Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

`2WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 HYDERABAD WWW.POSTNOON.COM WEATHER: CLEAR; 21°C 32 PAGES

India was flattened by a superb double centuryfrom Aussie skipper Michael Clarke. Clarke’sknock, along with Ponting’s 134 and Hussey’shalf-century wrested control of the Test away fromIndia. If our batting doesn’t turn up, we’re goingto be two down with two to play.Michael

Clarke

Dragon fire too hot for local kitesThis Sankranti, the City’s skies will be swarming with Chinesefighters. Indian kites are taking a backseat to Chinese variantsthat enthusiasts say are cheaper and more resilient. We’re gettingwhipped Down Under, can we at least take back the skies?

P7

DOWN & OUTFinal score:

Australia

482/4

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TURN TO PG 30,31

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 2Spirit of Twin CitiesPage Two

Big Cinemas, Ameerpet, 30581470; Cinemax, Banjara Hills, 44565555; Cine Planet, Kompally, 61606060; Inox, Banjara Hills, 447677770,Prasads, Tank Bund Rd, 23448888; PVR, Punjagutta, 08800900009; Talkie Town, Miyapur, 40214175; Tivoli, Secunderabad 27844973CINEMAS

Go NaturalAnand Bekwad from Belgaum, a town inNorthern Karnataka, is primarily a land-scape artist who loves to paint vastexpanses in high, aerial perspectives.His wonderful spatial compositions aredone either in watercolour or mixedmedia.

Where: Hyderabad Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre

When: Ongoing, 6 to 11.30pmContact: (040) 27522999

Different strokesTo witness strokes of various kindshead to Gallery Space. It’s an exhibi-tion presenting paintings and draw-ings by various artists and will beheld at Gallery Space from December24.

Where: Gallery Space, Banjara HillsWhen: Ongoing, 11am to 7pmContact: (040) 65541836

Martini ‘n musicEnjoy the winter evenings with greygoose martinis and crooner Kelly dish-ing out your favourite numbers.

Where: Taj Krishna, Banjara HillsWhen: Every EveningContact: (040) 66662323

Cognac and CigarThe Seasons Bar opens up again as aCigar and Cognac lounge with a wideselection of cognac, Rare whiskies, sin-gle malts and cigars.

Where: Taj Krishna, Banjara Hills When: Ongoing, 7pmContact: (040) 66662323

Visual artAn exhibition cum sale of paintings byHari Srinivas. The Exhibition is on dis-play till 30 January 2012.

Where: :VSL Visual Art Gallery, Plot no 100, AP Text Book Colony, Gun Rock Enclave

When: Ongoing

Contact: 9247175135

Rock questAn exhibition of paintings by RohiniKumar E will be on display The exhibi-tion is on till 7pm.

Where: Beyond Coffee, Jubilee Hills

When: Ongoing, 11am to 11pmContact: 9849968797

NumaishIn simple terms Numaish for yearshas been known for the fun, food andfestive ambience. A childhoodfavourite of every Hyderabadi, TheAll India Industrial Exhibition is on.

Where: Exhibition Grounds, Nampally

When: Ongoing

Food DramaFor the biggest buffet in town headto Nautanki Gali. Dinner Buffet @Rs388.

Where: Nautanki Gali, MadhapurWhen: Ongoing, 7.30 to 10.30pmContact: 7893010000

Spin 2 Win To get a chance to win deals on yourbills and drinks everyday head toNovotel Airport and spin the wheelof fortune.

Where:Novotel, ShamshabadWhen: Ongoing, 6 to 10pmContact: (040) 66250000

VivaahCelebrating Vivaha Hyderabad willbring one closer to the most

renowned brands in clothing, finejewellery, cosmetics, honeymoon des-tinations and the like.

Where: Hyderabad Marriott & Convention Centre, Tank Bund.

When: OngoingContact: (040) 27522999

Lahori food festivalEnjoy authentic Lahori kababs andpulaos at The Great Kabab Factory.

Where: The Great Kebab Factory, Banjara Hills

When: OngoingContact: (040) 23302244

Dinner BuffetThe Westin Hyderabad Mindspace isoffering an amazing dinner buffet atSeasonal Tastes.

Where: The Westin, MadhapurWhen: Ongoing, 7 to 11pmContact: (040) 67676767

Get HandyHead to the Lepakshi showroom foran Orissa Handicrafts exhibition setup by the Khadi and VillageIndustries Association.

Where: Lepakshi, MusheerabadWhen: Ongoing, 10am to 9pmContact: (040) 27668178

Lunch BuffetEnjoy a lavish spread of South Indiandishes for Rs149/- plus taxes (forvegetarians) and Rs199/- plus taxes(for non - vegetarians).

Where: Indian Art Cafe, MadhapurWhen: Ongoing, 12.30 to 3.30pmContact: (040) 4011 7445

Feeling HappyThis happy hour gets really happy!Buy one drink and get on drink freeon all IMPLY at Urban Asia.

Where: Urban Asia, Jubilee HillsWhen: Ongoing, Noon to 8pmContact: (040) 6555 6888

TAGGING ALONG

Around the city: Your guide to the Twin Cities

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Sudeshna Kokasudeshna.k@postnoon.com

Scary reports of robbersmugging people who comeout withdrawing cash fromunmanned ATM in the dead

of night have not dissuaded somebanks in leaving their moneymachines unattended.

While it is true that every bankhas found it expedient to have anATM in every other street, many ofthem are either not operational orare left without a notional security.

However, a Postnoon realitycheck across the City found mostof the ATMs lacking adequatesecurity. Some banks claim thatthey assign security guards only toATMs which are not attached tomain banks. “According to our pol-

icy, we don’t provide separatesecurity to ATMs which are next tothe main branch,” said a branchmanager of State Bank ofHyderabad.

Some banks have security ser-

vices only from 10am to 6pm.“During the day time everyone ison the roads. Only in the night, asit’s isolated, we have appointedsecurity staff,” said an official ofCorporation Bank, Jubilee Hills.

However, records show thatthefts have taken place during theday too. In Hyderabad, at leasteight ATM thefts have happenedlast year.

“In my area, Teacher’s Colony,the ATM of SBH never has a secu-rity guard. My family and I avoidwithdrawing big amounts fromthis machine as there is no safety,”says Vivek Rao, graphic designer.

“Yeah,” says a senior executiveof a logistics company in Kuk -atpally, “withdrawing big moneyfrom ATM at night is a risk. Whoknows who is lurking in the dark?”

However, some, of the biggernames in banking do not deploysecurity personnel in ATMs locat-ed in up-market areas. “As perrules, we must assign an armedsecurity guard at every branch butwe don’t have one here (JubileeHills). My branch is in an up-mar-ket area, hence we don’t need one.

However, branches in the Old Citywill have armed security and sepa-rate guard for ATM,” said an ICICIBank manager on the condition ofanonymity.

Another common sight atmost of the ‘guarded’ ATMs is theguard catching his 40 winks on astool outside the kiosk, unawareof what’s happening inside.

Most of the banks have out-sourced their security services andchose to blame point blank theprivate security services for theselapses and refused to take respon-sibility. “If a guard is not in hisplace or is sleeping we are notresponsible. We have out-sourcedthis work and if the security ser-vices fail we are not answerable,”says Navya, service manager ofKotak Mahindra Bank.

Fine, but who’s responsible if acustomer is mugged?

SECURITY

Unguarded ATMs tempt muggers

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 3Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin CitiesHyper Local

Aishwarya Yerraaishwarya.y@postnoon.com

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Season of ‘angry birds’ Man succumbs afterbeing tortured by cops

A35-year-old man, E SrisalemYadav, recently succumbed toinjuries that he allegedly sus-

tained due to police torture inOctober 22 last year. According toreports, the man died on Wednesdaymorning at the Osmania GeneralHospital, after he was reportedly tor-tured while he was in the lock up atthe CCS police station in Saroornagar.

According to the victim’s brother,E Jagan Yadav, the Saroornagar CCSpolice had summoned Srisalem oncharges of a theft in October. Whilehe was in custody, the police hadallegedly beaten his up due to whichhe suffered internal injuries and wassubsequently shifted to the hospital,where he was undergoing treatmentbefore he succumbed on Wednesday.

Srisalem, who was a native ofNalgonda Chintapally, was living atHastina Puram Dwarka Nagar ofVanasthalipuram with his wifeJangamma and their two kids. He wasa scrap dealer and had no casesagainst him, his brother said. But inOctober, the police suspected him oftheft, although it was still not clearwho the complainant was.

When Postnoon contacted theSaroornagar CCS inspector, PurnaChander, he said he was not aware ofthe incident but would look into it.

CRIME FILES

CRIME

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 4Spirit of Twin CitiesPage Two

Osama Salmansalman.o@postnoon.com

If there is one complaint that iscommon amongst homemak-ers, professionals and stu-dents it is power cut woes.

Ever since the Singareni Collieriesemployees went on strike, thepower situation in the City has left

much to bedesired. Whileearlier theCity wasforced to dealwith four-hour powercuts, they nowface two-hourpower cuts.What is worse

is these power cuts take place earlyin the morning — 6 am to 7 am —when most people are in a rush tobegin their day. With summernearing, the threat of more powercuts is looming large and house-holds across the City are gearingup for more power cuts.

Huma Manzoor, 44, home-maker and mother of two daugh-ters who resides in MLA Colony,Banjara Hills, says that with theelectricity cut for at least an hour,she has had to modify her lifestylearound the power cut timings. “I

wake up early and switch on thegeyser to heat the water.Immediately after, I use kitchenappliances that need electricity to

function andtry to wrap upmost of mywork beforethe powercut,” she says.

But thishas a cascad-ing effect onthe electricity

bills. “My elec -

tricity billshave gone upsince I keepthe ge y sersw it ched onfor an hourbef ore thepower cut. Idon’t ha v e much ch o ice tho ug hsince we ne ed hot wat e r ready ontime to avoid getting delayed towork, school etc.” she says. Herdaughter, Zoya, 18, a commercestudent shares the anguish aswell. “My study patterns havechanged now. Earlier, I wouldrevise the syllabus before head-ing to college and would refer toinformation available on theinternet as well. But now I can’tdo that anymore. Even simplethings like ironing clothes has tobe planned before the power cutand more often than not I get lateto college thanks to this,” com-plains Zoya.

A typical day for N Lavanya, ahomemaker in Langer Houzbegins with making breakfast forher husband. But since she usescommon kitchen appliances, shehas had to rearrange her scheduleaccording to the power cuts. “Myalarm clock rings an hour earlier

now. I not only have to cook break-fast but also make lunch to packfor my husband. Simple kitchenappliances such as microwave,grinder and the likes need electric-ity. Nowadays, I grind everythingmanually and use the stove to heatthings, including water to have abath,” she says.

There is no alternate for RajeshK, an IT professional residing inHimayat Nagar. “There are timeswhen I need access to the internetin the mornings to send reportsbefore I head to work. But with noelectricity there is no way I can dothat. Many a times, I have had torush to office, which is 20 kilome-tres away, only to submit the doc-uments,” says a visibly frustratedRajesh.

B Manisha, a homemaker inLanger Houz suggests that thetimings of the power cut bechanged to evenings instead. “Ifyou must cut electricity, do it in theevening. Thisway, nothingwill be dis-rupted in themorning andpeople can geton with theirwork comfort-ably,” sums upManisha.

Anubha K Singhanubha.k@postnoon.com

The 135th birthday anniver-sary celebration of

Mannathu Padmanabhan,social reformer and founder ofthe Nair Service Society (NSS)was celebrated with much adoin the City. On the eve of thebig day, the Hyderabad NairService Society distributedessential items and clothes tothe destitute boys of VatsalyaSindhu.

Members of the Nair ServiceSociety joined Vatsalya

Sindhu run by Keshava SevaSamithi at Moula Ali and

served a free meal to the boysas part of the celebrations.

Vatsalya Sindhu is anaffection home for destituteboys run by Seva Bharathi andis located in Moula Ali. Oursociety is filled with aban-doned and orphaned childrenwho are in desperate need ofsome love and care. VatsalyaSindhu aims at taking suchchildren into their care andmaking sure they receive edu-cation, food and clothingapart from love. They take inboys below the age of eight.

Mohd Subhanmohd.s@postnoon.com

The Assistant Sub Inspectorslonging for a step up as SubInspectors rarely bargain

for the hard work ahead. The SItraining is so tough that not allcan withstand the intensitywhich is evident from the num-ber of aspirants falling sick or giv-ing up.

Around 465 ASIs are undergo-ing training for SI posts in the APPolice Academy (APPA) inMoinabad. Of them, 47 are fromthe City and others belong to var-ious parts of the State.

The four-month long trainingbegan on November 14 and hasalready seen four dropouts andseveral falling sick due to the rig-orous training. Many are unfitdue to years of inactivity and therecent training has taken its tollon them.

The training is under thesupervision of two IPS officers —TDK Menon and Rajiv Trivedi.The ‘Ustad’ is AssistantCommissioner of Police (ACP)Shiva Reddy. The reason manytrainees are unable to withstandthe training is that most of themsuffer from various ailments likehypertension, diabetic, heart ail-ment. As a result the training has

proven to be a great exertion ontheir bodies. A few days ago, twoof the trainees fell unconsciousand had to be carried away fromthe training grounds. Some of thetrainees confessed to Postnoonthat they are regretting their deci-sion to join the training becauseof the merciless task maters. Theirony of the situation is that amajority of them are due to retirein the next 4-5 years.

“Spending 13 hours on theground everyday is no joke,”remarked one of the trainees.

They complain that the officersshould realise that they are notyoungsters bursting with energyanymore and should be shownsome mercy. However a seniorofficial remarked that this is theprice one pays for not keeping fitwhile in uniform.

Additional Director GeneralRank Police officer Samba ShivaRao, director of APPA rubbishedclaims of harassment of policemen. He told Postnoonthat incidents of men fallingunconscious may happen butpolice training is a hard job. Itdoes not mean harassment of anysort, he added.

Manisha

Huma

Lavanya

Zoya

City grapples with power blues

How to beat theelectricity blues1. Do everything in advance2. Try to manage everything

manually as much as possi-ble

3. UPS, if not generators, are acheaper alternative

4. Many homes are now solar-powered and although notinexpensive, it can be a longterm solution to the electrici-ty problems

NSS celebrationsmake poor happy

Unfit cops stumble at training

POLICE

COMMUNITIES

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Inkeshaf Ahmedahmed.m@postnoon.com

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Give us our due, newmayor tells State, CentreThe first cry of the new mayor has been to demand a greater share of the City’srevenue generation. He also wants to see an end to corruption in the GHMC

First day, first thoughtn Seek a bigger share of taxes

the City generatesn All round development of the

Cityn Old City to get a faceliftn Priority to women self-helpgroupsn Eradicate corruption at GHMC

‘Cases arepoliticallymotivated’

Winner happy, loser too…‘This is the nature of our party. You can’t predict anything. I am happy,’ says K Venkatesh

Postnoon Newsfeedback@postnoon.com

Those who haven’t come toAshok Nagar RC Reddy IAScoaching centre, have nottasted the best tea in town.

Here are three brothers who havebeen rendering a yeoman’s serviceto future rulers and the tea theyserve for 17 hours a day nonstop istermed ‘IAS chai.’

Many who have been successfulin the IAS examinations owe theirtriumph to an extent to the tea stallwhere hundreds come to have a

cuppa that cheers. And, nowhere inHyderabad (except at a bus stand)do you get tea as early as 4.30 a.mbecause the IAS coaching beginsearly and the students can’t think ofbeginning the day without the exhilarating tea of the trio (Bheem,Arjun and Shiva).

Ginger tea, Mint tea, lemon tea,pepper tea, black tea, Kadak chai,coffee, Horlicks, Boost- variedforms of that versatile drink areavailable in a jiffy.

The stall starts around 4 am inthe morning and shuts around9.30pm in the night.

Bheem, Arjun and Shiva who‘intoxicate’ people with their hotdrinks under a makeshift stall adja-cent to the RC Reddy centre are sopopular that their fame extends toseveral kilometers in radius. Officeworkers and others from far awayplaces come to have their tea. It hasbeen functioning for six years now.

Big establishments haveto learn from themAll they have is a pair of stoves, a

dozen hands, two maids to washdishes, a few helpers to constantlypound mint, ginger and otherspices. Everything is hygienic as theglasses and cups are first washedand sterilized in boiling water.Arjun and Shiva keep pouring thegolden liquid and help with the ket-tle while Bheem collects the bills.

Bheem, the elder brother wasthe first to come from Bangalore.When he realised his tea hadbecome popular he brought hisother brothers too.“If I close it for aday, life is miserable for thou-sands,” says Bheem with a smile.“If I am late, students call me andurge me to get them their dailydrink.” Customers who were sip-ping tea agreed, “it is true, we can’tget such good tea for Rs.3,” said anemployee from the nearby Registryoffice.

“It is the satisfaction of the cus-tomers that makes me more happythan the money I make,” Bheemtold Postnoon.

Bheem has two school-goingchildren who he hopes, will comeone day for coaching at the RCReddy centre and become IAS offi-cers drinking their father’s tea. And,he has the good wishes of contentcustomers to fulfill his wish.

‘IAS chai’ provesa popular brand

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 6

FABRICATION

CLASSIFIEDS

PACKERS &MOVERS

Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin CitiesHyper Local

PICS: N SHIVA KUMAR

THE FACES OF HYDERABADRamana, Irrigation Department, Secretariat

He is ‘Abdul Kalam’for the StateSecretariat staff,

not just in looks but inmien and demeanourtoo. Ramana, a staffmember of the irriga-tion department is nick-named ‘Abdul Kalam’for the former presi-dent’s trademarkhairstyle and resem-blance but also for hiseagerness to help othersand provide advice,many times unsolicited.

Every day Ramanameets people at thecanteen or on the com-pound and discussesabout local politics, andsuggests employees as

to how they shouldwork. Many who donot know theSecretariat politics,value it greatly. Hewalks barefoot. But,Ramanna humblyrejects the ‘Kalam’mark saying he is toosmall a man to becompared with thegreat formerPresident.Why does hewalk bare boot? Well,he is more comfort-able that way.Creatures on earthmust make contactwith the soil for goodhealth,and it savesmoney, don’t youknow?

U SrinivasA city is defined

by the people wholive and work in it.

Here we take alook at the humanthreads that make

up our urbantapestry

PIC: N SHIVA KUMAR

LEISURE

Anubha K Singhanubha.k@postnoon.com

Superman and Shaktimanheld sway over the Old Cityskies last Sankranti. Thisyear Don2 will battle

Batman and Three Idiots may addmirth. Characters from thesethree films are this year’s hotfavourites in the sky war. With justfew days to go for Sankranti, avariety of new kites are attractingthe attention of kite enthusiaststhis festive season. Kite sales havepicked up momentum in the OldCity with colourful kites showingup in the shops at Dhoolpet,Dabeerpura and Gulzar Houzwhich is easily the largest kitemarket in the state.

This year the special itemsavailable are the Chinese kitesmade with cloth, dulhan patang,superhero kites like Spiderman,Superman and Batman,Doraemon kites and Bollywoodinspired kite designs with charac-ters from Three Idiots, Don2,Bodyguard, Munni Badnaam Huiand Sheila Ki Jawani.Undoubtedly it is the Spidermanand Batman kites that are indemand every year since kids pre-fer superheroes when comparedto regular plain kites. However,old timers in City still prefer to gothe traditional way and fly thecolourful paper kite.

“Local varieties of paper kiteslike chenga, kalikatti and dhaba,which once ruled the market havefewer takers now. The market fortraditional kites has been badlyhit because of the Chinese ver-sions in the past few years,” said

Patang Seth Suraj Singh fromDhoolpet. There has been a dra-matic change even in the use ofmaterial for kite making. Thequality of kites greatly depends onthe thin wooden strips that give itshape and strength. Earlier, allkites were made using bamboostrips but now the wooden stripsfrom Assam have flooded themarket. However, though cheap-er, they don’t last long.

However, Madan Singh from

Dhoolpet who makes traditionalkites says, “Every year I get ordersfor more than 20,000 to 30,000kites. I have been making kitessince childhood, my ancestorsuse to run this business and I amcontinuing it. We make onlypaper kites and many people stillprefer to fly them.” However,Chinese kites, made of plastic,have caught on with City resi-dents this time and youngstersand kids prefer them.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 7Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin CitiesHyper Local

• Chinese kites, cheaperand waterproof areelbowing out Indian varieties

• Don2 and Batman willclash this Sankranti

Dragonpushes

elephant outin sky war

Pritam Rai, manja maker in thearea is struggling for survival.

Manja and kites from China andTaiwan have flooded the market.Over the years kite lovers in City pre-fer Chinese manja. It is cheaper sopeople prefer it and slowly the tradi-tional manja is being nudged out bythe nylon thread. Locals have tocompete with the Chinese ones asthere are water proof kites as well.Also they come in different shapesand sizes. The traditional do dapan,do kalam also called double langotis losing its charm now. For the lastcouple of years, the ‘Tangus manja'has made a big foray into kite flyingand comes with a thread that ismuch more firm and is priced higher.There are more than 100 families inthe Old City spread across Dhoolpetengaged in manja making.

Chinese manja replaces traditional variety

Although the manja made withglass is hugely popular, several

NGOs and social workers have beenpushing for a ban on it. This manja isusually used in kite flying competi-tions and is made by coating it withpowdered and crushed glass.

Although extremely sharp andeffective during kite fights, the glasscoated manja is deadly for birds likecrows, pigeons, owls and kites, whichend up getting slashed, woundedand killed when they get entangledin the manja. But it is not just birdsthat fall prey to this sharp string.People on vehicles and passers byalso get hurt when they come in

contact with manja lying around.However, Devi Singh, the oldest

manja maker in the City claims thatno manja can be made withoutusing glass pieces. Powdered andfinely crushed glass is the mainingredient of manja making. Twowooden pillars are erected at a dis-tance 40 metres apart and lengths ofthread are tied between them. Then,the masala is applied to the entirelength two to three times and left todry. The masala is prepared withglass pieces, rice, dalchini and gluethat are ground together, sieved andmixed with different colours, explainsDevi Singh.

Glass coated manja is risky to humans, birds

PICS: N SHIVA KUMAR

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 8Spotlight

Miss India Universe 2008 and Bollywood actor Simran Mundi selected the winner ofthe Bajaj Electronics grand bumper draw at the Bajaj Electronics store in Punjaguttaon Tuesday. The winner Satyanarayan of Khairatabad was awarded `25 lakh.

SHOP TILL YOU DROPHyderabadis don’t just love pearls but they also have a weakness for traditionalIndian attire. This was proved when people turned up in large numbers to visitWeaves of India, exhibition-cum-sale organised by the Gramin Hastakala VikasSamiti at the Sri Sathyasai Nigmagamam at Srinagar Colony. The sale will be ontill January 8, from 11am-9pm.

Partying hardThe cold nippy air is no deterrent to the city’s party-loving crowd who know just how to live it up.These youngsters were spotted having a fun time at various pubs in the city on Tuesday night.

PICS: SRINIVAS SETTY

PICS: A SUDHEER REDDY

Zara and Sofi at Bottles& Chimney

Dolly and Seema at Firangi PaaniNeha at Firangi Paani KJ Jaid at Bottles & Chimney

Youngsters having fun at Firangi Paani

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 9India unveiled India‑View

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra gov-ernment on Tuesday paved theway for a massive development ofcentral Mumbai’s Dharavi, Asia’slargest slum, made famous by theOscar Award winning filmSlumdog Millionaire and GregoryDavid Roberts novel Shantaram.

Announcing amendments tothe state’s Development ControlRules (DCR), making the project atime-bound possibility, ChiefMinister Prithviraj Chavan said a10-year corpus fund would be cre-ated for developing Sector 5 inDharavi, which is mainly ownedby the government.

He said the state’s apex hous-ing body, Maharashtra Housingand Area Development Authoritywill be the nodal agency to re-develop it systematically, within

seven years. The congested shanties and

dilapidated tenements in Dharavi— which houses nearly 1.20 mil-lion dwellers in more than 100,000dwellings according to the Nat -

ional Slumdwellers’ Feder ation ofIndia secretary MG She khar —would be re-developed as clustersof 300 square feet carpet area each.

He said that the state govern-ment had given the go-ahead for

the Dharavi re-development pro-ject — spread across 535 hectares— but it did not register any signif-icant progress.

“We have now given a boost forthe project. It is poised to changethe face of Dharavi,” Chavan said.His announcement came barelyan hour before the State ElectionCommission declared the sched-ule for polls to 10 municipal cor-porations, including Mumbai, and27 Zilla Parishads.

The mega project would alsoinclude development of roads, toi-lets, gardens and playgrounds.

The original re-developmentof Dharavi, approved in 2004,aimed at benefitting around60,000 families living there. Butnow, along with the families allexisting small businesses shall also

be protected. Now, the State plansto invite competitive bids for there-development proposal. Chavansaid that one of the hitches to re-development was that nearly 20per cent of Dharavi land wasowned privately. “Urban expertsand NGOs suggested options ofpermitting self-development joi -ntly by the land-owners and theresidents/tenants. We shall lookinto this,” he added.

Dharavi is located strategical-ly, flanked by the posh Bandra-Kurla Complex, which houses topbusiness centres and the US con-sulate and British Deputy HighCom mission on the north, andnewly-developed prime areas ofWadala to the east, and mega-commercial and residential areasin south and west. IANS

MIDNAPORE(WB): Three CRPFpersonnel were on Tuesday killedby their colleague in the Silaparacamp of the para-military force inLalgarh in Purba Medinipur dis-trict, police said.

Superintendent of Police P KTripathy said they were killedwhen a personnel opened fire aft -er a quarrel broke out in the ca mp.

Senior CRPF officers anddistrict police have rushed tothe camp, he said, addingarrangements were being madeto bring the bodies to Jhargramfor postmortem. PTI

NEW DELHI: Pakistan-basedmilitant outfit Laskhkar-e-Taibahas raised an exclusive women’soutfit and has trained 21 girls at acamp near Muzzafarabad inPakistani Kashmir for infiltrationinto Jammu and Kashmir, intelli-gence inputs have indicated.

Intelligence sources said onWednesday that the LeT effort toraise an exclusive women mili-tant outfit of its own is to have analternative to the Kashmir-basedall-women outfit Dukhtaran-e-Millat led by Asiya Andrabi.

“Inputs reveal that 21 girlsare being trained by LeT atDivalia, Muzzafarabad, underthe name of Dukhtaran-e-Taiba,”sources said.

The group, after training, havebeen placed under the commandof an LeT commander, SayeedSadaqat Hussain, for futuredeployment in Kashmir.

The entire project for raisingthe DeT was reportedly concep-tualised by the LeT leadershipand these trained women mili-tants are likely to be infiltrated

into Kashmir through Uri sectoror brought to Kashmir throughthe Nepal route, the sources said.

The intelligence assessmentis th at the DeT is being proppedup as a substitute to DeM.

The reason cited for havingthe substitute was a feelingamong the terror groups thatDeM was unsuccessful in mobil-ising local women against theIndian state in the recent past.

Meanwhile, another intelli-gence report has indicated thatPakistani’s spy agency Inter-

Services Intelligence (ISI) hasinstructed the LeT to carry outattacks on Indian troopsdeployed along the Line ofControl with Pakistan.

The group, sources said, havedone a recce of the forward oper-ating locations of the Indiantroops opposite to Chhamb andSunderbani sector.

The intelligence assessment,sources said, is that the LeT mayresort to sniper fire or stand-offfiring on Indian troops in thesesectors soon. IANS

NEW DELHI: Breaking a minorjinx in India which began withlast September’a failed HarudFestival in Kashmir, celebratedwriter Salman Rushdie willattend the DSC Jaipur LiteratureFestival from January 20-24, theorganisers said on Tuesday.

The writer, who was report-edly scheduled to attend the fes-tival last year, had whipped up astorm among the local Kashmiripeople who opposed his visit.However, the organisers deniedinviting Rushdie, terming itmedia speculation.

Rushdie will address a literarysession, “Midnight’s Children”,named after his landmark ManBooker Prize winning 1981 novel,anchored by noted writer HariKunzru at the Diggi Palace inJaipur, the schedule posted onthe festival’s website said.

Last year, a media report thatthe organisers of the JaipurLiterature Festival, TeamworksProduction, had reportedlyinvited Salman Rushdie to a fes-tival in Srinagar had triggeredresentment among people in theValley, leading to a war in thesocial media. IANS

Chavan launches Dharavi makeover

Australians Brendan Griffen, left, and Tim Dinte wave from their auto-rickshaw in Vayana village,some 25 km from Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Griffen and Dinte started from Jaisalmer on Jaunuary 1and are scheduled to reach Kochi on January 14, covering a distance of some 2,500km. They areparticipating in ‘India Rickshaw Run 2012’ with the Down Under Tuk association to raise donationsfor projects in India. AFP

Rushdie toattend JaipurLiterary Festival

LeT raises all-women terror squad

3 CRPF personnelkilled in fratricide

NEW DELHI: Three personswere today killed and six otherinjured when a building collapsedafter a LPG cylinder exploded inits premises in Mundka area here.Fire brigade personnel havereached the site and havelaunched rescue and relief efforts.Further details are awaited. PTI

LPG cylinderblast kills three

RIDING FOR A CAUSE

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201210Around the World Beyond Borders

Storms have caused damageacross many parts of theUK, with gusts of up to

100mph in Scotland.Thousands of people are

still without power in parts ofEngland, Scotland andNorthern Ireland.

The Met Office has issuedsevere weather warnings whichremain in place for manyregions.

BBC weather forecasterssaid it would stay windy

through the night. Strong windsand gales are also expectedacross the UK on Wednesdayparticularly in the north ofEngland and Scotland but itwill be less windy than Tuesdayand gusts are not expected toreach more than 40-45mph.

Around the UK on Tuesday,trees fell on to railway tracksand power lines, lorries blewover on busy roads and floodwarnings were issued afterrivers swelled.

High seas and force 10winds caused the Port of Doverto close, but it has nowreopened.Figures published bythe Met Office reported windspeeds of 106mph at Great DunFell in the Cumbrian northPennines, and 102mph inEdinburgh.

Travel has also been disrupted, with no East Coastservices currently operatingwithin Scotland, and East CoastMain Line trains betweenLondon and Scotland going nofurther north than Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Buses replaced trains onsome services between Londonand Harrogate and Hull.

A number of roads wereclosed in Northern Ireland,including in Belfast andLondonderry, while the FoyleBridge in Derry was closed.Some train, bus and ferry services have also been affect-ed.High winds in Englandforced the closure of the QEIIBridge on the M25 betweenEssex and Kent for much of the

day, while the Tamar Bridge inthe South West has been closedto high-sided vehicles.

In Northern Ireland 10,000properties were left withoutelectricity after fallen trees andsevere winds damaged powerlines, causing hundreds offaults.

In Scotland, more than70,000 homes were withoutpower. About 8,500 propertiesin parts of Hampshire, Dorsetand Wiltshire have also beenwithout power.

In Wales six homes inDolgellau, Gwynedd, wereevacuated because of arcingpower lines in high winds.

The Environment Agencyissued 20 flood warnings acrossthe country, including 13 in theSouth West, three each in theMidlands and the North East,and one in Wales. It also issued66 less severe flood alerts.

The Scottish EnvironmentProtection Agency (Sepa)issued flood warnings for theMoy Bridge area and locationsin Tayside.

GLOBE AT A GLANCESri Lanka protests overLTTE stamps in FranceCOLOMBO: Sri Lankan ForeignMinister G.L. Peiris Tuesday met Frenchambassador to Colombo ChristineRobichon and lodged a protest overpostage stamps issued in France withimages of rebels of the Liberation Tigers ofTamil Eelam (LTTE).Peiris said it was theresponsibility of the French government toensure that such publication and circula-tion should be cancelled.

Ex-Iranian president’sdaughter jailedTEHRAN: A Tehran court has sentenceddaughter of former Iranian President AkbarHashemi Rafsanjani to six months in jailover anti-regime propaganda, Mehr newsagency reported.Faezeh Hashemi has alsobeen banned for five years for political,cultural and media activities on thecharges of propagandistic acts against theIslamic republic, Xinhua quoted the report.

Chocolate that doesn’tmelt inventedLONDON: A British engineer hasinvented the world’s first chocolate thatdoes not melt. The recipe includes a specialingredient that allows the chocolate to bemoulded into any shape but remains flexi-ble when set. Stephen Lennie, 43, createdthe chocolate dubbed ‘Magic Choc’ in hiskitchen as a surprise for his children.

Australians experiencehottest New Year

Helicopters fight a massive forest fireaffecting the commune of Quillon, insouthern Chile’s Bio Bio region, some 500Km south of Santiago AFP

A girl holds a portrait of ArgentinePresident Cristina Fernandez de Kirchneroutside the Austral Hospital in Pilar,Buenos Aires AFP

Sydney Australians have been asked toheed safety advice. On Monday,

Victoria’s ambulance service treated 45patients for heat-related illnesses,including four cases of children left incars, Xinhua reported.Earlier on Sunday,temperature reached 41.6 degrees inAdelaide.

UK: Severe weather causes damage

BEIRUT: The commander ofSyria’s armed rebels has threat-ened to step up attacks on Pre -sident Bashar al-Assad’s forces,saying he was frustrated withArab League monitors’ lack ofprogress in ending a governmentcrackdown on protests.

“If we feel they are still notserious in a few days, or at mostwithin a week, we will take adecision which will surprise theregime and the whole world,” thehead of the Free Syrian Army(FSA), Colonel Riad al-Asaad,told Reuters in an interview.

The Arab League said on Mo -nday that its monitors were help-ing to stem bloodshed, 10 mo -nths into a popular uprising ag a -inst Syria’s ruling family, andasked for more time to do theirjob.

But since the team’s arrival

last week, security forces havekilled more than 132 people,according to a Reuters tally.Other activist groups say 390have been killed. The monitorsare checking whether Syria isimplementing an Arab League

peace plan by pulling troopsfrom flashpoint cities and releas-ing thousands detained in therevolt, one of a series of Arabuprisings that have toppled fourleaders in a year.Asaad, whose FSA is an umbrella

group of armed factions, said hewas waiting for the League’sreport on its first week beforedeciding whether to make a“transformative shift” that hesaid would mark a major escala-tion against the security forces.

“Since they entered, we hadmany more martyrs,” he said,speaking by telephone from hissafe haven in southern Turkey.“Is it in the Syrian people’s inter-est to allow the massacre to con-tinue?”

A committee of Arab minis-ters will discuss the monitors’preliminary report on Saturday,Arab League sources said.

The League mission hasalready been plagued by contro-versy.Activists who met the mon-itors in Hama on Tuesday saidthey doubted whether the moni-tors had freedom of movement.

Syrian rebel leader to up attacks

SAN FRANCISCO: A China-based com-pany plans to begin shipping a realistic-looking Steve Jobs action figure in February.

It remained to be seen whether Applewill take to the courts to block In Iconsfrom selling the 30.4-centimeter (onefoot) tall dolls crafted in the image of therenowned California company Apple’s lateco-founder.

An In Icons website on Tuesday featured images of the jointed figure inclassic Jobs poses accompanied withquotes including “The ones who are crazyenough to think they can change the

world are the ones who do.”The $99 dolls depict Jobs with a closely

cropped beard and his familiar round “JohnLennon” style eyeglasses. Accessories avail-able at extra cost included his trademarksneakers, blue jeans, and black turtle necksweater.

Last year, the maker of iPhones, iPads,iPods and Macintosh computers blockedthe sale of unauthorized Steve Jobs bobble-head dolls made by a different company inChina.

Jobs died on October 5 at the age of 56after a years-long battle with cancer.

Chinese firm to ship Steve Jobs figures

A file image of Steve Jobs AFP

A file image ofRiyad al Asaad

AP

A dogs walks past a floodedpark on a promenade in Troon,Strathclyde in Scotland AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201211Matters of saving and spendingBusiness

BSE – 15,897.78641.78, NSE – 4,750.00615.30, Gold 24k(10g)– `28,000, Silver (1kg)–52,900, Dollar $ – `53.13, Pound £ – `83.09

K Prudhvi Rajuprudhvi.k@postnoon.com

HYDERABAD: The demand forpower is just 15 per cent morethan the supply by AP Transco.However, the power shortageMSMEs are facing is more than 30per cent on an average in the lastfour months.

There is 52 per cent power cutfrom September till the thirdweek of November, 41 per centpower cut from the last week ofNovember to the third week ofDecember and around 29 percent in the last week of Dece mber.

Power is going to mega pro-jects at the cost of MSMEs. “They

have dedicated feeders andexpress feeders that supply powerwithout an interruption. Theyshould use only 70 per cent of thesupply, but they draw 100 percent of their requirement,” said VHanumantha Rao, president,Federation of Andhra PradeshSm all Industries Asso ciations(FAPSIA). MSMEs cannot affordgen erator. Even though theymanage to buy it with some loan,its maintenance is a heavy bur-den with Rs 14 per unit. Themaintenance is ever increasingwith an increase in diesel andpetrol prices. Mega projects canproduce goods at any price andhave an edge in fixing the price

according to the costs. They caneven afford generators.

MSMEs don’t have the luxuryof hiking the product costs likemajor industries, he says.

The alternate, renewable ener-gy sources need heavy inve st ment.It costs Rs. 13 crore to produce 1MW through solar ene rgy. Thegovernment is always in favour ofmega projects and has a ‘step-motherly’ attitude towards MS -EMs says J Nageswara Rao,Secretary, FAPSIA. The govern-ment does not have a vision forfuture energy needs. Domesticand agricultural sectors get moresupplies at the cost of the industryand MSMEs suffer because of that.

There were few power cutsduring YSR’s six-year regime. Healso reduced 15 paise per unit.The current regime could notsupply required power by eitherbringing in central funds orthrough state funds. Telenganaagitation added more burden tothe power shortage. This all crip-pling MSMEs, he added.

Supplying power depends onthe ability of the political leader atthe helm of affairs. Kiran KumarReddy promised that he wouldsupply sufficient power to theIndustry. “We are waiting that tohappen,” J Nageswara Rao said.

Shudip Talukdar

NEW DELHI: An Indian start-upis catalysing a quiet revolution bydesigning, developing and inst -alling unique solar-powered ATMsin rural areas.

The initial lot of 400 solarATMs, aptly called Gramateller(‘gram’ means village), the world’slargest order, placed by the StateBank of India (SBI), has been win-ning accolades for performanceand substantial energy savings.

The ATMs were installed in2010-11 across several states,usually within 20-50 km of thedistrict headquarters, Vijay Babu,CEO of Vortex Engineering,which makes these units, toldIANS from Chen nai.

Following SBI’s success withsolar ATMs, the Catholic SyrianBank also placed an order for 50Gramatellers and Indian Bank for20, while 10 more have beenordered by other banks, he added.Both Babu and Laksh minarayanKannan, who founded Vortex, arethe alumni of the Indian Instituteof Technology-Madras (IIT-M) andthe brains behind the Gramateller.

“Our plans to operate ATMs onsolar power were greeted withutter disbelief. We faced chal-lenges initially in getting themadopted by our end users, therural folks, who are not particular-ly tech-savvy. But once they real -ised that they were getting controlof their own money, they acceptedit wholeheartedly,” said Babu.

“The workload has increasedwith more and more people usingthese facilities which, in mostcases, are the only ATMs within 20km or more, thanks to the solarpower backup,” added Babu.

The two entrepreneurs took upthe project in 2004-05 at IIT-M’ssuggestion, developing and fine-tuning the product until it becamecommercially viable in 2008-09.

The IIT-M, which had been ini-tially approached by the banks todevelop a robust rural alternativeto the existing ATMs, passed onthe proposal to Vortex. Babu andKannan have since inked a royaltyagreement with their alma mater.

“Conventional ATMs may notbe viable in areas subject to 8 to 10hours of power cuts, given theirdependence on gensets and air-

conditioning. But thanks to therural Gramateller, villagers don’thave to undertake time-consum-ing trips to cities or towns formoney,” said Kannan.

Vortex is the only Indian com-pany making it to the Time maga-zine 2011 list of “10 start-ups thatwill change your life”, selected outof 31 companies honoured as“Technology Pioneers” by theWorld Economic Forum.

Vortex was recently selected asthe latest entrant to Business Call

to Action (BCtA), a global initiativethat encourages private sectorefforts to fight poverty, supportedby the UN Development Progra -rmme, among others.

“The ‘no frills’ Gramateller hasa 12-hour power back-up, provid-ed there is good sunlight at leastfor five hours daily. Solar panelsconvert these rays into electricalenergy, storing them in a battery. Asingle unit saves more than 90 per-cent of the yearly expenditureincurred on operating an ATM,

which works out to Rs.1.44 lakh,half of the amount being account-ed by air-conditioning,” saidSabarinath Nair, marketing man-ager, Vortex.

Gramateller comes with a bio-metric touch pad to prevent fraudand tell villagers that their moneyis safe. It can also dispense soilednotes in the interiors where crispcurrency notes are suspected ofbeing fakes, Nair said.

Regular ATMs were pricedbetween Rs.3.5-5 lakh a piece.They needed another Rs.60,000and Rs.80,000 for the UPS and AC.Gramatellers cost around Rs.3 lakheach, which included a built-inUPS and did not need air-condi-tioning, he said.

Solar panels for a unit requirean additional investment of Rs.1.5lakh, but have near zero opera-tional cost. Unlike large dieselgensets, these pay for themselvewithin two years.

Given Gramateller’s success inharnessing solar energy and itscommercial viability, several dev -elo ping countries from Africa andEast Asia are evincing interest inthe technology, said Babu. IANS

Solar ATMs fuel rural revolution in India

MSMEs crushed underpower crunch in AP

Sudhir Garg, Chief General Manager of State Bank of Hyderabad,inaugurated the bank’s stall in the 71st Industrial Exhibition atExhibition Grounds in Nampally in the City on Tuesday. The stallhas an ATM, a caratometer to test the purity of gold, a soilednotes exchange facility, a coin vending machine, and aninformation centre on the facilities like opening of differentaccounts and the different services offered by the bank.

BANKING ON SERVICESPIC: N.SHIVA KUMAR

TALK BACKIt’s a shame!It’s a shame that the world is yet to act onthe atrocities unleashed by the governmentin Syria. What’s the point ofa team of Arab observersgoing to Syria to get the realpicture when we have the‘real picture’ already? TheUS and the UK invaded Iraqover baseless allegations.Well, when will the defend-ers of democracy do some-thing about this outrage ofdemocracy — maybe afterhalf the population is wipedout?

Saad HassanHyderabad

Disappointing showTeam India has disappointed us again. Thefamed batting line-up collapsed like a pack

of cards caught in a breeze.Agreed that the pace pack ofJames Pattinson, Peter Siddle andBen Hilfenhaus was sublime, buta team that is the reigning worldcup champs doing a repeat ofsuch poor performance is just notdone. The lack of application onthe part of Indian batsmen aspointed out by Babu Kalyanpur isevident. I fear this series too isgoing to be a washout for us.

What a way to start the year!

Sundeep ThapaHyderabad

Good jobI am a regular reader of Postnoon and Ithink it’s cool. I like the way issuesare reported and the waythey are presented. Newsreports in other papers arevery dry, but I think some ofyour reports are written well.Also thanks for not restrictingsports pages to just cricket. ButI think you could make papermore interesting by having morebook reviews and essays. I alsowish that you start a section thatinvites stories and poems from readers andamateurs.

Suresh PaliSecunderabad

Scrap AFSPAI think it’s high time the ArmedForces Special Forces act wasrepealed. In the name of curbingterrorism, ordinary people aremade to lead a stifled life andmany innocent ones are tortured.There’s no better proof that ithas been a failure than that ter-rorism still plagues India. Weneed to think of other ways totackle terrorism instead of

giving the Army a free hand andmaking the lives of thousands miserable. Ifthe government can listen to Anna Hazare, itcan give an ear to Irom Sharmila, who hasbeen fasting for a decade.

Vinita GeorgeBanjara Hills

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201212Fair, free and forthrightComment

The president has given her approvalfor Madhya Pradesh’s anti-cowslaughter legislation after a delay ofalmost two years. Not just slaugh-ter, even consumption of beef can

land you in jail for seven years. It also has pro-visions allowing a whole range of officialsbeginning at head constable to barge in any-where and conduct checks on mere groundsof suspicion.

Cow slaughter is one topic that has beenthe centre of heated debates and disputesover it have led to innumerable communalclashes across the country but not a singlegovernment, Central or State, has been ableto come up with an amicable solution.

Such legislations’ implications don’t stopat socio-religious spheres but spill over intoguidelines on state policy that defines theright of an individual.

Ours is a country where there are thou-sands of castes, sub-castes and communities— each with its own culture, tradition andway of life. One sweeping law like that is ablunt statement to those in the minority to letgo of all that and be in ‘conformity’ withwhat’s ‘acceptable’.

For many communities, beef is very mucha part of their regular diet and a cheap supplyof essential proteins. Beef dishes are part ofceremonies ranging from birth to death. Itwould be gross injustice to force them toabandon their culture using legal coercion.

What about the Northeastern states or aState such as Kerala, where beef is a delicacypopular among all communities? Who willprotect the rights of millions of Hindus spreadacross the country who eat beef?

Now imagine a scenario where two of thebiggest minorities were to declare onion assacred to their faith. Will the governmentsintroduce laws to prohibit farming, sale,transportation and consumption of onionsbecause it would hurt the religious sensitivi-ties of the minorities?

The essence of a functional democracy is

presence of an environment of tolerancewhere every segment can enjoy their uniqueway of life without being arm-twisted to fitinto a larger picture. If a plural country likeours can’t ensure their rights, how differentare we from countries where rape victims arestoned to death because they did not followthe lifestyle demanded by the majority reli-gion?

For a country to progress the people haveto feel motivated and for that they need to feelthat they are valued for what they are. If not,the feeling of alienation would creep in andthe social, economic and political cost wouldbe too much to bear.

The harassment and humiliation peoplefrom Northeast face all over India, with hardly

any help coming from the police or the other-wise vigilant civil society, because of their ‘dif-ferent’ lifestyle has left scars that reservationsand economic packages can’t heal.

When Indians are targeted abroad inracially motivated attacks there is an outrageacross the country. Media, civil society andpoliticians compete to outdo each other inpointing out the stark contrast between our‘tolerant’ heritage and the narrow-mindedWest.

Next time your blood boils at the news ofracial abuse of Indians, think of what we aredoing to our people in our country.

A possible solution doesn’t require rocketscience to arrive at. It’s called the policy of‘live and let live’.

FusilladeArun Koshy Philip

Editorials This high-steak gamecould land you in jail

Readers’ viewsWe invite you to write to us

comments, suggestions, view-point or just about anything to

feedback@postnoon.com or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa,

Road No 62, Jubilee Hills,Hyderabad – 500 033

or even by way ofa call on 4067 2222

DON’T SHOOT THEMESSENGER

The incident of an Indian diplomatbeing virtually roughed up in

China in the line of duty, that tooin the presence of police and court

officials, is quite disturbing. Treatingmessengers with respect no matter

how bad the message is has been anunspoken rule across all civilisationssince ancient times when clans bat-

tled for superiority. When mankindprogressed messengers became

envoys and later specialised diplomat-ic corps were formed. There are sever-

al international conventions whichprovide immunity to diplomats and

make it binding on the host countryto provide adequate security for theirlegitimate activities. What happenedwith the Indian envoy in China is an

aberration and a disgrace to the cred-ibility of the world’s most populous

nation in terms of playing by therules. And India needs to rework its

operational capabilities when dealingwith such state actors who wouldn’t

shy away from permitting actions likethuggery on diplomats.

WHY WE LOVEThe US elections

Few countries in the worldcan have the world in

their thrall as they headinto election season. In 2008 we

sat glued to our idiot boxes asBarack Obama made history.

Later this year we’ll watchObama take on a Republican

(that race began today in Iowa).The Republicans, of course, ourchurning out the best of WeirdAmerica: From uber-conserva-tive Santorum, and the flippy-floppy Romney, to the down-

right farcical Gingrich. It’s goingto be one helluva an entertain-

ing sight, watching one of thosetackle Obama, who, let’s face it,must be fancying his chances of

claiming the throne again(Michelle ain’t packing yet). Of

course if Obama loses we couldhave Newt in the Oval

Office...now that’s scary.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201213Holistic view of mind, body and soulH‑Factor

Prevention isimportant forheart health

Dr Sunil Kapoor

What can youngsters do to preventheart problems?A recent study presented at theAmerican Heart Association’s annualconference found that younger menand women are much less likely touse preventive therapies, yet may beat higher risk for a first heart attackthan realised.

Researchers leading this studyanalysed data from more than 3,000patients who had a heart attack overa seven-year period. They found thatmore than two-thirds of thesepatients were not previously diag-nosed with heart disease and thatabout 60 per cent were men underthe age of 55 and women 65 yearsand younger. Most importantly,these younger patients were nearlyhalf as likely to be taking preventivetherapies such as statins and bloodthinners as those previously diag-nosed with heart disease.

These findings highlight theneed for better assessment aroundwho is considered ‘high-risk’ andqualifies for preventive therapy.While those with heart disease arealready recommended various ther-apies to minimise risk for heartattack, such as blood thinners, betablockers, statins and lifestylechanges, these therapies must bebetter applied among youngerpatients without heart disease.

Questions for you to considerAt what age are adults considered athighest risk for a heart attack?The risk of heart disease and heartattack increases after age 45 for menand after age 55 (or aftermenopause) for women. However,other risk factors can increase car-diovascular risk despite younger age,including family history, obesity anddiabetes.

(The writer is a senior consultant cardiologist practising at Care

Hospitals, Hyderabad)

Anishaa Kumaranishaa.k@postnoon.com

‘Don’t forget toadd at least apinch of salt’ isa common

statement used wheneverrecipes are discussed or foodis relished. Why is it that wecannot think of a dish with-out salt? For many people,especially Indians, no dish iscomplete without it. Salt, likevarious other ingredients,has positive impacts on ourhealth. But we need to takecaution as high salt levels inthe body can have negativeeffects. Over the last fewyears the country has seen achange. People are slowlywaking up to the negativeimpacts of salt. Various cam-paigns and awareness pro-grammes such as the City’sown ‘Salt Monster’ campaignare helping raise awarenessabout this.

Do we need salt?Yes, we do. “When we men-tion salt we are not talkingabout salt per se, but areactually referring to the sodi-um part of it; so it is the lackor excess of sodium thatcauses an electrolyte imbal-ance in our body. The bodyrequires a balance of bothsodium and potassium,” saysDr Latha Sashi, nutritionistand diet expert, Nutrifit. Ithelps maintain the fluid inour blood cells and alsotransmit information to thenerves and muscles. It is said

that the body cannot pro-duce salt on its own.Excessive salt content is saidto cause various illnesses likehigh blood pressure/hyper-tension, cardiovascular dis-eases, fluid retention, diges-tive system disorders such asacidity and diarrhoea,increase in secretion of bileand sometimes even osteo-porosis. According to DrSunil Kumar, President,Cardiological Society of India(AP Chapter) and consultantcardiologist, Apollo Hospital,“Indians tend to have far

more salt than is required. Itis important for us to realisethe importance of reducingsalt in the diet as excess ofsalt causes hypertension,which in turn causes variousailments such as stroke,heart disease, kidney failureand heart failure.”

According to variousstudies, the minimumrequirement of salt per day is1,500 milligrams, which isapproximately 1tsp of saltper day, while the maximumrequirement is 2,300 mil-ligrams. “For people withhypertension, half a tsp issufficient,” mentions DrSunil. Many believe that amajor requirement is fulfilledthrough foods and their nat-ural content of salt, henceadditional intake of salt interms of seasoning is notnecessary. Most kinds of foodfrom apples to chicken, fish

to even water contain salt insome percentage. The quan-tities of salt vary from prod-uct to product. Processedfoods such as papads are saidto have too much salt andhence are not good for thehealth. “It is very difficult fora person to understand howmuch each individual com-ponent is contributing to thesalt levels. Usually our cook-ing does not have excessivesalt. It is the processed foodsand table salt that we use,which are an issue and tendto cause the problem ofexcess,” mentions Dr Latha.“Basically any food that hasadded preservatives is asource of excess salt.”

Although it is difficult tounderstand how much salteach ingredient contains,some care can be taken.Common suggestionsinclude using more freshfoods such as vegetables,fruits and meat and tastingthe food before adding saltfor seasoning, especiallywhile cooking food like pa -sta, rice, noodles, vegetablesand hot cereals that alreadyhave an optimum level ofsalt. “Nowadays low-sodiumsalt is available in the market,which could be a good alter-native,” suggests Dr Sunil.

A simple action of bal-ancing our intake of sodiumcan help our body in the longrun. It is important to under-stand its use and their maxi-mum and minimum require-ments. It’s time we take tomaking our future healthier.

Too much, too often

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201214Holistic view of mind, body and soulH‑Factor

Ignorance about calories putting millions at risk Say goodbye to back pain with the new smart cushion

LONDON: Millions of people are unaware ofthe calories they take in their daily meal andthus risking themselves to be affected by dis-eases like cancer, diabetes or heart ailments dueto their uninformed choices in everyday life, astudy has suggested.

According to a survey commissioned forWorld Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), in Britain,two-thirds of adults underestimated thelevel of calories in foods such as hou-mous and so-called ‘light’ mayon-naise. Just 32 per cent correctlysaid houmous was high incalories and only 29 per centsaid that low-fat mayo wasalso high in calories.

The fact is both houmousand ‘light’ mayonnaise are actu-ally high-calorie foods. It shows

how there is a ‘troubling’ lack of understandingabout the calorie content of foods. As per theYouGov poll, confusion about terms such as‘light’ or ‘reduced fat’ was compounding theproblem. Twenty per cent of the 2,128 adultsquestioned thought bananas were high in calo-ries even though the fruit contains just 95 calo-ries per 100g on average.

“Many people make New Year’s resolutions to lose weight but it

is important that they understand how to

determine whether afood is high in calories.It is important for people to be able to

make informed choicesabout food,” says Maya

Monteiro.

MYTHS DEBUNKED

n All vegetable oils are good for theheart.

Not all vegetable oils are healthy.Coconut, palm and palm kernel oilscontain saturated fats, whichincrease cholesterol levels and arenot good for the heart. Vegetable oils,which are partially hydrogenatedcontain harmful fatty trans-acids.n Beef will raise your cholesterollevel more than poultry or seafood.

This is not necessary as it isn’tjust the cholesterol content of theparticular food but also the fat con-tent. Saturated fat has more of animpact on boosting blood choles-terol levels than the actual choles-terol content of foods. This impliesthat beef, which is lean and trimmedcould contain less cholesterol-boosting saturated fat than a chick-en drumstick with the skin on it. n Children with asthma shouldn’tplay sports.

It was earlier believed that withphysical activity there would be anincrease in the breathing rate andcould trigger asthma. It has knowbeen realised that exercise such asaerobic exercise, could improve thelung power of a person with asthma.But activities that are intense andsustained should be avoided.n Gum that is swallowed takesseven years to digest.

Gum, which is not digested,takes slightly longer to be expelledthan food that is digested and passesthrough the intestinal tract in about24 hours. Only if a very small childswallows a huge piece of gum isthere any danger of the gum causingan intestinal obstruction. In manycases, this could lead to distension ofthe intestines and severe abdominalcramps.n Hyper people are more likely tohave hypertension.

Although rage can increase theblood pressure temporally, a per-son’s temper as such doesn’t causehigh blood pressure. In about 10 percent of people with high blood pres-sure, the problem is caused by kid-ney disease, hormonal disorders orcertain drugs. But in most cases thecause is unknown.

(Source: Canadian Living)

LONDON: A sedentary job leaves youwith a nagging back pain. Peopleconfined to bed are even worseoff, frequently developing bedsores. But now, thanks to a smartnew cushioning, the discomfortsof lying and sitting would be athing of the past. It relies on anintegrated sensor system that wouldequalise pressure selectively.

“Every person has a unique build,which must withstand differing com-pressive loads,” says Martin Woitag,research manager at the FraunhoferInstitute for Factory Operation andAutomation (IFF) in Germany.

“Our sensor mat made of ordinaryfoam and conductive threads auto-matically detects how a person is sit-

ting or lying, and automatically equalises thepressure at endangered points by activatingan actuator. One hundred measured pointson a typical seat suffice to do this,” adds

Woitag. If, for instance, the sensors indicate that the

pressure to the rear right while sitting istoo high, then air is let out of the

cushion at that spot, “the cush-ioning is modified flexibly and

selectively.”Another plus point

is that the weave of the tex-tile employed is breathable

and thus prevents moisture build-up.Present systems rely on film technology,which causes sweating.

IANS

Doctors look to treat sickchildren in virtual worldsMONTREAL: Doctors in adomed laboratory in Canadaare designing a virtual worldwhere they hope to one daytreat traumatised children withcolourful avatars using toy-likemedical gadgets.

Sensory stimulation couldbe used to make a burn victimfeel she is encased in a block ofice. Three-dimensional imagesof a child’s bedroom at homecould make him forget he is in ahospital.

“You could take a child suf-fering from burns and put himin a polar environment, cross-ing the threshold of reality, todull his pain,” said PatrickDube, who is leading a teamof medics from Montreal’sSainte-Justine hospi-tal and softwareengineers at theSociety for Artsand Technology.

“We knowthat cognitiveillusions have aneffect on the perception ofpain,” he said.

At the Satosphere, an 18-meter-wide (60-foot) domeoriginally designed to providespectators with a 360-degreeview of art projections, the teamhas set up a hospital room, or‘living lab’, to try out new treat-ment ideas.

The dome, touted bySatosphere president MoniqueSavoie as a “cinema for the 21stcentury,” is a scion of the Circle-Vision theatre unveiled at the1967 International and Uni -versal Exposition’s Bell Pavi lionin Montreal.

“We can, through multipleprojectors, create immersiveenvironments that integrate notonly walls, but also the furni-

t u r ein a

r o o m , ”Dube said.

A n o t h e rtool being tested by the doctorswould allow them to give medi-cal gadgets the appearance offantastical, non-threateningtoys.

Children would in theory beable to familiarise themselveswith ‘scary’ medical instru-ments, like syringes, easingcommon fears over medicaltests and treatments.

In the hands of a little girl, asyringe is transformed into astorybook rocket. “I’m nolonger scared of injections,”said Maxime, 11, the daughterof one of the researchers.

The researchers are alsolooking into avatars that could

one day allow doctors and nurs-es to communicate with chil-dren traumatised by sickness ora crippling accident, who maynot be comfortable opening upto an adult.

Such high-tech puppetrymight be used to build a child’sconfidence or help re-socialisethem. The person controllingthe avatar from another roomcould ask a child to mimic its

movements as part of physicalrehabilitation.

The ultimate aim is to applythe technology to help the chil-dren “overcome their fears anddiscover things about them-selves,” said Patricia Garel, headof Sainte-Justine’s psychiatrydepartment.

“There’s enormous poten-tial in our discipline, but we’restill at a very early exploratorystage.”

Virtual communication andvideo games are known tosometimes have a negativeimpact on the socialisation ofchildren, particularly the mostemotionally fragile, who mightshut themselves in.

But Garel insists that if thetools are used correctly theycould carve a virtual path backto normal life.

Hemanth KumarHemanth.k@postnoon.com

There’s something magical about mak-ing your first short film, irrespective ofhow it turns out in the end. For aspir-ing filmmakers, it means taking that

first step towards realising their dream.Sometimes, it’s the toughest thing to dobecause everyone struggles in the beginning.“I began making short films about a year and ahalf ago. And then we found out more peoplewho were making short films in Hyderabad.One thing led to another and soon we begancollaborating with more aspiring filmmakersand actors,” says Hussain Sha Kiran, a short-film maker from the Nakama Creations &Planet Green group. His team found its firstbreakthrough with a short film titled Why soSerious? which caught the attention of severalyoungsters and then short films like Lovaholicsand Ontiganta became quite popular. “It tookme about seven to eight months to bringtogether a team and that’s usually the toughestpart. I didn’t want to make short films just forthe heck of it,” he says.

A few years ago, the cost of equipment,especially the cameras, was so high that short-film making was restricted to only those whocould afford it. But now, with the advent of low-cost DSLR cameras, the number of short-filmmakers has shot through the roof. Internet hasbrought about a paradigm shift in this medium.“The real challenge for a short-film maker thesedays is to rise to the urgent need to showcasequality content on par with what we see on thevirtual media platforms,” says Anantha Krishna.

On the other hand, some of the short filmsmade in recent months have gone viral onYouTube with hundreds of people sharing themon Facebook and Twitter. While there’s no doubtthat the number of aspiring filmmakers hasincreased a lot in the past couple of years, theyoften face an uphill task of making money fromtheir work. “Most of the short films made thesedays are made on a budget of about `10,000–15,000. Mostly, they are not on par with shortfilms made in other parts of the country orabroad; otherwise, there are enough methods tomake money through short films. In Hyderabad,production houses, which make short films don’tmake enough money and the chances of film-makers making money are even less,” says JawadAli, co-founder of Yellow Studio Works. His friend,Umair Hasan has directed two short filmsSamosas & Banerjee and Shaji under the YellowStudio Works banner. Shaji has been selected forthe International Film Festival of Ahmedabadand the Jaipur Film Festival.

Hyderabad is still in a very nascent stagewith regards to short-film making and there areonly three or four avenues where these shortfilms can be screened. But the response, whichsome of these filmmakers have got so far hasstrengthened their belief that they’ll be makingfeature films someday in the near future. “A lotof friends want to help us out in creatingawareness about our short films, but we wouldlove to reach a wider audience,” concludesJawad Ali, echoing the thoughts of severalother short-film makers.

Dreaming big

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201215Movies

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Devil InsideIn 1989, emergency responders received

a 9-1-1 call from Maria Rossi (SuzanCrowley) confessing that she had brutal-

ly killed three people. Twenty years later,her daughter Isabella (Fernanda Andrade)seeks to understand the truth about whathappened that night. She travels to theCentrino Hospital for the Criminally Insanein Italy where her mother has been locked

away to determine if her mother is mental-ly ill or demonically possessed. When sherecruits two young exorcists (SimonQuarterman and Evan Helmuth) to cure hermom using unconventional methods com-bining both science and religion, they comeface-to-face with pure evil in the form offour powerful demons possessing Maria.Check out the trailer at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyT7xMPurgw

Short-film making in Hyderabad is still in itsnascent stage but that doesn’t seem to deter

filmmakers from dreaming big. We find out moreabout the present scenario and the road ahead

for short-film makers

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201218Because you are what you wearF‑Folio

Taniya Talukdartaniya.t@postnoon.com

Dancing in the rain with chif-fon saris, dream sequencesin flowy fabrics or attend-

ing award functions in thosedesigner creations, our actresseshave done it all and have lookedgorgeous.

The sari was earlier mostlylimited to the screens, but overtime, it has been given its due andnowadays most actresses arechoosing the sari over Westernoutfits for all occasions, even onthe red carpet.

The sari has often beendescribed as ‘the apparel that cov-ers all... yet reveals all’. What is itthat adds so much allure? We findout.

Shilpa Shetty

Shilpa looks good in anythingshe wears and her figure is per-

fect for just about anything. Sowhen she wears a sari, she looksnothing less than a diva and shehas proved that time and again.Her height and hour-glass figuremakes for a great frame for drap-ing the sari and she appears like adream, giving a lot of her contem-poraries sleepless nights.

SrideviRemember her hot and sizzling number

in Mr India? Well, there is definitelysomething about Sridevi and the sari onlyenhances it; the actress stands tall and tosee her in one is mesmerising. So, whetherit is attending a wedding or just making anappearance on the big screen, Sridevi in asari always makes heads turn.

The sari has inspired fashionistas all around the world but some of Bollywood’sbeauties have done more than justice to the alluring attire

Draped in timeless elegance

Rekha

What can we say about her col-lection of Kanjeevaram saris?

We rarely see her in anything elseother than the beautiful weaves.Glamourous and sensuous, Rekhalooks celestial and her beauty andgrace just add to the effect. She per-haps has the largest collection ofKanjeevaram saris and she alwaysteams them up with the right jew-ellery. Trust Rekha to always deliver astunner whenever she has to make apublic appearance.

Mandira Bedi

She is the one who madenoodle straps famous on

Indian television while com-menting on cricket. While herfashion sense made morenews than her commenting,we can surely forgive MsBedi for it. The lady sure hasus stumped with her beautyand dressing sense. Not theone to stick to conventions,Mandira has always grabbedeyeballs and her choice ofsaris with those noodle strapcholis could still give a lot ofactresses a run for theirmoney.

Celina Jaitley

It doesn’t matter thatCelina has been unable

to make an impressionwith her films, but when itcomes to wearing thesari, she definitely doesmake heads turn. Celinahas more often than notpromoted the sari.Whenever she has tomake a public appear-ance, whether it is for thepromotion of her films,award functions or chatshows, Celina has stuck tothe sari. She is one of thehandful few in the indus-try who understands itselegance.

Vidya Balan

From Parineeta toIshqiya and from Paa

to The Dirty Picture,Vidya has romancedthe sari like no other.She personifies Indianbeauty and looks thebest in the timelesspiece of elegance.While on one hand shehas been ridiculed forher dressing sensewhen it comes toWestern wear, Vidyahas not only sizzled butalso won over manyhearts when she wearsthe sari. Over the years,she has learnt the rightway to impress and hasstuck to the sari whenit comes to any kind ofmajor appearance shehas to make. A smartmove, Ms Balan.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201219The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

Hemanth KumarHemanth.k@postnoon.com

Nitin’s career graph resembles atangent, which shows no signsof changing its course. The

string of flops in the past few yearshave hurt his career badly and theactor knows what it means. “I haveseen both hits and flops quite early on in my career. You can’t do anythingwhen a film fails because an actoralone isn’t responsible for the failureof a film. No one has told me that Iwas bad even in the films thatbombed. The day someone tells me that, I’ll feel bad,” Nitin says matter-of-factly.

The actor talks quite fast and sowe asked him if he has ever been toldto slow down. “It happens all thetime,” he grins, “My directors make ita point to tell me to talk slowly. I ammaking a conscious effort these days.”He’s not a man who minces his words.Being candid maybe underrated, butthere’s no denying that it makes theconversation more interesting.

No one wants to make a bad film,yet hundreds of films flop every year.Everyone works hard and spends end-

less hours in trying to get everythingright before releasing a film. So, it allboils down to one factor — luck. “Ibelieve in luck. In any other field, hardwork is the most important factor, butwhen it comes to films, apart fromhard work, luck plays an importantpart. In fact, I believe that luck consti-tutes 90 per cent in the success or fail-ure of a film,” he confesses. So does hebelieve that he has been unlucky forthe past few years? “Yes,” he replies,and adds, “Two of my past five filmswere bad, but the other three haddecent storylines. Sometimes filmsfail because they are not released atthe right time or there might be astrike or even floods for that matter.”Since he’s being quite candid abouthis career, we wonder if he has finallyfound his comfort zone. “I guess so. Ibelieve I have finally learnt what’sright for me,” he says.

His upcoming film, Ishq boasts ofseveral big technicians including PCSreeram, Sreekar Prasad and VikramKumar. Nithya Menen is playing thelead role in this urban love story andNitin is quite confident that his on-screen chemistry with Nithya willwork in favour of the film. “I was

doing a lot of action films and I thinkeven the audience got bored after apoint of time. So my friends and well-wishers advised me to do a love story,which would suit my age,” Nitin saysexplaining his brief hiatus from thesilver screen. Since it’s a comebackfilm of sorts, the actor did quite a lotof homework for his part. “In my ear-lier films, I used to just drop in on thesets and do what my director wantedme to do. But for this film, I did a lotof rehearsals at home before shootingthe next day. Besides, I was a bitscared of Nithya Menen’s acting skills.She’s the best co-star I have workedwith,” he chuckles. Interestingly, hehas also sung a few lines for a songLacchamma, which is already makingwaves. Whether the film changes hisfortune at the box-office or notremains to be seen, but he makes it apoint to suggest that, for this film, hehas taken a lot of care not to repeatsome of the mistakes that he haddone in the past. Does he regret doinga film? “I wish I hadn’t done somefilms. But I can’t undo a lot of things.Maybe it’s my fate. I just want to workharder and learn more,” he signs off.Ishq opens to screens in February.

I BELIEVE IN LUCK

After a promisingstart, Nitin’s acting careertook a beatingdue to successiveflops. Yet, he isupbeat over hisupcoming filmIshq. He talksabout his careerso far and con-fesses that hehas a lot to learnabout taking theright decisions

T-TOWN TWEETIES

@sneha_ullalMy new photo shoot. No

makeup, no hair, no crazylighting. Very candid. By myfriend/photographer SarathShetty. Check him out onFacebook.

@LakshmiManchuWhat a day. The studio is filledwith artistic killers. Yuvan,@prakashraaj, maestroIllayraja and all the musicaround is just divine. Blessed.

@tashu_02Desert safari....camping in the

desert tonight....yay....

@pnavdeep26Why r all d mental asylumsonly full of men? Wonder whois driving them crazy!!Women? Lol :)

@Amala_amsHeading to Chennai for the

Pongal special channel pro-grams for #VettaiPromo ....

@shrutihaasanSuch an eventful start to theNew Year! Now battling myfirst New Year sniffles... :p thenback to Gabbar Singh and 3!Work work my 2012 mantra.

@sayalibhagatWell me in Nasik, for theprayer meeting for my grand-father’s demise..Friends andfamily from all over inNasik…life is so unpre-dictable...

@devakatta“In a time of deceit tellingtruth is a revolutionary act” -George Orwell.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201220The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

Sundeep Kishangets busyS

undeep Kishan, bestknown for his terrific per-formance in Deva Katta’sPrasthanam, seems to be

planning his career quite care-fully. After more than a yearsince Prasthanam’s release, theactor is back in action with fourfilms including a Tamil film. He’splaying the lead role in PraveenSattaru’s Routine Love Story andin Lakshmi Manchu’s upcomingproduction Gundello Godaari,he’s playing an action packedrole. Apart from these two films,he’s going to make his Tamil filmdebut in a comedy film titledYaroda Mahesh. Ad filmmakerMadan is

directing the film and Red PostProductions is producing thefilm. “I am also doing a bilin-gual film to be directed byRaj Pippala. Anand Rangais producing it,” SundeepKishan adds, “the formatof each of these stories isdifferent and none of thecharacters I am doinghave any similaritieswith each other. I amglad that finally Iam doing filmswhich I

believe in.”

Allari Naresh signsanother comedy filmYou can trust Allari Naresh for

being perennially busy. Overthe years, he has stuck to his

strength, which is entertainingpeople relentlessly and it comes

as no big surprise that he hassigned yet another comedyfilm. What’s interesting, as

of now, about this film isits title, Nela

Thakkuvodu, which lit-erally means ‘One who

is born prematurely’. E Sattibabu,who had directed

Betting Bangarraju, is going to helm the project. More

details about this project will be announced soon.

Allari Naresh will also be seen inanother comedy film, co-star-

ring Sharwanand and ShriyaSaran, which is said to be

remake of Deewana Mastana.

Short film contestdeadline extendedAshort film contest ‘Here is my story,

what’s yours?’, which is being organ-ised by Applause –The Theatre People andCastnCrew.in has captured the attentionof short-film makers.

The competition was launched a cou-ple of weeks ago and the response so farhas been amazing. “We have been gettingalot of support from the Telugu filmindustry and people alike. A lot moreshort-film makers are coming forward toparticipate in the contest; so we havedecided to extend the deadline toFebruary 10. We’ll also interact with morestudents,” says actor Soumya who’sorganising the competition.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201221The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

Talking movies It might sound like the mostcomfortable job in the world,but there is more to the jobof a critic. Opinions need tobe carefully thought of andnot just made up on a whim.We take a look at what filmcritics have to say abouttheir work

Isha Mukoo

Isha.m@postnoon.com

Come Friday and the mood inBollywood is just like it werebefore exam results are out. Ifnot for all, at least for some, it

is a day when they come to knowwhether their movie is a hit or a dud.Every Friday, ticket counters witness astampede-like situation with peoplequeuing up to get tickets for the latestflick. Such is the Bollywood fever.

While we all know about this Fridayfever, there is also another person whowaits for movie releases — that’s right,it is the critic. Yes, the bad guy ofBollywood, who scans and dissectsevery part of the movie with passionand it is her/his opinion that plays avital role in deciding the fate of the filmat the box-office. Anyone would love ajob where all you have to do is give anhonest opinion and get paid for it.Fame is just one of the incentives youreceive in this profession. So, is it assmooth-sailing as it seems? Critics tellus otherwise.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh feelsthere is no need to restrict oneselfwhile reviewing. “I watch a movie as amovie-goer rather than a critic. When Iwatch a movie, I see it as a viewer whowants to get entertained and not com-pare it with other films. I don’t feel aneed to restrain myself when reviewingbecause it is all about the movie. I havereviewed many of Salman’s and ShahRukh’s movies and if I have not giventhem positive ones, they know it’spurely work and there is no hiddenagenda involved,” he says. While

reviewing a movie is not cakewalk, crit-ics, too, are criticised. Recalling arecent twitter spat with actor ShahidKapur, Taran says, “You must haveheard about the controversy withShahid. I am not biased; I will call abad film a bad film because that is howI feel. It’s totally professional and it isnot restricted to actors alone; thereview is for producers and directors aswell,” he said. “My tweet said, ‘Fetchedapprox `21cr/ `22 crore net in its open-ing weekend. Biz slid downwards onSaturday, but showed escalation onSunday... numbers are below the mark.’It did not go down well with Shahid,who tweeted back, ‘So all those tryingso hard to scr** Mausam can go scr**themselves. Waise bhi aajkal kuchhlogon ke adarsh buri tarha gir chukehain.” Adarsh had replied, “Abusing mewon't help. Instead, get a reality checkand introspect the shortcomings of thefilm.”

Noted critic, author and wife offilmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra,Anupama Chopra feels a critic’s job is

interesting but at the same time oneneeds to speak the truth. “Personally, Iavoid reviewing films that are from myfamily, as some people might feel I ambeing biased; so I pretend Munna Bhaior 3 Idiots did not exist. Apart fromthat, when I am reviewing a movie, Idon’t watch it with any preconceivednotions or since there is a star in themovie so it has to be good or bad. Oneneeds to discover and look at themovie with a fresh perspective,” shesays, adding that there’s no harm call-ing a spade a spade as that’s the job ofa critic. “One has to be objective indoing their job and people need tounderstand that all the criticism is pos-itive and is not to be taken personally.So one just needs to be respectful anddo the job,” she explains.

But not everyone takes criticismpositively. Be it the stars or the film-makers. As Rajeev Masand puts it, “Thekey to a review is honesty and clarity.It’s the same as that of a journalist’sjob. Just that one does not use a certainkind of language. Having said that, onecannot compromise with the reviewand say otherwise.” So what does hehave to say to the honest reviews by hisfraternity, that make some starsbreathe fire. King Khan for starters didnot take kindly to the reviews hereceived for Don 2 . “Our job is not toplease the stars. Critics do not writereviews for the stars or filmmakers. Wewrite it for the audience and havingsaid that, nothing can please every-body in this world,” he replied.

While the job is a dirty one, addingvalue judgement is what this tricky jobcalls for. And like Rajeev says, “Nothingcan please everybody in this world.”

B-TOWN TWEETIES

@rampalarjun Holiday comes to an end. Hadthe best time here in Dubai.The Address Downtown hotelwas like a 2nd home. Nowback to work work and work.

@RGVzoomin All those who hate me- whichI guess would be the majoritycan watch me on ArjunRampal’s ‘love to hate u’ pro-gramme on 8th Jan at 9 pm onStar World.

@NeilNMukesh Nothing like a good hotelroom :). Some good food andgreat company. :) Post a nicemovie tucked in bed :D

@bipsluvurselfLeaving for Dubai now! Have apacked day tom! Lots of stuff fr#Players! Looking forward tomeeting all u guys from Dubai!

@FarOutAkhtar Am I the only person in theworld who didn’t get into play-ing Angry Birds??

@ajaydevgn Back in town and on the set.This feels like the actual startof the year. Gearing up!

@SrBachchan T 612 -From being a subjectinfra dig to society, to beacknowledged is what IndianCinema’s progress hasbeen...remarkable and proudmoment.

@imarshadwarsi Got a few personal and pro-fessional challenges to over-come this year, will do mybest to overcome them grace-fully.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 22The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

Vindu Dara Singhhits out at Poojas

Actor Vindu Dara Singh, who won thethird season of Bigg Boss, has hit out atPooja Missra and Pooja Bedi for alleging

favouritism in the ongoing season of theshow. “It has been two years since I won BiggBoss but, like every year, this year also somecontestants are crying after being evicted.Twitter is a medium that I will never get tolike... some silly girls go and accuse and sayanything about two of the biggest and bestpeople in the industry,” said Vindu. WhilePooja Missra alleged favouritism for MahekChahal, Pooja Bedi accused Salman Khan fordemoralising Akashdeep Saigal in the house.The grand finale of Bigg Boss 5 will be telecaston Saturday. “The show is the best and it takesout the worst in contestants along with theirbest. Wish the two Poojas forget Bigg Boss 5and move ahead because whosoever is advis-ing them to do this kind of publicity, is leadingthem on to the wrong path. Even today thereis no clear winner and let’s see who does winthis crazy session,” he added. IANS

MasterChefShipra feels shehas much to stirF

or Shipra Khanna, it was aperfect recipe that took herto the top in the world ofcooking. But this winner of

MasterChef India feels she hasmiles to go.

“It’s just one step, I have to gomiles still,” Shipra, the 29-year-old single mother, born andbrought up in the HimachalPradesh capital said.

Shipra on Sunday nightwalked away with the title ofMaster Chef in the second seasonof the cooking reality show. Shewon a cash prize of `1 cr ore, achance to host her own sh ow onStar Plus and a vacation for threenights and four days in Lo ndon.She said her mother was her

motivation. “I grew up watchingand learning culinary skills frommy mother, who is a pe rfect host.Now, it’s my children whobrought out the talent in me.”

Shipra, who was married inAgra, is living separately from herhusband. Her children, Yadaviand Himang, stay with theirfather. “My children love to dineout. Several times I tried to repli-cate recipes, especially thedesserts, at home. This greatlyhelped me in honing my skills,”she added. Her parents —Balween and Radhika Khanna —said it was Shipra’s passion forcooking that took her to the tophonour.

“She loves to cook for theentire family. Despite estrangedrelations with her husband, shemanaged to grab the title,” saidBalween, who runs LaljeeJewellers in Shimla’s LowerBazaar. Shipra aspires to anchor afood and travel show. She beatJoseph Rozario from Siliguri andSalma Shazia Fathima fromBangalore to win the show thatstarted off with 12 contestants.

The grand finale was telecastover Saturday and Sunday withBollywood actor Akshay Kumaronce again returning to the showas a guest judge for both theepisodes.

IANS

Bollywood’s item girl Rakhi Sawant,seems to have taken a fancy for politi-cians. After confessing that she has a

soft corner for the Congress party generalsecretary Rahul Gandhi, she is now show-ering praises on Raj Thackeray.

“I respect Rajji a lot. He is a very goodman and his team is equally good. He isdoing a great job. Don’t see what is hap-pening in the city, but see how he ishelping the poor. I always say that Rajjiis like a brother to me,” the 33-year-oldcontroversy queen said whileattending a screening of Don 2with cancer patients.

“Kehte hain na ki jab seedhiungli se ghee nahin nikalta haitoh ungli tedhi karni padti hai,aur koun aisa nahin hai... And Idon’t find anything wrong in hisconduct,” she added.

The actress is clear when itcomes to her career choices.She says she has no plans to join politics. IANS

Now, Rakhi Sawantpraises Raj Thackeray

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201223Magic Screen

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201225The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

You’ll recall that back in early December,we reported on the first screening ofthe Dark Knight Rises prologue cur-

rently playing in front of Mission: Impossible– Ghost Protocol on Imax screens. While the

footage scored some glowing reviews, thefirst inklings of an issue began to appear,

with concerns raised about Bane (TomHardy)’s raspy, metallic, and accented dia-

logue being hard to understand. Chris Nolanhas said he won’t overhaul it, but now comesword that he may at least have tinkered with

it to help audiences make out the breathypronouncements. According to an Imax pro-

jectionist who received an updated sound-track for the prologue, the new audio lowers

the background noise so that Bane standsout a little more, without comprising Nolan’svision of a film that doesn’t simply shovel theplot’s ideas out at you. Still, if true, the tweak

was necessary after the issue spawned a slewof net jokes and critical comments.

Dark Knight Risesaudio tweaked?

Martin Scorsese, who’s recentlywon widespread acclaim forhis artful use of 3D in Hugo

is contemplating the possibility ofshooting two more of his films in the

in-vogue format. The films in ques-tion, in case you were wondering, are

Silence — a historical drama based onthe Shusaka Endo novel about two

Jesuit missionaries who embark on avoyage to Japan in the 17th century —

as well as a proposed biopic of leg-endary crooner Frank Sinatra.

“I’m considering the possibility,”Scorsese told Variety.

While neither project is an obviouschoice for the format, if anybody can

shoot a drama in 3D and make it workit’s hard not to think that Scorsese’s

the one.

Scorsese todirect Sinatra’s

biopic in 3D

As the old saying goes, any publicity is good pub-licity. At least that’s the case with Kelly Clarkson

this week, whose latest album Stronger postedbig sales gains on both Amazon and iTunes’

digital sales charts following her controversial endorse-ment of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul last

Thursday. “I love Ron Paul,” Clarkson wrote on herWhoSay account. “I liked him a lot during the last

Republican nomination and no one gave him a chance.If he wins the nomination for the Republican party in

2012 he’s got my vote. Too bad he probably won’t.”Clarkson’s shout-out to Paul proved unpopular

with several of her followers, many of whom sentangry responses admonishing the singer for pledging

to back a candidate who has recently been the subjectof allegations concerning racist statements con-

tained in past issues of his official newsletter. Somefans also took issue with the Texas congressman’s

stances on issues including gay rights and the death penalty.

“I do not support racism,” Clarkson later wrotein reply to her critics. “I support gay rights, straight

rights, women’s rights, men’s rights,white/black/purple/orange rights. I like Ron Paul

because he believes in less government and lettingthe people (all of us) make the decisions andmold our country. That is all. Out of all of the

Republican nominees, he’s my favourite.” Paul isknown for inspiring passionate support among

his disciples, many of whom were clearlypleased enough with Clarkson’s message

to seek out her latest LP.Clarkson kicks off her Stronger tour on

January 13th in Mashantucket, CT.

CLARKSON’Salbum sales

stronger after Ron Paul

endorsement

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201226Chai Time

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

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

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

Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly:In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you

will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. Thismeans that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14.Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on...

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

Note the second cell in row two - it contains two numbers, 30 and11. The 30 refers to the vertical run underneath the number 30 and the11 refers to the two cells to the right, horizontally, of the number 11.

KAKUROACROSS1 Witty remark5 First name of the first

American in space9 Try again, from the start13 ___ Bator, Mongolia14 Extinct bird that could-

n't fly15 Librarian's book-stamp-

ing gadget16 Go-___ (four-wheeled

racer)17 Perform with no others18 Your dad's brother, to

you19 Coarse stuff for mani-

curists21 Disney classic everyone"nose"23 Gift recipients25 Where one sleeps on a

train26 Group's belief28 Reached someone on a

pager32 Ubiquitous insect34 TV game show host

Ben (win his money)37 Male bee38 Neither here ___ there39 Mumbai dresses41 Corny place42 Lady's mate45 Flower part47 Pacino, Roker, Gore and

Unser48 Byzantine or Ottoman50 Infection-causing bacte-

ria52 Supersized55 Pole position?58 Overly optimistic Disney

soul62 Jeans material63 Up on things64 Bad smell66 Molecule part67 Happen regularly68 What a waiter hands

out69 Neck hair70 Middle Eastern port on

its own gulf71 Genesis garden72 Surreptitious summons

DOWN1 Dodged a defender2 "King of the Hill" beer3 Disney movie of 1961

and 1998 (with "The")4 Dish that's the main

course5 Things that pop up

annoyingly6 Roller coaster feature7 Deviate from the script8 Worst possible turnout9 Rectangular house10 Ingrain, as into memory11 Where the workers cut

the mustard?12 Lunchbox snack15 Like homes with central

air conditioning20 Japanese coins22 Sphere24 Complete collections27 London socials29 Disney film with Mel

Gibson's voice30 Chemical ending or

compound31 Society newcomers32 Kick in for a hand33 "Cheers" regular35 Hot feeling36 Puppy bites40 Fill to the max43 Water

wheel'schannel

44 Something afather mayhear

46 Acclaim49 Pitching stat51 Part of a

studio sys-tem

53 Disney's"The ___-Mobile"

54 Pulled the

plug on56 Short-lived particles57 Actor M. ___ Walsh58 Chute opening?59 Was obligated to60 Add liquor to61 Top-notch65 Yankee homecoming?

SCRI

BBLI

NG P

AD

SUDOKU

Behind every

successful

man stands a

surprised

mother-in-

law

THOUGHT OFTHE DAY

Take a shot at the brain game while sipping your cuppa

QUICK CROSSWORD

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

– Voltaire

27Chai TimeC

OM

ICS

Fred

Bas

set

Ston

e so

up

TAROT READ

Nine of Cups – Thisis the wish card buta word of caution.Wish for what youlike but be careful,as when it comestrue, you should stillwant that wish.

The Hanged Man –Youʼre interested inspiritual matters.You want to learnnew methods ofmeditation. You alsowant to know moreabout the occult.

Queen of Wands –Youʼve surroundedyourself with thingsyou like and areunwilling to changethe environment toattract new peopleand objects.

ARIES TAURUS GEMINIARIESProblems at workplace will lessen.Children's growth will make you happy. Stomach ailments likely. Becareful in food habits. Farmers need towork hard to get a good harvest.

CANCER

LIBRABusinessmen will be much involvedin transactions and ensure good profits. Employees should not besloppy, or they may face the ire oftheir superiors.

CAPRICORNEmployees might feel upset, as theirsuperiors who were helpful may betransfered. Be careful and work withinvolvement with new boss. Financiallya comfortable position is seen.

TAURUSEnemies will keep away from you. Youwill buy essential household items andcomforts will increase. Blood relativeswill be cordial to you. Businessmenwill get more customers.

LEOYou will analyse the pros and consbefore taking any vital decisions whichwill protect you in future. Farmers canexpect a bumper crop. But you mayneed to struggle a bit.

SCORPIOEmployees need to identify those whoare creating trouble for them, and stayaway from them. Travels will be bene‑ficial. Relativesʼ visit will make womenhappy and cheerful.

AQUARIUSPromotion and pay hike on the cardsfor some. Employees will work withperfection and receive apprecciat i on.Businessmen need to adjust with part‑ners and maintain cordiality.

GEMINIEmployees need to struggle hard tocomplete their work. However, theywill get suitably rewarded.Businessmen will gain by adoptingnew techniques.

VIRGOEmployees will get relief, as theirwork load will reduce. Superiors willgive due consideration to yourdemands and needs.Politicians needto run from pillar to post.

SAGITTARIUSEmployeesʼ workload will increase.Differences with superiors will cometo an end. Tension and wanderingswill reduce for businessmen. Incomewill rise rapidly.

PISCESBlood relatives will help and fulfillyour expectations. Govt sops willcome by. Employees will get anattractive package and get the sup‑port of superiors.

For B

ette

r or f

or W

orse

Ink

pen

Knight of Wands –youʼre charging aheadwith your ideas andthey may or may notwork. Your enthusiasmis endearing to thosearound you,

The Wheel ofFortune – Bide yourtime and make amove when you getwhat you really wa ‑nt. There are tim eswhen you donʼt haveenough support.

Four of Swords –Stability is veryimportant to you andyou have it now inthe form of lovingfriends and family.You have a deep con‑nection with family.

CANCER LEO VIRGO

The Magician – Useyour intuition welland make the rightdecisions to pushthe plans ahead.Give ro om for othersʼopinions too. Youʼreat the right place.

Knight of Swords –Your intellect ismuch in demand atthe work place.Juniors come to youfor advice and toseek help in impor‑tant matters.

Eight of Wands – Thisis the card of goodluck. You will getwhat you want with‑out having to pitchfor it much. Yourbosses are happywith your work.

LIBRA SCORPIO SAGITTARIUS

Ten of Cups – Family

is in focus. You have

made a warm home

for yourself and want

to invest your emo‑

tions meaningfully in

a traditional home.

Six of Pentacles –Take help from asenior at the workplace. Donʼt beoverconfident aboutyour decisions.Always check withsomeone who hasmore experience.

Ace of Cups – Goodideas win the wayforward and you ha ‑ve those ideas. Butmaybe you need topolish your commu‑nication skills to putthem across well.

CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES

STAR POWER SUMAA TEKURtarotreadhyd@gmail.com

THIRUVAIKUMARthiruvaikumar@yahoo.co.in

040-27177230 / 9177596118

SOLUTIONS

Sudu

ko

Scrabble

Num

ber g

ame

Boggle

YEN PESO EURO POUND RUBLE DOLLAR

Businessmen will diversify and earngood profits. You will get new cus‑tomers. Farmers' problems with irriga‑tion will be solved. Cattle rearers andfarmers will make profit.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012Your tomorrow todayStar Power and Tarot

Date 5-1-2012

Vol: 1, No. 172 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No. 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad–500033 and printed by himat Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad–500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon.com and for subscription, please call 040-40672222, Fax: 040-40672211

As per Hindu panchang

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201228Telly sitcoms, news and movie listingsChai Time

1400 Naadi Aadajanme1430 Pavitra1500 Movie1800 Sri Shanidevuni Mahimalu1830 Vasantha Kokila1900 Chinnari Pelli Kuturu1930 Anna Chellelu2000 Pellipandiri2030 Edureetha2100 Challenge-32200 CID2300 Vasantha Kokila2330 Alajadi0700 Silver Screen0730 Just For Fun0800 Ayurvedam0830 Chaganti Nava Vidha Bhakti0900 Bhale Chancele

1400 Kannavaari Kalalu1430 Maavichiguru1500 Jeevitha Chakram1530 Movie 1800 Jai Shri Krishna1830 Shraavani Subramaniam1900 Mandhara1930 Auto Bharthi2000 No. 23, Mahalakshmi

Nivasam2030 Mogali Rekulu2100 Aparanji2130 Devatha2200 Mamathala Kovela2230 Anveshana2300 Gemini Vaarthalu0800 Gemini Talkies0830 Movie 1130 Aha Emi Ruchi1200 Comedy Kick1230 Maa Inti Aada Paduchu1300 Chittemmaa 1330 Gorintaku

1400 Abhishekam1430 Aadade Aadharam1500 Antahpuram1530 Aakasa Ganga1600 Prema Mandiram1630 Jagadeeswari1700 Wow 1800 Devimahathyam1830 Puttadi Bomma1900 Kumkuma Rekha1930 Manasu Mamata2000 Chandra Mukhi2030 Bharyamani2100 Etv News2130 Adhire Adurs2245 Movie 0800 Jeevana Jyothi0830 Tollywood Time0900 Movie 1130 Abhiruchi1230 Star Mahila

1400 Ardhangi 1430 Movie1800 Veera Naari Jhansi Laxmi

Bhai1830 Kalavari Kodallu1900 Chinna Kodalu1930 Pasupukunkuma2000 Muddu Bidda2030 Radha Kalyanam2100 Kanyadanam2130 Sa Re Ga Ma Pa - Little

Champs2230 Shree2300 Bindas0800 Gopuram0830 Bhakti Samacharam0900 Sri Raghavendra Vybhavam0930 Ayurveda Jeevana

Vignanam 1000 Zee 70 Mm A.C1200 Mee Inti Vanta

‘Criss Angel Mindfreak’at 2300 Hrs on AXN

1415 CSI - Crime SceneInvestigation

1510 Wipeout 21605 Launch My Line 1700 Live To Dance 1800 Criss Angel Mindfreak 1900 India's Minute To Win It 2000 Sports Crash2100 Minute To Win It 2200 Wipeout 22300 Criss Angel Mindfreak 0830 Infomercial/30 Min0900 Sky Teleshopping0930 Criss Angel Mindfreak 0955 Infomercial/5 Min1000 Criss Angel Mindfreak 1025 Infomercial/5 Min1030 Launch My Line 1130 Sports Crash1225 Live To Dance 1320 Minute To Win It

‘Baba Aisa Varr Dhoondo’at 2200 Hrs on IMAGINE1400 Haar Jeet 1500 Baba Aisa Varr Dhoondo 1600 Haar Jeet 1700 Dharampatni 1730 Sawaare Sabke Sapne –

Preeto 1800 Beendh Banuga Ghodi

Chadhunga 1830 Baba Aisa Varr Dhoondo 1900 Haar Jeet 1930 Mahima Shani Dev Ki 2000 Dwarkadheesh - Bhagwan

Shri Krishn2030 Sawaare Sabke Sapne –

Preeto2100 Beendh Banuga Ghodi

Chadhunga2130 Dharampatni 2200 Baba Aisa Varr Dhoondo 2230 Haar Jeet2300 Dharampatni

‘Saas Bina Sasural’ at2200 Hrs on SONY

1400 Saas Bina Sasuraal1430 Bade Achhe Lagte Hai1500 Kuch Toh Log Kahenge1600 CID1800 Saas Bina Sasuraal1830 Bade Achhe Lagte Hai1900 Crime Patrol - Dastak2000 Kuch Toh Log Kahenge2045 Dekha Ek Khwaab2130 Parvarrish - Kuchh Khatti

Kuchh Meethi2200 Saas Bina Sasural2230 Bade Achhe Lagte Hai2300 Kuch Toh Log Kahenge0730 Sky Star Advertising0900 Adaalat1000 Crime Patrol - 11200 Kuch Toh Log Kahenge1245 Dekha Ek Khwaab1330 Parvarrish - Kuchh Khatti

Kuchh Meethi

‘[V] D3 Dil Dosti Dance’ at1900 Hrs on CHANNEL [V]

1400 [V] Vignettes1430 [V] D3 Dil Dosti Dance1500 [V] Humse Hai Life1530 [V] Trailers1600 [V] Zabardast Hits1800 [V] Fresh Songs1830 [V] Humse Hai Life1900 [V] D3 Dil Dosti Dance1930 [V] Humse Hai Life2000 [V] New Year's Special2100 [V] Deadly Dus2130 [V] Trailers2200 Star Plus - Survivor2300 [V] Humse Hai Life2330 [V] D3 Dil Dosti Dance2355 [V] Fresh Songs0700 [V] Trailers0730 [V] Zabardast Hits0800 [V] Mind Blasting

Mornings1100 [V] Fresh Songs1200 [V] D3 Dil Dosti Dance

‘Business Tonight’ at 2100Hrs only on ET NOW1400 The F And O Show1430 Closing Trades1530 Tomorrow's Trades1600 Business Day1730 Markets Tomorrow1800 Rush Hour1830 Brand Equity Special1900 Global Business Report1930 Business Express2000 Business First2030 Markets Tomorrow2100 Business Tonight2200 Top 10 At102230 Leaders Of Tomorrow2300 Starting Up0900 First Trades1000 Hot Stocks1100 Buy Now Sell Now - The

Stock Game1130 Buy Now Sell Now1200 Market Sense1300 Business Day1330 Markets Now

‘The Game’ at 1930 Hrsonly on TIMES NOW

1300 News Now At11330 News Now1800 6 Pm1830 Live Report1900 Primetime1930 The Game2000 News Now At 82030 Live Report2100 The Newshour2200 The Newshour - Plus2230 E Now2300 News Now At 110800 The Morning News0900 News Now1200 Live Report1230 News Now

‘Chain Kulli Ki Main Kulli’at 1400 Hrs on ZOOM1400 Movie - Chain Kulli Ki

Main Kulli1730 Star Bonanza1800 Letz Go!1900 Planet Bollywood News1930 Link'd2000 Zabar 102030 My Playlist2130 Link'd2200 B - Tonite2230 Style Strip2300 Bollywood Bonanza0700 Fresh Mornings0800 Red Carpet0805 Fresh Mornings1100 Zoom Box1200 Garma Garam1300 Planet Bollywood News1330 Zabar 10

‘Parenthood’ at 2200 Hrson ZEE CAFE

1400 Scrubs1430 $H*! My Dad Says1500 Criss Angel - Mindreak1600 Parenthood1700 Scrubs1730 $H*! My Dad Says1800 E News 1900 The Tonight Show With Jay

Leno 2000 Scrubs2030 America's Funniest Home

Videos2100 Britannia High2200 Parenthood2300 Scrubs2330 Keeping Up With The

Kardashians0800 Criss Angel - Mindreak0900 Parenthood1000 Scrubs1030 America's Funniest Home

Videos1100 Criss Angel - Mindreak

‘The Simpsons’ at 2030Hrs on STAR WORLD1400 Supernatural 1500 Combat Hospital 1600 The Big Bang Theory 1630 The Simpsons 1700 The Shield 1800 Supernatural 1900 Love2 Hate U 2000 Two And A Half Men 2030 The Simpsons 2100 Supernatural 2200 The Shield 2300 The Big Bang Theory 2330 Two And A Half Men 0700 Glee 0800 Las Vegas 0900 Terra Nova 1000 The Shield 1100 Love2 Hate U 1200 Two And A Half Men 1230 The Simpsons 1300 The Big Bang Theory 1330 Friends

‘Sasural Simar Ka’ at 1930Hrs on COLORS

1400 Hawan 1500 Veer Shivaji 1530 Uttaran 1600 Phulwa 1630 Parichay - Nayee Zindagi

Kay Sapno Ka 1700 Sasural Simar Ka 1730 Veer Shivaji 1800 Uttaran 1830 Balika Vadhu 1900 Hawan 1930 Sasural Simar Ka 2000 Balika Vadhu 2030 Veer Shivaji 2100 Phulwa 2130 Parichay - Nayee Zindagi

Kay Sapno Ka 2200 Uttaran 2230 Bigg Boss2330 Balika Vadhu - Kacchi

Umar Ke Pakke Rishte

‘Man Woman Wild’ at1900 Hrs on DISCOVERY 1400 Haunting1600 Swords1700 Man Woman Wild1800 Wild Discovery1900 Man Woman Wild2000 Virus Hunters2100 Man Vs Wild2200 Swords2300 Desire & Pleasure

Decoded1000 Virus Hunters1100 Man Woman Wild1200 I Should'nt Be Alive1300 Wild Discovery

‘Lapataganj’ at 2200 Hrson SAB

1400 Taarak Mehta Ka OoltahChashmah

1430 R. K. Laxman Ki Duniya1500 Lapataganj1530 Fir1600 Chidiya Ghar1630 Gutur Gu1700 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah

Chashmah1830 R. K. Laxman Ki Duniya1900 Chidiya Ghar1930 Don’t Worry Chachu !!!2000 Chintu Chinky Aur Ek Badi

Si Love Story2030 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah

Chashmah2100 Chidiya Ghar2130 R. K. Laxman Ki Duniya2200 Lapataganj2230 F.I.R.2300 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah

Chashmah2330 Sajan Re Jooth Maat Bolo0900 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah

Chashmah 0945 Ring Wrong Ring1030 Gutur Gu

MOVIES OF THE DAY AND OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

‘Diya Aur Bati Hum’ at2100 Hrs on STAR PLUS1400 Sapnon Se Bharey Naina1430 Mann Ki Awaaz… Pratigya1500 Navya1600 Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri

Behnaa Hai1630 Sasuraal Genda Phool1700 Saath Nibhaana Saathiya1730 Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon1800 Mann Ki Awaaz… Pratigya1830 Ruk Jana Nahin1900 Saath Nibhaana Saathiya1930 Sasuraal Genda Phool2000 Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon2030 Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri

Behnaa Hai2100 Diya Aur Bati Hum2130 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai2200 Navya2230 Mann Ki Awaaz… Pratigya2300 Maryaada ... Lekin Kab Tak?

The DefendersStoryline - Facing thirtycounts of possession of acontrolled substance, anoverconfident judge turnsto Nick, who has no choicebut to help acquit him ofthe charges.

‘The Defenders’ at 2300 Hrs on BIGCBS PRIME

Storyline - Sam and Deanhelp a girl whose datebecame a victim of the"Hook Man," a famousurban legend that turns outto be real, in a small col-lege town somewhere inIowa.

‘Supernatural’ at 2100 Hrs onSTARWORLD

Supernatural

‘Food Detectives’ at 2130Hrs on DISCOVERYSCIENCE

‘Survivor’ at 2100 Hrs onBIG CBS PRIME1430 Jerry Springer1530 Aspire1600 Survivor 1700 Bellator1800 Galileo Extreme1900 Defenders2000 Entertainment Tonight2030 Galileo Extreme2100 Survivor 2200 Jerry Springer2300 Defenders0700 Big Wheels0730 Aspire0800 Galileo Extreme0900 Survivor 1000 Bellator1100 Jerry Springer1200 Aspire1230 Entertainment Tonight1300 Galileo Extreme1330 Defenders

1400 Junkies1430 Mythbusters1530 Discovery Science Classics1630 Sci Fi Science1700 Innovation Nation1730 Machines!1800 Industrial Junkies1830 Best Of Discovery Science1930 How Do They Do It?2030 The Indestructibles2100 Deconstructed2130 Food Detectives2200 Sci Fi Science2230 Greatest Ever2330 Industrial Revelations1030 Sci Fi Science1100 One Step Beyond1130 Mythbusters1230 Best Of Discovery Science1330 Connections

1430 Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past 1625 Ocean's Eleven1840 You've Got Mail 2100 Batman Forever2325 Batman Begins 0800 Friends 0830 Good Morning, Miami 0900 Friends 0930 The New Adventures Of Old

Christine 1000 Unaccompanied Minors1150 License To Wed

1230 The Bourne Identity 1505 Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's

Stone 1820 Running Scared 2100 Next2315 The Lord Of The Rings - The

Fellowship Of The Ring 0815 Running Scared 1040 Gangs Of New York

‘Bhagonwali’ at 2230 Hrson ZEE TV1400 Hitler Didi1430 Mrs. Kaushik Ki Paanch

Bahuein1500 Afsar Bitiya1530 Yahaaan Main Ghar Ghar

Kheli1600 Pavitra Rishta1630 Dance India Dance1800 Hitler Didi1830 Mrs. Kaushik Ki Paanch

Bahuein1900 Afsar Bitiya1930 Choti Bahu 22000 Hitler Didi2030 Yahaaan Main Ghar Ghar

Kheli2100 Pavitra Rishta2130 Ram Milaye Jodi2200 Mrs. Kaushik Ki Paanch

Bahuein2230 Bhagonwali2300 Afsar Bitiya

‘Batman Forever’ at 2100 Hrs on WB

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201229The games people playPlaying Field

Krzysztof takes lead

SAN JUAN: Polish driverKrzysztof Holowczyc took theoverall lead in the Dakar Rally hereon Tuesday after the third stagewon by Mini-driving team-mateSpaniard Nani Roma.

It was not a good day forovernight leader, six-time Dakarmotorcycling champion and threetime car winner France’s StephanePeterhansel who suffered twopunctures and came in over sixminutes slower than Roma whichsaw him slip to fifth overall.

Roma timed 2hr 26min 51secover the 208 km drive, finishing1min 9sec ahead of Holowczycwhile Qatar’s defending championNasser Al-Attiyah was third in hisHummer, 1min 29sec behind.

“We were fortunate to set off

later on, follow the tyre tracks andsee where to brake,” said 39-year-old Roma, who won the motorbikerace in 2004.

“But all in all, it’s more impor-tant for us that we drove reallywell, rather than the stage victory,”added Roma, whose best finish inthe car section was third in 2006.

Earlier France’s three-time cha -mpion Cyril Despres enjoyed acrushing victory in the 270km thirdstage of the motorcycling section.

Despres - who had a bad startto the race but regained some timeon Monday - took the overall leadin the race as his main rival KTMteam-mate and defending cham-pion Marc Coma of Spain had anawful day finishing seventh morethan 13min off the winner.

Coma was philosophical abouthis off day which saw him take thewrong route. “Yesterday was myday, but today definitely wasn’t!”said Coma.

HOPMAN CUP

Richard Gasquet of France plays against Lleyton Hewitt of Australia during their men’s singlesSession 6 match on Day 4 of the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth on Tuesday. Gasquet won6-2, 5-7, 6-1

TOOTH & NAIL

Cyril Despres won the third stage in the motorcycle section Spaniard Nani Roma won thethird stage of the car section

Bulls gore HawksCHICAGO: Luol Deng’s layupwith 3.7 seconds to play liftedthe Chicago Bulls to a 76-74victory over the Atlanta Hawkson Tuesday night.

Derrick Rose scored 17 ofhis 30 points in the fourth quar-ter to rally the Bulls from a 19-point deficit. Coming out of atimeout with the score tied inthe final seconds, Deng cutalong the baseline and took afeed from Joakim Noah to putChicago ahead.

Atlanta’s Joe Johnson shotan airball at the buzzer, givingthe Bulls the win.

Deng finished with 19points for the Bulls.

Rose missed a runner with21 seconds left, but Atlanta’sJeff Teague missed two freethrows. Rose then drove pastTeague and scored over theHawks’ Josh Smith with 9.9seconds left to put the Bulls up74-73.

Al Horford, who led theHawks with 16 points, wasfouled and split two free throwswith 7.7 seconds remaining.

Marvin Williams added 14

points and Josh Smith had 13for Atlanta, which shot just 35percent from the floor but heldChicago to 34 percent.

The Bulls have won fourstraight and their 5-1 start istheir best since opening 12-0 in1996-97.

Horford scored eight pointsas Atlanta extended its lead to19 late in the third before theBulls scored the last five pointsin the quarter.

The Hawks led 56-42 enter-ing the final period.

Rose, last season’s MVP,scored 11 points early in thefourth, including three 3-point-ers. His pullup 3 cut Atlanta’slead to two with 8:15 to playand capped the Bulls’ 20-3 run.

Two minutes later, Rosepassed to Deng for a 3 in thecorner, evening the score at 62for the game’s first tie.

Johnson answered with a 3of his own to spark a six-pointAtlanta run.

Chicago closed the gap toone on a series of free throws byDeng, setting up the stretchrun.

Derrick Rose (No 1) of the Chicago Bulls goes up for a shot onhis way to a game-high 30 points against Josh Smith (No 5) ofthe Atlanta Hawks at the United Center on Tuesday in Chicago,Illinois. The Bulls defeated the Hawks 76-74

Krzysztof during Stage 3

It came via a quick single, a poorly-judged one actually. A direct hitfrom Zaheer Khan from mid-on

would have had Ricky Ponting run outfor 99. He dived to make his groundand did. He then got up with his hel-met askew and dirt all down his shirtand trousers, a sight that broughtsmiles from Clarke and even theumpire Ian Gould, and importantlyfrom Ponting himself.

This was his first Test century intwo years.

Punter had maintained that hewas batting well amid the piling criti-cism over his form and his place onthe side. In this innings, he wasindeed — a fine knock powered byseveral classic Ponting pulls andbeautiful on-drives.

Like Clarke, Ponting scored allaround the wicket, and it was notuntil the new ball arrived that Pontingdeparted, caught at point when hedrove Ishant Sharma.

There was a standing ovation forPonting as he walked off the SCG —hardly a surprise — the venue wherehe has scored more Test runs thanany other.

Sachin Tendulkar on Day 2 of the second cricket Test against Australia atthe Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

INDIA VS AUSTRALIA 30

n Australia are in total control of the match thanks tosome wonderful batting by Ricky Ponting and MichaelClarke. Their 288-run partnership was marked with theright mix of aggression and caution.

n Both batsmen were helped by indifferent bowling.India’s bowlers regressed again after bowling superblyovernight. The length was poor and the line more mid-dle and leg stump which was punished by the batsmen.

n Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy was far toodefensive. When he needed to attack at the start of theday, he was totally defensive. The field was far too deepand at one time even the slips were done away with.

n Clarke got his first double century which wasmarked with fluent drives and deft flicks. But Ponting’sfirst hundred in 33 innings was the highlight. He reaf-firmed that class will always tell.

n The onus once again falls on the Indian batsmen.The lead is getting bigger and they will have to comeup with an extraordinary effort to win somerespectability for India.

Ponting provesclass will tell

Twelfth ManBabu Kalyanpur

IF HE CAN, WHY CAN’T I?Ricky Ponting dives to make his ground and score a run to reach his 100

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

INDIA VS AUSTRALIA 31

AGONYANDECSTASY

35,275 Day’sattendance 4.16 Australia

run rateDAY’S PERFORMERS

BATTING: M CLARKE BATTING: R PONTING

India 1st innings 191Australia 1st innings DA Warner c Tendulkar b Khan 8EJM Cowan lbw b Yadav 8SE Marsh lbw b Khan 8Ponting c Tendulkar b Sharma 134MJ Clarke not out 251MEK Hussey not out 55Extras: (lb 12, w 3, nb 3) 18Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-8, 3-37, 4-325TOTAL 482/4BOWLING: Z Khan 26-4-106-3U Yadav 18-2-94-0I Sharma 22-0-106-1R Ashwin 28-4-103-0V Sehwag 14-1-37-0V Kohli 8-0-23-0

SCOREBOARD

SYDNEY: Ricky Ponting hit hisfirst Test century in two years andMichael Clarke reached his high-est Test score as Australia took aniron grip on the second SydneyTest against India on Wednesday.

Ponting, 37, gave the perfectriposte to those calling for hisretirement with a dogged 134 in apartnership of 288 runs for a bur-geoning 158-run lead over thedispirited tourists at the SydneyCricket Ground.

At the time of going to press onthe second day, Australia were 482for four with Clarke unconqueredon 251 and Mike Hussey not out

55. Ponting took off for a single on99 to mid-on and dived full lengthto make his ground as ZaheerKhan’s throw narrowly whistledpast the stumps at the bowler’send 20 minutes after lunch.

The former skipper climbedoff the ground, his shirt coveredin dirt, smiling broadly and withhis bat raised to mark his firsthundred in 34 Test innings — hislast being 209 against Pakistan inHobart in January 2010.

It was his 40th Test century,his seventh against India andsixth at the SCG where he is alsothe leading all-time Test run-get-

ter with 1,480. Ponting was finallyout shortly before tea when hesliced to Sachin Tendulkar in thegully off Ishant Sharma. He bat-ted for 335 minutes, faced 225balls and hit 14 fours.

Clarke brought up his 18thTest century and fourth againstIndia with a glorious cover driveoff Sharma in the last overbefore lunch.

It was Clarke’s second Testcentury of the Australian sum-mer season after scoring 139against New Zealand in Brisbanelast month. The Australian skip-per went on to pass his highest

Test score of 168, scored againstNew Zealand in Wellington inMarch 2010.

It was the only wicket to fallon a dominant day for Australia,building a huge lead over India,who were paying for theirmediocre 191 first innings onTuesday’s opening day.

Clarke and Ponting cametogether with Australia at a shaky37 for three and have put thehome team in a strong positionto force a result.

India have never won a Testseries in Australia and trail thehome side in the series 0-1. AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 201232The games people playPlaying Field

Normal service was resumedfor 10-man Manchester Cityas they once again put day-light between themselves and

rivals Manchester United at the top ofthe Barclays Premier League table witha 3-0 victory over Liverpool at the EtihadStadium. Reds goalkeeper Jose Reinaallowed a soft Sergio Aguero shot gounder him before slack marking at acorner allowed Yaya Toure to powerhome the second with his head.

Even when Gareth Barry was sentoff with 18 minutes remaining Cityadded a third from James Milner’spenalty after Yaya Toure had beenbrought down by Martin Skrtel.

Prior to kick-off Liverpool con-firmed they would not be appealingLuis Suarez’s eight-match ban for racial-ly abusing Manchester United defenderPatrice Evra; if this is what it is withoutSuarez then the Reds could be in for adifficult six weeks.

In a battle between the league’s topscorers and the meanest defence, some-thing had to give but few would havepredicted it would be the usually reli-able Reina. He made a complete hash ofAg uero’s 25-yard dipping shot allowingthe ball to fly underneath his body.

That was in sharp contrast to coun-terpart Joe Hart’s reactions in denyingStewart Downing moments earlierwhen his England team-mate threat-ened to score having been played in byJordan Henderson.

Reina went some way to redeeminghimself with a sharp save from VincentKompany’s glancing header but was lefthelpless by Toure’s powerful header off

the underside of the crossbar from Silva’scorner in the 34th minute.

The final nail was driven by Milnerfor City through a penalty, which wasawarded when Liverpool’s Skrtel fouledToure on the breakaway. Milner did noterr and completed City’s tally.

EVENING STANDARD

Results of othermatches

Wigan 1 - 4 SunderlandTottenham 1 - 0 West Brom

Man City’s manager RobertoMancini exults as his side gotwo goals up against Liverpool

City back on top

Everton vs Bolton 1.25am

ESPN (early on Thursday)

Star SportsNewcastle vs Manchester United 1.24am

10-Man City too good for Reds