postnoon e-paper for april 5th 2013

P12

Film legend Martin Scorseseand President Barack Obama ledtributes to US movie criticRoger Ebert, the first cinema pundit to win aPulitzer Prize, who diedon Thursday fromcancer aged 70.

Unlike big ticket sci-fi and superhero filmslike Iron Man-3, Wolverine, Star Trek 2,

there are plenty of films this year whichcould very well become sleeper hits of

2013. We take a look at 10 such Hollywoodfilms, which will release sans big

buzz, but have the potential tobe the talk of the town.

REPORT ON P6

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 HYDERABAD WWW.POSTNOON.COM WEATHER: A MIX OF CLOUDY AND CLEAR SKIES; 34°C 32 PAGES `3

Film criticROGEREBERT

dies aged 70

UNDERTHERADAR

GOVT PROMISESTO BRING OUTLIST OF RTEFLOUTERS SOONBut this is no solace for thousands of parents who do notknow if the fees they paid will ever be refunded orworse, if the school they chose for their children willshut down. Worried parents are wondering what thedeal between the government and private schools is.

The party is bringing itshigh-profile leader and GujaratCM Narendra Modi to the State

with the twin aim of drumming up support for

his prime ministerialambitions and to gainmaximum Lok Sabha

seats in Telangana.

Modi effectin AP soon

P5

P16&17

city eventsFRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013

2

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES

Vaishali Bisht’s theatreworkshopVaishali Bisht is conducting specialSummer Holidays theatre workshopsfor children between the ages of sixand 12. The course consists of 20classes held Monday to Saturday.Using theatre games and exercises,the workshop helps children usetheir imagination and get creative.Where: Road no 7,

Banjara Hills When: From April 15,Monday to Saturday,4.30pm to 6.30pmContact: 94904 40986

Filmmaking workshopsfor childrenYavanika Films is conducting aunique filmmaking workshops thissummer vacation for children inHyderabad. Each participant willmake their own short film as part ofthe workshop. Even a parent andchild can register as one student pairto make a short film together.Where: Begumpet When: From April 24,

2pm to 7pm,daily classes except on weekends

Contact: 94901 00404

Chocolate making workshopAll materials will be provided by theorganisers and you can take whatyou make. The seats are limited for ahands-on session.

Where: Panache-The FinishingSchool

When: April 6, 11.30am onwards

Contact: (040) 6673 3451

Group painting exhibition An exhibition of paintings byPradosh Swain and SuchismitaSahoo.Where: Aalankritha Art Gallery,

Kavuri Hills, Jubilee Hills

When: Up to April 10Contact: www.alankritha.in

French artist B2FaysAlliance Française of Hyderabad,Kalakriti Art Gallery and ParkHyatt Hyderabad present Frenchartist B2Fays. It is an exhibition

of paintings and multimedia installations.Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery,

Plot No: 468, Road no 10, Banjara Hills,Hyderabad

When: Up to April 9,11am to 7pm

Contact: (040) 6656 4466

Punjab Da TashanAmbar sariyan murg, Punjabi chickenkeemedar, kalimirch machhi, acharipaneer and khumb hardhaniya aresome of the items on the menu.There is a starter and welcome drinkfree for ladies above 21 years.Where: Terrace Bay and Sky Bar,

Babukhan Mall, 6-3-1111/B 501, 5th Floor ,

SomajigudaWhen: Fridays up to April 12,

11am onwardsContact: (040) 2341 8545

Special lunchA changing menu, with a widespread of food items, and specialpackages for kitty and group lunches.Where: Kailash Parbat

Above Ebony Gautier, 2nd floor, Road No. 36, Jubilee Hills

When: OngoingContact: (040) 23558856

Heritage and restorationin post WWII GermanyThis is a lecture by Anuradha Reddy,an expert in restoration and heritagewith many years of experience inGermany.Where: Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad,

20 Journalist Colony,Road no 3, Banjara Hills

When: April 10,6pm onwards

Contact: 96427 31329

Shakespeare’s Hamletplay readingThe play reading is being organisedby Samahaara theatre group.Where: LamakaanWhen: April 7,

7.30pm onwardsContact: 96427 31329

SHOWS

WORKSHOPS

GAS BOOKING IVRS NO HP 9666023456Indane 9848824365

BSNL Complaints 198HMWS & SB Complaints 155313

POLICE CONTROL ROOMHyderabad 27852435Traffic Control Room 27852482DCP Traffic 23234065, 23243499FPollution Control Board 23887500

ELECTRICITYGeneral Complaints 155333Breakdown Section 23431178

23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

Commissioner & Spl Officer 2326226624166666R

ENC 23225267Engineering 23220418MCH Tankbund 23225397Emergency MCH Circle I&II 24525842MCH Circle III 24736912MCH Circle IV 23326975MCH Circle V 23326976MCH Circle VI MCH Complaints 1100Head Office 23225397

IVRS CUM MANUAL ENQUIRYPHONE NUMBERS(TRAIN & RESERVATION)RAILWAYSRail Nilayam 27833169, 27824216Railway Information 131Reservations 135Recorded Information 1345Enquiry (IVRS) 1331, 1332, 1333

WATER SUPPLYComplaint Cell 155313Sewerage Complaint 23307328Hyd. Water Supply 23313163

HOSPITALGeneral Hospital, Sec-bad 27505566Niloufer Hospital, Red Hills 23314095NIMS, Director, Punjagutta 23390933Osmania General Hospital 24600146Railway Hospital, Lalaguda 27001134Apollo, Jubilee Hills 23607777Care Hospital, Banjara Hills 30418888Care Hospital, Nampally 30417777Care Hospital, Musheerabad 30419000Care Hospital, Sec-bad 30416666Kamineni Hospital, LB Nagar 39879999

BLOOD BANKSBlood Bank,Narayanguda 27567892Chiranjeevi Blood Bank 23559555Blood Bank Mediton Goal 23226624Red Cross, Vidyanagar 27633087ADRM Blood Bank 27035588Mythri Charitable Trust 27550238NTR Memorial Trust 30799999Care Banjara Hills 30418296

30417445

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

AIRLINES

Airport Director 27903785, 27906001For Air India Flight Information Toll free(from any network) for IC Flights

18001801407And for All Flights: 1800227722Air India has revised its flight timings.For more information call (Toll free)18001801407, 1800227722 from BSNL/MTNL 04023430334 from otherlines and mobile Website; www.airindia.in

TOURISM OFFICESAP Tourism, Hyd 23262152/53/54Sec-bad 27893100Dept of Tourism 23453110India Tourism 23261360AP Tourism information Centre (24x7) 23450444, 23455999

UK VISA OFFICEVFS India Pvt Ltd Building, 8-2-542/A,Sunil Chamber, Road No. 7

Beside Meridian School, Banjara Hills-34. Working hours are from 8 AM to1 PM And 2 PM to 3PM.

MUSEUMSSalar Jung Museum 24523211AP State Museum 232431300/7641Nizams Museum 24521029

Helpline

Readers’ viewsWe invite you to write to

us comments, suggestions,viewpoint or just about

anything [email protected]

or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa,

Road No 62, Jubilee Hills,Hyderabad – 500 033

or even by way ofa call on 4067 2222

JAYA VILASAMAnanda Priya Foundation is organising Jaya Vilasam, a dance presenta-

tion by Dr Yashoda Thakore. It is at Saptaparni, next to Kalpa school,road no 8, Banjara Hills. The event is on April 7, from 6.30pm onwards.

The contact number is 93962 12232.

BangaloreMax 33Min 24

Partly cloudy.

ChennaiMax 35Min 28

Partly cloudy.

MumbaiMax 32Min 23

Partly cloudy.

New DelhiMax 35Min 21

Clear.

34°CA mix of clear and

cloudy skies.

25°CA mix of clear and

cloudy skies.

32°CA mix of clear

and cloudy skies.

40°CA mix of cloud

and sun.

Weather for HyderabadEvening Overnight Morning Afternoon

MANGOES ARE HERE! It’s the time of the year everyone’s been waiting for. After nearly five years, mangoes arrivedearly this season. A number of varieties arrived at the Kothapet fruit market on Thursday. M ANIL KUMAR

AtypicalSundaybrunch

can be a littleconfusing — it's

hard to stick to onecuisine. Taj Krishna in the Cityhas decided to go off thebeaten track by launching itsSparkling Yumcha brunch thisSunday at the GoldenDragon. The brunch, whichincludes sparkling wine, willfocus only on delicacies fromthe heart of China. It luresyou with dimsums, soup,spring rolls, noodles, rice anda variety of seafood to choosefrom. Visit once, you'll defi-nitely indulge again!

City’s#1

spot

DINING

ART

POSTNOON [email protected]

Ganesh, 28, resident ofBucchireddy colony inShamshabad, was so

greedy for dowry that despitegetting a large sum, heharassed and finally killedhis 22-year-old wife. A courton Thursday handed him lifeimprisonment for this crime.

Ganesh and Renuka gotmarried in 2011. At the time,Renuka’s parents reportedlygave Ganesh dowry in cashand kind. But soon after thewedding, Ganesh, whoworked in a private firm, lost

his job. He blamed Renuka,claimed she brought ill luckand demanded she bringmore dowry as he was jobless.

When Renuka failed tobring more dowry, Ganeshattacked her. In her dyingdeclaration, Renuka accusedher husband of stabbing her.The police acted swiftly andhe was booked for murder. Ametropolitan court in RangaReddy district found himguilty of manslaughter.

The police prosecutionsuccessfully argued that theman deserved no pity as hehad killed his young wife incold blood.

CRIME

CIVICCRIME

FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013

3City YESTERDAY’S QUESTIONIS RAHUL GANDHI RUNNING AWAY FROM MODI?

YES (A)

NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTIONDOES KIRAN’S U-TURN ON POWER TARIFF INDICATE FEAR OFEARLY POLLS?A) YES B) NO

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

55%

45%

Mohd [email protected]

Amuch-married man prac-tising black magic, whohad allegedly detained aminor girl and planned to

marry her, was arrested onThursday.

Langer House inspector NBRatnam said that Moinuddin Khan,a self-styed baba, detained an under-age girl for over 18 months and sexu-ally assaulted her. The girl has beensent to hospital for treatment.

According to details, Khan, 45, isfrom Muzaffernagar in UttarPradesh. He came to Hyderabad 12years ago and was living in a rentedflat in an apartment complex nearMehdipatnam Pillar Number 65. It isalleged that he started supplyingayurvedic drugs and claimed to be apractising ayurveda doctor who spe-cialised in kidney and diabetic dis-eases. He also claimed to be an exor-cist who got rid of bad spirits.

As word spread of his healingpowers, Nusrath Begum and her

husband Fareed Khan approachedKhan in hopes that he could cure theillness of their 16-year-old daughter.Khan was taken by the girl’s beautyand told her parents that he predict-ed bad influences had fallen on thefamily and that Fareed was going toface a life-threatening experiencesoon.

Curiously, in 16 days, Fareed waskilled after being fatally knockeddown on the road. This generatedgreat faith in Nusrath in Khan andshe began to blindly trust him. Khanreportedly told her that the girl alsofaced a dark future. He put her onmedication and kept her with himon that pretext. However, after sev-eral months, the girl’s brother gotsuspicious and approached theLanger House police, who raidedKhan’s flat and arrested him.

It was later revealed that the‘baba’ was already married threetimes. One of his wives is dead andthe other two live in his home town.More dark deeds of the man are like-ly to come out during the investiga-tion, inspector Ratnam said.

PK [email protected]

While GHMC corporatorsgo around the country‘studying’ varied civic

actions, at home people are suf-fering from the callous handlingof solid waste. Residents inKukatpally have been inhalingpoisonous gases due to the con-stant burning of garbage collect-ed in an open plot that apparent-ly belongs to the GHMC.

A one-acre plot next to MetroMall is being used as an illegaldumping yard. What hasshocked residents is that theGHMC itself is violating rules bydumping garbage and burning itin the open. This process, whichtakes place around the clock, hasput a hazardous haze that scien-tific authorities say is a deadlygas. Dioxin produced from burn-ing plastic is the deadliest of all,says a global health agency.

“The PCB had promised

action. GHMC officials saidburning is banned and it willimpose a fine of `200 on anybodyfound doing so. But nothing isbeing seriously pursued. It is asad state of affairs; we are killingourselves and our children,”bemoaned environmentalist and motivational speakerJayaprakash Nambaru. He alsopointed out that MSW (munici-pal solid waste) rules strictly pro-hibit the open burning of waste.

Nambaru says after segrega-tion, garbage should be put intocontrolled incineration where thewaste is burnt at 1,000 degreesCelsius and the residue is usedfor various purposes. This prac-tice is observed everywhere inthe world, but not in India. Headded that residents, who arenow unable to breath, fearasphyxiation and the GHMC andgovernment are solely responsi-ble for their misery.

‘Baba’ held for detaining minorPolice arrest the self-proclaimed godman for attempting to marry a 16-year-old.

GHMC gasses citizensFew care that thousands of residents of Kukatpally find it difficult to

breath fresh air following callous open burning of garbage.

Wife-killer gets life

The column that teaches everyonesomething new about the way theCity functions.

1 Parents in a tizzy over schooladmissions.

With the government crackingdown on RTE flouters, parents arewaiting for a list of schools thatmay shut down. However, admis-sions have started and childrenstand to lose a year.

2 BJP to bring a little Modicharm to Telangana.

Narendra Modi, BJP’s prime minis-terial hope, will be in AP soon tocampaign for the party, especiallyin Telangana region. The partyhopes he can work the samemagic here.

3 India lags behind on smartgrid technology.

While most countries haveincreased their investment in smartgrid tech, India is slumbering.

4 Small change for a quick buck.

Alms seekers have been making aprofit by providing small changeto shopkeepers at a commission.

5Justice for woman killed fordowry.

A man has been sentenced to lifefor killing his wife after she refusedto give him more dowry.

city FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 4

Blackout CityLast year we had reported how

scheduled and unscheduled powercuts were throwing the daily routine ofcitizens in disarray. While most saidthat they understood that the Statewas facing a power crisis and thatloadshedding was necessary, all ofthem said that a proper scheduleneeded to be followed, so they couldplan their activities accordingly.

APRIL 5, 2012

Fans claim movie star‘made’ them alcoholicsTwo young fans of actor Mahesh

Babu have filed a case againsttheir idol, accusing him of makingthem alcoholics. Complainants Satishand Amru contended that his pro-moting of a leading brand of liquorled them to believe it is good forthem and they became habituated toit. The complaint was filed with theState Human Rights Commission.

Face-to-face programmewith the mayorA face-to-face programme will be

held between 4pm and 5pm onSaturday at Head Office under thechairmanship of Mayor Mohd MajidHussain. People may call on 040-23221978, 23222018 and 23261330to present their grievances to themayor on April 6 between 4 and4.30pm. After that, they may submittheir petitions in person.

Govt sanctions `3.2crfor Hitec-Kukatpally ROBThe government has sanctioned

`3.2 crore for a railway over-bridge (ROB) on the road connect-ing Hitec City and Kukatpally undera GO passed on April 4 for the con-struction of an RoB across the rail-way lines. This includes improve-ment of the main spinal road fromKPHB to Hitec City and develop-ment of service roads.

Ex-deputy PM JagjeevanRam rememberedChief Minister N Kiran Kumar

Reddy paid rich tribute to formerdeputy PM Babu Jagjeevan Ram onhis 106th birth anniversary. The CMgarlanded his statue in the City thismorning. PCC president BotsaSatyanarayana and Cabinet ministerswere also present. The State islaunching Indiramma Kalalu (Dreamsof Indira Gandhi) on the occasion.

LAST YEAR... HERE CIVIC

NEWS BRIEFS

`80is the amount you now have to payto get a birth or death certificate

from a Meeseva centre. Earlier, whenthe service was done by Citizens

Service Centre, a certificate cost `20.

5THINGS WELEARNT TODAY

NUMEROLOGY

If the schools tryto fulfil (RTE Act)

requirements withina couple of months,we will still consider itand only restrictaction to finingwithout closingdown the schools.

K Partha Sarathy, ministerSee page 6

Md [email protected]

Parents seeking a birthcertificate for their new-born or those asking fora death certificate are

now being made to go throughthe Meeseva. In the process,they have to shell out four timesthe money, undergo the rigma-role, and wait longer periods.The services used to be done byCitizens Service Centre (CSC) ofthe GHMC till recently.

While the fee for obtaining abirth or death certificate wasonly `20, Meeseva is charging`80. The CSC, which is part ofthe GHMC, used to issue thecertificates within four days, butthe new process is taking over aweek or 10 days.

One of the reasons cited byofficials is technological prob-lems faced by CSC centres. Theypoint out the lack of software for

computers in the GHMC. After the general body and

standing committee resolutions,the process was restored toGHMC in June 2012, but sincethe last couple of months, appli-cations are being forced to passthrough the Meeseva centres.The CSCs are reduced to cor-recting errors on already issuedcertificates.

The number of birth certifi-cates issued through CSC in oneyear (since April 1, 2012) is1,78,062 and the number ofdeath certificates, 20,127.

The number of birth certifi-cates issued through Meesevacentres (from March 1, 2012 tilldate) are 77,759 of 87,017 appli-cations (7,336 were rejected).Death certificates issued in thesame period were 4,080 fromtotal applications of 4,800 (607were rejected).

Every day, scores of citizensreturn dejected after they are

informed that applications areaccepted only through theMeeseva centres now. For many,it has only added to the prob-lems. Now, middlemen alleged-ly make money helping peopleto get the certificate by charging`1,000. “More the red tape, moreprovisions for making money,”remarked Vijay Kumar, a retiredemployee.

Under Section 94 of APRules, it is the responsibility ofthe municipality to providebirth and death certificates. Butthe government initiative of

Meeseva has now appropriatedthis task.

After learning about the newdevelopment, TDP floor leaderSingireddy Srinivas Reddydemanded that officials resumeissuing certificates from CSC within a week. “UnderSection 104 (3)(a)(ii), I shalldemand suspension of officialswho are neglecting the resolu-tions of the corporation,” hewarned. The section states thatan official who “neglects orrefuses to implement the deci-sions of the corporation orstanding committee or anyother committee of the corpora-tion” can be suspended.

Responding to the problem,one official said that they hadrequested the government tosort out the issue. “We wrote tothe government to solve thisproblem at the earliest,” said asenior official of the healthwing.

Why the GHMC abdicated its task of issuing birth certificates is unclear.

Meeseva tough on parents

To get a birth or deathcertificate, peoplehave to shell out fourtimes the money,undergo the rigmarole, and waitlonger periods.


INKESHAF [email protected]

The BJP, nursing a grandvision of running thenext government, isbringing the party’s

poster boy, Narendra Modi, toAndhra Pradesh soon. The partyhas ambitious tasks to achieve inTelangana.

Narendra Modi, who wasinducted into the party’s highestdecision-making body recently,is expected to work his magic onTelangana people with a promiseof creating a separate state onceNDA comes to power. Besides,this would be another occasionfor the party to project him asideal prime ministerial material,party sources pointed out.

“We asked him to visit our

State and address public meet-ings. He readily agreed to it. Weare planning to hold his publicmeetings across the State, espe-cially in Telangana region,” asenior BJP leader told Postnoon.

TELANGANA TO BE SPINMANTRAThe fact that BJP is strongly fight-ing for the creation of separateTelangana state for the last manyyears and the party’s erstwhileglory (BJP had seven MPs from

Telangana in the late nineties) arethe two important reasons forModi’s focus on Telanganaregion.

The party now projecting adevelopment-oriented, not com-munal-minded, approach, ishard put to convince Telugusthat the Gujarat model couldwork very well for AP. The partyalso wants to tell the State thatduring its reign, it had givenmaximum projects to AP, thoughit will not harp on its tie-up withthe TDP in those days.

“Telangana region is the onlyhope of our party, where the BJPcan win substantial number ofseats as we did in the past. SoModi’s tour’s focus would beprimarily on Telangana regiononly. We will organise his meet-ing in all the 10 districts of

Telangana,”another senior BJPleader said. Modi’s State visit islikely to be held after the conclu-sion of party stalwart M Venk a -iah Naidu’s ongoing State- widepublic awareness campaign mee -t ings. It may be emphasised herethat Naidu’s public meetings,being organised in all 42 LokSabha seat constituencies of AP,are primarily aimed at drum-ming up support for NarendraModi, before declaring him asthe official prime ministerial can-didate of NDA, of which BJP is acoalition partner.

Commenting on Modi’s Statevisit, BJP State unit spokespersonNVVS Prabhakar said that theschedule of Modi’s visit is yet tobe finalised and added that clarity would emerge in the coming days.


While politicians of alldenominations are run-ning around trying to

figure out what is in the minds ofthe Hydra-headed electorate,one man is silently going aroundmopping up minute data of con-stituencies in Andhra Pradesh topresent winning formulae to theambitious lot. AshokDakavaram, an NRI head of anIT company, believes that thereexists a huge scope for election

services in India.“It took me three years to get

an idea of this vast State’s politi-cal landscape and another halfyear to get to know the electoralundercurrents,” he told Postnoon.His company in Hyderabad, IT GRIDS, is now fully engrossedin the bewildering activity of collecting data and analysis on each constituency and its var-ied elements.

“Today I can tell you with aclick of the mouse the behaviourof even the booth-level elec-torate,” says a beaming Ashok.

He goes around with a laptoplike a salesman, trying to convi n -ce political leaders that data ana -l ysis is key to a winning blu e -print. “Old days of depending onsupporters and cronies are over,but few political leaders in Indiaunderstand this,” he regrets.

Ashok says that going by thefield of experience he has gath-ered — such as following TDPchief Chandrababu Naidu on hispadayatras — he has realisedthat voters have become “utterlyselfish, to be very frank. Eachvoter sees what he can benefitfrom, and the remaining decisivefactor is emotion such as we haveseen in the YSRC support”.Calculative and judicious votingis limited to a minuscule urbanelectorate, he adds.

According to Ashok, none ofthe existing political leaders areas yet showing great sagacity.“Vijayamma of YSRC gets tobank on the benefit of YSR senti-ment, but the other two big lead-ers — Kiran Kumar Reddy andChandrababu Naidu — are yet todisplay fire. Maybe in the days tocome, they will be able to achievethis,” he says.

Ashok is unwilling to enterthe domain of prediction. But hesays his set-up could do quicksurveys to find out where a lead-er stands today.

POLITICS

ELECTORATE

Modi effect in State soonThe BJP is bringing its high-profile leader and Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to AP with the twin aim of

drumming up support for his prime ministerial ambitions and to gain maximum LS seats in Telangana.

Analysis, the tech wayA City-based NRI who uses technology to predict electorate

behaviour says data analysis is key to winning polls.

SHOWING THE WAY

YSR Congress leader YS Vijayamma sits on the fourth day of her hungerstrike against power tariff hike at the MLA Quarters in Adarsh Nagar onThursday. M ANILKUMAR

city FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 6EDUCATION

ALEENA [email protected]

Basic school education ismore like a task for par-ents and students. Withthe government stating

that schools which do not com-ply with the RTE Act norms willbe shut down, parents seekingadmission for their children inprivate schools are in a fix, notknowing if their chosen schoolwill work or close down.

The number of schoolsdefaulting on RTE Act is growingby the day, and parents are left inthe lurch. Though the govern-ment has been stating that hun-dreds of schools will have to shutdown because of their non-com-pliance with the RTE Act, so far,the government had not releasedan official list of the defaultingschools so that parents canbrowse and decide.

On the other hand, majorityof the schools are going aheadwith the admission process andconducting entrance exams, andparents are left with no choicebut to rush before it’s too late.“It’s April and June is when thenew academic year begins. Theadmission process has begun inschools and if we don’t hurry,there is a possibility that ourchild can lose out on admission.Since 2009, the government hasbeen dragging its feet over theAct and it is now confusing par-ents and students,” saysRajender Prasad, a concernedparent.

Stating that for so long, theeducation department and thegovernment had given thedefaulting schools a long rope,the DEO (Hyderabad district)Chinna Reddy says, “We havebeen sending reminders andcirculars to the defaultingschools. Though some of themhave responded and acted onthe circulars, majority of theschools failed to do so. So wehave decided to take actionagainst them now.”

Minister for secondary edu-cation K Partha Sarathy, howev-er, states that the department willbe releasing the list of thedefaulting schools shortly so thatthe parents will no longer haveany confusion. “We have alreadymade the list and are waiting forthe Class X exams to get com-pleted. As soon as the exams aredone, the list will be published,”he says.

Apart from their child losingout on a year of education, whatseems to be the concern of par-

ents is the high fee structurewhich is not refundable. “I haveto get my son admitted in ClassIII in a new school, and I am real-ly worried about it. What if theschool is made to shut down inthe middle of the academic year?My son will lose out on one yearof his education then. Also, afterpaying thousands of rupees, wewill not even be refunded the

amount,” said Farzana Bhanu, aparent.

The government, on the otherhand, is not assuring the parentsof fee reimbursement in case theschool their kids are studying inis made to shut down. “The mainissue we have with majority ofthe schools is that they do nothave proper infrastructure, likeplaygrounds and fire safety mea-

sures. If the schools try to fulfilthese requirements within a cou-ple of months and show us, wewill still consider it, and onlyrestrict action to fining withoutclosing down the schools.However, if schools do not com-ply with the norms, we will beforced to shut them down.Regarding the reimbursement offees, the government cannot domuch,” said minister ParthaSarathy.

Meanwhile, some of theschools which are likely to be onthe verge of closure seem to berunning now from pillar to postto get their act together. “A fewbranches of our schools weredenied recognition because theydid not comply with the infras-tructure norms of the RTE Act.We have taken a playground onlease in an open plot next to ourschool. We will submit the sameto the government and ask forrecognition,” says a principal of aprivate school.

RTE flouters to be namedBut this is no solace for thousands of parents who do not know if the fees they paid would ever be

refunded or if the school they chose would work or shut down. Worried parents are wondering what the deal between the government and private schools is.

Meanwhile, some ofthe schools which arelikely to be on theverge of closure seemto be running nowfrom pillar to post toget their act together.

FILE PHOTOS


Even as the entire GHMCwas celebrating the hugecollection of revenue atthe closing of the finan-

cial year, there were an unhappyfew. For the past two to threeyears, scribes have not been get-ting any ‘budget gift’. Theyexpected that at least this year,but the higher-ups in theCorporation did not seem to bein the mood to oblige them.

Immediately after the pressconference by the mayor and thecommissioner on the glad tidingson April 1, wherein they waxedeloquents on the officials for col-lecting a record sum of revenue,most of the scribes declined thesweet boxes, assuming the actwould jolt the officialdom.

But it was the poor scribeswho were in for a shock. As noth-ing happened after they dis-played their displeasure, most ofthem returned and took homethe sweet boxes (probably mut-tering profanities at the officialsand the mayor). (MN)

THEY TOO SERVE WHO BEGAND GIVEThis reporter stumbled on thegreat economic activity of almsseekers. They are the mainsource of small-change which isin high demand by merchants.All shops and markets face ashortage of coins and there existsa flourishing coin market whichgives change on commission.

Small shop owners say thatthey pay between `15 to `20 forevery `100 which they mustmake up in their business. Ofcourse, they would somehowpass it on to unwary customers,but they must pay initially.

Now, alms seekers are theready source of coins and theytoo — hold your breath — foundout that coins come on a premi-um... and why not? So alms seekers seem to have come to aunanimous stance that theyshould have no qualms demand-ing their cut for the coins theysupply, and demand `110 to `115for every `100!

A tea stall owner on JubileeHills Road No. 36 says his regu-lar supplier of coins, an agedalms seeker, demands `15 forevery `100 and a cup of tea free!The provision shop nearbyvouchsafed that he gives `15commission. Wow! Some busi-ness, this! (PK)

TONSURED CMIt is known that we, the com-moners, pray to our respectivegods for fulfilment of wishes,and when the wishes are grant-ed, we offer the divinity some-thing in return.

Chief Minister N Kiran

Kumar Reddy recently joined thecrowd. Kiran, known to be nogreat believer, at least publicly,offered his hair to LordVenkateswara.

It was revealed that heoffered his crowning glory asgratitude for defeating the NoConfidence Motion moved byrival political parties viz TRS andYSRCP recently in the AP

Assembly against his govern-ment. According to close aides ofthe CM, Kiran had vowed hewould shed his locks if the Lordhelped him sail through in theAssembly. He had done this ear-lier as well in 2011 when a simi-lar motion came up. Back thenalso he won the motion andoffered his top crop to the Lord.May his faith save him. (IA)

WAGGING TONGUEFormer minister Mohammed AliShabbir took oath in Urdu whenhe was elected as an MLC recent-ly. He had taken his oath in Urduwhen he was elected MLA dur-ing YSR’s time as well. This hasset tongues wagging. His allegedinvolvement in the Lanco Hillsproperty, which belongs to theWaqf Board, had dimmed his

image among the Muslim com-munity and taking the oath inUrdu was aimed at appeasingthe sentiments of the community.People are expecting him to takeoath the next time in English tomake the younger generationhappy. Is this true, Shabbir?

(MS)

SUPERLADY’S STUNTThe ‘lady superstar’ of SouthIndia and MP, Vijayashanti, iscurrently shopping for a partythat will give her the Medak tick-et. She is not particular about thecolour of the flag, though. Nor isshe restrained by labels like ‘sec-ular’ ‘communal’, which aremeant for lesser mortals. Theleading lady of the silverscreenknows a few stunts to silencethose making noise among theselines. The latest news is that shehas had a tiff with ‘panther’KCR, who told her to choosesome place other than Medakbecause he has reserved it forhimself. Well, to hell with it, sheseems to have said and is learntto have sent feelers to the lotuscamp which is said to be keen asit is eyeing the Telangana pie,and anyone with a promisingprospect is welcome. (PK)

(Contributed by MdNizamuddin, Mohd Subhan,

Inkeshaf Ahmed and PKSurendran)

REPORTERS’ DIARY

Of sweets and bitter truths!

SRINIVAS SETTY

city FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 8LOOKING AHEAD


Driven by increasing shares ofrenewable energy in electrici-ty generation mix and by theneed to update ageing grid

infrastructure, global investment insmart grid technologies rose seven percent in 2012, totalling $13.9 billionworldwide, according to new researchconducted by the Worldwatch Institutefor its Vital Signs Online service.

Despite a slight decline in investm e -n ts, the US maintained its position as ale ader in smart grids, followed closelyby China, writes Reese Rogers.

WHAT IS SMART GRID TECHNOLOGY?A smart grid is an electricity networkthat uses digital information and com-munications technologies to improvethe efficiency and reliability of electrici-ty transport. The increasing use of high-ly variable energy resources requires so -p histicated control systems to facilitatetheir integration into the electricity grid.

The United States topped othercountries in investment in smart grids,spending $4.3 billion in 2012, althoughthat was 19 per cent below the 2011 fig-ure of $5.1 billion. China invested $3.2billion in 2012, an increase of 14 per centover 2011. Smart grid directives in theEuropean Union drove a 27 per centincrease in European spending to $1.4billion in 2012, up from $1.1 billion in2011. Latin American investment insmart grid technology remains relative-ly small, totaling $400 million in 2012.India has made no great mark.

THE US DECLINEThe decline in US investments in 2012was due, in part, to the expiration offederal funding programmes initiatedunder the American Recovery andReinvestment Act in 2009. At the start of2012, utilities had installed 37 millionsmart meters, covering 33 per cent ofAmerican households. Current plans byutilities should result in 65 million unitsinstalled, covering 57 per cent ofAmerican households, by 2015.

“Smart meters are just one of themany technologies involved in smart

grid infrastructure,” said Rogers, aMAP Sustainable Energy FellowWorldwatch’s Climate and EnergyProgramme. “These electronic measure-ment devices gather data on energyusage and provide two-way communi-cation with the utility for efficiency andaccurate billing purposes, enabling reg-ulatory mechanisms such as time-of-usepricing to be introduced.”

RISING CHINA China’s rising investment in smart gridtechnologies stems from its plans toupdate its poorly designed and ineffi-cient transmission system. It is poisedto surpass the US in smart grid invest-ment in 2013. Other countries in Asiaare also investing in smart grid tech-nologies and deployments. South Kor -ea, as of February 2012, had deployedsm a rt meters to fewer than a million ho -u seholds, or roughly 4 per cent. AndJapan is already home to one of the mo -st efficient electricity grids in the world,with distribution losses averaging 4.9per cent over the period 2000 to 2010.

SCENE IN EUROPEIn the European Union, Electricity Dir -ective 2009/752/EC mandates memberstates to deploy smart metering systemsin 80 per cent of households by 2020,where cost-benefit analyses of smartmeters are positive. Progress variesfrom country to country, but as of 2011an average of 10 per cent of Europeanhouseholds had smart meters installed.

Grid-scale energy storage technolo-gies are another important aspect ofevolving grid networks, providing analternate or complementary solution forthe integration of variable renewableenergy into the grid. They are gainingtraction as larger-scale projects arebeginning or are planned for the nearfuture. The next few years will seenumerous smart grid deployment pro-jects and advances in energy storagemarkets; the success of which will sure-ly influence the respective paths of eachtechnology’s development.

Smart gridtechnology: Thehope for futureNew Worldwatch Institute report shows Indialags behind in global investments and installation of smart grid technology.

China is poised to surpassthe United States in smartgrid investment in 2013.

n The United States tops other coun-tries in investment in smart grids,spending $4.3 billion in 2012.

n China invested $3.2 billion in 2012,an increase of 14 per cent over 2011.

n Europe increased its spending by 27per cent to $1.4 billion in 2012.

n Latin American investment remainsrelatively small, totaling $400 millionin 2012.

n India has made no great mark.

n The State Grid Corporation of China has a three-phase plan to invest $601 billion in transmissioninfrastructure, with $101 billion slated for smartgrid technology, through 2020.

n The United Kingdom plans to begin nationwideinstallation of smart meters in 2014, with theintention to install these meters in all householdsby 2019.

n There were 714 grid-scale energy storage projectsworldwide in 2012 in varying stages of operationor development — roughly a 19 per cent increasein the number of projects from the previous year.

Around the world Future plans

9 stab wounds found onBJP worker killed in fireAGRA: A woman BJP worker wascharred to death in a fire thatengulfed her house here, with policetoday saying that her postmortemreport had shown nine stab woundson her body. Anju Sharma's post-mortem report showed nine stabwounds on her body, leading to sus-picions that she was stabbed to deathand later her house was set afire todestroy evidence of her being killed,police said. Sharma was found deadyesterday afternoon in the TransYamuna Colony of the city, police said.

Bombs planted to attacktroops recoveredIMPHAL: Two powerful bombs,allegedly planted by insurgents toattack security personnel, have beenrecovered from two places inManipur's Imphal West and Ukhruldistricts, official sources said today.Sources said a bomb, weighing abouttwo kg, was detected by a patrollingparty of 18th Sikh Regiment at theend of culvert at Merakhong areaunder Patsoi police station in ImphalWest district last evening. The bomb,reportedly planted by insurgents waslater defused by bomb experts.

Death toll in Kashmirroad mishap reaches nineSRINAGAR: The death toll in theschool bus mishap in Anantnag dis-trict has risen to nine as another stu-dent succumbed to injuries last night,police said today. The student suc-cumbed to injuries late last night at ahospital here, they said. The bus skid-ded off a mountainous road and fellinto a 300-ft gorge. While four stu-dents died on the spot, others suc-cumbed to injuries at hospitals. Themishap took place when the driver ofthe bus lost control while negotiatinga blind curve.

Congress does well inOdisha municipal pollsBHUBANESWAR: The state'smain opposition Congress has registered an impressive win in theelections held for three urban localbodies in Odisha, an official saidFriday. The elections to the threenotified area councils at Attabira inBargarh district, Hindol in Dhenkanaldistrict and Nuapada in Nuapada dis-trict were held Wednesday, andcounting was held a day later. TheCongress has won 20 of the total 42municipality wards under the threeNACs.

nationFRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013

9CBI NOTICE TO FORMER MINISTER RAJA BHAIYYAFormer UP minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya has been summonedby the CBI to appear before it within a week, in connection with the triple murder atBalipur village March 2. Balipur village head Nanhe Yadav, his brother Suresh andDeputy Superintendent of Police Zia-ul-Haq were killed in the incident.

MANMADE TRAGEDY

BSE 18,481.3928.24

NSEPOUND `83.43DOLLAR `54.80

SILVER `51,200 for 1kg24CGOLD `29,600 for 10g

5,504.2510.54

THANE: The death toll inthe under- constructionbuilding collapse in ShilPhata area of the district hasrisen to 30 as rescuers recov-ered more bodies from thesite this morning, Thanepolice control room said.

While 69 people wereinjured, rescuers fear thatsome victims are stilltrapped under debris, theysaid. The deceased included12 men, some of whom wereconstruction workers, tenchildren and eight women.

A pregnant woman,identified as Shakila ImranSiddiqui, was among thedeceased, Thane civic offi-cials said. The remainingbodies are yet to be identi-fied.

The Daighar police haveregistered a case againstbuilders Salil and KhalilJamadar under Section 304(culpable homicide notamounting to murder) ofIPC, police said, adding thatefforts were on to tracethem.

Maharashtra ChiefMinister Prithviraj Chavanand Deputy Chief MinisterAjit Pawar are likely to visitthe site today.

The seven-storey illegalunder-construction struc-ture, located in Shil Phataarea between Mumbraand Dombivli townships,collapsed at around6.30pm yesterday.

The injured havebeen admitted to various

hospitals in Thane andsome have been shifted toMumbai's JJ and SionHospitals for better treat-ment, police said.

Relief and rescue opera-tions are being carried outunder the supervision ofCivic Commissioner RARajeev and DistrictCollector PVelarasu.

MNS legislator fromKalyan township of Thane,Ramesh Patil alleged that hehad complained to themunicipal commissionerlast week that the buildingwas unauthorised and unfitfor occupation, but noaction was taken.

Civic officials had yes-terday said the building inShil Phata area in Daigharvillage was unauthorised.

They claimed that it wasbuilt on forest land

and occupied atleast up to thefourth floor.

There werearound 35 fami-lies residing inthe building,they said. PTI

THANE BUILDING COLLAPSEkills 30, leaves 69 injured

The toll is likely to rise as rescuers fear that some victims are still trapped underdebris. There were around 35 families residing in the seven-storey illegal

under-construction building that was occupied till the fourth floor.

NEWS BRIEFS

Living spacesFRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013

PRUDHVI RAJU [email protected]

For many residents in theCity, traffic, congestionand pollution areunavoidable and become

part and parcel of their dailylives. Many assume living infar-off abode to escape theseissues will give rise to newproblems like lack of connectivi-ty to schools, travel and otherbasic amenities.

Shankarpalli road belt, anarea which is located in thenorth-western part of the City, is

all set in the greens withoutcompromising on connectivity,amenities and affordability.Evolving villas and gated com-munity culture is set to drive thefuture growth of the City sayreal estate developers.

“Any development takesplace due to these three reasons;job opportunities, amenities andconnectivity. It is due to thesereasons that developers and res-idents are showing interest inand around villages of this area.It is known fact that 85 per centof the IT industry evolved inGachibowli and in surrounding

areas (Cyberabad). Most of theindustries like hospitality, enter-tainment and media are locatedin this side of the City. It isalmost impossible for anyone tolive in the other side of the Cityand travel to these areas withthe traffic, congestion and pollu-tion. It is connectivity withouttraffic and definite time for trav-el to Hitec City and Gachibowlithat gives an edge toShankarpalli belt over otherareas,” says G Hari Babu, chair-man, Lahari Group.

Venugopal Reddy of SubishiDevelopers says, “Proximity

and affordability sets Shankar -palli road belt ahead of the otherareas near Gachibowli. Theprices in areas likeNanakramguda, Narsingi andKokapet, which are at proximityto Gachibowli, have reachedsky-high. It is the affordability,along with closeness to Gachi -bowli, that is driving uppermiddle class and above to buyvillas in these areas. In addition,the 10 km area from Kokapet toMokila is considered as greenbelt and no construction isallowed even in the future,which guarantees greenery for-

FACTS ABOUT

SCHOOLS:Indus School, Survey No.

424&425, Kondakal, MokillaOpen Minds,

A Birla K-12 School, KollurOakridge,

Khaja Guda, GachibowliSamashti international

school, Gachibowli

COLLEGES:IBS (ICFAI), Shankarapalli

Road, Donthanapally.

Infrastructure

ROADConnected to Patancheru

(20-25 min)Connected to Gachibowli

(20-30 min)Connected to Vikarabad

(40 min)

RAIL

Railway stations at Nagulpalli and Shankarpalli

AIR

Shamshabad Airport (50 km)

ENTERTAINMENT ANDSHOPPING

Inorbit Mall and Mega Mall(under construction)

SHANKARPALLI BELT

n Town Centre is raised in above 2acres of land in Mokila

n It's a compilation of two blocks withcommercial and residential flats

n Sizes are 1000 sq ft (two bedroom)n Commercial area is above 75000 sft

and residential area is above 72,000sft

n Approved HMDA housing layoutn Clear title landn All amenities as per HMDA normsn 100 per cent vaastu-compliant

designn Gated community with attended

24/7 securityn Price: `1,700 per sft

SUBISHI, TOWN CENTRE RESIDENTIALn 179 plots available in (1) 300 sq

yd and (2)400 sq yd spread over21 acres in Mokila, Hyderabad

n Vaastu compliant gated community

n Eco-friendly international architecture

n Round-the-clock securityn CC Camera at the entrance &

children play arean Solar fencingn Landscaped gardensn Built-up area: (1) 2,250 sft

(2)2,900 sft n Price: (1) Around `59,95,000

(2) `74,95,000

SARK TWO

GREEN COVER DRAWS BUYERSShankarpalli road belt, an area located in the north-western part of

the City, has alot of green cover without compromising on connectivity, amenities and affordability.

10&11YOUR WEEKLY GUIDE TO HYDERABAD REAL ESTATE

ever around these villages.”Talking about the land and

building prices in these villages,Hari Babu says, “The land price(plot) starts from `5,000 per sqyard in Shankarpalli and gradu-ally increases along the villagesto `50,000 per sq yard inCyberabad. Whereas the villaprices sta rt at `2,500 per sft andcan go up to `12,500 per sftnearing to Gachibowli in this 20km stretch. An independentvilla may cost from `55 lakh to`1.5 crore for an area of 2,200-2,500 sft.”

“Shankarpalli is also soon toget MMTS railway connectivityfrom Lingampally. Electrifica -tion and construction is in pro-cess and may take up to twoyears for the public availability.This line will be an extension to

upcoming metro. For instance,any commuter can get down atHitec City station and transit tometro in near future. HMDAhas earmarked land to developnew railway station terminals atEdulanagualpalli andShankarpalli. This will help res-idents in nearby localities toboard trains in these areas formany Cities rather than going

all the way to Secunderabadand Nampally,” says MSrinivasa Rao, managing part-ner, Reliance Builders.

Many villas in the localityhave manjeera connectivity fordrinking water as the waterpipe line passes from the prox-imity of villages.

International schools likeIndus (Mokila), Open Minds byBirla Group in Kollur and IBSare the premier educationalinstitutes. However, residentsshould visit Gachibowli forsuper speciality medical ser-vices and for major shoppingand entertainment. SubishiDevelopers' 1 lakh sft TownCentre, which is set to beopened by next year end, is toprovide shopping and bankfacilities to residents in Mokila.

Real estate in the City isgoing through a transitionperiod. Often there is a

general question about whatmakes the real estate market inthe City sustainable and ongrowth path. More than any-thing else, the balance betweensupply and demand plays a keyrole in the future market growth.It not only drives the marketgrowth but also determines themarket value of the property.

For instance, if developersconstruct more than the demandfrom the buyers, there will beslump in the market or if thedemand is higher than the avail-able constructed properties,there will be scarcity andincrease in property values.

Earlier, supply was morethan the demand in the City andhad become one of the most

important reasons for the fall ofreal estate market. Prior to 86GO (2007), each developer usedto construct around 60 flats in aspan of two years.

However, with the introduc-tion of 86 GO, the developerswere able to construct unlimitedfloor space index (FSI). Thisalong with real estate boom inthe City pushed developers toconstruct hundreds of flats inlarger spaces and gave rise to theevolution of gated communities.This growth has increased supply drastically over thedemand.

For instance, in areas likeGachibowli, the supply was 10

times more than demand duringthat time. But with the constantand regular demand over thetime, the supply was graduallyabsorbed in the market. Nowafter six years, there is a balancebetween the supply anddemand, which will make themarket grow despite any politi-cal disturbances.

The property values in theCity are one of the lowest in thecountry.

In terms of infrastructure, ithas world-class airport, ORRand radial roads enabling roadconnectivity. The low rates aregiving an opportunity for differ-

ent income groups to invest inproperty. The properties areoffered at almost similar pricesof 2007.

With the natural growth andinflation, there is increase in val-ues of other resources and com-modities. For instance, if we addthe inflation the property shouldcost one and half times of that in2007. In terms of returns, aninvestor or home buyer canexpect a decent growth of15-20 per cent every year, whichwill be sustainable and create awin-win situation for all stake-holders.

The author is thepresident of APREDA.

Realty has foundthe right balance

n Proddutur village, 2 km fromShankarpalli Road

n Plot size 500 sq yd and aboven Constructed area: 2,400 sft n Nearer to 100 acres of lake

and next to Golf area n 100 per cent vaastu-compliant

design n Gated community with

attended 24/7 securityn Each plot is planted with

nine fruit-bearing and ninewood-yielding trees andattended by experienced hor-ticulturists

n Price: Around `65 lakh

PRAGATI GREEN VILLAS

Villages aroundShankarpalli Road belt

KollurEdulanagualpalli

VelimelaMokilaKondakalSingapurBhanoor

Shankarpalli

TO SHANKARPALLI ROAD

P DASHARATH [email protected]

N SHIVA KUMAR

Earlier, supply wasmore than the demandin the City and hadbecome one of themost important reasons for the fall of real estate market.

WorldFRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013

12MYANMAR BUDDHIST-MUSLIM BRAWL KILLS 8Fighting between Buddhist and Muslim asylum seekers from Myanmar at adetention centre on Indonesia’s Sumatra island left eight people deadFriday, police said. The fighting broke out at around 2 am at the BelawanPort immigration detention centre in North Sumatra province.

PLOT TO KILL LAWMAKERSMexican authorities Thursday brokeup a plot to assassinate two broth-ers, both leftist lawmakers, includingthe former campaign manager ofthe runner-up in last year’s presiden-tial election. Mariana Benitez, asenior prosecutor, said an unspeci-fied number of people weredetained in a Mexico City hotel overplans to kill Senator David Monrealand his brother Ricardo. Authoritiesseized weapons, communicationsequipment and a sport-utility vehi-cle, “which they planned to use forthe attacks," Benitez told a newsconference.

Iran and world powers met inKazakhstan Friday for new talksseeking a breakthrough on theIranian nuclear crisis, with Tehrandefiantly insisting its rights mustbe recognised. The decade-oldnuclear dispute has left theIslamic republic's economy badlyhurt by UN sanctions and Tehranrisking military action from itsarch foe Israel. At stake be if Iranis re a dy to accept a series of de -m ands that the powers presentedat the last such negotiations.

KAZAKH TALKS

NUMEROLOGY

$7.7 billionis the sharp increase in first-quarteroperating profit that South Korea’s

Samsung Electronics said it expected from the first three

months of 2012.

The prospect ofresuming

six-party talks to settle the nuclear problem of the KoreanPeni n sula has beenundermined, if not entirely obliterated.

A LukashevichRussian spokesperson

Uruguay Prez caught inopen mic incidentMONTEVIDEO: Uruguay’sPresident Jose Mujica was left red-faced Thursday after disparaging re -m arks apparently aimed at Argen ti -ne counterpart Cristina Kirchner andher late husband were picked up byan open microphone. “This old hagis worse than the cross-eyed man,"Mujica was caught saying at thestart of a news conference.

Putin, Obama to meet inIreland in JuneMOSCOW: Russian PresidentVladimir Putin and his US counter-part Barack Obama will hold full-fledged talks on the sidelines of theG8 Summit in Northern Ireland inJune, a Putin aide said. The possibil-ity of “contacts in connection withObama’s participation in a G20summit” is also under consideration,presidential aide Yury Ushakov said.

US to return someOkinawa land to JapanTOKYO: Japan and the UnitedStates have agreed on a plan thatwill see some land occupied by theUS military returned to the islandsin a bid to break the deadlock in along-stalled deal, reports saidFriday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abeand US Ambassador John Roos wereexpected to sign off on the pactlater Friday.

Man blows up ex-wifeto win her backMOSCOW: A Russian man luredhis former wife to a bomb that inju -red her when it exploded. He saidhe did so to win her back. The 39-year-old woman was injured by animprovised explosive device in a for-est where she had gone to collect apackage that a note said would con-tain the documents needed to settleher father’s financial problems.

NEWS BRIEFS

SEOUL: The United States sa -id it was taking “all necessaryprecautions” after NorthKorea rang fresh alarms in anescalating crisis by moving amedium-range missileThursday to its east coast.

Seoul’s defence ministerKim Kwan-Jin said the missilecould reach a “considerabledistance” but not the US main-land, telling lawmakers it“could be aimed at test-firingor military drills".

It was the latest incremen-tal move by North Koreawhich, incensed at fresh UNsanctions and South Korea-USmilitary drills, has issued aseries of apocalyptic threats ofnuclear war in recent weeks.

White House spokesmanJay Carney said the barrage ofthreats fitted a “regrettable butfamiliar” pattern of NorthKorean behaviour. “We’re tak-ing all the necessary precau-tions," Carney said, citing “pr -u d ent measures” to respond tothe possible missile threat.

The Pentagon has said itwill send missile-interceptorbatteries to protect bases onGuam, a US territory some3,380 km southeast of NorthKorea and home to 6,000American military personnel.

South Korean intelligencesources reportedly identifiedthe North Korean missile as anintermediate-range Musudan.

The Musudan has neverbeen tested, but is believed tohave a range of around 3,000

km, which could theoreticallybe pushed to 4,000 with a lightpayload. Most experts thinkthe North is not yet capable ofmounting a nuclear device ona ballistic missile capable ofstriking US bases or territory.

On Thursday the NorthKorean army said it had

received final approval for mil-itary action, possibly involving“diversified” nuclearweapons, against the threatposed by US B-52 and B-2stealth bomb ers. “The momentof explosion is approachingfast," the army’s general staff said. AFP

THE KOREAN CRISIS

N Korea missilethreat: US wary

Film legend Martin Scorseseand US President BarackOba ma led tributes to US

movie critic Roger Ebert, the firstcinema pundit to win a PulitzerPrize who died Thursday fromcancer aged 70.

Scorsese, who has been wor -k ing on a film about the reviewerfamed for his trademark thumbsup and thumbs down accolades,called Ebert’s death “an incalcu-lable loss for movie culture andfor film criticism."

Fellow Chicago native Oba -ma also hailed Ebert, who wrotereviews for the Chicago Sun-Ti m esfor over four decades and ho st eda hugely popular long-running

TV show. “For a generation ofAmeri c ans — and especiallyChicagoans — Roger was themovies. When he didn’t like afilm, he was honest; when hedid, he was effusive — capturingthe unique power of the moviesto take us somewhere magical,"Obama said.

Ebert — who just two daysago announced in a blog postthat he was taking a break fromhis main job — succumbed tocancer after a long battle.

He won a Pulitzer in 1975 fordistinguished criticism, the firstand one of only three such hon-ourees, and hosted long-runningmovie review TV shows. AFP

Famed USfilm criticEbert dies at 70

VOICE FALLS SILENT

PAJU, SOUTH KOREA: Visitors look at replicas of the HawkGuided Missile at Imjingak peace park in Paju on Thursday. AFP

Pyongyang rings fresh alarms. White House callsthe barrage of threats 'regrettable but familiar'.

Mozilla is working with payment ve -ndors and the W3C standards bodyto create a common API to makeonline payments, both on desktopand mobile, easier and more secure.To get this process go ing, Mozillahas implemented a new and experi-mental JavaScript API into its newFirefox OS for smartphones that willeventually allow web apps to acceptpayme n ts. Mozilla argues that hav-ing a com m on API for handlingpayme n ts that can be integratedwith mult iple payment vendors willopen up new business models fordevelopers and publishers.


In the US, Apple started 2013 asthe top OEM and it has only fur-ther increased its lead inFebruary. Samsung is gaining aswell, but not quite as quickly.Rounding out the top five areHTC, Motorola, and LG, all ofwhich lost share. In the platformspace, Google is still first courtesyof Android, Apple is second withiOS, but the latter is gaining onthe former. In fact, Apple’s gainsin the hardware space have beenso large recently that not only didiOS gain significantly but Androidhas taken a hit for the secondmonth running. Again, roundingout the top five are BlackBerry,Microsoft, and Symbian.

PAY EASILY

IOS GOES UP

North Korea’s official Twitter andFlickr accounts have been hackedand two of its main websitesdefaced, in hacker groupAnonymous’s latest efforts to dis-rupt the communist county’sonline presence. Last week, hack-ers that purported to be part ofthe ‘hacktivist’ collective claimedto have swiped 15,000 passwordsfrom North Korea’sUriminzokkiri.com news andinformation site in response tothe North Korean regime and itsnuclear weapons program. Whilethat feat remains unclear sincethe hackers posted details of justsix of the accounts that theyclaimed to have gotten, there isno doubt about the latest efforts.

Hacked

Technology 13GOING DIGITAL

It is a process of converting analogue ter-restrial television to digital terrestrial. It also

transition from analogue cable to digitalcable, as well as analogue to digital satellite.

What is Digital television transition

n Digital television reallocates the radiospectrum so that it can be auctioned off.

n This spectrum can be used to introducenew services and products in mobile tele-phony, wi-fi internet, and other nation-wide telecommunications projects.

Why they are actually doing it?

n More power consumption than good ol’cable

n Certain companies will expect you to paymoney per channel and your monthlyexpenditure on television may go up

n Money spent by the government on thistransition could be used elsewhere

n Consumers have to bear the cost of settop boxes

Issues with digitisation

Countriesthat havemade theshift

n 2006: Netherlands

n 2007: Andorra, Finland,Sweden, Switzerland

n 2009: Denmark, Germany, Isleof Man, Norway, United States

n 2010: Belgium, Croatia,Estonia, Guernsey, Jersey,Latvia, Luxembourg, SanMarino, Slovenia, Spain

n 2011: Austria, Canada, Cyprus,France, Israel, Malta, Monaco

n 2012: Czech Republic,Gibraltar, Ireland, Italy, Japan,Kenya, Lithuania, SaudiArabia, Qatar, Oman, UAE,Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia,South Korea, Taiwan, UnitedKingdom

n 2013: Australia, Azerbaijan,Bulgaria, Hungary, Iceland,Macedonia, Mauritius,Moldova, Namibia, NewZealand, Poland, South Africa,Zimbabwe

For cable companies and channels

n Average Revenue Per Userwill increase.

n No more grainy footage, socustomers will be morehappy with the service

Advantage

Everyone’s rushing to get a digital set-top box so they canwatch IPL in peace, but how much do you know about this transition

that the industry is going through in India?

For usern Better resolution and sound

quality. n More channels to choose

from.n Additional features such as

parental lock, recording ofshows etc possible availableon some set top boxes.

Digitisation in India

n First digital transmission wasstarted on January 26, 2003 inthe four major metros byDoordarshan

n I&B ministry only permits pri-vate broadcast companies touse satellite, cable and IPTVbased systems.

GET SETWATCH

KOREAN CRISIS

CommentFRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013

14HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTSSatyamev jayate might be the official credo, but in reality there’s hardlyany implementation of that. Upright Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka,who earlier ruffled feathers over Robert Vadra land deals, and subsequent-ly shunted out, has learned this the hard way — again!

Much like hisfather Kim Jong-Il, North Korea’snew youngleader Kim

Jong-Un is viewed by much ofthe outside world with a headymix of incomprehension,ridicule and fear.

In early March, people wereshaking their heads in bemuse-ment at photos of Kim partyingwith former NBA star DennisRodman in Pyongyang afterwatching a basketball gametogether. One month later,they’re wondering if he mightbe on the brink of tipping theKorean peninsula into a catas-trophic conflict.

The current crisis, with itsnuclear threats and Kim’s luridexhortations to his troops to“break the waists of the crazyenemies and totally cut theirwindpipes” has placed theyoung leader firmly in the glob-al spotlight.

But while more of a publicpersonality than his introvertedfather ever was, Kim remains anenigmatic figure, especially on apersonal level.

He’s young, but it’s unclearhow young, with reports rang-ing from 28 to 30. He has astylish, attractive wife, but howmany children he has or whatgender they are is a mystery.

As far as personal tastes go,his apparent affection foramusement parks and Disneycharacters sits oddly with his

position as supreme comman-der of the world’s fifth-largestarmy with a nuclear arsenal.

An often-used media qualifi-er, and one that has taken on anominous ring in recent weeks astensions between Pyongyang,Seoul and Washington havesoared, is “inexperienced.”

While Kim Jong-Il was wellgroomed before taking overfrom his father -- founding lead-er Kim Il-Sung -- Kim Jong-Unhad barely warmed the succes-sor’s chair when his father diedin December 2011. And after lessthan 16 months in the job, he hastaken his country to the brink ofconflict in the very first crisis hehas faced.

For Alexandre Mansourov, aNorth Korea expert, Kim’s per-sonal inexperience is worrying-ly matched by the outsideworld’s inexperience in dealingwith him. “Although he prac-ticed brinkmanship all the time,there was a record of Kim Jong-Il stepping back from the brink.With his son, we don’t have atrack record yet. We don’t knowwhat his limits are, how far wecan push him or whether he hasany brakes or not,” he said.

In South Korea, analysts saywhat others see as reckless“adventurism” on Kim’s partmay in fact be well-calibratedpragmatism.

“Kim only had a short timeto prepare for leadership, whichmeant he had to move all thefaster and more aggressivelywhen it came his way, to securehis control on the power elite,”said Chang Yong-Seok, at SeoulNational University.

In a regime whose inner

workings are as opaque asNorth Korea’s, there haveinevitably been questions as towhether Kim is really in chargeat all — or is just a puppetmanipulated by a coterie of topgenerals and officials.

Yang Moo-Jin, a professor atthe University of North KoreanStudies in Seoul, dismisses suchspeculation outright.

“I believe he has shown him-self to be in full control of theparty and the military,” Yangsaid, pointing to Kim’s “reso-lute” and even ruthless purge oftop officials after he came topower. It’s true that he’s sur-rounded by a group of experi-enced mentors, but that doesn’tmake him weak. He’s makingthe decisions on important stateaffairs. The system has beenalways like that,” he added.

Where, then, is he taking thecountry?

Kim has followed hisfather’s playbook of engineer-ing a crisis and then sharplydriving up the stakes to a levelwhere a skittish internationalcommunity offers concessionsto lower tensions. But it’s aworn playbook, and this time a

dry-eyed and unblinkingUnited States and South Koreahave chosen to stare Pyongyangdown.

Daniel Pinkston, a NorthKorea expert with theInternational Crisis Group, sug-gests Kim is waiting for jointSouth Korea-US military drillsto conclude at the end of April.

“Its important to understandthat a lot of what we see andhear — the photos of Kim hun-kered with his generals in a warroom, the apparently irrationalthreats — are largely meant for adomestic audience,” he said.

The rhetoric fromPyongyang, Pinkston noted,was largely couched in the lan-guage of deterrence, with Kimportrayed as the leader standingbetween the North Korean peo-ple and US invasion.

“When the drills end, themessage will be: ‘Look. Theywere going to invade us withtheir B-52s and and their stealthbombers, but they didn’tbecause of our nuclear deterrentand, above all, because of outsaviour, the great marshal KimJong-Un’. “That’s how itworks,” Pinkston said.

US policy ‘Modification’ reeks of double standards

Now the US administration is ready to consider granting a visa to Gujarat ChiefMinister Narendra Modi. For all its tirade against Modi over 2002 riots, Uncle

Sam’s realpolitik calculation cautions against burning bridges with India’s futureprime minister. Such a move would hurt American business interests, who fund

both Democrats and Republicans, and give advantage to competitors from Europe.This move exposes the hollowness in American interpretation of human rights violation. Gringo doesn’t have a problem with the slaughter of Muslims. but is

upset with killing of Tamils during the concluding phases of Sri Lankan civil war. Ithas no qualms in wooing Myanmar junta leaders who killed, maimed and

tortured tens of thousands for several decades. It ran to the aid of oil-rich Libya tohelp popular uprising but stayed silent when Saudi sent troops with US-supplied

arms to quell a similar movement there. Some guardian of rights huh?

When cops come a cropper

Bravery medals for cops who err in their duty?Why not? Newspaper reports say the Supreme

Court while dismissing a magisterial report intothe March 3, 2013 incident in which a woman wasbeaten up in public by Punjab Police sarcasticallytold the state government to award them braverymedals, as it claimed that she manhandled thecops. Why not, indeed? They are least ashamedthat they could not do their duty of protectingher or acting against the brute that molested her.Instead they thrashed her. This is indeed mostlaudable and they must be recognised for that.

EDITORIALS

READERS’ VIEWSWe invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to [email protected] or#1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500 033 or even by way of a call on 4067 2222. Editor: Dean Williams

What arekings, when

regiment isgone, but perfect shadowsin a sunshineday?

Christopher MarlowePlaywright

GILES HEWITTAgence France-Presse

UNDERSTANDING KIM

One lastthumbs-up

Film critic Roger Ebert oncewrote in his Chicago Sun-

Times journal: “I wasinstructed long ago by a wise edi-tor, ‘If you understand something

you can explain it so that almostanyone can understand it. If you

don’t, you won’t be able tounderstand your own explana-tion’. That is why 90 per cent ofacademic film theory is bullshit.

Jargon is the last refuge of thescoundrel.” Jargon was the onething that Ebert, who died last

night aged 70, avoided at allcosts. Ebert epitomised what

movies should be about: Magic,entertainment and the ability to

dream, no matter how hard theymay come crashing down. He

was seldom venomous (He oncewrote: “I had a colonoscopy once,and they let me watch it on TV. It

was more entertaining than TheBrown Bunny”), and that made

his criticism all the more potent.Even during his decade-long bat-

tle with cancer Ebert loved thescreen and the images that

played across it. Movies, heknew, were an extension of our

humanity, and an appendage ofour viciousness. But he also knew

that they were tools to unleashgreatness, be it in the auteur, theactor or within the viewer. I maynot have agreed with all Ebert’s

calls, but his love for motion pic-tures transcended any imagined

bickering. I will miss his reviews,as I know millions more will. Heonce quoted from Joni Mitchell’sBig Yellow Taxi, “Don’t it alwaysseem to go that you don’t know

what you’ve got till it’s gone.” InEbert’s case we always knewwhat we had: Cinema’s best

friend, and a movie-lover’s spiritguide.

THE HUMAN CONDITIONDean Williams

1 WHEN I WAS YOUR MANBruno Mars

2 JUST GIVE ME A REASON

P!nk

3 CRUISEFlorida Georgia Line

4 RADIOACTIVEImagine Dragons

5 SUIT & TIEJustin Timberlake

6 CAN’T HOLD USMacklemore & Ryan

Lewis

7 POM POMSJonas Brothers

8 HEART ATTACKDemi Lovato9 FEEL THIS MOMENTPitbull

10 I LOVE ITIcona Pop

1 THE 20/20 EXPERIENCEJustn Timberlake

2 SAME TRAILERDIFFERENT PARK

Kacey Musgraves

3 UNORTHODOX JUKEBOXBruno Mars

4 SPRING BREAK... HERETO PARTY

Luke Bryan

5 THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE

P!nk

6 NIGHT VISIONImagine Dragons

7 WHAT ABOUT NOW Bon Jovi

8 LES MISERABLESSoundtrack

9. BABELMumford & Sons

10. UNAPOLOGETICRihanna

1. SAPNA MERA TOOTANautanki Saala

2. MERA MANN KEHNELAGA

Nautanki Saala

3. TAAKI TAAKIHimmatwala

4.AAJA MERI JAANI love New Year

5 JUDAAI UNPLUGGED

I love New Year

6. AAKE TERE KAREEBAmma ki Boli

7. KAALI KAALIEk thi Daayan

8. MEETHI BOLIYANKai Po Che 9. YAARAM Ek Thi Daayan

10. MANJHA Kai Po Che

iTUNES Top 10 songs Top 10 albums Bollywood Top 10

DID YOU KNOW...

JustinTimberlake’s latest could be the first

album since Taylor Swift’s Red tospend its first three weeks at No. 1.It looks like Justin Timberlake’s The20/20 Experience will spend a thirdconsecutive week atop the Billboard200 chart next week. The set could

sell in the range of 150,000 to170,000, Billboard estimates, based

on the sales patterns of the lastcouple albums that debuted with a

half-million or more.

Out of touch, in the WildThe Stockport quintet might startsimple, sure, but when they’re fin-ished you’ve got something morethan a little odd. Dutch Unclesaren’t a self-consciously ‘experi-mental’ band, despite the math-rock drumming, or the orchestralarrangements. They’re a throw-back to the eighties heyday ofplaying around with the familiarshapes and sounds of songswhilst still being, well, listenableand accessible.

Morgan Spurlock,currently shooting

One Direction: ThisIs Us, says the filmfollowing the lives

of One Directionband members

while on tour willhave some “emo-tional moments”

and fans “may sheda tear” while watching it.

“There have beensome really lovely

emotionalmoments that

we’ve captured,” hesaid Wednesday.

Actress-singerSelena Gomezreportedly wantsfootage on her tobe deleted fromJustin Bieber’sforthcoming docu-mentary. Gomez,who split fromBieber earlier thisyear, is worried hewill include her inthe sequel to hishugely successful3D movie NeverSay Never, which isexpected to bereleased aroundChristmas.

NEW ALBUM

TRENDING...

CELEBRATING TRADITION

MusicFRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013

15CYRUS WITH THE LIONSnoop Lion is pining about the past on his latest Reincarnated track, and hebrought Miley Cyrus along for the ride. Their duet, off the rapper’s April 23album, made it to the Internet on Wednesday (April 3). On Ashtrays andHeartbreaks, Snoop combines his newfound Rasta style with Cyrus’ pop sound.

BEYOND MUSIC Fans of Indian classical music have a real treat lined up for them. On April 5-7,

Shilpakala Vedika will ring with the sublime sounds of sitars, flutes and drums aspart of the Pt Bhimsen Joshi National Festival of Music and Dance.

JYOTSNA [email protected]

This is the second yearthat the festival isbeing organised inHyderabad by

the SuranjaliFoundation. AbhijitBhattacharjee, thesecretary general ofS u r a n j a l iFoundation, said,“We could notthink of anyone bet-ter to honour than PtBhimsen Joshi. Hewas equally popularwith people who lovedCarnatic and Hindustanimusic. He is a big legend,which is why we decided tohold the cultural fest to honourhis legacy.”

While the festival was heldat Chowmahalla Palace lastyear, the venue has been shiftedto Shilpakala Vedika this year.The three-day festival has animpressive line-up that will getany music lover excited. Kickingoff the festival are PurbayanChatterjee (on the sitar) andShashank Subramanyam (flute),who will present an electrifyingjugalbandi. Purbayan, who livesin Kolkata, is known for seam-lessly merging Indian classicalmusic and contemporary worldmusic. Shashank has beenenthralling audiences since hewas six with classical renditionson the flute.

Day One comes to an endwith the rich, mellifluous tones ofBegum Parveen Sultana. Hailingfrom Assam, the Padmashri win-ner will be performing inHyderabad after a gap of 15

years, said Bhattacharjee.The next day will go beyond

music, with Shallu Jindal per-forming. The Kuchipudidanseuse is as much known forher charitable activities as she isfor her grace on stage.Following her will be PtBudhaditya Mukherjee on thesitar. A Hindustani classicalmusic exponent, he also is anexpert on the surbahar.

Bringing the festival to aclose will be Bharatanatyamdanseuse Shobhana, who reallyneeds no introduction. The tal-ented dancer and actor will per-form in the evening, right beforerenowned flautist Pt HariprasadChaurasia is felicitated for hiscontribution to the arts. He willlater perform with his talentednephew, Rakesh Chaurasia.

Talking about the line-up,Bhattacharjee said, “We wantedto keep a balance. Some peoplelike dance, some instrumental,some vocals... we can’t pleaseeveryone but we try to keep itvaried. It also depends on theartistes and their availability.Overall, we wanted people whocan inspire the next generation.”

“We are expecting more than3,000 people to attend the festi-val. The proceeds will be in aidof autistic children — we haveteamed up with NGOSimplyGive for the same. Thereason to have donor passes wasthat we wanted the right kind ofpeople, the ones who reallyappreciate music, to come. If it isfree, people will just turn upand disturb the artistes... theimportance of the tribute will belost,” said Bhattacharjee.

When asked whose perfor-mance he was looking forwardto, Bhattacharjee replied: “Ithink Budhaditya will take theaudience by surprise.” Judgingby the sheer amount of talentcongregating at ShilpakalaVedika, it would be a shame tomiss the festival.

Pt Bhimsen JoshiNational Festival ofMusic and DanceWhen: April 5-7,6.30pm-10.30pm

Where: Shilpakala Vedika,Hitec City

Price: `300 - `4,000(Season ticket)


18PARTY ALL NIGHTThis night at News Cafe, Hitech City is dedicated for ladies in the house.Girls can let their hair and have a blast on the dance floor as the in-houseDJ churn out foot-tapping tracks.spotlight

Masaba

Yamin, Gazala Khan

Chandini, Vani

Anusha Amala

Sumalatha

Vidya Singh

1

2

3

4 5

6

7

FASHION FIRST

ALL THAT GLITTERSInspired by the traditional work of arts, ArtKarat has launched its latest collection in thename of ‘Temple Collection’ at Hotel TajDeccan. The display is on till Sunday.

In a bid topromote dosa

as a fooditem,

Melange,Golconda

Hotel is host-ing a Dosa &Pesarattu fes-tival. The festwill be on tillSeptember 15.

DISHING OUT DOSAS

A FOODIE’S HAVENTesta Rossa, Jubilee Hills has added a new on-the-go Corporate Express Lunch service forits customers.

GREETMEETAND

Satya Paul team welcomed their newly appointedfashion director Masaba Gupta. Actress Amala

Akkineni partook in the celebration that was held atGVK mall on Thursday.

1 2 3

4 5 6 7

S BALAKRISHNA

CHINA BRIEFS WHO ON NEW BIRD FLUChina's health authorities have promised transparency and cooperation tothe World Health Organisation (WHO) over human infections from a newstrain of bird flu. The WHO said it appreciates China's cooperation andoffered technical support in a statement. health


19MYTHS

Nutrition MenuAdvance your diet byhaving nutritional infor-mation for over 100,000food items right at yourfingertips! Whether yougo out to eat or cook at

home, Nutrition Menu takes the guess-work out of choosing healthy meals andeven includes a calculator to computeyour Food Score. No internet connectionis required for this.

OsteomyelitisOsteomyelitis is an infection of thebone, particularly the long bones in chil-dren. It commonly affects the bones oneither side of the knee but any bone canbe affected. The child usually has a feverand a painful limb that they don't wanttouched or moved, because this causesintense pain. The skin over the infectedbone may be swollen, hot and red. Thechild may vomit, complain of nausea, orfeel lethargic and weak.

The appendix is not allthat uselessLong denigrated as ves-tigial, the appendixactually has a reason tobe – as a “safe house”

for the beneficial bacteria living in thegut. The bacteria in the appendix thataid digestion can ride out a bout of diar-rhoea that completely evacuates theintestines and emerge afterwards.

John HunterJohn Hunter was a Scottish surgeonregarded as one of the most distin-guished scientists and surgeons of hisday. He was an early advocate of carefulobservation and scientific method inmedicine. The Hunterian Society ofLondon was named in his honour. Hewas the husband of Anne Hunter, ateacher, and friend of, and collaboratorwith, Edward Jenner, the inventor of thesmallpox vaccine.

NEWS BRIEFSAPP-LY YOURSELF HOUSECALL DID YOU KNOW? PIONEERS

You think you know

MYTH: PEOPLE WITH DARK SKIN ARE NOT AT RISK OF GETTING SUNBURNEDFact: Although those with darker skinare naturally more protected from thesun as their skin contains higher levelsof melanin, a pigment that gives skinits colour and protects it from ultravi-

olet light, no one is immune to sundamage. When lounging by the poolthis summer or playing outdoors, besure to regularly apply sunscreen withan SPF of 30 or higher.

Fact: No matter howgood you think yourself-control is, if youskip one meal, you willovereat at the next. It’sbeen proven. Manytimes. Eating regularlymeans your metabolismis good and the body isburning calories whileturning the food you’veeaten to energy. Whenyou’re not eating, itswitches to standbymode, and fewer calo-ries are burned.

MYTH: MISSING AMEAL KEEPS YOU LIGHT

MYTH: DRINK WATER, YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOOMUCH OF A GOOD THING!

Fact: Recent studies reveal that drinking too much watercan, in fact, be potentially harmful. Excessive water

consumption is dangerous in that it can lower salt concen-tration in the body. Water intoxication, a life-threateningcondition, occurs when there is dilution of blood sodium

because the kidneys are over-worked, and unable toexcrete the excess water as urine. Experts also say it’s better

to drink small quantities over a period of time than drink-ing too much water at once.

MYTH: GOING IN AND OUT OF A/C ROOMS MAKES YOU SICKFact: Only an ill-maintained air-condition-

ing system can make you ill. The build-ing's air won't harm you, but its surfaces

might. Some viruses can survive on door-knobs, keyboards, furniture, bottles for

days. Wash your hands regularly. If an A/Cunit's filters are not regularly cleaned,they collect dust, pollen and other air-

borne allergens, leading to allergies.

MYTH: ICED DRINKS KEEP YOU COOL IN SUMMERSFact: Though it is recommended to increase your fluidintake during summers, you need to be careful abouticed drinks, as they are known to aggravate digestion.Instead, try mixing fresh lime juice with water. Coconutwater is also very cooling and healthy. Also, drinkingcold water does not burn more calories than warm water.

FLEME

VARK

EYfle

me.

v@po

stno

on.c

om

SUMMER?Granny’s myths, that’s

what they are. Iceddrinks keep you cool,

you can beat the heat ifyou have dark skin...it’s time you see thetruth behind them.

health FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 20

LONDON: Exhaled breath car-ries a molecular ‘breathprint’unique to each individual, whichmay be used as a more conve-nient tool to diagnose disease,replacing the conventional bloodand urine tests, researchers say.

Researchers at ETH Zurichand at the University HospitalZurich now propose to takeadvantage of modern high-reso-lution analytical methods thatcan provide real-time informa-tion on the chemical compositionof exhaled breath.

It is also known that traineddogs and rats can distinguish thesmell of the breath of people suf-fering from certain variants ofcancer. In these cases the entiresmell of the patient’s exhaledbreath is gauged, which can giverise to bias.

The scientists, led by RenatoZenobi, professor at theLaboratory for OrganicChemistry, aim at eliminatingthis bias and identifying thechemical compounds in breath.

Using mass spectrometry,these goals can be reached, asshown in a recent study wherethe ETH researchers analysed theexhaled breath of 11 volunteers.

They found that the chemical“fingerprint” of exhaled breath,largely based on volatile andsemi-volatile metabolites, showsan individual core pattern. Eachvolunteer was found to havehis/her own characteristic“breathprint."

Using regular measurementsextending over 11 days, theresearchers could furthermoreshow that this metabolic “breath-print” stays constant.

“We did find some smallvariations during the day, butoverall the individual patternstays sufficiently constant to beuseful for medical purposes,"said Pablo Martinez-LozanoSinues, senior scientist inZenobi’s research group. PTI

‘Breathprint’to make bloodand urine testobsolete?

BREAKTHROUGHRESEARCH

WASHINGTON: Stimulating acertain part of the brain withmagnets can wipe away cocaineaddiction, scientists claim.

Researchers at the NationalInstitutes of Health (NIH) andthe Ernest Gallo Clinic andResearch Center at University ofCalifornia, San Francisco (UCSF)have shown that by stimulatinga part of the brain with laserlight, they can wipe away addic-tive behaviour in rats, or con-versely, turn non-addicted ratsinto compulsive cocaine seekers.

“When we turn on a laserlight in the prelimbic region ofthe prefrontal cortex, the com-pulsive cocaine seeking is gone,"said Antonello Bonci, scientificdirector of the intramural

research programme at theNIH’s National Institute onDrug Abuse (NIDA), where thework was done.

The study demonstrates thecentral role the prefrontal cortexplays in compulsive cocaineaddiction. It also suggests a newtherapy that could be testedimmediately in humans, saidBilly Chen of NIDA, the lead

author of the study.Any new human therapy

would not be based on usinglasers, but would most likelyrely on electromagnetic stimula-tion outside the scalp, in particu-lar a technique called transcra-nial magnetic stimulation(TMS), researchers said.

To test whether altering theactivity in this brain regioncould impact addiction, Chenand his colleagues employed atechnique called optogenetics toshut the brain activity on and offusing a laser.

First they took light-sensi-tive proteins called rhodopsinsand used genetic engineering toinsert them into neurons in therat’s prefrontal cortex.

Activating this region with alaser tuned to the rhodopsinsturned the nerve cells on and off.

Turning on these cells wipedout the compulsive behaviour,while switching them off turnedthe non-addicted ones intoaddicted, researchers found.

What’s exciting, said Bonci,is that there is a way to induce asimilar activation of the prelim-bic cortex in people through atechnique called transcranialmagnetic stimulation (TMS),which applies an external elec-tromagnetic field to the brainand has been used as a treatmentfor symptoms of depression.

The study was published inthe journal Nature. PTI

Zapping brain withmagnets may curecocaine addiction,researchers say.

Magnetscure drugaddiction?

To test whether alter-ing brain activity in aregion could impactaddiction, a techniquecalled optogeneticswas used.

STUDY

LONDON: Low testosteronelevels may be an early warningsign of rheumatoid arthritis inmen, a new study has warned.

According to the study, pub-lished in the journal Annals ofthe Rheumatic Diseases, scientistsstudied participants of theSwedish Malmo PreventiveMedicine Program (MPMP),which began in 1974 andtracked the health of more than

33,000 people born between1921 and 1949.

Participants were subjectedto a battery of tests, completed aquestionnaire on health andlifestyle factors, and left bloodsamples after an overnight fast.

The authors identified allthose MPMP participants whowere subsequently diagnosedwith rheumatoid arthritis up toDecember 2004.

Stored blood samples wereavailable for 104 of the menwho subsequently developedrheumatoid arthritis, and for174 men of the same age whodid not develop the disease.

Rheumatoid factor statuswas known at diagnosis for 83 ofthe men, almost three out of fourof whom tested positive for it.

Rheumatoid factor is anantibody that indicates disease

severity and is used to cate-gorise the condition.

After taking account ofsmoking and BMI, both of whichcan affect the risk of rheumatoidarthritis, men with lower levelsof testosterone in their bloodsamples were more likely todevelop the disease, the studyfound. These men also had sig-nificantly higher levels of folliclestimulating hormone. PTI

Low testosterone levels early sign of arthritis in men?

EntertainmentFRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013

21

Shruti Haasan has beensigned up as the new digital

brand ambassador of AmericanSwan, a premium fashion andlifestyle brand. “Delighted tojoin@AmericanSwan#FashionCountry! Love the

threads – very stylish & SOcomfortable! (sic),”

Shruti tweeted.

Simran Kaur comes toTollywood

Former Miss India Universe SimranKaur Mundi is all set to make her

debut in Telugu cinema. She’s goingto play one of the lead roles oppo-

site Manchu Manoj in Potugaadu.The film’s shooting began recently

in Bijapur. Pawan Wadeyar is direct-ing the film. Simran will soon be

seen in a Hindi filmtitled KukuMathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi.

Gouravam’s audio to belaunched today

The audio of Sirish, YaamiGautam starrer Gouravam is

going to be launched later todayat the Uppal Stadium during theIPL match. Thaman has scoredthe music. Radha Mohan hasdirected this bilingual film andPrakash Raj has produced it.

Someone recently asked me when I am going to retire from films. I can assureyou that I’m not going to retire anytime soon. I am pretty sure that Naga

Chaitanya and Akhil will retire before me. I’ll remain as ‘King’,” Nagarjunasaid, in a lighten vein, while addressing his fans at the audio launch of

Greekuveerudu which was held recently in Hyderabad. Ever since the film’sfirst look was unveiled, everyone has been raving about Nagarjuna’s looks and a lot

of actors from the younger generation quipped that Nagarjuna is giving them atough time. “A lot of people have been asking me the secret behind my looks and all I

can say is that it’s all because of the support and encouragement from my fans,”Nagarjuna said. SP Balasubramaniam, who was one of the guests at the event,praised Nagarjuna saying, “I have seen a lot of actors who act both on and off

screen, but Nagarjuna isn’t like that. He acts only onscreen. I have sung a song forhim after a long time and I can’t believe how young I feel.” The audio launch was

filled with close friends and family members of Nagarjuna. Speaking about thefilm, ANR said, “The film’s producer

Sivaprasad Reddy is like a family member and Iwish he continues to do more good films in future. I

am not the kind of person who would praise mychildren and grand children just for the heck of it.

The film’s title is quite interesting and you canimagine how the film will be. I wish the entire

team a big success.”Talking about the film,Nagarjuna said, “I wanted to work with

Dasaradh after Santosham whichreleased back in 2002 and finally we

teamed up for Greekuveerudu. It’s agood romantic entertainer. I stilldon’t know what the film’s title

means. It was great fun workingwith the entire team of the film. Ihave learnt a lot about discipline

from my father and I believethat’s the reason behind my suc-

cess. I hope both NagaChaitanya and Akhil learn thesame.” Nayanthara is the lead

actress whereas MeeraChopra, Brahmanandam and

MS Narayana have playedimportant roles. Dasaradh has

directed the film. SS Thamanhas scored the music and Anil

Bhandari is the cinematogra-pher. The film will release on

April 19.

NAGARJUNA

CINE BYTES

Shruti is the new faceof American Swan

I’ll not retire anytime soon: THE ONLY KING


NICOLA FORMICHETTI JOINS DIESELNICOLA FORMICHETTI has joined Diesel as the brand's first artistic director. The news was confirmed thismorning, following a succession of rumours surrounding the designer's appointment at the Italian label.

Columbo Fashion Week hostedannually is one of the most

exclusive fashion events heldon the island. Designers

from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan andPalestine were among those who dis-

played their creations at the three-dayevent held from April 3 to 6. The event

highlighted local talent and aimed totap foreign fashion buyers. The show

featured a total of 31 designers overthree nights. The line up consisted

of 10 high profile designers fromeight countries and 20 talent-

ed Sri Lankan designers.As for this year, the

special focus was onyouth and in particular

young Sri Lankan design-ers with a view entirely on

the next generation.Designers who pre-sented their works

include the winners ofthe previous two Gen-Next Award’s namely

Dimuthu Sahabandu andDeneth Piumkashi, whodebuted internationally.

Three-day longColumbo Fashion

Week had designersfrom Sri Lanka, India,

Pakistan and Palestinepartaking in the show.

High street

FASHION

fashion

22&23ZAC POSEN TEAMS UP WITH MAGNUMZAC POSEN has collaborated with Magnum. The designer follows Karl Lagerfeld in teaming up with the icecream company.

Entertainment FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 24

Entertainment FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 25

ACROSS1 Facial outbreak5 They have parental instincts9 Balsa vessels, eg14 Arabian craft15 Leave unsaid16 Poet TS17 Tiny insect18 Popular PBS series19 Miraculous fare20 Pal, to Pierre21 Busybody23 Drink of the gods25 Edge26 Organ with a drum inside27 Wedding gown part30 Man the oars33 Old French money35 Bigger than big36 Reader’s Digest co-founder

Wallace37 What a sore winner will do40 Noted first name in jazz41 In short order42 In-group lingo43 Player’s peg44 Lilliputian45 Large tub46 Track record?47 Seed on hamburger buns50 Reporter’s asset56 Charged atom57 Prove beneficial58 Top quality59 Chunk or clunk60 Ballroom dance61 Walked over62 Item for a Mexican pot?63 From days of yore64 Part of a military command65 Yemeni seaport

DOWN1 Madison Avenue male, say2 Doorbell sound, perhaps3 Conspicuous4 Member of the flock5 Fund contributor6 John of ‘Roots’7 Low-class joint8 Collar insert9 Stay put10 Bank vault installation11 Stool pigeon12 Voice-mail cue13 Night light21 Dealer’s foe, for short22 Butts in24 Country crooner Tucker27 Pang28 Long, winding sentence29 Severe suffering30 Raccoon type31 Mixed bag32 Electricity measurement33 Ridge on a guitar’s fingerboard34 ‘Golden’ or ‘ground’

follower36 Turkish money38 Be of ___ (aid)39 A-frame overhangs44 Fabric protection brand46 Light brown47 Ingrid Bergman, eg48 Bullwinkle J ___49 Not sideways50 Grp headquartered in Brussels51 Like a human face52 Take the edge off?53 Parking lot posting54 Writer / director Ephron55 ‘... lender be’59 IRS go-between

KAKURO QUICK CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

Chai TimeFRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013

26THOUGHT OF THE DAYNothing was a style first. Everything started as an idea. A guy did some-thing with an idea. Someone copied him. Some copied all of them andit became trendy and then it became a style. Bill Laswell

SCRIBBLING PAD

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

How to play kakuroKakuro is a popular game similar to sudoku insome ways. But is also suitably different. The keyquestion: ‘How do you play kakuro?’, well hereare the rules of kakuro. The answer: The kakurogrid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It hasrows and columns, and dark cells like in a cross-word. And, just like in a crossword, some of thedark cells will contain numbers. Some cells willcontain two numbers.

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

Within each collection of cells — calleda run — any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be usedbut, like sudoku, each number may only be usedonce.

Let’s have an example to explain this conceptmore clearly:

In the image above, which shows a section ofa 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 under-neath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could bethe answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on...

So, how do you work out the actual combi-nation? Well, this is done through eliminationand cross-referencing. For instance, as you workout the answers for other kakuro clues, this willnaturally limit the valid combinations, and hencethe answer for this particular run.

Note the second cell in row two — it con-tains two numbers, 30 and 11. The 30 refers tothe vertical run underneath the number 30 andthe 11 refers to the two cells to the right, hori-zontally, of the number 11.

TAROT READ

Chai Time FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 27

STAR POWER

STRIP TEASE

Vol: 2, No 259 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 – 500033and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon. com and for subscription, please call 040-4067 2222, Fax: 040-4067 2211

Thiruvaikumar

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

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

for 6-4-2013 As per Hindu panchang

for 6-4-2013

ARIESEgo clashes with spouse willvanish. Happy events are totake place at home in a line.Avoid wasteful expenditure andextravagance so that therewon’t be need to take furtherfinancial help. Women likely toget unexpected financial gain.

ARIES: Four of Wands –Keep track of all your purchases andmake sure you maintain a detailedexpenses file. You’ll know where youneed to cut expenses to save.

GEMINI: The Moon – Youneed to chase a dream in order tomake it come true. Just sitting andfretting will not help in any way.Make a workable plan and go for it.

LEO: Five of Swords – Youneed excitement in life and you cando something about it if you’re sureof what you need. An adventure tripor study course may hold the answer.

LIBRA: Four of Pentacles –Your goals and your plan may not bein sync. Take a look at how you wantto work it out and look at it practi-cally. How times have changed.

TAURUS: Page of Swords –You want some pampering by way ofa luxurious holiday. Why not plan oneif you can afford it? Take your lovedones along and make a vacation of it.

CANCER: King of Pentacles– Nostalgia is the flavour of the sea-son. You want to re-live memories andget in touch with friends who matter.How about organising a reunion?

VIRGO: Ten of Wands – Le -a ve room for things to go awry whenyou plan something, especially a trip.Keep a backup of all your documentsand manage your trip well.

SCORPIO: King of Cups –Spend time with family. Take a week-end away together and bond so thatyou can be assured that you haveenough support when you need it.

CAPRICORN: The Wheelof Fortune – You have been waitingfor success to knock on your door.When it does knock, which will besoon, you are in for a surprise.

SAGITTARIUS: Death –Change is inevitable. It may be a rela-tionship in an unconventional way,which you didn’t expect to happen toyou. Bottom line is that you’re happy.

AQUARIUS: The Empress –Love is in the air. If you’re committed,you meet an old flame and sparks ign -i te. You feel great about the new feel-ing and are excited to take it forward.

PISCES: The Magician –Everything’s falling in place as peryour plan. Even a few months ago,you didn’t know it was possible. Lifeturns out in unexpected ways.

TAURUSEmployees advised not to en -trust important responsibilitiesto others as your name will gettarnished by inept handling.Enemies might be active; youneed to be extra cautious. Apeaceful atmosphere is likelyto prevail at home.

GEMINIYou have to change your atti-tude and be flexible so that allwork will get completed suc-cessfully. Influx of close relativesand wellwishers make all in thefamily happy. Transfer andadditional responsibilities onthe cards for employees.

CANCERYou need to give due respectto elders of the family andimplement their suggestion,which will only benefit you.Businessmen will attain greaterheights in their field. Employe -es will cheer up as problems atworkplace will go away.

LEOGood growth is assured for bu -s i nessmen as efforts put in thepast will start yielding favour -able result. Held-up work willresu me and get completed suc-cessfully without any furtherresistances. Assistance from thebank is likely to be sanctioned.

VIRGOYou need to adopt a slow andsteady approach so that workswill complete without facingany difficulty. Hurdles in theway of performing happyevents at home will disappear.Marriage of son or daughter isto be performed successfully.

LIBRAPromotion with transfer is onthe cards for employees andthey are advised to accept thesame. Avoid unwanted argu-ments and petty clashes withfriends and relatives. Adjustwith family members at hometo maintain harmony.

SCORPIOBusinessmen likely to have asteady growth. They need toinvolve themselves directlywhile signing new contractsrather than entrusting them totop management personnel. Becareful with new friends whomight not do you any good.

SAGITTARIUSLaziness and anger need to beavoided as this will spoil yourcareer prospects. Non-stopefforts and shrewd action willyield desired results. Emp loyeesneed to work with self-confi-dence and focus to complete allwork in time to earn a name.

CAPRICORNWhile planning to purchaseland or house, be sure to studydocuments thoroughly andthen proceed. Children willmake you proud and happy.Unwanted blame likely; becareful with your opinions andwhile helping others.

AQUARIUSEmployees to grab an oppor-tunity to work abroad. Such achance has a good scope for abright future. Hurdles in theway of performing goodevents will disappear. Yourunique approach needs drasticchanges to be successful.

PISCESAvoid friends who praise in fr -o nt of you but abuse you whenyou are not around. Spouse’shealth will be a cause for con-cern; take care. Avoid a thirdperson’s help to mediate bet -ween you and your spouse forit will spoil the relationship.

AGNES

NON SEQUITUR

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

POOCH CAFE

BoggleVIOLET ORANGE MAROON YELLOW

SUDU

KO

NUM

BER

GAM

ESC

RABB

LE

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

Entertainment FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 28Happy to give back toKolkata: Shahrukh KhanTerming his team Kolkata

Knight Riders’ smashing victo-ry over Delhi Daredevils “won-derful”, Shahrukh Khan felt elatedto “return back” to the “city ofjoy” for the opening match of thesixth edition of Indian PremierLeague. “The city has been sokind to us for so many years andit feels that we could return backwith what we are best at, which isentertainment,” he said. IANS

Big B in admiration of TheGreat Gatsby team

Reminiscing his experience ofshooting his first Hollywood

film The Great Gatsby, Bollywoodmegastar Amitabh Bachchan saidhe has admiration for the movie's

cast and crew. "As I look back tothose moments, I can only have

admiration and respect. Theamount of concentrated energy

that goes in is quite remarkable,"Big B tweeted. IANS

Producer Ekta Kapoorsays her forthcom-

ing supernatural thrillerEk Thi Daayan is not a

docu-drama. "These arenot facts. It's not a docu-

drama. It should not betaken seriously," she said

at the Daayan booklaunch. IANS

'Ek Thi Daayan' not docu-drama: Ekta Kapoor

The premiere of digitallyrestored version of SaiParanjpye’s classicChashme Buddoor

turned out to be a low-keyevent, which saw the presenceof star cast of the film and someTV actors.

Apart from Deepti Naval,Farooque Sheikh and RakeshBedi, who acted in Chashme

Buddoor, one of the best toldbuddy stories so far, anchor-turned-actor Rannvijay andfilmmaker Sudhir Mishra wereseen at the event.

Rakesh said: “We are notreleasing the film with the inten-tion of any competition. This isbeing released only becausetoday’s generation doesn’t knowwhat the film was about.”

The 1981 release ChashmeBuddoor has been remade byDavid Dhawan and both theversions have hit the screensFriday. If original, which alsostarred Farooque Sheikh andRavi Baswani, is still on themovie lovers’ favourite list, thelatest version has got encourag-ing reviews too.

The new version stars Ali

Zafar, Siddharth, TaapseePannu, and Divyendu Sharma.

“When we releasedChashme Buddoor in 1981, wehad only banners and postersand now look at the marketingstrategy. That time we didn’thave such aggressive market-ing,” said Rakesh.

Rannvijay said he enjoyedthe experience of watching the

classic on the silver screen.“It’s great opportunity for

the new generation, who hasnot seen the film, to watch it onthe big screen. I am happy that Icould watch the film of 17mmscreen,” he added.

Mishra said: “It’s not easy tomake this kind of film. Whowouldn’t want to watch thisfilm on the big screen!”

CHASHME BUDDOOR

A RETAKELow profile premiere for restored

sports 29GRAND NATIONAL


LIVERPOOL, UK: There is ahuge amount riding on thisyear’s race with the racecourseauthorities having implementedseveral changes after outrage fol-lowing four horses dying in thelast two runnings.

The Walsh’s look well placedto win the first National onSaturday of what everyonehopes is a new era for theworld’s greatest steeple chase.

Father Ted trains two of thefavourites in Colbert Station, to

be ridden by legendary NorthernIrish jockey Tony McCoy, andSeabass, to be ridden like lastyear, when he finished third, byhis daughter Katie.

Ted has already won the Nat -io nal, Papillon in 2000 ridden byson Ruby and when then 16-year-old Katie was the horse’sstablegirl, but Katie stands achance of becoming the firstwoman rider to triumph here.

Katie, who has establishedherself as a leading amateurrider, refuses to play on what anachievement it would be for awoman to enter the winner’s cir-cle as a rider - Jenny Pitman andVenetia Williams having done soas trainers.

“It would be fairytale stuff towin and I’d love to be part of it,but you can’t go into the racethinking about winning it,” saidthe Irishwoman.

“When I think of myself, it’sas a successful amateur and asuccessful jockey, but not as asuccessful female, that doesn’treally come into it.

“When I pulled up last year, Inever thought, it’s great that I’vefinished third because I’m a girl.It just felt great to be third in theNational, there was no femaleperspective at all.”

Katie may well end upduelling the finish out withRuby, who is bidding for histhird National win on the

favourite On My Own.On My Own - trained by

leading Irish trainer WillieMullins - came to grief atBecher’s Brook second timeround last year when going welland gets another chance unlikefellow Becher’s faller Accordingto Pete, who was one of the twofatalities.

However, well-fancied Welshcontender Teaforthree will pro-vide a reminder that it is not justhorses who count the cost.

Irish amateur rider JPMcNamara, who rode him to vic-tory at the Cheltenham Festivallast year, lies paralysed in hospi-tal after a terrible fall at thisyear’s Festival. AFP

The racing world will hope the Grand National will see all horses come home safein a likely battle between the Walsh family and a strong challenge from Wales.

Thunder beat Spurs induel of top teams OKLAHOMA CITY,OKLAHOMA: RussellWestbrook scored a game-high 27 points Thursday tolead Oklahoma City to a 100-88 NBA victory over SanAntonio in a duel between thetop teams in the WesternConference.

Westbrook also grabbedseven rebounds and handedout seven assists for theThunder, who whittled theSpurs’ lead in the race for thebest record in the West toone-half game. Kevin Durantadded 25 points, ninerebounds and six assists.

Bitter rivals Lorenzo,Rossi reunited for ’13 PARIS: The wraps come offthe 2013 MotoGP season inQatar this weekend with pre-season testing suggestingJorge Lorenzo has a massivefight on his hands to defendhis world championship title.

The Spaniard prevailed in agripping season-long tusslewith Dani Pedrosa to claim the2012 crown in the penultimaterace in Australia after hisHonda rival crashed out.

Pedrosa, on the speedyHonda, will be hungry to goone better but Lorenzo facesan arguably greater dangermuch closer to home.

Armstrong bid forcomeback thwarted WASHINGTON: DisgracedUS cyclist Lance Armstrong hasbeen barred from entering aswim race in Texas followingobjections from the sport’sglobal governing body, orga-nizers confirmed on Thursday.

Armstrong, 41, who wasstripped of his seven Tour deFrance wins and banned forlife before later confessing todrug-taking throughout hiscareer, had hoped to competein a US Masters Swimmingevent in Austin this weekend.

Armstrong’s participationwas opposed by swimming’sglobal governing body FINA.

Henao wins stage,leads in Basque Tour MADRID: Colombian NairoQuintana, riding for Katusha,won the fourth stage of theTour of the Basque country onThursday, seeing off compatri-ot Sergio Luis Henao of theSky team in cold and rainyconditions.

Henao nonetheless retainsthe overall leader’s jersey fol-lowing the 151.6km stagebetween Trapagaran andArrate, which Quintana took in3hr 58min 52sec.

He crossed the line firstafter negotiating a furioussprint finish over the final fewhundred metres. AFP

SPORTS BRIEFS

Walsh v Welsh battle likely

Horse ‘Bold Addition’ ridden by Steven Clements (C) falls at Beechers Brook during the Fox Hunters Steeple Chaseon the opening day of the Grand National Meeting horseracing event at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England onThursday. AFP/ANDREW YATES

LONDON: Animal rights cam-paigners slammed GrandNational organisers after ahorse died on the first day ofthe meeting at Aintree onThursday.

The world famousNational will be staged onSaturday, with the welfare ofthe horses firmly on the agen-da after Battlefront becamethe 23rd horse to die on theLiverpool course since 2000.

Aintree bosses made sig-nificant alterations to thecourse after last year’s bigrace was marred by the deathof two horses, According ToPete and Synchronised.

That followed two fatali-ties in the 2011 race, Ornaisand Dooney’s Gate.

Old wooden fence frameshave been replaced in a bid tomake the race easier on thehorses. However, Battlefrontwas pulled up by jockey KatieWalsh during the fourth raceon the course on Thursday.

It came after Walshdefended the sport earlierthis week.

Aintree horse fatalityrenews safety concern

CHESS IN CITYUnder-17 tourney tobe held on SundayHYDERABAD: TheHyderabad District ChessAssociation is organising theHyderabad District Chesstournament for under-17boys and girls this Sunday atthe academy in Chikkadpally.

Players born on or after1.1.1996 are eligible to par-ticipate. The selected playersof this tournament will rep-resent Hyderabad district inthe upcoming under-17State-level chess tourna-ment.

Further details can behad from www.apchess.org.

SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTChinese Olympicchamp turns pro PETER STEBBINGSAgence France-Presse

HONG KONG: China’s two-time Olympic boxing championZou Shiming (left) makes hisprofessional debut on Saturdayin Macau, embarking on what heand his ambitious US promotershope will be a fast track to aworld title.

A household name in hishomeland — where boxing wasonce banned under Mao Zedong— the three-time amateur world

champion faces the little-knownMexican Eleazar Valenzuela in afour-round non-title showdownthat tops the bill. It ought to be aformality for Zou and anythingbut a resounding victory, prefer-ably by way of knock-out,would be a shock result.

“It’s always been a dream ofmine to become a professionalboxer. Now that I have thisopportunity, I want to see if I canbecome a world champion, thatis the goal that I hope toachieve,” Zou told AFP.

sports 30FAMILY CIRCLE CUP

LPGA KRAFT NABISCO US PGA TOUR TEXAS OPEN


CHARLESTON: World No. 1Serena Williams (in pic) andVenus Williams were among theplayers left waiting on Thursdayas rain wreaked havoc at theWTA claycourt tournament inCharleston.

Second-seeded CarolineWozniacki advanced to the quar-ter-finals via walkover afterGermany’s Andrea Petkovicpulled out of their third-roundmatch with a right calf injury, butfor much of the day that non-event was the only action.

Four third-round matcheswere postponed until Friday:top-seeded Serena Williams vMallory Burdette, fifth-seededVenus Williams v VarvaraLepchenko, sixth-seeded Lucie

Safarova v Sorana Cirstea andBethanie Mattek-Sands vMadison Keys.

Three matches finally got onCharleston’s green clay courts onThursday night, with 2007Charleston champ JelenaJankovic of Serbia booking herquarter-final berth with a 6-0, 6-4victory over US qualifier JessicaPegula.

Pegula, whose first- and sec-ond-round victories here werethe first WTA match wins of hercareer, seized a 3-1 lead in thesecond set before former worldNo. 1 Jankovic roared back.

Unseeded Swiss StefanieVoegele ousted 10th-seededGerman Julia Goerges 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 to set up a quarter-final clash

with Wozniacki.Canadian Eugenie Bouchard

also advanced, when third-seed-ed Australian Sam Stosur retiredwhile trailing in the second set oftheir match with the same calfinjury that prompted her to with-draw from Indian Wells in Marchand skip the Miami hardcourttournament.

Bouchard was leading 6-1, 2-0 when former US Open champi-on Stosur called it a night. Theyoung Canadian will faceJankovic in the quarter-finals.

On Friday, Serena Williamswill try to continue her marchtoward a third Charleston titleagainst Burdette, who ousted2009 champion Sabine Lisicki ofGermany in the second round.

RANCHO MIRAGE:Na Yeon Choi (in pic),Suzann Pettersen andJodi Ewart Shadoff firedfour-under par 68sThursday to sh are thefirst round lead at theLPGA Kraft Nabisco, thefirst major of the season.Both South Korea’s Choiand Norway’s Pettersenhad four birdies with nobogeys on the par-72Dinah Shore tournament course atMission Hills, while England’s EwartShadoff had six birdies and two bogeys.

Ewart Shadoff had seized the outrightlead with four holes to play thanks to afour-birdie burst starting at the par-five11th, but she gave back a stroke with hersecond bogey of the day at the 16th.

“I’ve been playingreally consistently thelast three or four tourna-ments,” Ewart Shadoffsaid. “And so I knew mygame is right there, and Iknew I was due to have areally good round.”Choi, ranked third in theworld, teed off on 10 andpicked up her first birdieat the 14th, draining a 30-footer from the fringe.

A brace of birdies at 16 and 17 was fol-lowed by nine pars before she punctuat-ed her round with a birdie at the par-fiveninth. “I’m really happy I played withouta bogey today, but luckily I played in themorning today and the greens and fair-ways are a little softer than the after-noon,” she said. AFP

BOISE: World No. 1Novak Djokovic, leadingSerbia’s Davis Cup quar-ter-final charge againstthe United States, willtake on John Isner in theopening singles match oftheir World Group tie onFriday.

Djokovic is one ofjust two top-10 player, alongwith France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga,who will be competing in the

Davis Cup World Groupquarter-finals this week-end.

In the absence ofSerbian number twoJanko Tipsarevic, endur-ing a dry spell on theATP tour, world No. 44Viktor Troicki will joinDjokovic playing singles

for Serbia, who lifted the trophyin the nations tennis competitionin 2010.

Troicki will take on SamQuerrey in Friday’s second sin-gles in Boise, the capital of Idahowhich is located at an altitude of800m.

In Saturday’s doubles, Boband Mike Bryan will take onNenad Zimonjic andIlijaBozoljac, while in Sunday’sreverse singles in the best-of-fivematch tie Querrey will take onDjokovic and Isner will faceTroicki. AFP

Rain keeps players waitingWorld No.1 Serena Williams and Venus Williams were among the other players left waiting

after rain wreaked havoc at the WTA claycourt tournament in Charleston.

WELLINGTON: Former Aust -ralian wicketkeeper Luke Ronchiwas Friday named in the 15-manNew Zealand one-day squad fortheir upcoming tour to Englandand the Champions Trophy.

Ronchi is the only player whohas not previously representedNew Zealand in the side that alsosees the return of spinner DanielVettori, who has been sidelined foreight months with an ankle injury.

The touring Test squad seesrecalls for Martin Guptill and MarkGillespie, who are added to the listof players who featured in the

squads for the recent drawn three-Test home series against England.

Ronchi is New Zealand bornbut was raised in Australia wherehe played four one-day internatio -nals and three T20 internationals in2008-09 before returning to hiscountry of birth. National selectionmanager Kim Littlejohn said thatwith a fully fit squad, the race forspots had never been so competi-tive. “The ODI squad has a coregroup of players who have nowplayed in a number of internation-al tournaments and bring a wealthof experience,” he said. AFP

Former Australian keeper in New Zealand squadDAVIS CUPIN BRIEF

Djokovic leads Serbia against USA

Choi, Pettersen, EwartShadoff share LPGA lead

SAN ANTONIO: PeterTomasulo’s (right) birdie-birdie finish completed abogey-free five-underpar 67 Thursday andvaulted him into a tie forthe lead with MattBettencourt at the USPGA Tour Texas Open.

The US duo had aone-stroke lead over Irel -and’s Padraig Harring -ton and Americans BillyHorschel, Bryce Molder and HarrisEnglish, who all finished a windy day atTPC San Antonio on four-under 68. Agroup of 10 players on 69 includedEngland’s Brian Davis, AustraliansNathan Green, Alistair Presnell andSteven Bowditch, as well as Argentina’sAndres Romero.

Tomasulo, makingjust his sixth start of theseason on the PGA Tourand trying to regain fullplaying privileges afterbattling a rib injury twoyears ago, played in thelast group of the day.

He drained a 10-footbirdie putt at 18 for hisshare of the lead, andsaid playing late was anadvantage on a day of

gusty winds. “I just played a solid roundof golf to go around here with nobogeys,” Tomasulo said. “We got a goodend of the draw, I think, with the weathercalming down late in the day.” Harrin -gton said “mental fortitude” rather thangreat ball-striking was the key to hisround, played in tougher conditions. AFP

Tomasulo, Bettencourtin top spot at Texas

SCORECARDROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE VS MUMBAI INDIANSRC Bangalore innings (20 overs)

C Gayle not out 92 (58)

T Dilshan b Johnson 0 (8)

V Kohli lbw b Bumrah 24 (14)

M Agarwal c Tendulkar b Bumrah 1 (5)

D Christian c Johnson b Harbhajan 4 (13)

K Nair lbw b Bumrah 0 (3)

Arun Karthik not out 19 (19)

Extras (lb 11, w 5) 16

Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 156

Bowling O M R W Econ

M Johnson 3 0 15 1 5.00

M Patel 4 0 40 0 10.00

J Bumrah 4 0 32 3 8.00

J Oram 4 0 22 0 5.50

Harbhajan 4 0 21 1 5.25

K Pollard 1 0 15 0 15.00

Mumbai Indians innings (target : 157 runs from 20 overs)

Ponting st A Karthik b Kartik 28 (33)

Tendulkar run out (Unadkat/ArunKarthik) 23 (19)

D Karthik c Agarwal b V Kumar 60 (37)

R Sharma b Vinay Kumar 11 (11)

A Rayudu b Vinay Kumar 18 (18)

K Pollard not out 5 (2)

Harbhajan Singh not out 1 (1)

Extras (b 1, lb 4, w 2, nb 1) 8

Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 154

Bowling O M R W Econ

J Unadkat 4 0 26 0 6.50

D Christian 4 0 42 0 10.50

Vinay Kumar 4 0 27 3 6.75

Muralitharan 4 0 30 0 7.50

M Kartik 4 0 24 1 6.00

Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 2 runs


31

METRE 6S 14 5ChrisGayle(RCB) 92*HIGHEST

SCOREBESTBOWLER 4-134S 58 11Chris

Gayle(RCB)

SunilNarine(KKR)

ChrisGayle(RCB)

Despite the turmoil it hasgone through recently, ateam that has Krishna -

ma chari Srikkanth, TomMoody, VVS Laxman andWaqar Younis serving it in vari-ous capacities sure needs to betaken seriously.

Captain of SunrisersHyderabad Kumar Sangakkarawill probably be the happiestman associated with the teamto get going with the gameafter the political upheaval SriLankan players participating inthe Indian Premier Leaguehave gone through.

So shall be fans of the erst-while Deccan Chargers thatwon the second edition of theIPL in South Africa. For, play-ers just want to go ahead andplay, and fans want to watchthem play. Neither is interestedin politics nor in the ownershipnitty-gritty.

The first game for SunrisersHyderabad, in this, the sixthedition of IPL, to be playedtoday at the Rajiv GandhiInternational Stadium againstPune Warriors India assumesgreater significance becausethey will be without their star

opener Shikhar Dhawan.The first impression being

the best, Sunrisers Hyderabadwill go all out to prove thatthey are a force even withoutthe explosive Delhi southpaw.That he will be back in the teamin a couple of weeks and men-tored by the swashbucklingKrishnamachari Srikkanth willonly work in the team’s favourthereon.

That Pune Warriors Indiafinished last in the previousseason (2012) and last but oneearlier than that may not comeas enough solace to the hometeam considering that the teamfrom Maharashtra boasts thenames of Yuvraj Singh, RobinUthappa, Angelo Mathews,Murali Kartik, Ashish Nehraand Graeme Smith to name afew.

SYED SHOAIB

Sunil Narine(KKR) 4wickets

Disappointing not tohave won the game.We have to analyseour game. I thinkwith our bowingtoday [on Thursday]we were a bit behind.

Ricky PontingMI skipper

P W L T PT NRKKR 1 1 0 0 2 0.511

RCB 1 1 0 0 2 0.100

MI 1 0 1 0 0 -0.100

DD 1 0 1 0 0 -0.511

RR 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

PW 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

CSK 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

KXIP 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

SH 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

P-played; W-win; L-lost; T-tie;NR-net run rate; PT-points

Happy to giveback to thegame: VVS

VVS Laxman says mentor-ing Sunrisers Hyderabadand doing commentary is

his way of giving somethingback to the game of cricket whichgave him “everything”.

“I am experiencing variousthings. It is great to be contribut-ing back to the game. Because,cricket gave me everything. Withthe wealth of experience I havegot, I want to share with the con-cerned people,” Laxman said.

“Through mentoring, it is sh -aring my experience with the pl -ayers. Through commentary, it issharing with the viewers. It is agreat way of giving back someth -ing to the game,” he said.

Sunris ers has some establish -ed names such as Kris Srikkan th,Tom Moody and Waqar Younis. PTI

SH VS PWI AT 8PMON SET MAX

A lot at stake for Sunrisers

ChrisGayle (RCB)92 runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s mentor, VVS Laxman (L) chats with PuneWarriors India’s Yuvraj Singh (R) ahead of their IPL clash at the RajivGandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.

WORDS OF ADVICE

IPL 6 BATTLE OF THE TITANS

[email protected]

ANDY SCOTTAgence France-Presse

PARIS: Chelsea are in a strongposition against Russian sideRubin Kazan after winning thefirst leg 3-1 at Stamford Bridgeon Thursday, but Tottenhamhave work to do following a 2-2draw with Basel at White HartLane.

Newcastle are in trouble fol-lowing a 3-1 defeat to Benfica inLisbon, while Fenerbahce beatLazio 1-0 in Istanbul.

Chelsea got off to a fantasticstart in west London, openingthe scoring 16 minutes in whenFernando Torres — sporting aface mask to protect a brokennose — stabbed in a David Luizpass.

Victor Moses then finishedsuperbly on the half-volley todouble the Blues’ lead just afterthe half-hour mark.

Bebras Natcho netted apenalty after John Terry waspenalised for handball to givethe Russians a precious awaygoal just before half-time, butmuch-maligned Spanish strikerTorres headed in a cross fromcompatriot Juan Mata 20 minutesfrom time to give Chelsea animportant cushion.

Chelsea coach Rafael Benitez

praised Torres.“It’s good for his confidence.

His work-rate was really good.I’m pleased for him.”

Across London, Spursendured a much less comfortableevening against the Swiss cham-pions.

Against a side challengingfor a top-four place in thePremier League, Basel were aconstant threat going forward,and took the lead on the halfhour when Valentin Stocker con-verted the rebound after captainMarco Streller’s initial effortstruck the post.

The Spurs fans were stunnedwhen Basel doubled their leadfour minutes later, Fabian Freiheading in. Emmanuel Adebayorreduc ed the deficit before half-time, forcing the ball in after aScott Parker shot had deflectedinto his path.

Gylfi Sigurdsson then lev-elled in the 58th minute, hispowerful effort deflecting intothe net off Fabian Schaer.

The concession of two awaygoals means Andre Villas-Boas’Tottenham have work to do toprogress and their eveningended on a sour note whenGareth Bale was stretchered offwith a serious-looking ankleinjury.

sportsFRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013

32SPURS DEAL COST ME ENGLAND JOB SAYS REDKNAPP Harry Redknapp has claimed a massive buy-out clause in his Tottenhamcontract was the only reason he didn’t get the chance to become Englandmanager. Redknapp, now in charge at QPR, was the favourite to replaceFabio Capello after the Italian resigned in February 2012.

BRASILIA: Players fromArgentine club Arsenal deSarandi returned home onThursday after spendingpart of the night in cellsfollowing a bizarre con-frontation with Brazilianpolice at the end of aLibertadores Cup match.

Arsenal, a modest clubfrom the Buenos Aires su -b urbs, were in the Brazi -lian city of Belo Horizontefor a Libertadores CupGroup 3 match againstAtletico Mineiro.

At the end of Wedne -sd ay’s match, which Ars -enal lost 5-2, various Arge -ntine players confronted

military police on the pit -ch, before throwing seatsand other pieces of furni-ture in the dressing room,according to reports in theBrazilian sporting press.

Seven players wereaccused of causing the tro -u ble, but the whole teamwere taken to police cells,the Argentine consul inBelo Horizonte told AFP.“The whole team werethere,” said the consul.

“The players explainedall they wanted was to sp -e ak to the referee, but thattheir words were misinter-preted, and the reaction bypolice was unjustified.”

Argentine players arrestedafter on-pitch violence

3 refereescharged oversexual bribes SINGAPORE: ThreeLeb a nese soccer refereeswere charged Thursdayfor receiving sexualbribes in exchange for fix-ing a match in Singapore,the government’s anti-corruption bureau said.

Referee Ali Sabbagh,and assistants Ali Eidand Abdallah Taleb, werecharged before a districtcourt for “corruptly”receiving sexual gratifica-tion “as an inducement”to fix the match theywere to officiateWednesday, court docu-ments showed. AFP

EUROPA LEAGUE

Mixed night for English trioIt was a mixed night for England’s trio of contenders, with Chelsea winning their quarter-finalfirst leg while Tottenham Hotspur were held to a draw and Newcastle United lost in Portugal.

UGLY SIDE OF BEAUTIFUL GAME

Chelsea’s Spanish striker Fernando Torres (L), who scored their firstgoal, jumps for a header to clear a corner against Rubin Kazan duringtheir match at Stamford Bridge in London on Thursday. Torres is wear-ing a mask to protect a broken nose. AFP/ ADRIAN DENNIS

Bale injury rocks Spurs

LONDON: Tottenham suf-fered a potentially serioussetback as Gareth Bale wasstretchered off with an ankleinjury in the final momentsof Thursday’s 2-2 drawagainst FC Basel in theEuropa League quarter-finalfirst leg. Bale, who has beenin superb form this season,clutched his leg in agonyafter being stepped on byDavid Degen in stoppage-time at White Hart Lane andwas eventually carried downthe tunnel for further treat-ment.

“He rolled on his ankle, atthe moment there is a lot ofpain,” Spurs boss AVB said.

postnoon e-paper for april 5th 2013

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