,compliance and audit manage-ment across the enterprise. Con-sequently, operational redun-dancies can be eliminated, effi-ciency improved, and risks mit-igated,” MetricSteam said in astatement. PTI

India extends visa of British nunserving leprosy patients in city

Bangalore: British-born Catholic nun Jacque-line Jean McEwan, known as Sister Jean,will continue to stay in this Indian tech hubas the Indian government Monday extendedher visa for a month.

“We have received a letter from the unionhome ministry extending Sister Jean’s visafor a month. As there is a provision for ap-plying for extending the residence permit,we will submit the papers soon,” directorof Society for the Welfare and Rehabilitationof Leprosy Patients, George Kannan Thavan,told IANS.

Sister Jean, who is also popularly knownas Mother Teresa of Sumanahalli, about 15km from the city centre, has been runninga mobile clinic for leprosy patients since1982 and has been a resident of Bangaloresince then by renewing her visa every year.

“I am so relieved that the governmenthas allowed me to stay and serve the leprosypatients as I have been doing over the years.I am sure I will be permitted to continue theservice to the poor,” Sister Jean said.

Though the ministry did not give any rea-son for not extending Sister Jean’s visa with

residence permit this time, the non-profitsociety appealed to the government throughthe Karnataka social welfare department toreview the decision favourably and allowher to stay in the city.

“The procedure is to apply for renewal90 days before the expiry of the visa on De-cember 31 every year. As in the past, she ap-plied for extension in September 2010 forvisa in 2011, which should have been givenby December 2010 but did not this time. Wesent a couple of reminders too,” Thavan re-called.

Even as Sister Jean continued to stayalong hoping for the visa renewal, homeministry joint secretary G V Sharma wroteto her July 10 that the visa cannot be extendedwithout giving any reason and that shewould have to leave the country within 15days, with yesterday being the last date.

“On renewed appeal from us, Sharmacalled and told us that Sister Jean’s residencepermit has been extended for a month andshe can apply for visa renewal afresh,” Tha-van said.

The society has a residential accommo-

dation for about 120 poor leprosy patientsand runs a mobile clinic to look after about1,000 leprosy patients in twin slums in theheart of the city under the supervision ofSister Jean with funds from donors, trustsand philanthropic organisations and indi-viduals.

“I am happy that Sister Jean can continueto work for the poor patients in the spirit ofMother Teresa. Our yeoman work wouldhave been seriously affected by her absenceotherwise. We are confident that by God’sgrace, the government will allow her to staywith us,” Thavan added.

The Sumanahalli Leprosy Rehabilitationand Training Centre, as its name implies,was born out of ‘goodwill’ (‘sumana’ meansgoodwill in Kannada language, and ‘halli’refers to village). A group of people fromdifferent walks of life, cultural backgroundsand nationalities, with very limited resourcesin terms of experience, finance and time,joined together in the 1980s to bring joyand physical relief to a group of severelyhandicapped leprous beggars in the variousslums of Bangalore. IANS

T John college wins football tourneyBangalore: T John College of Pharmacy re-cently won the winner’s trophy for theRGUHS intercollegiate zonal football tour-nament organised by Krishnadevaraya Col-lege of Dental Sciences, Bangalore.

It proved to be a very exciting day withan interesting set of matches. In the finalsTJCP team scored 1-0 against St. John's Med-ical College and won the tournament. Thisis the 2nd consecutive year that the T JohnPharmacy team is winning the RGUHS foot-ball tournament.

Overall 12 teams took part in the tourna-ment from 12 different colleges from allacross the city. In the first semifinal, St.John’s Medical College defeated M V JayaramMedical College, Bangalore by 1-0 and inthe second semifinal, T John College ofPharmacy defeated T John College of Nursingby scoring 1-0 goal during the second half.The final was between TJCP and St. John’sMedical College and TJCP won by 1-0 goal.Patrick from T John College of Pharmacyscored the goal in the first 10 minutes of thesecond half.

The evening came to an end with the dis-tribution of the trophies and certificates tothe winners and all other participants. Cap-

tain Basheer Ahmed Ibrahim and physicaleducation director Chinni Sreedhara collectedthe winner’s trophy and certificates.

Captain Basheer Ahmed Ibrahim and physical education director Chinni Sreedhara collect the winner’s trophy and certificates.

Check ifyour gas

connectionis legal

Bangalore: Those who want tocheck whether their gas connec-tion is legal or not can visitwww.ahara.kar.nic.in and entertheir LPG company, consumernumber and the dealer to getthe details. Those who don’t haveaccess to the internet can visitthe closest taluk office and con-tact the deputy tahsildar con-cerned.

These officers can be contactedover phone: Doddaballapur(9964829522), Hoskote(9844818399), Devanahalli(9449151844) and Nelamangala(94484395613). All taluk officeshave been equipped with internetconnection and consumers cancheck the details at these centres,a press note said.

Govt to soonbuild 900

anganawadisBangalore: The government willconstruct buildings for 900 ana-ganawadis, said women andchild welfare minister C C Patilhas said.

Rs 100 crore has been set asidefor the purpose, and within aweek Rs 50 crore would be re-leased, he said.

These buildings will have mod-ern technology and architecture.The design depends on whetherthe area receives heavy or sparserains. Priority would be given tobackward areas, he said.

The projects will be handedover to the Land Army or theRajiv Gandhi National RuralHousing Corporation. The con-struction will begin within threemonths, he said.

Rs 13.5 crore has been asidefor the repair of 34,335 an-ganawadis. The state has 63,377such schools in the state, headded.

CITYTuesday, July 26, 2011 3CITY EVENTSGeneralJana Hitha Rakshana Sam-ithi: Presentation of awardsfor outstanding performancein various fields, Town Hall, JC Road, 6 pm.

M S Ramaiah Medical Col-lege: Graduation day, MinisterV S Acharya and M R Jayaramto participate, Chowdiah Me-morial Hall, Vyalikaval. 5 pm.

CulturalPragathi Graphics: Release ofD G Mallikarjun’s book ‘AsthirChitragalu’, by Hamsalekha,Music Director, Nayana, J CRoad, 6 pm.

Sanchaya: Play ‘Sayo Aata’ di-rected by K R Ganesh, Ran-gashankar, J P Nagar, 7.30 pm.

Bangalore International Cen-tre: Bangladesh film festival,film ‘Quiet Flows the RiverChitra’, Teri Complex, 4thMain, 2nd Cross, Domlur 2ndStage, 6 pm.

ReligiousMeditation and Study Centre:Discourse on ‘Shun Delusionand Get Peace’ by L Nagesh,SSMRV PU College 26th Main,4th T Block, Jayanagar, 6.30pm.

The Indian Institute of WorldCulture: Discourse on ‘Impor-tance of Religious Observancesin Life’ by S M Shivappa, 6, BP Wadia Road, Basavangudi,6 pm.

Deenabandu Devasthanam:Discourse on ‘Kaivalya Upan-ishad’ by Swami Brahmanan-da, Gangamma ThimmaiahConvention Hall, Basavesh-waranagar, 6.30 pm.

ExhibitionsCultural Connections: Tues-day, July 26th, 2011. 10 a.m. to6 p.m. Gallerie Third Eye, NoA-1 Epsilon Office Block,Yemalur Main Road, YemalurAn exhibition of contemporaryIndian paintings by ParmeshD Jolad and Sudeep Mukerjee,curated by Jasmine Khanna.

Recorder of Life, Beauty andTruth: Tuesday, July 26th, 2011.10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tasveer, No26/1, Kasturba Cross Road,Tasveer presents an exhibitionof photographs by TS Satyan,one of India's first photojour-nalists.

Tête-à-tête @ Apparao: Tues-day, July 26th, 2011. 10 a.m. to8 p.m. Apparao Galleries, No82 The Presidency, St MarksRoad, Apparao Galleries pres-ents 'Tête-à-tête', an exhibitionof paintings and sculpturesby eleven artists includingAltaf, Anjolie Ela Menon, FNSouza, George K, K Muralidhar,Laxma Goud, Shipra Bhat-tacharya and Sunil Padwal.

A Slice of Life @ Veda: Tues-day, July 26th, 2011. 11 a.m. to6 p.m. Veda Art Gallery, PalaceView Builidng, Sankey Road,Kumara Park West Veda ArtGallery presents 'A Slice ofLife', an exhibition of art workby JMS Mani, Laxman Aelay,Kishan Kappari and Muruge-san.

Group Show @ Sumukha:Tuesday, July 26th, 2011. 10:30a.m. to 6 p.m. GallerySumukha, No 24/10, BTS DepotRoad, Wilson Garden An ex-hibition of sculptures, etch-ings, woodcuts and photo-graphs by various artists fromdifferent parts of the country.

The Taste of a Collector: Tues-day, July 26th, 2011. 11 a.m. to7 p.m. Gallery Time & Space,No 55, Lavelle Road, An exhi-bition of artwork from the pri-vate collection of Vatsal Pod-dar, a successful businessmanand art enthusiast.

Group show @ Renaissance:Tuesday, July 26th, 2011. 11a.m. to 7 p.m. RenaissanceGallerie, No 13 Westminster,Cunningham Road, Paintingsby Sanjay Sable, Bijoy Basak,Mariyam Minha and Sangeeta.

Creative Perspectives: Tues-day, July 26th, 2011. noon to11:30 p.m. Caperberry, No 48/1Ground Floor, The Estate, Dick-enson Road, Artwork by GopalDey, Shan Re, Kishore Chand,Ashok Kumar G, Hiremath,Parmesh D Jolad, Ranjan Paul,Ram Onkar, Mini Arora andmore.

FoodKerala Food Festival: Bon-South presents its first Keralafood festival, Kerala cuisinehas a lot of varieties from dif-ferent regions of the State.From the Moplah and the Syr-ian Christian specialities tothe vegetarian delicacies ofNamboodiri cuisine. Each ofthese regional varieties has adistinctive taste and flavour.The cuisine is a delight forfood lovers, for both vegetari-

ans and non vegetarians. Avail-able both at lunch and dinner,the Buffet is priced at Rs. 350plus taxes. BonSouth, No 1Sampige road, Mantri Square,3rd Floor next to Oval bar. call: 080 22667377 & for Homedelivery 080 22667378.

Mama Mia! Introduces theIce-cream Cakes: which aregreat for any celebration ditchthe regular creamy cake onyour next birthday for a deli-cious frozen icecream cake.Price: Rs 389 for 1 kg and Rs699 for 2 kg and Rs 59 perslice. Indiranagar Call 4114-9423, Koramangala. Tel: 93794-16398, Jyoti Niwas CollegeRoad. Koramangala Tel:40981868.

ShoppingCrimson's Annual MonsoonSale: Tuesday, July 26th, 2011.11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Crimson ArtGallery, The Hatworks Boule-vards, No 32, CunninghamRoad, Vasanthnagar Paintingsat discount rates, along withan additional offer where pa-trons get 50% off every secondpurchase.

Sale @ Esprit: Tuesday, July26th, 2011. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.Esprit, No 10 Ananda Bhavan,Vittal Mallya Road, Esprit an-nounces a sale where patronscan avail discounts of up to50% on apparel and acces-sories, and a flat 25% off watch-es.

Sale @ French Connection:Tuesday, July 26th, 2011. 10a.m. to 9 p.m. French Con-nection, Adarsh Opus, Camp-bell Road, Austin Town Menget a flat 30% off, while womenare entitled to discounts up to50% on all merchandise atFrench Connection’s end ofseason sale across all outlets.

Van Heusen Sale: Tuesday,July 26th, 2011. 10 a.m. to 9p.m. Van Heusen, No 194,Brigade Road, Discounts of upto 40% on all apparel. Thesale is on across all outlets.

Happiness Sale: Tuesday, July26th, 2011. 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.Bangalore Central, No 47/48Victoria Embassy, ResidencyRoad, Bangalore Central an-nounces the Happiness Sale,featuring apparel and acces-sories at discounts of up to 61percent. The sale is on acrossall outlets.

Special Events Tuesdays withthe Bard: Tuesday, July 26th,2011. 7 p.m. Urban Solace -Cafe for the Soul, No 32, An-naswamy Mudaliar Road, Ul-soor Lake Tuesdays with theBard is an initiative to createopportunities for poets andpoetry lovers to get together.It features poets reading theircreations in a new experienceevery Tuesday. Today, poetNishant Pratap takes the stage.Members of the audience areencouraged to come forwardand share poems as well.

ArtsOpen Mic Night @ Kyra: Tues-day, July 26th, 2011. 7 p.m. to11 p.m. Kyra Theatre, No 2001Kattima Center, 100 Feet Road,Indiranagar The Open MicNight aims to bring out newtalent - whether it's music,stand up comedy, poetry ordance. Tonight, Tiffin Box,Phlegmatic, 1fret away, PrimeRage Live and Work in Progresstake the stage.

Eating OutPower Lunch: Tuesday, July26th, 2011. 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.City Bar Karaoke + Grill, UBCity, No 24, Vittal Mallya Road,Now be connected even duringthe quick business lunch. Freewi-fi access while you fill upin the middle of the day. De-lectable starters with a varietyof veg/ non veg main courseoptions along with draughtbeer.

Weekday Lunch Buffet @ManU: Tuesday, July 26th, 2011.noon to 3 p.m. ManchesterUnited Restaurant Bar, TheManchester United Restaurantand Bar launches a weekdaylunch buffet priced at Rs 350plus taxes right from startersto desserts.

Burger-Binging MonsoonMenu @ Mocha: Tuesday, July26th, 2011. 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.Mocha, Lavelle Road, Mochaintroduces a special menu forthe monsoons. Coolers likePeach and Ginger Spritzer,Cranberry Orange Melange,and Mystic Mangoade are alsopart of the menu, which isavailable across all outlets ofMocha.

Kerala Konnections: July 26th,2011. 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Vem-banad, The Paul, No 139/28,Intermediate Ring Road, Dom-lur Vembanad at The Paulhosts a weekday lunch buffetthat features coastal disheslike Meen Manga Curry, KozhiRoast, Thalassari Mutton Curryand more.

INDIA FLIES SECOND LIGHT COMBAT HELICOPTER PROTOTYPE

Paris/New Delhi: India has successfullytest-flown the second prototype of its in-digenous high altitude Light Combat Heli-copter (LCH). Hindustan Aeronautics Lim-ited (HAL) Chairman and Managing DirectorAshok Nayak told India Strategic defencemagazine (www.indiastrategic.in) in inter-views at the Paris Air Show and in NewDelhi that the second aircraft was a "con-siderable improvement" over the first pro-totype as HAL and Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation (DRDO) scientistshad been able to achieve substantial weightreduction.

"Not only that, the human and weaponspayload capacity of the rotorcraft had al-ready been exceeded than the parametersmandated by the Indian Air Force (IAF)."

Although a derivative of the advancedlight helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, the LCH hasbeen re-designed and reconfigured fromthe beginning to operate at the Himalayanheights of 20,000 feet. It carries two pilots,one as a weapons operator, in tandem seat-ing. The helicopter is powered by the sameShakti engine that is used by the ALH.

The first helicopter was flown last year,for 20 minutes in the first flight, and thesecond June 2011-end. The combined hoursthat the two helicopters, prototype-1 andprototype-2, have done by now are 76.

Nayak said the second prototype wasflown to a height of 10,000 feet with an all-

up weight (AUW) of 4,900 kgs. The para-metres successfully tested by HAL testpilots included general handling, slowspeed handling, basic automatic flight con-trol system (AFCS) checks and 60 degreebank turns. Images of the helicopter inflight, with digitally designed camouflagepaint, have been made available to IndiaStrategic. Later, radar absorbent coatingto increase its stealth features would alsobe added.

After the basic tests are conducted andall parameters established, the helicopterwould progressively be taken to higher al-titudes like Leh, Kargil and Siachin as alsoin the deserts of Rajasthan.

A few more prototypes and several moretests are scheduled before the LCH getsinto the production line and becomes op-erational in about five years. The initialoperational clearance (IOC) is however tar-geted to be achieved in 2013, Nayak said,adding that the IAF is actively involved inall stages of the aircraft testing and systemapprovals.

The IAF has a highly reputed Aircraftand Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE)in Bangalore which checks and approvesall kinds of aircraft. Test pilots constitutethe creme-de-la-creme of any air force, andthese daredevils take even the new machinesto their extremes before they are put intoroutine flying operations.

Nayak said that the desired weight ofthe LCH is 5.5 tonnes. Besides the twopilots, it will have a glass cockpit, gun androcket pods, air-to-air and air-to-groundmissiles to attack and destroy hostile posi-tions high in the mountains like the onesset up intruding Pakistani troops duringthe 1999 Kargil War. Suitable applicationsas are found possible during the testingwould be carried out to boost the lethalityand survivability of the aircraft.

At present, the IAF deploys the Sovietvintage Mi-35 combat helicopters. Theseare being replaced with 22 newer combathelicopters, and the IAF is just about toannounce its choice from two contestants,an up-rated Russian Mi-35 and the USBoeing Apache AH 64D with a new gener-ation combat radar. The winner is likely tobe the one which, first, qualifies in the AirStaff Qualitative Requirements (ASQR) tests,and second, if both go through that, thenthe lower bidder in terms of initial price,operating costs and life cycle costs over 40years. As for operations in 20,000 feet

terrain, although some helicopters built byleading foreign companies reach thoseheights, they are not designed to operatefrom there as nowhere in the world arethere high altitude battlegrounds likeSiachin, where helicopters are the lifelineto support the troops against foreign in-trusions and attacks.

More than 500 take part in Kargil Diwas walkathon


Bangalore: More than 500 students, familiesof soldiers and citizens took out a walkathonfrom MG Road to Indira Gandhi MusicalFountain Park to commemorate the KargilDiwas this morning.

Taking part in the observation to mark12 years of Kargil incursion, chief ministerB S Yeddyurappa said the government willhike the pension for war veterans fromthe present Rs 2,000 from August 15 thisyear. The proposal will be consideredsoon. Recently, it was increased from Rs1,000, he added.

To encourage youths to join the army,

the government announced Rs 1 lakh forthose who stand first in the National De-fence Academy and other defence-relatedinstitutions, he said.

Kargil Diwas and two other days wouldbe celebrated as special days and specialprogrammes would be held to encourageyouth to join the services, he added.

“Also, a committee would be set up tolook into the possibility of including lessonsin the curriculum of schools and collegesthat would encourage students to becomesoldiers.

“The government would also take upother programmes for the purpose,” headded. Home and transport minister R

Ashok too said his department woulddevise several programmes to get youth tobe part of the nation’s defence forces.

On the occasion, the Flag of HonourFoundation presented a cheque of Rs 53,000to Penphalamma, widow of H Sanchalaiahwho died during the World War II, towardsmedical expenses.

She had placed a request before thefoundation for the financial aid.

Karnataka State Cricket Association pres-ident Anil Kumble, energy minister ShobhaKarandlaje, women and child welfare min-ister C C Patil, former governor to JharkhandRama Jois, Captain Ganesh Karnik, Lt Gen-eral Ravi and others were present.

Students walk with the Tricolour during the walkathon to observe 12 years of Kargil Diwas this morning. The walkathonwas taken out from MG Road to Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain Park.

Photos: Gangadhar Pujar

Whitenerpaints life ofrag‑pickers

blackAknisree Karthik


Bangalore: A whitener can beused to re-write and correct themistakes or errors committed byus while typing or writing.

But rag-pickers at the fruitmarket have a different meaningand purpose for the whitener.

They mix it with a cloth wasteor twine rope and sniff it to get ahigh. Once high, they also in-dulge in criminal activities inand around the crowded K RMarket. Fruit merchants heretold Bangalore Beat that theyare facing a lot of problems be-cause of these addicts.

“We don’t have any shopshere. We sell our goods openlyand these rag-pickers threatenus with razors and knives, anddemand money from us. Theyalso steal money and fruits, whilewe are busy attending to ourcustomers. Sometimes they arecaught and beaten till they bleed.But the blows do not seem tohave any effect on them. Theyare immune to pain because ofthe addictive stuff they inhale.We are fed up with them,” saidSathya B Lazarus, a fruit mer-chant.

These rag-pickers are eightyears and above. They earn theirlivelihood by picking discardedplastic covers, milk covers, plasticproducts, etc. They can go toany extent to get their daily doseof whitener, he said.

“Earlier, the whitener was soldonly at stationery shops. Butnow it is available at all pettyshops, even in those shops thatdon’t have anything to do withstationery stuff. They have been

stocking it up only to cater tothese addicts. Once high theseurchins fight among themselvesand start playing with their ra-zors. Most of them stay belowthe City Market flyover,” saidJoseph, a banana merchant.

The police do not seem to doanything to contain the increas-ing number of crimes and thesechildren getting addicted towhitener.

Business worth crores of ru-pees is conducted at City Market.With the reign of these rag-pick-ers fuit merchants have been liv-ing in constant fear, they said.

These urchins would suregrow up to become criminals ifthey are not contained now.Some NGOs should come forwardand rehabilitate these unfortu-nate children, they added.

A fruit merchant asks a rag-picker to leave at K R Market.These children who have been addicted to whiteners have

been causing havoc, say fruit merchants in the area.

PU suppl results todayBangalore: The results of secondpre-university supplementaryexams would be announced onthe internet today.

The results can be viewed after4 pm on these websites, said PUBoard director V Rashmi.

College principals have been strictly instructed to get the results from the respective

district level pre-universitydeputy director’s offices tomorrow and announce them immediately after, sheadded.

The results would be availableon. www.pue.kar.nic.in,www.schools9.com. Or SMS:k12supplementary to <space>hall ticket number to 56767999.

Aknisree Karthik

A rag-picker with whitener inhis hand

Printed and published by B M Arun Kumar vide RNI Registration No. KARENG/2010/33126. Published by SAM Global Media, # 37, 1 Floor, 2nd Main, N. R. Colony, Bangalore - 560 019. Editor: B M Arun Kumar Printed at Lavanya Mudrana, #19, 15th Cross, Thyaarajanagar, Bangalore – 560 028. All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation in any language in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. The publisher assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited material or for material lost or damaged in transit. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Bangalore only.

NEWSTuesday, July 26, 2011 4

India‑US military ties ingood shape: Mullen

Washington: Encouraged by the growing strengthof Indo-US military-to-military ties, a top Pentagonofficial yesterday said the “vital” relationshipneeds to be taken from strength to strength.

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the USJoint Chiefs of Staff, told foreign journalists at anews conference that the military ties betweenthe two countries are “in a very good shape”.

“The military-to-military relationship betweenIndia and the United States has grown strongerand stronger and actually is in very good shape.There’s very active interaction between each ofthe services,” he said. “Certainly, before several

years ago, before I had this job, I was the head ofour Navy, and the interaction, for instance, atthat time between our two navies was signifi-cant.

It continues to be. We continue to grow eachyear,” Mullen said. Responding to questions,Mullen said America’s relationship with India isvital.

“It’s a vital region. It’s a vital relationship. It’sa relationship that I think we need to makestronger and stronger. So I’ve been very pleasedwith how it has grown and look forward to thatcontinuing to be the case,” Mullen said. PTI

3 labourerskidnappedin Manipur

Imphal: Militants kidnappedthree labourers at gun pointwhile they were working to re-pair the guard wall of a river inManipur’s interior Thoubal dis-trict, official sources said to-day.

The labourers were engagedin repair of a guard wall on theChandrakhong Itok river in theYairipok police station area inthe district on July 21 when theincident took place.

The kidnapping came to lighton July 23 when the brother ofone of the abducted lodged acomplaint with the Yairipok po-lice station.

arlier family members of theabducted had failed to informthe police of the incident fol-lowing threat from the kidnap-pers, the sources said.

It was not immediatelyknown why the labourers werekidnapped, the sources said.

No individual or group hasso far claimed responsibilityfor the kidnap. PTI

ʻGolden touchʼ Indian newDeutsche Bank co‑chairmanFrankfurt: Anshu Jain has longcaptained Deutsche Bank’s crick-et team in London, but fromMay 2012 the Indian will be skip-per of the German banking pow-erhouse’s entire operations.

The 48-year-old investmentbanker, named co-chairman yes-terday in tandem with Germanveteran Juergen Fitschen, bringsto the job a reputation of havingboth a golden touch and rigor-ous self-discipline.

Born in Jaipur in Rajasthan,Jain studied at Delhi Universitybefore moving to the UnitedStates and gaining an MBA infinance from the University ofMassachusetts at Amherst.

Jain has enjoyed a meteoriccareer since first joining MerrillLynch in New York, moving toDeutsche in London in 1995 andrising to be in charge of its in-vestment banking unit.

The division is the Bank’s main generator of profits, and Jain is generallycredited with swiftly returningthe unit to winning ways after the 2008-09 global financialcrisis.

Since 2002 he has been onthe bank’s executive committeeand in April 2009 chairman JosefAckermann, whom Jain andFitschen will be succeeding,brought him onto the seven-

man management board.Jain’s mandate on the board

has also been extended by fiveyears, the bank said.

Already, Jain earns more thanAckermann, with a salary plusperformance-related compo-nents of 7.6 million euros ($10.6million) in 2010, compared to 6.3 million for his boss, according to Deutsche’s annualreport.

Detractors reproach him how-ever for showing an overachiev-er’s arrogance and for creatingtensions between London’s in-vestment division and more tra-ditional bankers back in Frank-furt. AFP

Will probe Murdoch ifwe get plaints: Pranab

London: The Indian governmentwould inquire into the concernsof Rupert Murdoch in the countryif it receives any complaint, saidfinance minister Pranab Mukher-jee here yesterday.

Mukherjee said India plans todouble its exports in the nextyears to reach $500 billion.

"The government has an-nounced a manufacturing policyto increase the share of manu-facturing from the present 16 percent to a level of 25 per cent ofthe GDP over the next decade,"he said.

He added there are significantopportunities for British invest-ment in India, particularly inthe infrastructure space.

"The Indian government hastargeted an ambitious infrastruc-

ture investment of USD 1 trillionin its 12th Five-Year Plan, startingfrom 2012. We have recently out-

lined the structure for infrastruc-ture debt funds to harness off-shore and onshore pension/in-surance funds in accessing longtenor loans for public-privatepartnership projects. These fundswould enjoy a reduction in with-holding tax and exemption fromincome tax," Mukherjee said.

"There are also opportunitiesfor British investment... in theareas of science and technology,food processing, agriculture sec-tor, energy security, includingcollaboration in renewable en-ergy sources, higher educationand culture," he said.

The high commissioner of In-dia to the UK, Nalin Surie, anddeputy high commissioner Ra-jesh Prasad were also presenton the occasion. PTI

Raja does a U‑turn, says did not seek to implicate PM, FM

New Delhi: In a U-turn, formertelecom minister A Raja todaytold a Delhi court that he didnot seek to implicate Prime Min-ister Manmohan Singh and thethen finance minister P Chi-dambaram in the 2G case.

“I did not seek to implicatethe Prime Minister and the thenFinance Minister in 2G case,”senior advocate Sushil Kumar,counsel for Raja, told SpecialCBI Judge O P Saini.

The DMK leader squarelyblamed the media for his allegedaccusations against the PrimeMinister and the then financeminister, saying “they (media)cannot put words in my mouth.Ask them to report truthfully orgo out of the court room.”

Initiating the arguments onframing of charges, the counselfor Raja had yesterday claimedthat the issue of sale of equityby spectrum licencee telecomfirms was discussed with the

Prime Minister and the then fi-nance minister. The counsel forRaja today started his argumentsseeking to record his reservationon the media reports. “I am de-fending myself and not accusinganything against anybody. I amnot after anybody,” he said.

In the USA, the court proceed-ings are telecasted and the wholenation watches them to avoid

such a situation, he said.Referring to the charge sheet,

the senior advocate said the sanc-tion to prosecute the former tele-com minister was flawed.

Raja, defending himselfagainst corruption charges in 2Gscam, had yesterday submittedbefore the court that there wasnothing wrong in his decisionof not auctioning 2G spectrum

and he was merely following thepolicies pursued by his prede-cessors and the NDA government.Counsel for Raja had said thatwhen Chidambaram was the Fi-nance Minister he had told thePrime Minister that dilution ofshares by the accused licenceesto attract FDI did not amount tosale of licence. Arguing that di-lution of shares was not sale oflicence, Kumar said Raja cannotbe accused of corruption in thecontroversial 2G spectrum allo-cation. “The matter (about saleof equity by spectrum licencees)was discussed between the PMand the then Finance Minister(P Chidambaram).

“The then finance minister,who is now home minister, hadsaid in front of the Prime Ministerthat dilution of shares does notamount to sale of 2G licence asper the corporate law,” Sushilhad asserted, adding, “Let thePrime Minister deny this.” PTI

Sugarcane growersstage rasta roko


Mysore: Farmers demanding re-munerative prices for sugarcanestaged a road block betweenMysore and Nanjangud near Ku-dalahalli Gate this morning.

The agitators were led by Ku-rubur Shantakumar, presidentof state sugarcane growers as-sociation.

The agitators shouted slogansagainst horticulture and sugarminister S A Ravindranath al-

leging that he is not showingany interest towards the farmersand do not have any commitmentfor sugarcane growers.

The farmers alleged that eventhe chief minister B S Yeddyu-rappa is not worried over theplight of sugarcane growers whohave suffered huge losses dueto low fixation of prices.

Even as the prices of manureand seeds have gone up mani-fold, however the sugarcanegrowers were given only Rs.50

hike per tonne of cane procured.The opposition parties have

also ignored the plight of sugar-cane farmers, they said. Themembers of the association willstage a protest in front of thedeputy commissioner’s office to-morrow morning to be followedby Vidhana Soudha siege bymonth end.

Tahasildar Manjunath whovisited the spot promised thefarmers that their demands willbe fulfilled at the earliest.

The second round Comed-K counselling is going on at NMKRV Women’s College atJayanagar today.

Counselling goes onS Radhakrishna

Indian, Pak foreignsecys begin talks

New Delhi: Foreign secretaryNirupama Rao Tuesday begandelegation-level talks with herPakistani counterpart SalmanBashir to firm up the agenda forthe meeting between their foreignministers the following day.

Rao and Bashir shook handswarmly before the start of thetalks. The Indian delegation,headed by Rao, included Y.K.Sinha, joint secretary in chargeof Pakistan in the external affairsministry; India’s high commis-sioner to Pakistan Sharat Sab-harwal; Vishnu Prakash, thespokesperson of the external af-fairs ministry, and other officials.

The Pakistani delegation,headed by Bashir, included ZehraH. Akbari, Director General,South Asia, in Pakistan’s foreignoffice; Pakistan’s High Commis-sioner to India Shahid Malik andother senior officials. The twosides are expected to discuss anentire gamut of issues that havea bearing on bilateral ties, in-cluding cross-border terrorismand Jammu and Kashmir. Thetwo top diplomats are expectedto firm up the details of confi-dence-building measures (CBMs)that are aimed at expanding trav-el and trade across the dividedhalves of Kashmir.

Ex‑workersof Rajendra

Millsthreaten stir


Mysore: Mysore Division General Employees Associa-tion staged a protest in frontof the deputy commissioner’soffice this morning demand-ing arrears due to the closureof Krishnarajendra Mills in1984.

General secretary of the as-sociation Kenchappa said thatthough the employees got Rs.5,000 to 12,000 in 1991 andRs. 16,000 in 2004, the re-maining amount is yet to set-tled.

He demanded the govern-ment to release the balanceamount within one month orelse the 1,400 members of theassociation will stage a fastingdemonstration.

Drop Kageri,says DSSBangalore Beat Bureau

Mysore: The Dalit SangharshaSamiti Mysore has staged aprotest in front of the deputycommissioner’s office thismorning against teaching Bha-gavadgita in schools.

The DSS leaders condemnedprimary education ministerVishweshwara Hegde Kageri’sstatement that those who oppose Bhagavadgita shouldquit the country and demandeddropping of Kageri from the state cabinet.

Raids onpremises of ex‑TN

intel chiefChennai: The Directorate of Vig-ilance and Anti Corruption offi-cials today conducted raids onthe premises of former Intelligence chief M S Jaffer Saitand other officials in connectionwith the Tamil Nadu HousingBoard land allotment case.

The residences of Sait, whoheaded the state intelligencewing in the previous DMKregime, DMK chief M Karunanid-hi’s Personal security officers(PSO) P Pandian, C Ganesan, CVinothan and IAS officer K Ra-jamanickam, one of the secre-taries to Karunanidhi when hewas Chief Minister, were raided,department sources said.

DVAC sources said FIRs hadbeen filed against family mem-bers of the officials whose prem-ises had been raided, as theland/plots allotted to them under Tamil Nadu Housing Boardunder the government’s discre-tionary quota had been registeredin their name.

FIRs had been filed for mis-appropriation of housing board land against Parveen Jaffar,wife of Jaffer Sait, Jeyasudha,wife of Kamaraj, one of the Personal Security Officers to thenChief Minister Karunanidhi, Dur-ga Shankar, son of IAS officerRajamanickam and Meena, wifeof Pandian, they said.

FIRs were filed againstVinothan and Ganesan as the land had been allottedagainst their name itself, theysaid. PTI

Everything that could gowrong, went wrong: Dhoni

London: Bemoaning the loss ofkey players to injuries midwaythrough the match, India captainMahendra Singh Dhoni also heldthe “variable bounce” at theLord’s pitch responsible for histeam’s massive defeat in the firstcricket Test against England here.

“What we saw different fromthe 2007 series this time was thevariable bounce. It became tough.In 2007, there was much morebounce but it was even too. Itwas interesting to see where Iwas standing as a keeper then.Zaheer bowls his overs fromwhere I stand, and I used to doso by being 2-3 yards behind in2007. Here I was standing 2-3yards in front,” Dhoni said afterthe 196-run loss match yester-day.

“It had an impact. In 2007you could leave the deliveries.Here the bounce was very un-even. You couldn’t leave eachdelivery because a few balls reallykept low and never really carried.You had to look to play each de-livery and when it bounced it

was difficult.”What also prevented India

from playing to their full potentialwere injuries to key players.

“Everything (that) could havegone wrong, went wrong. It wastough for batsmen to bat at dif-ferent slots, it was tough forbowlers with only three left (inZaheer Khan’s absence),” saidDhoni.

“Zaheer’s absence made ittough to manage bowlers. Withjust three bowlers left and theball not turning that much, wedidn’t have too many options...our resources were limited.

“As for batters, it was difficultfor them to bat at different slotsthey are not used to. Dravid,Gambhir and Sachin all hadadded pressure of not batting attheir usual slots,” Dhoni said.

Due to Gautam Gambhir’s in-jury, Rahul Dravid came out asan opener in the second innings.Sachin Tendulkar, because ofhis viral infection, could onlybat at number five.

Talking about Zaheer, who left

the field on the first morningitself due to a hamstring strain,Dhoni said the seamer’s absencewas felt.

“In Zaheer’s absence, it be-came tough to manage threebowlers. We didn’t have too manyoptions. If we had one extrabowler, things could have beendifferent.

“We have three days (beforethe second Test). I am not 100per cent sure if he would play.We don’t want to risk an indi-vidual. There is a lot of cricketwe are playing and there is nopoint in risking a guy for just agame.”

Asked to explain why Zaheer’sfitness was not checked in time,Dhoni said: “Hamstring injuryis a difficult one ? a fast bowlerdoesn’t have to bowl to get suchan injury. He could be runningafter the ball and still get in-jured.”

Most of India’s top order bats-men seemed to have got outplaying rash shots, but Dhonididn’t think so. .

Preparations are on for the Ganesha festival that is fallingon September 1.

Getting ready for Ganesha fest

Illegal mining occurredduring Cong regime: BSY

Continued from page 1“In Karnataka illegal miningtook place during the Congressrule and they have looted theiron ore. After BJP came to power,I am the first chief minister inthe country to ban the export ofiron ore. In 2008 our governmenthas unveiled new mining policyunder which mining of iron oreis permitted only for value ad-dition,” he said.

“I am also eagerly waiting forthe Lokayuktha report on illegalmining. The government willstudy the report and will takesuitable action in accordancewith the law of the land,” thechief minister said.

The chief minister made itclear that the BJP high commandhad not asked his resignation.“In fact, the high command issolidly behind me,” claimed Yed-dyurappa.

He said he has not committedany irregularities or involved inillegal mining. The oppositionis unnecessarily blaming thegovernment, he said.

Everyone knows that how thecongress and JDS misused nat-ural resources of the state whenthey were in power, he said.

The chief minister said he hascalled a meeting of state MPson July 31 to rise voice in Parlia-ment about the state issues and

developmental works which arepending and awaiting centralgovernment’s clearance.

On August 5 the BJLP meetingwill be called to discuss the

course of action to be taken withrespect to illegal mining.

“I will discuss with our legis-lators and take a decision,” he said.

Home grown terror threatpretty high: Chidambaram

New Delhi: Voicing concern overthreats posed by indigenous ter-ror groups, Home Minister P Chi-dambaram has said they are nolonger fledgling outfits but areexperts in assembling and trans-porting bombs.

The threat from them is prettyhigh, he told PTI against thebackdrop of the July 13 Mumbaiblasts in which 22 people werekilled. “Pretty high. They are nolonger fledgling outfits. Theyhave established several modulesand they have gained expertisein assembling bombs and trans-porting bombs,” he said.

Chidambaram was asked howserious was the threat from homegrown terrorists like Indian Mu-jahideen. Asked whether therewas a needle of suspicion point-ing at IM in the recent Mumbaiblasts, he said, “no. I have saidthey (Mumbai Police) have notshared any details and I am notin a position to share any details.”

He said the last reports he gotwas that Mumbai Police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has somegood leads.

“Since they have not sharedany more details, I am in no po-sition to share any details,” hesaid. Asked if there are any sus-pects, he said, “there are goodleads.”

To a question whether the July13 blasts blotted his record, hesaid there have been two blastsin Pune in 2010 and in Mumbaia fortnight ago.

“Both are setbacks. Both areterrorist incidents undoubtedly.And therefore, to the extent thatthe Government of Maharashtracould not prevent them and tothe extent that the Governmentof India could not help the Gov-ernment of Maharashtra to pre-vent them, is a negative on ourrecord as opposed to the manypositives that are on record,” hesaid.

Asked whether the recentMumbai blasts show blaringholes in preparations like phonelines not working, Chidambaramsaid, “I think all this is exagger-ated. Police officers reach theblast site within 15 minutes. Everysingle injured person was evac-uated within the hour. Twenty-one ambulances were deployedand they were taken to 14 hos-pitals.” He said given the con-gestion in Mumbai, especiallyin Zaveri Bazar and Opera Houseareas, he thought it was a goodachievement contrast to what

happened in Norway.Shooting by the sole assassin

n Norway, he said, went on for90 minutes. The police was ableto reach the island only after 90minutes and chief of police ofNorway was heard saying on tel-evision they had traffic problemson the road to the island.

“I think while criticism is jus-tified but we should be circum-spect when we criticise the po-lice,” he said. Asked about thelessons learnt from the 26/11 at-tacks, he said if the questionwas about identifying the short-comings, deficiencies and stepsto curb them, “the answer is aresounding yes”. He said thekind of capacity being added inthe last two-and-half-years wasextraordinary. The Central gov-ernment alone recruited in 2009-10, 31,854 personnel to variouspara- military forces and it wentup to 61,903 in 2010-11. In 2011-12, the recruitment will go upto92,168, he said.

S Radhakrishna

Beyond BeatTuesday, July 26, 2011


Here is an invention that can putan end to two-wheeler and four-wheeler thefts rocking the cityfor a while now. Prof B Krish-nappa, who has served as prin-

cipal at MS Ramaiah Institute of Technol-ogy, has devised the technology – VehicleIgnition Inhibition System – that can be fit-ted onto the four-wheeler dashboards or theglow box or utility box in two-wheelers. Thedevice controls the ignition system of thevehicle that prevents a thief from startingand driving away your vehicle. The deviceis password protected and will allow thedriver to start the vehicle only upon en-tering the password in a proper sequencein a predetermined duration.

How does this device work?The device consists of 16-key alpha-nu-

merical keypad. The keys are arranged fouracross and four down. The driver can setany password so he wishes, say J4KE.Once he inserts the ignition key, he needsto enter the specific password allotted to hisdevice and only then will the engine start.

The specialty about this device is that allthe operations (entering the password andstarting the vehicle) should be completedwithin 10 seconds. If one fails to completethe operation, the device resets itself au-tomatically and the operator has to repeatthe process all over again. So there is no op-tion for a thief to sit and think and work onthe passwords.

How is this device going to stop drunk-ards from driving the vehicle?

The device which consists of 16 keys isnot arranged in a specific order. This is alsoa test on the vision and steadiness of the op-erator. Another interesting feature is thatthe operator cannot succeed through a tri-al and error method.

Four unsuccessful attempts will make the device automatically go to sleep mode and the device will wake only after 30 minutes.

“After my retirement, I was thinkingabout increasing number of vehicle theftsand ended up designing this device to con-trol them. Life is a puzzle and one needs tosolve it. The device prevents thieving of ve-hicles as only the owner of the vehiclesknows the code. The vehicle cannot bestarted without using the proper code.This will surely bring down the number ofvehicle thefts to a certain extent,” inventorProf B Krishnappa said.

“According to a report released by theBangalore traffic police, the city stands firstin the number of cases registered underdriving under the influence of alcohol. Al-cohol makes a person less alert and reduceshis ability to drive safely. Since my devicehas 16 keys not arranged in a specificmanner, the person who is drunk will failto give the correct code as he needs to fo-cus. This will push the vehicle in a sleepmode for half an hour and my belief is thatthe effect of alcohol will be go down in thatduration,” added the inventor, who has amaster degree in electronics from the US.

“I am working towards making thewhole installation of this device at a serv-ice centre not exceeding Rs 2,000. All thetechnical part is over and we are workingtowards making the device more attractive.This device will come as a value additionto your vehicle,” the professor said.

He worked for more than a month beforecoming up with the device. He has appliedfor the patent and will approach vehiclemanufacturers after field runs. He hasalso invited suggestions from the people.

The professor is currently working on an-other 10 such products which will benefitthe public one way or the other.

Scientists stepcloser to

creating testtube intelligenceWashington: Scientists have now taken a majorstep towards creating artificial intelligence, not ina robot or a silicon chip, but in a test tube.

Researchers at the California Institute of Tech-nology (Caltech) have created a circuit of inter-acting molecules that can recall memories basedon incomplete DNA patterns, just like the humanbrain.

“The brain is incredible. It allows us to recog-nise patterns of events, form memories, make de-cisions, and take actions,” says Lulu Qian, seniorpost-doctoral scholar in bioengineering at Caltech,the journal Nature reports.

“So we asked, instead of having a physicallyconnected network of neural cells, can a soup ofinteracting molecules exhibit brainlike behav-iour?” said Qian, who led the study.

Consisting of four artificial neurons made from112 distinct DNA strands, the researchers’ neuralnetwork plays a mind-reading game in which ittries to identify a mystery scientist, according toa Caltech statement.

The researchers ‘trained’ the neural network to‘know’ four scientists, whose identities are eachrepresented by a specific, unique set of answersto four yes-or-no questions, such as whether thescientist was British.

After thinking of a scientist, a human player pro-vides an incomplete subset of answers partiallyidentifying the scientist.

The player then conveys those clues to the net-work by dropping DNA strands that correspond tothose answers into the test tube.

Communicating via fluorescent signals, the net-work then identifies which scientist the player hasin mind. Otherwise, the network can ‘say’ that ithas insufficient information to pick just one of thescientists in its memory or that the clues contra-dict what it has remembered.

The researchers played this game with thenetwork using 27 different ways of answering thequestions - out of 81 total combinations - and it re-sponded correctly each time.

This DNA-based neural network demonstratesthe ability to take an incomplete pattern and fig-ure out what it might represent – one of the brain’sunique features.

Biochemical systems with artificial intelli-gence — or at least some basic, decision-makingcapabilities – could have powerful applications inmedicine, chemistry, and biological research,the researchers say.

In the future, such systems could operate with-in cells, helping to answer fundamental biologi-cal questions or diagnose a disease.

The human brain consists of 100 billion neu-rons, but creating a network with just 40 of theseDNA-based neurons – 10 times larger than thedemonstrated network – would be a challenge, ac-cording to the researchers. IANS

Grandparentskey to human

successLondon: They not only pamper their grandchil-dren with cuddles and cakes, and offer good ad-vice, but grandparents are also the key to the evo-lution of human civilisation, say researchers.

A number of recent studies have highlightedhow helpful it was to have older people aroundduring early human development – in fact, grand-parents are able to babysit, make tools, teach skillsand most importantly pass on vital wisdom on hu-man relationships, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ said.

Studies carried out by London’s Natural HistoryMuseum emphasised the importance of experiencein food gathering.

Professor Chris Stringer, author of ‘The Originof Our Species’, said elders pass on knowledge ofpoisonous food, the location of water supplies andimportant skills such as tool-making.

Most importantly they know the distant rela-tionships with other tribes so it is easier to nego-tiate rules around access to water holes or to landrich in game. .

Kristen Hawkes of the University of Utah, car-ried out studies of the Hadza hunter gatherers ofTanzania. She said grandmothers have an im-portant role in foraging food and teaching the skillso that children are healthier and the tribe canflourish.

Prof Rachel Caspari of Central Michigan Uni-versity, traced back a connection between the pop-ulation explosion in human beings around 30,000years ago and longevity.

She looked at bones from all over the world toanalyse age at the time when the population be-came more successful.

She found that when humans began living be-yond 30, it was much easier for the tribe to expand.

Fat people really canʼtkeep the weight off

London: Here’s a bit of advice – it is better to avoid put-ting on weight in the first place, for a new study says thatonce you are overweight you will stay that way no matterhow hard you try.

Researchers have found that the majority of over-weight or obese people who try to lose shed flab by cut-ting calories or exercising will return to their former size.

The 55-year study of 25,000 people, by the Medical Re-search Council’s National Survey of Health and Devel-opment, has shown that once people gain weight and thengo on a diet, their body almost always returns to its orig-inal size.

For their study, the researchers followed 5,362 men andwomen from their birth in 1946 and 20,000 from birth in1958, measuring their weight and blood pressure and as-sessing their lifestyles.

They found both groups began gaining weight in the1980s and have steadily increased in size ever since, the‘Daily Mail’ reported. .

Dr Rebecca Hardy, the council’s programme leader onbody size, said: “Once people become overweight, theycontinue relentlessly upwards. They hardly ever go backdown. A few lose weight but very few get back to normal.The best policy is to prevent people becoming over-weight. “For men (weight) goes up steadily through life.For women it starts slowly and accelerates in the mid-30s.Once people become overweight they continue relentlesslyupwards -- hardly ever going down. The best policy is pre-venting people becoming overweight.”

But the study’s findings don’t mean that dieting is point-less as eating less and taking more exercise can increasefitness and lower blood pressure, say the researchers.

Prof Nick Finer of University College London Hospital,

suggests evolution is to blame for the difficulty in losingweight. “It’s unlikely man would have evolved withmechanisms to counter obesity – only a problem in last30 to 40 years.

For most of history, storing fat would’ve been an ad-vantage.” PTI

NEW DEVICE PREVENTS THEFT OF VEHICLES

A Bangalore inventor has come up with a device that is sure to bring down two and four wheeler thefts in the city. This device does not allow you to start the vehicle

unless you enter the right password, like your computer, says Aknisree Karthik

Scientists show timetravel is impossible

Hong Kong: Hong Kong physi-cists say they have proved that asingle photon obeys Einstein’stheory that nothing can travelfaster than the speed of lightdemonstrating that outside sci-ence fiction, time travel is im-possible.

The Hong Kong University ofScience and Technology researchteam led by Du Shengwang saidthey had proved that a singlephoton, or unit of light, “obeysthe traffic law of the universe”.

“Einstein claimed that thespeed of light was the traffic lawof the universe or in simple lan-guage, nothing can travel fasterthan light,” the university said onits website. “Professor Du’s studydemonstrates that a single pho-ton, the fundamental quanta oflight, also obeys the traffic law ofthe universe just like classical EM(electromagnetic) waves.”

The possibility of time travelwas raised 10 years ago when sci-entists discovered superluminalor faster-than-light propagationof optical pulses in some specif-ic medium, the team said.

It was later found to be a visualeffect, but researchers thought itmight still be possible for a sin-

gle photon to exceed light speed.Du, however, believed Ein-

stein was right and determined toend the debate by measuringthe ultimate speed of a singlephoton, which had not beendone before. “The study, whichshowed that single photons alsoobey the speed limit c, confirmsEinstein’s causality; that is, an ef-fect cannot occur before itscause,” the university said.

“By showing that single pho-tons cannot travel faster than

the speed of light, our resultsbring a closure to the debate onthe true speed of informationcarried by a single photon,” saidDu, assistant professor of physics.

“Our findings will also likelyhave potential applications bygiving scientists a better pictureon the transmission of quantuminformation.”

The team’s study was pub-lished in the US peer-reviewedscientific journal Physical Re-view Letters. AFP

Prof B Krishnappa, who hasserved as principal at MS Rama-

iah Institute of Technology, demonstrates how to use his

device – Vehicle Ignition Inhibi-tion System – that can be fitted

onto the four-wheeler dash-boards or the glow box or utility

box in two-wheelers. (Top)

The 16 alpha-numerical keys onthe device are arranged four

across and four down.

Gangadhar Pujar

NEWS & FEATURESTuesday, July 26, 2011 6

A Libyan embassy employee looks atbroken Muammar Gaddafi portraitsoutside the Libyan embassy in Sofiayesterday after Libyan diplomat incharge of consular affairs staged a

coup at his country’s embassy declar-ing it was now siding with the anti-Gaddafi forces. Embassy’s chief of

consular affairs Ibrahim Al-Furis, withother diplomats, took over the em-

bassy building in Sofia and announcedtheir allegiance with the rebel Libyan

forces.

AP-PTI

world briefs

Tough times forUS‑Pak militaryties, says MullenWashington: The US-Pak military ties aregoing through a “very difficult time”, a topPentagon official has conceded, but Wash-ington is nowhere close to severing its tieswith its longstanding ally.

“I think that decision is representativeof concerns, certainly, that are held in myCongress with respect to the status of therelationship, the needs to do certain thingsto move ahead here, and that’s a verystrong signal in that regard,” Admiral MikeMullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs ofStaff, told foreign journalists at a newsconference here.

Mullen was responding to questionsabout the recent US decision to withholdabout USD 800 million of military assistanceto Pakistan, which the Pentagon says is inresponse to Pakistan’s decision to expelUS trainers and deny visas to its people.

“We’re in a very difficult time right nowwith respect to our military-to-military re-lationship,” Mullen conceded, but addedthat it doed not mean the relationshipwould end.

“That said, I don’t believe we’re close tosevering it, and we shouldn’t do that. Ithink sustaining this relationship is critical.We’ve been through difficult times withthem in the past, and we should see thisdifficult time through, in terms of sustainingthis relationship over time”.

He said his interactions with the militaryleadership of Pakistan, including GeneralAshfaq Pervez Kiyani, indicates that Islam-abad too was supportive of continuing thebilateral relationship. PTI

US denies role in Iranian

scientistʼs deathWashington: The US state department hasdenied the allegation that Washington wasinvolved in the recent assassination of anIranian nuclear scientist, Xinhua said.

Reacting over the death of Dariush Rezaei,an Iranian nuclear scientist who was killedin eastern Tehran Saturday, State Depart-ment spokesperson Victoria Nuland said:“We were not involved.”

She said it is a “frequent practice” forIran to “accuse the West” for such incidents.“We hope that Tehran is not planning touse this incident to distract attention fromwhat it needs to do, which is to come backinto compliance with international obliga-tions,” she added.

Iran’s parliament) Speaker Ali Larijanicalled the assassination as a “ US-Zionistterrorist act,” the satellite Press TV reportedon Sunday. IANS

Taliban attackAfghan airport

Kabul: Casualties were feared after Talibanmilitants attacked an airport in easternAfghanistan Monday, Xinhua reported.

The attack took place around 9 pm atJalalabad airport in Afghanistan’s Nangarharprovince, 120 km east of capital city Kabul,said police officer Colonel Jahangir.

The incident happened after some armedmen equipped with small arms and rock-et-propelled grenades attacked the airportfrom its eastern and main gates. but securityforces pushed them back, the official added.

The security personne, after 30-minutesof clash with insurgents, managed to bringthe situation under control, he added. IANS

Qaida suspectkilled in Iraq

Baghdad: Three people including a terrorsuspect were killed and 18 injured in a carbomb explosion in northern Iraq, Xinhuareported Tuesday.

The car bomb exploded near the residenceof Mohammed Nassif Jassim, a suspectedal-Qaida member, killing him and two ofhis daughters, wounding 18 others includinghis brother.

The blast that occurred in al-Hawija dis-trict of Iraq’s Kirkuk province late last night,also damaged the victim’s house and anumber of neighbouring buildings, a sourcesaid. IANS

150 human‑animal hybrids grown in UK labsLondon: British scientists have grownsome 150 human-animal hybrid em-bryos in laboratories over the pastthree years, a media report said.

The scientists have produced thehybrids secretively at three laboratories– King’s College London, NewcastleUniversity and Warwick University –to look into possible cures for a widerange of diseases, ‘Daily Mail’ said.

Citing figures, the newspaper saidthat 155 “admixed” embryos, contain-ing both human and animal geneticmaterial, have been created since theintroduction of the 2008 Human Fer-tilisation Embryology Act.

This legalised the creation of a va-riety of hybrids, including an animalegg fertilised by a human sperm; “cy-brids”, in which a human nucleus isimplanted into an animal cell; and“chimeras”, in which human cells

are mixed with animal embryos.The scientists say the techniques

can be used to develop embryonicstem cells which can be used to treata range of incurable illnesses.

In fact, the three laboratories weregranted licences to carry out the re-search after the Act came into force.

All have now stopped creating hy-brid embryos due to a lack of funding,but scientists believe that there willbe more such work in the future. Thefigure was revealed to crossbenchpeer Lord Alton following a Parlia-mentary question.

“I argued in Parliament against thecreation of human-animal hybrids asa matter of principle. None of the sci-entists who appeared before us couldgive us justification in terms of treat-ment. Ethically it can never be justifi-able. It is grotesque,” he said. PTI

Nitric oxide canward off food poisoning bug

Washington: Scientists have re-vealed that nitric oxide – natu-rally produced in the nose andthe gut, and other tissues in thebody to ward off infection – canprevent food poisoning.

A team, led by Prof FerricFang of the University of Wash-ington, has found that nitric ox-ide actually inhibits the growthof Salmonella, a bacterium whichis a common cause of food poi-soning.

Nitric oxide – not to be con-fused with nitrous oxide, thelaughing gas in dentists’ cham-bers – is similar to the preserva-tives in hotdogs, Prof Fang said.

Reactive nitrogen species, likenitric oxide, make brown meatan appetising pink. They weedout microorganisms that spoilfood or cause food poisoning,say the scientists. The team foundthat nitric oxide’s antimicrobialactions are due to its interferencewith the metabolism, or energyproduction, of pathogens. “Nitricoxide imposes substantial meta-bolic restrictions on bacteria,”they said.

Prof Fang explained that itsreactions with numerous meta-bolic targets accounts for thebroadspectrum nature of its suc-cess. It keeps many types of dis-ease-causing bacteria at bay. Italso prevents an overgrowth ofthe body’s many helpful bacteria..

In their research, the teamlooked at the multi-pronged ac-tion of nitric oxide on Salmonellaenterica serovar Typhimurium.This type of Salmonella can con-taminate food and is similar tothe bacteria that cause typhoidfever.

Nitric oxide and related chem-icals put Salmonella into a diffi-cult situation called nitrosativestress. When exposed to nitricoxide, Salmonella is unable tomake two essential amino acids,methionine and lysine. Withoutthese, Salmonella cannot grow.

“This is bad news for the bac-teria, but not for the host. Nitricoxide doesn’t damage the hostthat produces it,” Fang wrote inthe ‘Cell Host & Microbe’ journal.PTI

Eating location, food sourcedetermine childhood obesityWashington: Food eaten outsidethe home, as well as fast foodeaten at home, are fuelling anincrease in calorie intake andobesity among children, a studysays.

Eating location and foodsource significantly affect dailyenergy intake for children, ac-cording to the study conductedby the University of North Car-olina (UNC), Chapel Hill.

These categories showed thegreatest increase in percentageof calories consumed daily from1994 to 2006, reports the Journalof the American Dietetic Asso-ciation.

Researchers also found thatthe percentage of calories fromfast food has increased to surpassintake from schools and has be-come the largest contributor tofoods prepared away from homefor all age groups, according toa North Carolina statement.

For food eaten away fromhome, the percentage of caloriesconsumed daily from stores in-

creased to become the largestsource of calories eaten awayfrom home. Fast food eaten athome and store-bought food eat-en away from home increasedsignificantly.

“Overall, this study highlightsthe continuing rapid shifts inthe sources of food for childrenin the US – both where it’s eaten

and where it’s prepared,” saidBarry M Popkin, professor of nu-trition at UNC’s Gillings Schoolof Global Public Health.

This study was based on alarge sample, using data on29,217 children aged two to 18years from four nationally rep-resentative surveys of food intakefor the US population. IANS

Viral fever raises multiple

sclerosis riskWashington: Scientists claim to have found evidencethat a kind of viral fever, combined with genetic vari-ations in the immune system, can raise a person’srisk of developing multiple sclerosis.

An international team says that the identificationof the Epstein-Barr virus may soon lead to new thera-peutic and preventative strategies for multiple sclerosis(MS) directed at relevant components of the immunesystem.

The study, published in the ‘Neurology’ journal,involved 300 people who had experienced “a first de-myelinating event”, which is an episode of type ofsymptoms that occur in MS and a possible precursorof MS, and 500 healthy people.

“We found that the presence of EBV antibodieswas directly related to an increased risk of demyelinatingdisease, and there was also a strong relationship withcertain genes of central importance to the immunesystem.

“High levels of EBV antibodies indicate a past in-fection with glandular fever, which in combinationwith a specific HLA-DR15 or HLA-A genotype increasedthe risk of a first demyelinating event by 20 times,”team leader Prof Robyn Lucas of the AustralianNational University said.

MS affects about 2.5 million people worldwide. Itcan be a devastating condition in which the immunesystem attacks the brain and spinal cord, occurringin the prime of life and mostly in young women.

“These findings are consistent with other studiesshowing an association between markers of past EBVinfection and MS risk and we have also shown furtherinteraction with other immune system genes in HLAclass I region and CTLA-4.

“This work is really encouraging as it starts to bringtogether the different risk factors that we know areinvolved in MS. It points us in the right direction forfurther research to prevent and cure MS,” Prof Lucassaid. PTI

Norway killerʼs fatherwishes he killed self

Oslo: Norway killer Anders BehringBreivik’s estranged father has disownedhis son, saying he should have takenhis own life instead of those he killed.

Jens Breivik split from Anders’ mother,Wenche Behring, when Anders wasaged one. He lost a custody battle toraise his son in France and then lostcontact with Anders when he was ateenager, Daily Telegraph reported today.Speaking to a Swedish newspaper, Bre-vik said: “I don’t feel like his father.How could he just stand there and killso many innocent people and just seemto think that what he did was OK?”

“He should have taken his own life,too. That’s what he should have done.”

Expressing his sorrow and despairover his son’s act, Breivik, who is aretired diplomat, said: “It’s terrible. I’mdeeply unhappy.”

He said: “I become involved in this,whether I like it or not. I’m his father. Ijust hope that people will know that Ihave nothing to do with this.

“I will have to live with this shamefor the rest of my life. People will alwayslink me with him.” Breivik had threechildren from a previous marriage whenhe met Anders’s mother, WencheBehring. They broke their relation be-cause of son Anders’s increasingly unrulybehaviour as a teenager. On July 22,Ander sprayed bullets at a youth campon Utoya island and triggered a bombattack in government offices, includingof the prime minister, in Oslo. Andershas told the court that he “needed tocarry out the attacks to save Norwayand Western Europe from a Muslimtakeover” and his intentions were togive a “strong signal to the people.”Meanwhile, police have revised the tollin the island attack to 68 from 80. Thetoll in the bombing rose one to eight,bringing the total number of dead to76, a media report said. IANS

Norway police lower youthcamp death toll to 68Stockholm: Norwegian police said yes-

terday that the double-counting of bodiesin the chaotic aftermath of a shootingspree may have contributed to a dramaticoverestimate of the number of peopleslain, but they offered few other detailsabout the error.

The sharp reduction in the death toll,from 86 to 68, added to a list of policemissteps. Officers took 90 minutes toarrive after the first shot was fired atyouth gathering for a political party re-treat on an island resort.

People who called emergency servicesfrom the island have reported beingtold by operators to stay off the linesunless they were calling about an earlierbombing in the capital carried out bythe same attacker.

Police also raised the number of deadin Friday’s bomb blast in the capital’sgovernment quarter to eight, from seven.

The total number of people confirmedkilled in the twin attacks is now 76,down from 93.

There was no indication that any spe-cific person was erroneously reportedto have died. Police blamed the mix-upon the chaotic situation that eruptedon Utoya Island when police and rescueworkers tried to sort the injured fromthe dead under mounting pressure toreveal the number of slain youths. “Itcould be that some were counted twice,”police spokesman Oystein Maeland toldreporters at a news conference in Oslo,explaining that bodies were spread allover the island and some of the deadhidden under other bodies. “But it wasnecessary to get that information outthere (fast) because it was sky-highcompared with the number that mediahad been given.” AP

ʻDirty Dozenʼ pollutants back in the saddle?

Paris: “Dirty Dozen” chemicals,including the notoriously toxicDDT, are being freed from Arcticsea ice and snow through globalwarming, a study published to-day suggested.

The “Dirty Dozen”, formallyknown as persistent organic pol-lutants (POPs), were widely usedas insecticides and pesticidesbefore being outlawed in 2001.

They are extremely tough mol-ecules that take decades to breakdown in nature. They also bio-accumulate, meaning that asthey pass up the food chain,concentrations rise, posing a fer-tility threat to higher species.

In addition, they are insolublein water and easily revolatilise,so can swiftly transit from soiland water to the atmosphere inresponse to higher temperatures.

The study, published in thescientific journal Nature ClimateChange, looked at atmosphericconcentrations of three chemicalsDDT, HCH and cis-chlordanemonitored between 1993 and2009 at a station in Norway’sSvalbard Islands and at anotherin the Canadian Arctic.

The scientists indeed found along-term downward trend in

primary emissions after theStockholm Convention bannedproduction and trade in the“Dirty Dozen.”

But a more complex and dis-turbing picture emerged whenthe same data was crunchedthrough a simulation of the effectof global warming on POP con-centrations.

It found a slight rise in sec-ondary emissions, from POPsthat had been locked in Arcticice and snow but were now beinggradually released because ofwarming.

“A wide range of POPs havebeen remobilised into the Arcticatmosphere over the past twodecades as a result of climate

change,” said the study, led byJianmin Ma of the agency Envi-ronment Canada in Toronto.

Arctic warming “could under-mine global efforts to reduce en-vironmental and human expo-sure to these toxic chemicals,”it warned.

Pollution specialist Jordi Dachsof the Institute of EnvironmentalAssessment and Water Researchin Barcelona, Spain, said thisnews was grim.

The Arctic has been hit twoor three times harder than otherparts of the planet for warming,and thus could be the forerunnerfor POP releases from otherstores, including the soil anddeep ocean. AFP

ʻMonsterʼ threatensNZʼs rail project

Auckland: Do not destroy thegrounds protected by the “mon-ster”, New Zealand’s indigenouspeople told the government andasked it to stop work on a $2 bil-lion railway project.

Horotiu – a mythical swampmonster or “taniwha” – hidesunder the city of Auckland, ac-cording to the Maori StatutoryBoard. The board has protestedagainst the 2.6 billion NewZealand dollars ($2.1 billion) proj-ect, saying it will destroy thegrounds once patrolled by thetaniwha, the Australian Associ-ated Press (AAP) reported.

The project in Auckland isaimed at improving the minimaltrain network and free the city’scar-filled streets.

Glenn Wilcox, a member ofthe Maori Statutory Board, saidthe project did not take into ac-

count the monster, which “washere first”.

The taniwha is a mythical pro-tector with a powerful role inMaori folklore, but get it angryand you are in trouble, Wilcoxsaid.

“As kaitiaki – or guardians –they protect people, but theyalso get up and bite you if theydo not like what you are doing,”he said.

This is not the first time a tani-wha has threatened to stall aproject in the country.

In 2002, construction of a roadbetween Auckland and Hamiltonwas halted after protesters com-plained it was cutting throughthe domain of a “revered one-eye taniwha”.

The taniwha was thought tobe responsible for a number ofdeaths on the road. IANS

Intel failedto act onreport of

explosivesOslo: Norway’s intelligence serv-ices failed to act on a report thatthe man charged with the coun-try’s worst ever act of terrorismhad illegally bought chemicalsthat could be used to create abomb, media reports said yes-terday.

Anders Behring Breivik hadbeen on an “intelligence watchlist” since March after purchasinglarge amount of chemicals onlinefrom a Polish retailer.

The authorities, however, de-cided that the information was“not relevant.”

During a closed hearing at aNorwegian court Monday,Breivik, 32, admitted carryingout a bombing in Oslo that killedseven people, and a mass shoot-ing at a Labor Party youth campon the nearby island of Utoya.

The accused told the courtthere were “two more cells” work-ing with him.

Police said they were investi-gating the claims but could notconfirm them immediately.

Breivik told the court that he“needed to carry out the attacksto save Norway and Western Eu-rope from a Muslim takeover”and his intensions were to givea “strong signal to the people.”

Breivik’s lawyer said his defendant has admitted to the killings, but he has not ac-cepted criminal responsibilityfor them. IANS

NASA plans to land on asteroids

London: NASA will somehowhave to accomplish its most am-bitious mission – landing on anasteriod within 15 years, after apresidential directive.

The challenges are manifold,but NASA nerds are delirious attackling the nitty gritty of suchan inconceivably challengingproject – though Hollywood hasalready done it in “Armadeddon”13 years ago.

An asteroid is a gigantic rockorbiting the sun, like Earth. Oneof them, just 16 km across, dev-astated the earth and wiped outdinosaurs 60 million years ago.Another, a much smaller one,exploded over Siberia in 1908,wiping out vegetation over 108square km.

But sending people to an as-teriod won’t be that easy becauseof its zero gravity. Astronautswould just float away.

NASA is thinking about jet-packs, tethers, bungees, netsand spiderwebs to allow explor-ers to float just above the surfaceof it while attached to a smallermini-spaceship, reports the DailyMail.

Such a ship – something likea Star Trek shuttle craft meldedwith a deep sea explorer withpincer-like arms – is needed just

to get within working distanceof the asteroid.

That craft would have to bebig enough for astronauts to livein for a week or two. They’d stillneed a larger habitat for the longterm.

NASA has also announced de-tails of plans to determine ifMars has or ever had the ingre-dients for life. A robotic sciencelab, being prepared for a Nov 25launch, will land in August 2012near a mountain in a crater onthe planet most like Earth in thesolar system.

But President Barack Obamahas said the objective is to buildnew spaceships that can travelbeyond the shuttle’s near-Earth orbit and eventually sendastronauts to asteroids, Mars and other destinations in deepspace. IANS

Relatives of a victim gather to mourn on a campsite jetty on the Norwegian mainland across the water from Utoya Island, where people

have been placing floral tributes in memory of those killed in the shootingon the island.

AP-PTI

LIFESTYLE 7Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Director John Lasseter sayshis latest movie “Cars 2”is for those who “don’t

care about cars”.“My wife told me, ‘Don’t make

it for the car guys; make it foreverybody else.’ Basically, shesaid make it for all those peoplewho don’t care about cars and Ihope that’s what I have in done,”contactmusic.com quoted himas saying.

“As with all our movies,whether it’s the fish in ‘FindingNemo’ or the rat in ‘Ratatouille’,we see our job as creating char-acters which people can investin right from the beginning ofthe movie.

From there it’s about goingon a journey and for me, thereis nothing better than bringingan inanimate object to life,” headded.

Actress Selena Gomez says she relatesto her younger fans more than peo-ple her own age.

Gomez, who is dating singer JustinBieber, says she shares the same insecu-rities as her young followers.

“I get on better with kids than peoplemy own age. I’m growing up, but they’regrowing up with me. We all go throughthe same things, feeling awkward in yourbody and stuff,” contactmusic.com quotedthe 19-year-old as saying.

Gomez, who recently faced nasty onlinecomments from fans jealous of her ro-mance with singer, admits that she un-derstands what it is like being a youngteenager with a celebrity crush.

“I just focus on everything that’s goingon with my fans (instead). I thought Iwas going to marry Jesse McCartney whenI was younger – he was my screensaver.And I’ve been obsessed with Shia LaBeoufsince I was 15,” she said.

American singer LennyKravitz is very close tohis daughter Zoe and says

she is his best friend. Zoe, 22 isthe child of Kravitz with ex-wifeLisa Bonet. “I’m old-schoolabout the father-daughter thing,but she’s also my best friend.

She grew up with me. I didn’thide a lot. She learned by lis-tening and observing what Iwas doing,” contactmusic.comquoted the 47-year-old as saying.The singer, who used to enjoywearing flamboyant outfits onstage, admits some of his cos-

tumes are now owned by hisdaughter. “I would try anything,furs, boas, platform boots. It’sfunny how you never thinkyou’re going to change. Now mydaughter has a lot of my stuff.She took all my feather boas,”he said.

Kravitzʼs daughter is his best friend

I was skepticalabout walking the

ramp: Sharmila

Longoria fights for kids who work in farms

Singer Celina Dion will launch anew fragrance titled “Signature”in September.

Dion’s previous seven scents havegenerated an estimated $40 million insales.

“The fragrance category is all aboutdreams, and Celine Dion has shownrepeatedly that she is an icon whotouches people,” femalefirst.co.uk quot-ed Marsha Brooks, vice president ofglobal marketing for Coty Beauty whoproduce the perfume, as saying.

“Celebrity fragrance franchises gen-erally don’t last as long as fashionbrands, but Celine has proven that shehas incredible longevity in a categorywhere there is always something new.We see our collaboration with her as avery long-term project, and our salesremain very solid,” she added.

“Signtaure” will feature notes of mi-mosa blossom, amberwood and san-dalwood and will be sold in 50,000stores worldwide, of which 28,000 willbe in the US.

The bottle will be available at theprice range of $16, $27 and $34 de-pending on the size.

I get on better with kids: Selena Gomez

Dion to launch another fragrance

Emma Watson learnsfashion designing!

Harry Potter actressEmma Watson, whomade her modelling

debut with British luxuryfashion house Burberry,now wants to show off herskills as a fashion design-er.

The 21-year-old, who roseto fame after playingHermione Granger, one ofthree starring roles in the“Harry Potter” film series,has been taking fabric-cut-ting, design and sewingclasses.

“Emma wants to chal-lenge herself creatively.She’s obsessed with art atthe moment She’s alreadydesigned a line of T-shirtsand wants to expand herskills to create bespokeevening wear,”dailyamail.co.uk quoted asource as saying.

“She looks up to design-ers such as Georgina Chap-man and Sarah Burton.Shehas also been studying thework of Joan Miro to inspireher,” the source added.

Mexican-American actress Eva Longoriaexpressed her support Sunday for theend of child labour and denounced the

fact that in the US, one of the world’s richestcountries, child labourers sometimes go to bedwithout having eaten.

“It’s not China, it’s not Mexico, it’s the UnitedStates,” the actress said.

Longoria presented the trailer of the docu-mentary “The Harvest” about child workers inthe US during the annual meeting of the NationalCouncil of La Raza, or NCLR, the largest Hispanicorganization in the country.

The actress, who is the documentary’s executiveproducer, said she was committed to these chil-dren, who work harvesting vegetables and othercrops 14 hours a day, seven days a week, someof them as young as 10.

In the US, there are some 500,000 childrenwho work in agriculture who are “badly paid”and are shunted into the vicious circle of exclusion,without education and without the basic servicesthat all children should have a right to receive,Longoria said.

“Every time a Latino is recognised for theirtalent, the image of Latinos changes for thebetter,” said the actress, best known for her roleas Gabrielle Solis in the television series “DesperateHousewives”.

Longoria also directed the documentary “Lati-nos Living the American Dream”.

Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore, whomodelled for designer duo Ashima-Leena on the third day of the Syn-

ergy1 Delhi Couture Week (DCW) Sunday,said that she was initially not comfortablewalking the ramp.

“I was initially skeptical walking theramp because I am more of a sari personand carrying a ghagra was bit uncomfort-able. However the designers had to con-vince me a lot to wear the outfit and sug-gested to experiment with my looks. AlsoI am glad I didn’t trip and fall,” saidSharmila who wore a heavily embroideredgolden and white ghaghra teamed up with

potli (bag) in her hand. Titled “Adaa”,Ashima-Leena showcased a collectionwhich was a mix of peshwaz kurtas teamedup with ghagras, drapes over churidaars,dupattas, lehangas and saris. The colourpalette varied from gold, muted brightcolours, pinks, peachy roses, soft blues,soothing greens, red and beige on brocadechiffon and nets. The show started withthree Kathak dancers performing live infront of audience which set the mood ofthe theme. The music was the highpointof the collection with “Sajdaa”, “Lal More”and other Sufi songs playing in the back-ground.

Asked about choosing Sharmila as ashowstopper, Leena said: “She is the epit-ome of our designs and we can’t think ofany other person who could carry thesame grace as her.”

The designer duo, who made an effortto revive the lost charm of Indian culture,used heavy jewellery like neckpieces, ear-rings, mang-tikas and ankle rings thatadded an elegance to the entire outfit.

Sharmila, who was looking as gracefulas ever, added: “Our country is full of tra-dition and heritage and it’s great to seethe designers coming up with themeswhich symbolizes the rich Indian culture.”

John Lasseterʼs ʻCars 2ʼ not for car lovers

Tuesday, July 26, 2011 8LIFESTYLE

Ashwini Nachappa Rubee Babitha

Prasad Bidapa with model HarisLaila

Wanitha & Vikram

Photos: Gangadahr Pujar

American singer Katy Perry seems to beliving the spirit of forthcoming movie“The Smurfs” completely. After giving

voiceover in the animated movie, she has gother nails painted with images of the popularblue animated characters from the movie.

“Smurf nails! Duh!,” Perry posted on socialnetworking site Twitter. She even posted apicture with her tweet, showing off her ‘Smur-f’ed nails. The characters, Smurfs, were createdin 1958 by Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford.Now the movie “The Smurfs”, a Sony PicturesAnimation production, will release for thefirst time in 3D. It will hit screens worldwideFriday.

Perry, 26, who tied the knot with Britishcomedian Russell Brand in India last year,has given the voiceover for Smurfette in themovie. Her character is the only girl among100 boys, and with her beauty, sweet voice,and charming personality, Smurfette makesall the Smurfs go gaga.

Sanjay Duttʼs babiesmost beautiful: SRK

Bollywood super-star Shah RukhKhan, a doting fa-

ther of two children –Aryan, 14 and Suhana,11, was overwhelmedwhen he met SanjayDutt’s twins.

“Had dinner withsanju baba and many-ata...they have the mostbeautiful babies in theworld. Masha Allah...,”Shah Rukh posted onTwitter Sunday night.

Sanjay’s wife Many-ata gave birth to twins– a boy and a girl, inOct 2010. They namedthe boy Shahraan andthe girl Iqra.

Katy Perryʼsnails get

ʻSmurfʼed!

Sonam dazzles at Manish Malhotraʼs show

Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoordazzled Sunday night as shewalked the ramp in noted fash-

ion designer Manish Malhotra’s cou-ture show as a surprise showstopperon the third-day of the ongoing Syn-ergy1 Delhi Couture Week in the cap-ital. Dressed in white lehenga andheavily embroidered red backlessovercoat with embellished gold work,the actress opened the designer’sbridal collection inspired from theold world charm and majestic opu-lence of royalty that prevailed in Indiaduring 1930-1940. Actress UrmilaMatondkar also made a rare guestappearance for Manish’s show.

The collection was an amalgama-tion of traditional and contemporarysilhouettes with a touch of Britishinfluence. “I have reinterpreted the1930 and 1940s style of clothing inmy designs. The collection had a flareof everything that a couture garmentshould have. I felt it’s the time tomove away from duplication and re-visit the classic style with glamorouslook,” said Manish Malhotra.

Denise throws babyshower for adopted daughter

Actress Denise Richardsthrew a baby shower forher newly adopted

daughter Eloise. “So excited forEloise’s shower today. Gonnabe amazing!” Richards wroteon her Twitter page.

The decor of the baby showerincluded pink and black flow-ers, inspired by the classic Eloise

children’s book series, a caketopper with a replica of Eloiseand her edler sisters - Sam, 7,and Lola, 6.

The baby shower was attend-ed by Tori Spelling, Lisa Rinna,Ali Landry, Nancy O’Dell andAli Sweeney.

The gifts included a pinkStokke stroller and baskets of

baby clothes, plush toys andbaby bibs, burpies and blan-kets.

“She’s so excited. She’s soin love with her new daughter.This is a really special time for her. She can’t wait to intro-duce her to her friends,” peo-ple.com quoted Richards’sfriend as saying.

RITEISH, GENELIAexcited to teamup after 7 years

Bollywood actors Riteish Deshmukhand Genelia D’Souza, rumoured to bedating each other, are teaming up on

the big screen for a yet-to-be-titled filmafter a gap of seven years. Both of them areexcited about it.

Riteish and Genelia, who made theirdebut together in Bollywood with “TujheMeri Kasam” in 2003, last worked togetherin the 2004 release “Masti”.

“Working with my first n my mostfavourite co-star @geneliad after 7 longyears. Today is the first day of the shoot.Excitttteeeeddd yeaahh,” Riteish posted onhis Twitter page.

Genelia wrote: “My new film starts 2day,workin w @Riteishd after 7yrs.lllonggggtime bt excited 4sure. Need ur prayers nwishes tweeps, bring it on.” The film isbeing produced by Tips Films, and Riteishis also upbeat about that.

“My first film with TIPS – Kumarji (Tau-rani) – have been wanting to work withthem for a long time,” he added.

Giving wingsto childrenʼs

dreamsCelebs in the city came

together to help poorchildren achieve their

dream at an event organisedby the Parikrma recently.

Children from slums, whohave been studying withParikrma, have gone on to at-tend the Global Youth Lead-ership summit, have takenpart in video-conferencing

with children from Korea andAustralia, been part of an artshow in Manhattan and an-other boy has contributed toa robotics proje ct in California.

Twenty of these New WorldCitizens were presented at acity event, which was thelaunch of a campaign to seeksupport to create these NewWorld Citizens.

bangalore beat evening newspaper - 26.07.2011

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